Blackberry Vanilla Yogurt and Granola

Yesterday was a beautiful sunny Mother's Day, despite the 20 mi/hour wind. I was hoping to be able to visit my mother, but she was unable to see me. I was a little disappointed, but not offended. My step-father has been deathly ill and my mother has been very dedicated to taking care of him. She said he was feeling cheery yesterday and had decided to take him out. He needed to get out of the house...and so did she. Being a caregiver is hard work and I deeply respect my mothers committment to him. Besides, I had stopped by on Saturday and while my mother was out, I dropped off her Mother's Day gift and some delicious homemade vanilla yogurt I made. I thought that they would enjoy it.

I love you mom.







Vanilla Yogurt

4¾ cups 1% milk
2-3 tablespoons agave sweetener
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
½ cup plus 2 tablespoons dry nonfat milk
1 packet of freeze dried yogurt culture
1 tablespoon of blackberry preserves, per cup
1 vanilla bean scraped

Scrape vanilla bean pods into the milk. Heat milk and vanilla bean in a saucepan over medium heat. Do not allow milk to boil. Once milk reaches 180°F and is about to boil, remove from stove and stir in the agave and vanilla extract. Allow milk to cool to 120°F. Once liquid reaches appropriate temperature, whisk in dried milk and yogurt culture until ingredients are thoroughly homogenous. While liquid is cooling, place a heaping tablespoon of blueberry preserves in each jar. Pour liquid into individual jars. Place jars into the Yogurt Maker without their lids. Cover the yogurt maker and set for 10 hours. When yogurt is finished, cover the jars with their lids and store in the refrigerator. Yogurt will keep refrigerated for up to one week.

Source: Yogurt adapted from the Waring Pro Yogurt Manual. Granola was made using David Lebovitz Recipe.