While I couldn’t seriously join the Hippies (I disagreed with too much of what they were saying and I liked wearing my bra) this cultural movement had an influence on our kitchens.  One tenet was the back-to-the-land idea, of beating The Man at his own game by making or raising or growing your own vegetables.  My contribution was learning to cook, as well as making some items from scratch, one of them being yogurt.  I realize that while I attribute this impulse to the Hippies, it could have just as easily come from Sunset Magazine, with its pictures of women wearing triangular head scarves, fringe and multiple rings.  Many of my recipes hail from that magazine.

I used to make this up (it makes a lot), store it in the fridge and use it all week long, scooping out the yogurt for breakfast and after-school snacks.

Yogurt

Heat to 150 degrees:

12 1/3 cups milk

2 cans (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk

Soften 3 packages unflavored gelatin in a small amount of the warmed milk.  Add this to the warmed milk, then cool to 120 degrees, stirring often. Add a small amount of the warmed milk to 5 Tablespoons unflavored yogurt (with active cultures–Dannon works well–read the labels), then pour the yogurt mixtures back into the milk mixture and stir well.

Pour the milk mixture into four clean large canning jars (1 quart size).  Lid them, then place all in a large pan and fill the pan up to their rims with 120 degree water. (I used my water bath canner–don’t let the bottles float–stop adding water if they start to wiggle around too much.)  Wrap this all in blanket and leave for 12 hours on the counter, undisturbed.  Remove from water and place in the refrigerator until chilled.