I keep looking for cheap but usable yogurt presses. Ever since I saw that "Greek Cake" brand yogurt press in that YouTube video… I am obsessed.

Ever since I saw her with those perfect cake-wedge pieces of yogurt cheese, that’s what I’ve been looking for. Yet all anyone’s selling are presses that don’t look half so useful or cool.

I want to make Greek Cake!

Perfect giant Laughing Cow-style soft cheese wedges.

I want to make cheeseballs out of yogurt cheese. I want to make cheesecake with yogurt cheese. I want to make wraps with a spread of yogurt cheese rolled up with sliced lunchmeat, lettuce shreds, diced tomatoes, and a dipping sauce.

My life is full of wants.

And maybe that’s what life is and always should be.

There should always be things you want but have to work around to get. Because if you have everything and anything you want… then what do you have to look forward to when you wake up everyday?

Like, unless someone likes to read or watch movies and TV, their lives of too-much will lack all meaning. And then they turn into like a Nazi or something.

It’s why I believe that people reading books is good. Not summaries of books, but actual books. From start to finish, through a whole well-written story. A beginning, a middle, and an end, all with characters that are engaging and fleshed out enough that it creates a connection of empathy between the reader and the protagonist.

Reading books allows someone to "experience" the life of someone that comes from a completely different background and active living situation. And even if they’re a totally awful person, if the book is written well enough a reader can enjoy the story.

If you read a book and don’t have an opinion about it when you’re done, then it wasn’t a well-written book. That, or you didn’t really read it.

And that’s what I’m worried about. That I’ll get the substandard yogurt press and the yogurt cheese I make will be so bland and bodiless that I’ll eat a whole batch of it and just be like "Meh" about it afterward.

And yes, I am still on about the yogurt cheese.

I’ve read a lot of books. I have a lot of experience with reading books. But yogurt cheese… That’s something I’ve never had.

But I want some.

Yogurt cheese spread on a toasted bagel topped with some smoked salmon, a glass of lemonade, and a good book to read. That sounds so good to me.

Because now is the time to enjoy the little joys.

Terrible things are happening in the world. Hard choices are going to have to be made. The people will have to raise their voices and ensure that they’re heard. And in the between moments, people need to remind themselves of what happiness is.

• The soft fur of a friendly cat.
• The soulful eyes of a loving dog.
• The song of birds.
• Breathing in clean air.
• The joy of a fruit popsicle on a hot sunny day.
• Having a song play and knowing all the words as you sing along.
• Nachos that are just the right temperature.
• A polish sausage and a cola straight from the hotdog cart.
• Getting dressed and feeling spiffy.
• Biting into a bagel sandwich that has cream cheese, lunch meat, lettuce and/or alfalfa sprouts.
• Having a good conversation with someone.
• Choosing to duck under a sprinkler on a hot day or deciding to stay out in the summer rain for a while.
• Tasting a delicious food for the first time.
• Comfortably lounging around in bed with nowhere to go and nowhere to be, not needing to use the toilet and experiencing no hunger or thirst.
• Eating popcorn while watching a good movie you’re seeing for the first time.
• Sitting down on perfect grass, just long enough, not damp or too dry, and without bothersome bugs.
• Waking up from the perfect amount of sleep and feeling wonderful.
• Dancing alone and feeling like a ballerina from a sport’s movie.
• Perfectly cooked French fries dipped in cold ketchup.
• Sniffing flowers that smell wonderful.

A lot of little joys can add up to make a big sense of joy. A quiet contentment you can feel everyday versus a single moment of glee that doesn’t last for very long, or that can be derailed by events not going absolutely perfect to plan.

A lasting happiness is better than brief experiences that might not be as fun as expected.

I like yogurt and I like cheese, so if yogurt cheese can fulfill both of those cravings… That would make me so happy.

~Harper Kingsley

https://paypal.me/harperkingsley.

https://patreon.com/harperkingsley.

https://ko-fi.com/harperwck.

https://amazon.com/shop/harperkingsley0.
https://www.harperkingsley.net/blog.
https://kimichee.com.

https://www.youtube.com/c/HarperKingsley.

https://harperkingsley.bsky.social.
https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/HarperKingsley.

cheesecake

One thing I always forget when I’m making cheesecake is that you’re supposed to leave the eggs out until they reach room temperature. You don’t want to use eggs straight out of the refrigerator.

I’ll be like screaming "Why won’t my cheesecake set?!?" And it’s because I sabotaged myself way at the first step.

That said, I do like cheesecake.

rice cooker/multicooker

I ordered a new rice cooker, though this one is more of a multicooker. Which I chose because it makes yogurt.

I like Greek yogurt, so just that right there is delicious.

But if you strain out all the whey, you can make "yogurt cheese," which is about the consistency of cream cheese. And you can spread it on your bagels like cream cheese or use it in wraps and spread on cakes as frosting. There’s even recipes to use it instead of cream cheese when making cheesecake.

It’s healthier. More protein rich. And it’s super easy to make. (I’ll share some videos on Patreon.)

So I chose my new rice cooker because it–

• makes yogurt
• comes with a silicone lid so the pot of leftover rice can go into the refrigerator
• can make 12 cups of cooked rice at a time
• comes with a steamer basket
• has a cake button
• can sauté foods before simmering them
• has a soup button

We’re feeding extra people at the house, so I needed a bigger rice cooker. And also I love watching rice cooker recipe videos on YouTube. So I was already thinking about getting a bigger rice cooker.

It’s just that when making the choice, it was right after I watched a video where someone used the "Greek Cake" yogurt maker to make Greek yogurt cheese. And I am obsessed with the look of that brand of yogurt cheese maker–it creates round cakelike yogurt cheese wheels that you cut into cake slices. Perfect wedges of yogurt cheese you can use as-is or transfer to storage containers.

And I’m sad that the "Greek Cake" yogurt maker isn’t available in my country. I feel like we’re being left out.

But I have a tofu press, and I’m pretty sure I can use it to make yogurt cheese.

Like, I don’t have the money to buy gadgets I might hate and never use again after trying them once.

I want to make yogurt, but I don’t know if I’m going to like it enough or do it enough to justify buying an actual yogurt machine. (Though the Bear brand yogurt maker is chef’s kiss because it makes yogurt, Greek yogurt, cheese, and fruit wine.)

So I think the rice cooker/multicooker is a good choice for me.

I can make rice with it, and yogurt, and I chose the big enough cup size that I can do a bunch of the rice cooker recipes that I’ve watched but couldn’t do with my smaller rice cooker.

And yeah, I’m totally trying to justify the purchase in my own mind.

I’m like "Well, I can use the rice cooker to make rice and all those rice cooker recipes I’ve been watching. And I can use it to steam stuff and make soups and stews. And when I make my yogurt, I can use some of the yogurt to make yogurt cheese, and then I’ll use all that whey to kickstart lacto-fermentation!

Because I have two gallon-sized fermentation jars with airlocks.

And probiotics are good for gut health

And everyone needs more fiber in their diet, and fermenting vegetables is a good way to get people to eat more fiber. Because fermented vegetables are delicious.

lacto-fermentation

Making fermented vegetables is super easy.

You just need a brine made of non-iodized salt and water, and the raw vegetables you want to ferment. That’s it.

1. Wash your vegetables without using soap as you want to keep the beneficial bacteria, then chop them into the size you want and put them in clean dry jars.
2. Dissolve non-iodized salt in water to make a brine, then pour the brine into the jars, completely covering the vegetables. Leave some headspace at the top of the jar to avoid it bubbling over.
3. Either use a jar with a fermentation airlock, or use a regular jar and cover it with a bit of cheesecloth or put the lid on loosely.
4. Put your jar in a cool dark place or on your countertop out of direct sunlight and let it work.
5. Occasionally open the jar and press your vegetables down so they remain completely covered by the brine. You can mix and add more brine if necessary.
6. The airlock and cheesecloth options should let the gases release themselves, but if you’ve just used the regular lid you’re going to want to open it to "burp" the gases.

You can ferment your vegetables from 2 days to 4 weeks depending on the type and size of them and how sour you want them to be. But on average it’s about a week fermenting at 70-to-75-degrees Fahrenheit. (In the winter, countertop fermentation is okay at my house, but in the summer I have to find a "cool" shady spot.) Though if you want to go "low and slow" you can put your jars somewhere that’s like 50-degrees Fahrenheit and ferment your vegetables for as long as 6 months. In old Korea, they would bury the kimchi pots and they could have kimchi all year. Nowadays there are fermentation fridges you can buy.

There are recipes online for fermenting all kinds of vegetables. Though the best advice I’ve seen is to mix "smelly" vegetables like broccoli and brussels sprouts with less smelly ones so you don’t have to deal with the smell of fermented broccoli farts escaping your fermentation jars.

And like, if you turn regular yogurt into Greek yogurt or into yogurt cheese, you can save that whey and add a few spoonfuls to your fermentation jars when you add the brine.

Just remember that whey contains lactose.

So if you’re a little bit lactose-intolerant, you can probably eat your Greek yogurt and yogurt cheese with no problem because the whey has been squeezed out, but eating the whey itself might give you diarrhea.

If you can’t ingest the whey, you can still use it for other things:

• Dogs will eat it and think it’s great.
• You can use it as a toner for your skin, giving yourself dairymaid skin.
• You can add it to your bathwater like a milk bath without wasting a ton of milk.
• You can use it as the conditioner part of your no-poo hair routine in place of apple cider vinegar.

---

Anyways, I’ve got a new rice cooker coming and I’m pretty excited about it.

My mind is full of the dreams of what I’m going to do with my new machine. Not just feeding my family, but opening a door leading to a whole other realm of possibilities.

And I still have my old smaller rice cooker, so I can use it to make side dishes and cakes and oatmeal and whatever while my new bigger machine is making rice or steaming fish or making yogurt.

I think I made a good purchasing choice. Like, there’s going to be tariffs and manufacturing shortages really hitting in the next year or so.

I wanted to buy a chest freezer, but my dad wouldn’t let me because "There’s no place to put it." But I really think we should have gotten one because our refrigerator is going to die at some point and when that happens I’m going to be the one desperately cooking everything in the fridge and freezer while other people scramble around trying to get a new refrigerator. And it’s going to be a total stress-filled mess that makes my stomach all acidy just to think about.

But that’s future-me’s problem.

Current me is waiting for my new rice cooker to arrive. Desperately hoping that I’m going to love it as much as I want to love it.

Please let me love it.

~Harper Kingsley

https://paypal.me/harperkingsley.

https://patreon.com/harperkingsley.

https://ko-fi.com/harperwck.

https://amazon.com/shop/harperkingsley0.
https://www.harperkingsley.net/blog.
https://kimichee.com.

https://www.youtube.com/c/HarperKingsley.

https://harperkingsley.bsky.social.
https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/HarperKingsley.

I was all like “Whoo, my electric composter machine is a rockstar!” And like a day later, it’s making worrying sounds.

Not crunches or bangs or “Oh shit, the machine is grinding metal. Turn it off!” sounds.

Just like a “murrrrr” of the blades not turning. And yeah, I just screwed up a couple days ago by running onion skins. They turn into ropes and clog things up where the blades can’t turn. So I had to unjam the blades.

This is the first time running my machine since then.

The blades spin inside the bucket. But I don’t know if my machine’s motor got broke inside.

I’m not a handy person. I can’t fix motors. A simple fix in someone else’s hands is a junkable situation in mine.

Every person is different, and I’m not Handy Manny.

I like my little electric composter machine. It doesn’t really compost; it dehydrates and grinds up the material put in.

I like that it gets the waste hot so I don’t have to deal with a bunch of mold and bacteria and whatever else might develop if you leave a bunch of loose compostable material around.

The electric composter I’ve got is an off-brand model. Like, it doesn’t have a name printed on the front of it–so I’m not affiliating myself with a company that could be terrible to their employees. But really it’s because I couldn’t afford to buy an expensive high-quality branded machine, and couldn’t rationalize my way into getting one that costs above a certain amount of money.

I was obsessing about electric composters for like a year before a sale dropped the price low enough that I was willing to get one.

And I love it.

It uses electricity, but it’s only a few cents per day. And if I had a solar panel setup or a little windmill, I could be able to run it "for free."

Yes, every appliance takes material to make. Running the machine releases "X amount of" exhaust.

So I realize that no appliance is ever "free" of costs and consequence.

But for what it is, I think it’s a net positive for me.

I have like OCD tendencies. I cannot maintain a conventional composting situation. Whether a big outdoor pile; the spinny bin; or even a series of holes dug out in a garden plot (You dump your daily kitchen scraps into a hole, layer it with dirt, and continue that over days until the hole is filled in to the point where animals won’t dig it up, then the rest of the hole is filled in with dirt. Then you move to the next hole and start again. Then you can use that plot for gardening a season or two later.). I can’t do it.

I have tried. It has been disastrous and horrifying. I can’t do it.

So the electric composter machine is the answer for me.

I can put in eggshells, kitchen scraps of vegetables and bits of fat, leftovers scraped off a plate, softened chicken bones, dead houseplants, coffee grounds. I just have to maintain a balance of ingredients.

Like, cooked food contains salts. So I can add a little bit of leftovers off someone’s plate, but I can’t add too much if I’m planning to use the results as compost. But honestly, I don’t put much leftovers in my machine. My mix is largely like cabbage leaves, coffee grounds, banana peels, and things like that.

We’ve been collecting then dumping my machine results in holes around the yard that we then fill in with dirt and let season. Just make sure it’s not too close to a tree or a bush you want to keep alive, because as the compost matures it does become a very strong fertilizer.

So most of my mixes are actually being composted and used to "feed" the land. But there’s been a few mixes that I made then threw into the kitchen trash bag. And that was because the mix was too wet when I added it into my storage container.

You want to let your mix cool down before you add it to your storage container. And you definitely want to make sure it’s a dry mix.

Otherwise just take that moist mix and put it right in a hole in the ground or to feed your worm farm. Any moisture in your storage container results in a gross situation you don’t want.

Like, the machine heats your mix to a high enough temperature to kill e.Coli and salmonella and a bunch of other baddies. And if you run your machine long enough, the result will be lightweight dry "soil"–but it’s dehydrated ground up food particulates.

A bit of moisture and you get gray fluffy mold. Yikes.

But as dehydrated food bits… An electric composter machine can help you create awesome mixes you can use for different stuff.

Like, you can sanitize the mixer bucket then use your machine to make food for your worm farm, for your pond fish, or to make a nice fertilizer spread to sprinkle over your newly sown ground cover. It’s basically a big spice grinder that dehydrates and chops up your kitchen scraps.

You can run a mix until it comes out like that lightweight soil they use on store plants where you can basically shake it off when it’s dry and it falls like brown fluff, or you can make a mix that’s like a crumbly cookie dough. There’s versatility there!

And my machine has two filters that I fill with loose activated charcoal pellets. And the whole purpose is to not have the machine blast a bunch of stink into the house. That’s it. That’s the whole purpose of the activated charcoal.

And I’ve been wondering if I can rinse the used charcoal then spread it out on a tarp to dry in the sun and then use it again.

I don’t think any gross stuff gets in the charcoal. Hot air runs through it, but it doesn’t come into direct contact with the compost itself. But still, I would probably have the used rinse water go into the sewer rather than directly into the yard.

Is there a way to sanitize activated charcoal pellets? I know some people wash then bake them.

The machine directions say I can drip some essential oil over top of the activated charcoal before running the machine, and the smell will be better. But I can’t try that because I have a cat. So I have no firsthand knowledge on whether adding essential oils results in a pleasant diffuser situation or a horrifying floral-scented hot garbage situation.

I like my machine. I just had to forget about the advertising around electric composter machines where the lady runs her machine, then shovels out the mix and immediately adds it to her potted plant.

Like, "You just killed your peace lily."

It’s better to think of the mix as being dehydrated food. If it gets wet, it becomes food again, and thus can rot and smell and create a big unwanted mess.

BUT if it’s mixed in a compost pile or mixed with a bunch of dirt and buried for a couple months, it becomes great plant food. Fertilizer. Conventional compost created in a roundabout fashion.

And knowing that it’s just dehydrated food, it has to be understood that throwing it away in the garbage means that it goes to the landfill. And its just been dried out… when it starts breaking down it releases the same amount of methane as it would if it hadn’t been dehydrated and chopped up.

It’s a minimized form of the same amount of garbage that it started out as. The greenhouse emissions it produces does not change.

So compost the "compost" you get out of your electric composter machine, and that would be the best thing to do with your mix.

Plus you can know what you’re putting in your garden or fertilizing your fruit trees with. I mean, I’ve bought those big bags of fruit and vegetable mix soil–from a NAME BRAND!–and there were chunks of green plastic in it. Like, they must have been chopping their mix up and someone dropped a green plastic piece in there on accident or something, but it was pieces of plastic being introduced into my garden.

I did not like that, Sam I am.

And just for a thought experiment:

I think it would be cool to have an apartment building or something where there’s a shared electric composter machine, but it’s a big industrial size one at like the center of the building. And people drop their stuff down into it, but the hole isn’t big enough for someone to fall in. And then the filter/exhaust port releases into a vent that has fans in it, and the exhaust causes the fans to spin, and that energy is collected to run air conditioning that blows through the whole building.

People can close the vent if it’s too cold for them, and their individual apartments have their own heating systems they can control. And during the summertime, people don’t die from the heat.

And in wintertime, the energy from the fans can be collected and used by the residents of the building. Like, they’re going to be running more heat because it’s cold. They’re going to be running their lights longer because it’s darker earlier. Maybe there’s a gym in the building or a laundry room or a shared indoor garden–all things that require electricity.

Like, you could have a building that has solar panels, and that electricity is used to run the shared electric composter machine, and the exhaust of the electric composter machine is used to spin the air conditioning fans.

I’m not a scientist or an inventor. I’m a consumer that can think about and wish for things I would like to use as a consumer. Things that the "techbros" are not funding because they’re no longer people that produce technology, they just wear nerd-clothes and accumulate wealth so they can show off to their bullies (the people that refused to put up with their narcissistic nonsense) and punish the people that didn’t want to have sex with them.

We need more inventors making inventions that people want to use, and less guys that just want to get rich quick by victimizing the public.

Please.

~Harper Kingsley

https://paypal.me/harperkingsley.

https://patreon.com/harperkingsley.

https://ko-fi.com/harperwck.

https://amazon.com/shop/harperkingsley0.
https://www.harperkingsley.net/blog.
https://kimichee.com.

https://www.youtube.com/c/HarperKingsley.

https://harperkingsley.bsky.social.
https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/HarperKingsley.