Good enough to spread on a cracker

Greetings to 2012 - I've been looking forward to you. I feel much more comfortable with even numbers.
I began the year, as no doubt Iggy Pop, Keith Richards and Lady Gaga did, by making cheese from yogurt, which I've been meaning to try for a long time.
It's called labna, and it's a soft, white cheese with a sharp taste, excellent for spreading on a cracker, or in this case, a piece of home made Melba toast.

Ít's so easy to make, a monkey could do it. You just take 600ml of plain natural yogurt, like so.

Mix two teaspoons of salt into it and put it into a sieve, which has been lined with muslin, or in this case, a new dishcloth. Place the sieve over a bowl and cover the yogurt with plastic wrap, so the whole set up looks like this.

So it's one less thing for me to remember, I write on top when it will be ready which is 48 hours from when you first start draining the yogurt.

Once the yogurt has drained for 48 hours roll it into small balls, it's easy and less messy if you use two spoons to do this.
Carefully roll each ball in finely chopped fresh herbs, like basil, mint, dill or parsley. You could also use ground spices, and add a sprig of rosemary, garlic or chilli to the bottle.
Place each ball into a wide mouthed glass jar and cover the balls with olive oil.

They'll keep for at least two weeks. Put the balls in salads, spread on crackers or toast. It's really worth trying.
Hoping everyone had a great Christmas and New Year. We arrived home from doing some errands on Christmas eve to find our street engulfed in smoke and all the neighbours standing in our yard looking terrified.
I swear my husband and I were out of the car before it even stopped, however, it wasn't our house on fire, but the one across the road.
With the delay in the fire brigade being able to locate the house, despite having the address, and further delays in locating water, the house is just a burnt out shell. On the upside, no one was hurt, not even the 14 year old blue cattle dog who lived there. The cause is believed to be Christmas lights.

Happy new year to you! It's going to be a good one, I can just tell!