Misc.

I've actually been working a lot recently, hence the lack of posting. Not to mention the time spent making faux Greek yogurt. So I'll just start a new parlor game tonight...

The Background
When I made a political comment to Brandon, the 20-something drummer playing for "Bye-Bye, Birdie," I learned (too late!) that he was a Ron Paul fanatic and Libertarian. I found it funny that he extended his political beliefs to his playing. The director would get frustrated as Brandon would close his eyes and whale away at his own tempo. When the director good-naturedly asked him to pay attention, Brandon muttered that he didn't like to follow anyone's direction. Which would seemingly make it difficult to be a member of an orchestra.

So, the new game--political oxymorons:

Libertarian orchestra member
Republican _____________
Democratic _____________

Any suggestions?

Boogles

Joel and I enjoy seeing the alternative words suggested by our cell phones when texting. For example, I was typing "soap" and found that 7627 could also spell snap, roar, robs, soar, and sobs. We have often gotten tricked by "home" turning into "good" or vice versa without our noticing, causing some strange messages. But 4663 can also be gone, goof, hood, hone, and hoof. Joel noticed that "biking" can also be "ailing" or even "bikini!"

We thought it might be fun to start a parlor game or poetry contest based on these word sets. Making words out of a set of letters reminded me of the game Boggle, which I accidentally typed as Boogle when emailing Joel , so now we have a name for this concept.

BTW, Liv's homemade Greek-style yogurt did not turn out when using Blue Bunny brand yogurt (it all ran through the cheesecloth). So I make no guarantees, but mine is great.

It's no longer Greek to me

My name is Teresa and I have a Greek yogurt addiction.

Ever since I discovered halfway reasonably priced ($2.99/pint) nonfat G. yogurt at Trader Joe's, I've had to make a run to St. Louis Park at least every two weeks. The drive across town is horrible, TJ's is sometimes sold out, and it's embarassing to buy 12 pints of yogurt at a time.


I knew Greek yogurt was strained, so I decided to try making some from regular Old Home nonfat yogurt ($2.99/quart). I used clothespins to attach cheesecloth to the edges of a small bowl, added a serving of yogurt to the cheesecloth, and refrigerated. Lo and behold, my contraption allowed a copious amount of whey?/water? to drain into the catch-bowl and in about 6 hours, I had something with the look, texture, and taste of Greek yogurt!