Daren

July 7th & 8th are both Buddha days (Assana Bucha and Khao Pansa), which is great! I love Buddha days, but that leaves a lonely Monday of work in the middle of a holiday sandwich. Obviously everyone at my workplace is hoping for a gov't announcement liberating them form their grindstone. Certainly if they don't call it off we'll see an epidemic of epic proportions, and I fear for the health of my fellow works.

So, what do ya think? What are the chances that the powers that be will see the light and make us all very happy little expats?

Curt, that was a very good tip. Thank you. Not a horrible price for a 5kg scale.

borovik, no worries. If the boys in brown do find my powder-covered scale, I'll offer them some "sweets" and send them on their way.

Well thanks for the helpful tips guys. But I really need to be able to order either by phone or internet.

It's funny I'm looking for molasses as well, though not in BKK. I discovered that Thai use it for fertilizer and call it "Gak Nam Tan". Though I'm quite reluctant to eat anything sold at along side ammonium nitrate.... YIKES!

Maybe Villa would be a better source?

Here are some helpful tips and answers to my own questions...

Yogurt Making Tips

1. Do not leave yogurt in the machine too long, the curd and liquid whey will separate and can not be reversed.

2. Yogurt made with skim milk or skim milk powder may have a soft consistency. For thicker, creamier yogurt, add an additional 1/2 cup (50 ml) of milk powder to the milk before heating.

3. When using store bought yogurt as a starter, make sure the label indicates "Live Active Cultures" and check the expiration date. Yogurt culture becomes weaker over time. Use only plain yogurt as flavored/sweetened varieties will not work.

4. Longer cooking times produces a firmer and more tart yogurt.

5. If using raw milk or pasteurized milk that has been refrigerated for some time, boil it for a few minutes before cooling to the desired temperature. Boiling kills any bacteria that can interfere with the incubation of the yogurt cultures.

6. Do not heat the milk for too long or at too high a temperature as the result will be poor quality yogurt.

7. Make sure all utensils, container and lid are clean. Impurities affect growth of yogurt culture.

8. Make sure milk is cooled to the correct temperature before adding the yogurt starter. If the yogurt culture is exposed to temperatures too high, the culture will be destroyed. If the culture is exposed to temperatures too low, processing will take longer. Use a thermometer to assist with the correct temperature range.

9. Do not disturb the yogurt maker during the processing period as this may affect the quality of the yogurt. Keep the yogurt maker away from air drafts that could reduce the incubator temperature.

10. Always keep yogurt refrigerated until use. It can keep up to 10 - 14 days, after which it may become tart.

11. Add flavoring, sweeteners and fruit after processing and refrigeration.

Taken form www.healthgoods.com.

It looks like true *plain* yogurt is yet one more thing to buy on my next trip to civilization... sigh.

I thought this topic deserved a thread of it's own, so here it is!

Recently Gippy kindly posted this helpful information in the "What are cooking today" thread:

I'm not cathy but I make yoghurt at home all the time as well. I follow a recipe I got from an Indian cookbook by Mader Jaffrey. The first step is to go and buy a small tub of plain yogurt and some milk. For each 1.5 pints of milk you need 2 tablespoons of yoghurt.

Put the milk in a pot and bring to the boil, as soon as it starts to rise turn the heat to very low and simmer for one minute. Switch off the heat and let the milk cool to 38-43C. Put the yoghurt into a non-metallic bowl. Beat with a whisk until creamy, start to add the milk a tablespoon at a time and whisk in. After a few tablespoons have been added you can pour the rest in faster, keep beating as you pour. Cover the bowl with cling film and leave for about 8 hours or until it has set.

This method has always worked for me, it's hot enough here in Bangkok not to require any fancy yoghurt making machines. To make the next batch just use the last few tablespoons of your previous batch. I like it with some home made jam stirred in, yum!

As usual, I have questions:

What kind of yogurt starter do you use, as well as milk? - As we all know, Thai yogurt, even the "plain", has a TON of sugar in it. (Actually, I have seen 2 brands without sweetener but neither are available here in "Cowboy Country".)

Is one brand or fatty-ness of milk better than another?

It would seem sanitation would be highly important. Is a good wash and scalding with boiling water sufficient?

What makes yogurt THICK? The Thai stuff is so runny you could almost drink it. I want some stuff that will sit up and bark!

How long does homemade yogurt keep in the fridge?

What kind of cloth would you use to make yogurt cheese? There is no cheesecloth here, but would any loosely woven white cotton cloth work?

How long do you drain?

Looking forward to some delicious yogurt now!!!

Enjoy it!

So you're selling your sausage mail-order, eh? Could you please PM me a price list including shipping to Nakhon Si Thammarat?

Cheers!

Oh yum, Thaigerd! What kind of sausages are you making?

Hmm.... I guess I'll have to wait for my next trip. Ordering online would be cool too.

Finally! A reason to like Mondays!

Monday: Italian B.M.T.

My favorite sub!

Well, I checked the horribly over-priced Verasu and found a few flimsy looking, low capacity scales. But I think they just won't cut it. I want to be able to measure ingredients for a few loaves of bread at a time and if it were accurate down to 0.1 grams, that would be optimal.

Of course, I want the world and I want it cheap! I know I can order scientific-grade scales from a few companies in BKK but they're definitely far from cheap.

Any ideas?

Cheers folks!

Well today it'll be Texas style chili, sourdough rye and a nice green salad. Yum!

I'm very curious about making my own yogurt, cathyy. Maybe if you find the time in your busy day, you could share a few tips for a beginner.

BTW, lasagna is my all-time-favorite food! Yum!

After eating pies etc on several occasions,and on another occasion,the chinese neighbour's cooking,which both,probably,contained MSG,there seems to be a facial expression indicating mental illness,when waking up on the next day or two, and which is FELT also as the same feeling on the face.

And so a feeling of ugly tension,and/or tiredness physically and mentally,a type of mental illness,or disturbance.

The similar sad,mentally ill feeling,and behaving so, that happens also after smoking dope.

Very strange and unpleasant effects.

No more MSG thanks.

Damaged or killed brain cells,from the excitotoxin?Probably.

Brain cells excited to the point of mental illness?

Brain cells,and all bodily cells,excited to the point of fatigue?

Or a combination of the effects of grains,transfats etc and MSG?

Unfortunately,no photos/images of the facial effects,which might not show up on screen anyway,due to being maybe not obvious enough for a camera to record.

Search the mercola website for his MSG newsletters.

In the mercola website links,scroll down to the lists of ingredients which have hidden MSG.

Also when loading the links,click on the 'X' to stop the page fully loading,so as to avoid the popup subscription which often appears to cover the page.

Reply with your experiences with loading the links.

Synthetic MSG might be a lot worse than natural MSG,maybe because of synthetic amounts added,and/or synthetic types.

What a bunch of rectally expelled digested solid waste!

<deleted> is "synthetic MSG"? And to that point, <deleted> would "natural MSG" be? Is there a difference between synthetic H2O and natural H2O?

My only hope in posting this is serve fair warning to those who might be confused or tempted to believe this nonsense. While DurianIsland might be a nice and decent person, his post is full of irrational, unscientific BS!

"Damaged or killed brain cells,from the excitotoxin?Probably." <------- Really? Really????? WOW! SCARRRRYYYYY!

As beano said, you can get a 3-use day card at the service counter. Though after you spend enough money, around 1000B, you can get a permanent card for free.

How did your bargain cheese work out? Which brand do you get? How do ya rate it?

I made sourdough bread, homemade pasta with tomato and sausage, nice green salad on the side and chilled mangosteen for dessert!

Cool! Sounds good. He should make a website!

Might just order some this week!

I called the Homemade Cheese Co. the other day and while the man was very friendly, he said they currently don't ship outside BKK. What a pity. I guess we just have to wait and hope.

Wow. That website looks good, but no hard/semi-hard cheeses? Will give them a try, that is if they deliver, for my next lasagna.

Yeah I checked already... no luck. I did find one popular bread book but not the illustrious BBA!

Making good bread isn't difficult, IMHO. And one certainly doesn't need the tome that is BBA. Your results may not be exactly what you were aiming for at first but with a little persistence, it can be done!

I love it here.. i dont feel persicuted.

I do however have some problems with the land ownership things. There are other things that bug me too and i will complain about it.

I don't understand why you can't complain about things you don't like. In Holland i complained about this I hated in Holland. I don't see why I should change here.

As long as there are more things here that i love then those that i hate ill stay.

p.s the land thing is racist.

I don't think anyone is asking you not to complain...

The land thing might be racist, but imagine if Thailand didn't protect their parcels somehow. Jap's, Yank's, Limey's & Arabs would have bought up the whole place long ago. Thailand for Thais... or something like that.

I would post but I'm trying to keep my # down!

Edit:

dam_n it!!!!!

I want:

Dismember!

Thai people don't get swine flu.... duh. Didn't you know that?

55

Any way, it's my honest opinion that westerns generally have to put up with less crap than Thais. I'm honestly shocked when I hear about all the crap that is expected of the Thai teachers at my school. Same goes for when my girlfriend goes out to look for a job! One spa she applied at told her she had to give THEM 10k to start work and she could no longer go to the beach because she was "too black already". YIKES! Imagine saying that in any western country!

So let's see who has has the lowest ID #! Mine's pretty low... but mind you not! It's not *directly* related to IQ.....

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is it?