I can't stop thinking about...

Greek Yogurt.

Yes, yogurt, my friends.

I eat yogurt every morning, as my mom had brought me up to do so.  She eats her yogurt with bowlful of fruits, but alas, I don't have time to do that kind of thing in the morning. But with or without fruit, yogurt is a vital part of my life.

Then what happened?
I came across a pack of non-fat Greek yogurt at my friend's house 2 weeks ago. Eversince, I ate all the Greek yogurt in my friends' fridges (not more than 1 per day, I have to say). I even bought a few pack at Trader Joe's before coming back to Japan.

The problem is, you can't find Greek yogurt in Japan - except one.  I found one kind in a high-end supermarket, and it was so expensive.  It seems that most people in Japan buy regular yogurt and strain it.

But, um, can you make Greek yogurt by yourself?

As a matter of fact, yes.
I found a few instructive videos on Youtube yesterday during my lunch time, and thoroughly educated myself.  It turned out to be just a regular yogurt making process plus straining the whey. So easy.  As a matter of fact, I used to make my own yogurt when I was in college, when I didn't have enough funds to buy ingredients for baking.  At one point, I was baking yogurt cakes a few times a week, and I needed lots of yogurt.  Well, anyways.

So of course I bought a pack of milk and a pack of yogurt to start.  I was heating up a pack of milk in a big pot in the middle of the night.  I mixed some yogurt and put it in the oven for low heat (to keep the pot at around 105 - 110 degrees F).
It turned out more tricky than I thought.  I ended up heating my oven for 6 hours and finally, finally got a beautiful while silky yogurt.

It was so good that I didn't want to strain it.  So much better than the ones you buy in a store! The surface looks a little bumpy in the below photo?  That's home made.