goat milk yogurt and Marge Kraft

When I was young(er?), my mother had a good friend/former co-worker named Marge. Marge was very interesting in many ways (more stories of her another time) but there is one that I wanted to share with you today.>>>>>>> Marge liked “funky foreign foods” but didn’t like to cook. She liked to read and collect cookbooks but never made anything from them. Her husband didn’t like “weird food”, having lived the first 60years of his life on frozen chicken pot pies and deli meat sandwiches and other processed food “delights”. >>>>>>> My mom, being a Midwestern mom of two, cooked every day. So, Marge and my mom had a barter/deal worked out. About once every week or two, Marge and she would get together, look through the recipes that Marge had chosen and come to an agreement about two or three of them. Marge would supply the “outstanding ingredients” (not the flour/everyday spices/bread crumbs) that my mother would not otherwise have in the house and the main protein (the chicken/lamb/beef needed), my mother did all the cooking and dividing. They would then split the goodies. >>>>>>> We ended up trying all sorts of fun stuff, sometimes as fancy as “city chicken” (pork kabobs—very “exotic” to Cincinnati!) and pastitsio (Greek lasagne-type dish), often as commonplace as chili or various casseroles with cheese.>>>>>>> Fast forward to today. I have a girlfriend here in Atenas that loves this goat milk yogurt that she buys at the local COOPE (our grocery). The cost for one bottle (yes, the goat milk yogurt comes in individual glass bottles...tres chichi!) is more than the cost of two (2!) gallons of milk. And she eats goat milk yogurt every morning for breakfast, topped with blueberries, granola, nuts, etc. It's her indulgence and starts her day off with a smile. I really wanted to try it too after she so raved about it but couldn't get myself to pay $8 for a bottle of yogurt that i might not like when i make my own yogurt that i love <3 at a fraction of the cost.>>>>>>> So, to review....1. I love to cook and try new things. 2. My girlfriend here in Atenas loves goat milk yogurt. 3. I make yogurt. 4. I’m always looking for a new thing to do, new way to do something that I already do, new adventures. 5. I like to do/give things to people that i like in the hope that i can make them happy or make them like me. >>>>>>> So....i was thinking. What about I go get some goat milk from Coope and make yogurt for us for this week? I invited her to come here, we try to the yogurt, compare to what we are used to (her goat milk yogurt compared to my usual cow milk yogurt). Then, if she loves it, she would take home the yogurt and not have to buy it from the COOPE this week. And, if it was still an inferior choice, she could leave it and i would eat goat milk yogurt for the week. That i wouldn't like it as much is of little concern to me. I have less exacting standards on some things. That the goat milk yogurt is an experiment with a friend would make the yogurt all the sweet enough.>>>>>>> I presented all of this to her...and was turned down. Apparently, she is too busy this week to get together (and doesn't want to try it?). She said that now that the COOPE stocks goat milk, she can make her own yogurt if she wants but will probably just keep buying it. I hope that she really is too busy over the next week but, being the insecure chick that i am (still a five year old, sad to be excluded on the playground!), i think that this may just be an excuse. >>>>>>> Anyway, i have not bought the goat milk to make the yogurt for myself. I really wanted to try goat milk yogurt first to see if i'd even like it but cannot get myself to spend $8...only to take one spoonful and BEURK. So, it may remain a mystery.>>>>>>>Then again, we go out to an "afternoon tea" get-together with friends every other friday (no one drinks tea, they all drink A LOT of alcohol). Hubster feels like we have to buy something there to justify our taking room in the restaurant, so he gets a drink...Fresca/Sprite or coffee. And his two cups of coffee are $8. So, maybe i should just bite the bullet...and nibble the yogurt? >>>>>>> Anyway, this is long enough. Let me know what you think. >>>>>>>