Yogurt and Tooth Aches

Write, no,
housework, medium,
concentrate on anything long enough to be productive, ugh, sigh,

discover new yogurt, check!

Looks like the universe has sent me a number of lessons in the form of the worst tooth ache of my life. There has been little to rejoice about these past 10 days, or so I thought, until I tasted "noosa, finest yoghurt". Let me back up.

Children come down with things all the time. Someone always has a cold or a sore throat or a tummy ache. Poor Alienor, 9, has had repetitive pain in her teeth. She has too many and an "advanced dentition for her age." I have tried to be sympathetic, but sometimes the same refrain was honestly, getting old, "my teeth hurt." Really? Again? That much? 

Yes, it does really hurt that much. trust me. Sorta wrecks one's day, or night. I will be more empathetic to the pains and aches of people of all ages from now on. Who was it that said that there is no better person to have at one's bedside than a hypochondriac? 

Second benefit; a raid on the local grocer's yogurt section yesterday produced a real treat, one I did not think I would ever encounter in the US; fantastic Greek yoghurt. The reason; I needed some extra probiotics in a form that my son would eat because both he and I are on antibiotics. I got some plain, natural yogurt, the kind without the icky gelatin effect. I moved on to a new chocolate kind that Alienor discovered and thought it would be just like the "creme" in France that her mamie keeps them stocked in. It wasn't, more nasty gelatin ruined that one. And I found the new Greek yoghurt selection, it was huge! I bought a couple different brands to try. Now, Greek yoghurt, or strained yoghurt, is special in that it is a thicker, creamier version of yogurt, without the fat. It is strained to remove the whey, leaving it lush and smooth and satisfying. There are many uses for strained yogurt, both savory and sweet. As soon as I got home and the children heard that we'd found new yogurt, they all set into my stock like starving bandits. It looked like I would be returning all too soon to the grocery store. But it did not pan out quite that way. 

One brand of the "Greek" stuff was eaten, passed around to taste, and given an "OK" review, but with the caveat; "it's not like in France." True. I would use the plain variety of this brand again, in sauces, in salad dressing, even for a sugar-free dessert  with fresh fruit .The chocolate and caramel kind we ate as a special dessert was a huge deception, only Puck even finished it. He finished two or three, so I guess if your expectations are different, it is OK stuff. The problem: it looked just like the dessert in France, it was written in French, but it had been America-fied for sale here, awful. However...the "noosa"; oh my! While it makes no claims of Greekness, it has all of the wonderful qualities of a Greek yogurt. It is creamy, it is delicious, the selection of fruits is outstanding (strawberry rhubarb?!) and it almost makes up for the fact that my crown is fast approaching the "need a root canal" stage...but I'll need to go get some more of the blueberry kind before that happens.

Recipe: Cucumbers in Greek Yoghurt Dressing

Peel, seed (if you really want to do it the French way, this means removing most of the seeds, then soaking in rock salt to remove more moisture, I usually skip these steps) and slice the cucumbers.

Sauce: 2T plain Greek yoghurt

            1T olive oil

            1T balsamic or wine vinegar

            salt and pepper to taste

Mix ingredients of sauce, toss with cucumbers. Bon appetit!