Bowling, Asparagus.

Yesterday we had our bowling banquet and also bowled in the alley for the very last time. They are, apparently, having a kind of wake on Sunday, but I don’t think we’ll be going along. The announcement was made that the owners of the business would not be seeking a new venue after all, but that the woman who has been running the place forever (27 years) and her husband are looking into opening a new alley and are negotiating with a building owner. She asked us for all our phone numbers if we were interested and will let us know in approximately a week to 10 days. I do hope this goes through as we have so many friends amongst the people with whom we bowl although a couple of them have decided to quit anyway.

At last I have had my first taste of freshly grown asparagus this year, deeelicious. All I have done with it so far is to cook it briefly in boiling, salted water, and then serve it with a little butter. I am enjoying it so much. However, I will, of course, be getting a little more adventurous as it becomes more plentiful. Those of you who don’t enjoy asparagus will be groaning about all the asparagus recipes I am going to be posting in the next week or two. I have just reminded myself of just how many delicious recipes I have collected over the years.

Oops, I nearly forgot, L. Diane Wolfe passed on the Zombie Rabbit award for being one of her Spunky Soldiers during THE blogfest. Thanks Diane. Mind you, I am not perfectly sure what a Zombie Rabbit is, LOL.

I have recently become friends, through the A to Z Challenge Blogfest with Al Diaz or Father Dragon. Currently, through illness, he is restricted to a vegan type diet and he told me that he makes his own yoghurt with soy milk, which he also makes. I asked him for the recipe and he was kind enough to send it to me and to allow me to share it with you. Agar agar is a seaweed product which is used to thicken things, a bit like cornstarch, I used to use it years ago when I was first on Weight Watchers.


Soy Yogurt
Father Dragon

Okay first, here it is the link where you'll learn to fix your own soy milk. It is important you do it because those in store are not good to make a high quality yogurt.
http://www.spiciefoodie.com/2013/01/14/homemade-soy-milk-or-how-to-make-soy-milk/

Once you have your milk, the procedure is the following:

Ingredients:
6 cups of hot soy milk
1 1/2 spoons of muscovado sugar
1/2 tea spoon of salt
1/3 cup of Tapioca flour
1 tea spoon of agar-agar
1 cup of plain yogurt without sugar

Process:
1. Wash all the kitchen tools you're gonna use with boiled water. (Spoons, containers, etc.)
2. Add the salt and sugar to the hot milk.
3. Put 1/2 cup of milk in the freezer.
4. Once the milk is cold, dissolve the tapioca and the agar-agar in it, using the blender.
5. Add 2 cups of hot milk and put it on low heat until it boils. Use a big pot. You must keep moving the milk with a spoon at all times to prevent it from sticking in the bottom and burn.
6. When you see it thick and glossy, blend the remaining milk and boil it again. Don't forget to move it with a spoon.
7. Let it cool down for about 30 minutes and add the cup of natural yogurt. Mix perfectly but do not use the blender this time, to not kill the lactobacilli. Pour it all inside a thermal container. Wrap the container with one of the warmest blankets you have and keep it in the hottest place of your kitchen for about 10-12 hours.
8. After that time. Pour it in another container and put it in the fridge for 12 hours. Then it is ready to eat. You can mix it with fruits and honey, or cereals, as you like. I personally like to add a bit of cardamom with fruits and it adds a refreshing touch to it. Love it.
You may want to keep a cup aside to fix the next batch.

Have a great day