The form of the sweetener does make a difference, though research in this area is just beginning. Fruits preserved with Splenda are not an issue. Essentially what you're doing is canning fruit in water; the impact on texture and keeping qualities once opened will be the same as if just water had been used. But pickles present special problems. Note this account from the NCHFP of problems with pickled beets [I've italicized for emphasis]: "Recently, a question was asked regarding changing the sugar in pickled beets. The person made pickled beets using fructose and Splenda® in place of the sugar. A few weeks later, the lids popped loose and juice was coming out while transporting the jars to a relative in another state. This never happened when regular sugar was used. What could have gone wrong? There is rarely one simple answer to these situations. Common solutions include bacterial growth, poor seal, chips around the jar rim, food particles on the jar rim, old lids, lifting the jars by the lid instead of the jar rim, or not following manufacturerÂs directions in preparing the lids. In this scenario, however, another factor must be considered as the problem. The use of different sugars. Sugar will dissolve in water. When this occurs, it will raise the boiling point of water. Different sugars have different molecular weights per molecule. Therefore, this weight difference may raise the boiling point only 1°F or it may raise it 5°F as examples. This change affects how long a food must be processed to be considered safe. In the case of the pickled beets, the fructose and Splenda® are quite different in weight than sugar. Therefore, using the same processing time from the original recipe was probably not adequate. The beets were beginning to show signs of spoilage. This is one example why we recommend using tested recipes from sources such as the USDA Complete Guide to Home Canning or from the Cooperative Extension Service." So I wouldn't make a pickled recipe with Splenda (for canning) unless it had been specifically developed for that product. However, I know Ken has had good luck with Splenda-sweetened pickles and his take on this issue may be different. Beverly Alfeld's new book Pickles to Relish does offer several recipes with Agave substituting for sugar. However, I don't know the pH of Agave nectar and whether she's using Agave in pickles with a low enough pH to allow for differences in sweeteners. She does caution to be very careful in subbing one sweetener for another. For example, she has customers who are interested in maple syrup as a natural sweetener for pickles, but maple syrup in several cases raised the pH to the unsafe level. So again, until more is known, I'd stick with recipes tested for the sweetener you would like to use. But that's just my point of view. You might see if your library can obtain Alfeld's book so that you can take a look at the recipes which call for Agave. ...

It sounds like your venture worked well. You may want to try this.... Check your yogurt after 3 hours, gently giggle the mixture to see if it is firm. If not firm, let stand one more hour and check it again, then every half-hour after that. Refrigerate it as soon as it is done and don't use it for at least 6-hours. It will continue to thicken as it chills. Once you have a strong starter and a good source of milk, the length of time it takes to ferment depends on the three T's. - Temperature you heated the milk to (between 190-210-degrees F.). - Temperature for adding the starter - 105-120-degrees F. When you add the starter on the cooler side of the temperature window, the yogurt will be more mild than if you add it towards the warmer side of the temperature window. -Temperature for incubating - This temperature can range from 105-120-degrees F. Temperatures over 120-degrees F will destroy the bacteria. You can take the remaining Greek Yogurt and freeze it in portions for future yogurt sessions. Thaw it in the refrigerator before using for making another batch. You can also save a portion of your new batch to use as a starter, but it will eventually get weaker with subsequent batches until you will need a new starter. Whey is a very healthy part of yogurt, and you can expect it to separate from the curd during a long fermentation session, or if you stir or disturb the curd by cutting into it with a spoon and then letting it sit again. I love the whey from kefir and use it to make lemonade. It's a great thirst quencher during these horribly hot days. I use whey for lacto-fermentation of grains. You'll find more information about the whey in the link below. After decades of making yogurt, I moved on to the much simpler and better for you kefir. I drain the curd from kefir and use it as a substitute for cream cheese (as well as sour cream, plain yogurt, and in the liquid form as a substitute for buttermilk), and you can do the same thing with yogurt. The greatest portion of the whey drains off the yogurt the first hour. If you let yogurt drain for only 5-10 minutes, a cup of yogurt gives up 25% of it's volume in 5-minutes; a pint gives up 18% and a quart only 12%. -Drained Yogurt: Drained about 10-minutes. -Thick Yogurt: Drained at least 30-minutes. It will thicken, but still be soft - but won't retain its shape on a flat surface or the mark of a finger indentation. One hour is ideal for draining. -Yogurt Cheese: Yogurt that has drained for 8-hours or longer. It is the consistency of cream cheese, will hold its shape and retain the mark of a finger indentation. -One quart of yogurt will yield approximately 1-1/3 c. of yogurt cheese (about 2 c. of whey is drained off.) One quart of yogurt will yield about 2-1/2 c. of thick yogurt (about 1-1/4 c. of whey is drained off). Adding non-fat dry milk along with your milk will increase the protein and calcium and also results in a thicker yogurt. There are recipes where you can also add gelatin to help make a firm curd. The gelatin also adds protein. If you use reconstituted powdered milk as your only milk source, you can skip the step where you heat the milk. Just add warm water to the powdered milk to the temperature you need for adding the starter. By altering the ingredients - milk only, OR milk + powdered milk, OR milk + powdered milk and gelatin, it will determine whether your yogurt is soft, firm, or very firm. Make yogurt with half and half or cream and you have a lovely, rich, yogurt to use for desserts with fruit, or make into ice cream. You can also make yogurt with evaporated milk or add sweetened condensed milk for making sweetened yogurt. Another "secret" ingredient in yogurt making is to add cornstarch for a smoother and creamier finished product. -Grainlady Here is a link that might be useful: Benefits of Yogurt Whey

Yeah, we're all going to die eventually anyway. We can be overweight and not worry about it. We can eat fried food every day at fast food places. We can also smoke, drink excessively, and have a good time doing it. Such attitudes are nothing more than a rationalization for ignoring the writing on the wall. Like smokers do with the health warnings for tobacco, or why overweight people brush off the need to diet. Sit down, alisande, because I mostly agree with you. Maybe not to the same extent, or in the same ways, as your life style would direct, but I agree with the basics of what you say. Sensible decisions can be later regretted, but they're based on thoughtful consideration and a risk assessment using what's known at the time.

I have been known to mix sweetened condensed milk with unsweetened cocoa powder to make my own spread, like Nutella. (Well, no actually, I haven't been known to do that, as I did it secretly and then ate it off a spoon) I've made Dolce de Leche in the can, in a pressure cooker. I put a few inches of water in the pressure cooker to make sure it won't boil away, and then put whole unopened cans of sweetened condensed milk in, and cook for an hour or two. Be careful to let the whole pressure cooker cool down for quite a while before opening, because you don't want the cans suddenly contacting ambient air while they are still above normal heat / pressure inside. The first time I made it, I think I did it for over an hour, and it came out brown and delicious and caramelly, but the second time i must have skimped on the time or the pressure, because it didn't get brown or caramelly at all, just thicker around the edges of the can. I made three cans at a time, thinking it was a waste to run the stove that long for one little can. But the one that sat on the shelf for a month or two before opening had crystals throughout, not the nice smooth texture. An Indian friend of mine was told how to fake Indian sweets by her mother. Mix as much dried shredded coconut into sweetened condensed milk as you can, form it into balls, and roll in powdered sugar.