Here is the info I gave out to my bible study group when I demonstrated yogurt making: "This yogurt comes out like Dannon plain then you have to drain it for several hours to get a Greek Yogurt. Here's how I do it. I do it exactly the same everytime, this is important. Vary the jar sizes slightly, of course, to suit your needs. 1 small cooler-hard igloo type 2 mayo jars or mason jars- (1 quart size) with lids candy thermometer 2 thick towels 8 cup Pyrex glass measuring cup or similar sized bowl for microwave Milk plain yogurt powdered milk- optional Measure the amount of milk into measuring cup that is the same amount that will fit in your 2 jars. For 2 mason jars this about 8-9 cups. Stir in 1/2 cup or so of powdered milk if using. Bring to a boil in the microwave uncovered. In my microwave this takes about 20 minutes. Doesn't have to be rolling boil but should bubble. Remove from microwave, snap on candy thermometer and let sit until it reaches 120 degrees. About 45 minutes. Meanwhile, put a dollop (tablespoon more or less) in each jar. Have ready a stock pot on stove of water. Don't heat yet. Remove skin on milk and fill each jar with 112-120 degree milk and stir. Place both jars in cooler and close lid. Heat water on stove now, insert candy thermometer and heat to 120 degrees. This only takes a few minutes. If you go over 120, use ice cubes to bring the temperature back down. Pour 120 degree water into cooler to edge of lids. Don't cover lids. Put the top on the cooler, set in a place it will NOT be disturbed for 8-12 hours, cover with 2 thick towels. The next day, remove yogurt jars, refrigerate until ready to drain. To drain, I use a large white plastic colander. You just need a big strainer. Set over a bowl. Line strainer with coffee filters (4) and scoop out all yogurt into strainer. Cover with a dishcloth. Strain as long as you want. I usually use the Pyrex bowl that I microwaved the milk. My white plastic strainer fits nicely on this and I can see how much whey is strained. 2-3 hours produces a Greek yogurt; overnight, almost a cheese. Flop the strainer over into a pan and peel off the coffee filter. Much easier than scooping. Notes: - I have left the jars in the refrigerator for 2 weeks before straining. - Use a good quality yogurt. I use Stonyfield Farms because it has several more active yogurt culture varieties than Dannon and is better for you. -Use whatever milk you want to use. 1%, 2%, whole, organic, etc. I use skim. To give it more body, to the 8-9 cups of milk before microwaving, I stir in 1/2 cup of powdered milk. The taste and texture of the powdered milk will not be discernible. - Moving the cooler while the yogurt is in it will cause it to not set up. - I usually make the yogurt at night while doing chores, watching, tv. etc. Very little hands on time. -The drained whey may be used to make ricotta cheese. - Drained yogurt has less calcium than regular! A lot of the calcium is in the whey. - The Stonyfield Farm yogurt may be frozen in dollops for future use. -Use some of your homemade yogurt next time you make yogurt though. The frozen yogurt is only for when someone eats all the homemade and doesn't leave enough for a starter. - If the milk cools lower than 112 degrees, heat it back up and cool again. Don't have to reboil. Just heat enough to get temp. back up. -Store the candy thermometer carefully! Think of it as a fine piece of crystal. -If making 4 jars, I use 2 coolers. The water, size, ratio is important. - Do not stir the yogurt."

The length of ribbon you need will depend on the size of bow you want of course. So if you want an 8" bow each loop will be 4" and require 8" of ribbon. Multiply that by the number of loops you want (not less than 8) plus tails. If you make an experimental bow you will soon see how to estimate. You can use any width of ribbon but need more loops the narrower it is for a full look. IMO long tails look very nice on a wreath and with wired ribbon you can easily twist them to arrange nicely. If you want a double bow you'll need more but not necessarily double as your top bow can be smaller. I much prefer wired ribbon as I find it easier to use. With non-wired ribbon I always cut V's in the center of the bow so the loops are easier to tie together and arrange. At Christmas one year I made a simple single bow with long tails for my outside wreath with 6" wide plastic foil ribbon which was very easy to use. Just an idea as they would be very easy for children to do and look nice with greenery. If you have a Costco nearby they have the best price I've ever found for wide wired ribbon. I used to have a store and we did a lot of gift wrapping and Costco's prices were even better than wholesale. Save On Crafts is my go-to place for crafting ideas and instructions altho they don't tell how much ribbon for a bow but do give instructions for different types of bows. Here is a link that might be useful: how to make bows

I used to make malts. Kept malt powder on hand for them. Funny story. I took care of an old man named Ken for 8 years. He could be very difficult and was set in his ways. He used to send me to get milkshakes for him. He always said, "No malts! Milkshakes! I hate malts." So I would get a malt for me and a milkshake for him. One time when I was ordering them, I forgot and said, "Two strawberry malts." Then I realized what I had said....but I let it go at that. When I gave it to him, he said, "That is the best milkshake I have ever had." From there on out, I just ordered malts for him.

Here's my basic recipe, which you can vary as to the amount of spiciness desired: Guinness Beef Jerky Marinade (This amount of marinade is sufficient for about 5 to 6 pounds of beef, which I find fill my Nesco dehydrator's eight trays fairly full) 5 to 6 lbs lean beef, sliced thinly--see Note 1 2 bottles (12-14 oz each) Guinness Stout 2 tablespoons kosher salt OR 3 to 4 tablespoons soy sauce--see Note 2 2 tablespoons garlic powder 2-4 tablespoons hot stuff --see Note 3 optional: liquid smoke, 1 to 2 tbsp In a large bowl pour stout and add salt, whisking to dissolve salt and decarbonate the stout. Add the garlic powder and hot stuff and mix well. Put the beef strips in the marinade by handfuls, swirling around to make sure all surfaces have come in contact with the marinade. Place the beef in a nonreactive container (a stainless stockpot works fine), pour the remaining marinade over the beef, mix well and refrigerate for at least an hour (more is better--overnight is fine). If you have time, mix up the beef strips every so often in the marinade. Place the strips flat on the trays and dry to your desired amount of dryness. I prefer crisp to leathery, but do it however you want. Note 1: Before slicing the beef, trim all extra fat off the surface of the meat. I like to use round roast because it's very lean; whenever possible, slice the strips across the grain. Slicing it with the grain results in a stringy final product. Eye of round costs a little more, but is very lean and also is very easy to slice across the grain, and that yields a less stringy product. Don't use a fatty cut of meat because it won't dry as thoroughly and won't have the storage properties of a leaner cut. (The fat can turn rancid.) Note 2: I have found mushroom flavored soy sauce at an Asian market. It works great in this recipe. Note 3: For the hot stuff, cayenne works well; you have to judge for yourself how hot your particular cayenne pepper is. (Mass market cayenne from brands like McCormick is relatively mild; powdered chili peppers from a Mexican or Indian market will be much hotter.) If you’re unsure, go easy with the hot stuff. You can always sprinkle a little more hot stuff on the finished product if you wish. I have used chipotle powder with good results; 4 tablespoons in this recipe makes a quite hot product, and 2 tbsp makes a pleasantly zingy one. If you want something quite mild, use sweet Hungarian paprika which would make a product not at all hot but would still have a good flavor. You can also use smoked Spanish paprika (‘pimenton’) which comes in three degrees of hotness (sweet, bittersweet & hot). If you use that, though, or chipotle powder, don’t use any additional smoke flavor. --Don't use a hot sauce that's vinegar based (like Tabasco or Sriracha)--the vinegar taste will be concentrated in the finished product. The finished product can be stored in plastic ziplock bags in the freezer, and can be moved to the fridge when you open one. I find that a quart ziplock bag holds one Nesco tray's worth of dried jerky. Note that this recipe does not contain any curing agents like nitrates or nitrites, so I can't vouch for what would happen if you left this jerky at room temperature for several days. Storing it this way, though, I've never had any of it go bad. That's partly because it tastes so good, a bag never lasts that long once I open one.