OK - so I'm finally making a contribution! This is a recipe that I am using all the time these days. You would be surprised just how easy and versatile this recipe is. Plain yogurt can often be substituted for sour cream in recipes. Mix it with fruit, make smoothies - there's just all kinds of stuff you can do!

Traditional Yogurt

3 1/2 cups milk (I just make powdered milk - great way to use the food storage and your taste buds won't know the difference - really!)
1/4 - 1/2 cup powdered milk (in addition to what you may have just used - this makes the yogurt thicker)

Place in a microwave safe bowl (I use my 1.5 quart pyrex casserole), place in microwave and bring to a boil. This takes 10-12 minutes. This is to get rid of any possibility of undesirable bacteria. After the milk has come to a boil let the milk cool to 115 - 120 F.

In a small bowl place a couple of heaping tablespoons of live culture yogurt - doesn't have to be fancy, just make sure that the yogurt says, "live culture yogurt," on the container. I've used the kids stuff in the tubes before to start my yogurt! Pour a little of the warm milk in with the yogurt and mix, then return to the main container. Cover the container with a lid or plastic wrap and incubate for 6-8 hours at 110-115 F. The longer you incubate, the more sour tasting the yogurt will be. After the yogurt has reached the desired thickness, store in the refridgerator.

Incubation: You do not need to have anything fancy to incubate your yogurt. Basically, you need a source of heat (very low heat) and insulation. I use a heating pad on the lowest setting inside my insulated carrying case for my 9 x 13 pyrex pan. I've heard of people putting the yogurt inside the oven with the oven light on (just don't forget it's in there and turn on the oven!). I've also heard of people using a cooler with a heating pad inside.