Tales of the Canal Zone
I have just discovered a treasure trove of first-hand tales of living
in the old Canal Zone. Of course, it's been there all along, but I
never noticed it before. It's on the Panama Canal Society website
http://www.pancanalsociety.org/.
Click on the bottom of the page where it says, “View Articles, Memoirs,
and Pictures submitted by members of their memories of the canal zone.”
Here is the direct link.
http://www.pancanalsociety.org/articles.php
Lactose-Free Yogurt
Like so many other over-the-counter medicines and supplements which US
residents take routinely, Lactaid or any other supplements for the
lactose intolerant, is simply not available in Panama. There would seem
to me to be a big market for Lactaid here, but most Panamanians have
never heard of it. Most people deal with it by simply not eating ice
cream or yogurt or drinking milk. Nora had done so for years, but
several years back she discovered Dos Pinos Brand Delactomy milk. This
lactose-free milk is sold in most Super Markets. It is available in
quart
size boxes and has been treated at very high temperatures. It can be
safely stored for several months without refrigeration. Nora has been
drinking it for years, and I use it in the corn bread I make for us.
I eat a lot of yogurt, and Nora likes yogurt too, but because of the
lactose she is always afraid to eat very much. I had been making yogurt
a few years ago, but got out of the habit because it was a little bit
too much trouble to make just for me. However, I recently built a
dehydrator and tried it out as a yogurt maker. It worked great, both
for making yogurt and dehydrating veggies, making beef jerky, etc. I
will work up a bill of materials and a set of plans and post on the
website for anyone who wants an easy-to-build dehydrator/yogurt maker.
Back to the yogurt. I offered Nora some of the first batch, and she
declined because of the lactose, which causes her a lot of stomach
pains. Then I had a flash of inspiration; why not make yogurt from
lactose-free milk? I had no idea if it would work, in part because of
the VHT treatment, but it was a simple matter to put about a pint of
her Delactomy milk with a tablespoon of
store-bought yogurt in the machine, adjust it to maintain about 115
degrees F and wait. (See Newsletter #34, Nov 21, 2005 for complete
yogurt making instructions.) The first batch was a failure, and I
suspect that the Bonlac yogurt I used for starter was not live. The
next try, using Riba Smith house brand Natural yogurt for starter
worked like a charm. The yogurt had good
texture and flavor, so after two more batches, using my home-made
yogurt for starter, I figured the lactose content was back to near-zero
and she has suffered no ill effects from it. As a bonus, the milk is
sterile, so I can dispense with boiling the milk if the box has not yet
been opened.
December Events.
It's a busy month in our family. First there's Mother's Day, Dec 8.
John, our youngest was born on Dec 9, my daughter Kimberly on Dec 19,
Daughter-in-law Dayanara Dec 20, me on Dec 22, then Christmas, and
finally my oldest son Karl on Dec 28.
Every year about this time, I swear that next year I WILL do my
Christmas shopping in July, and every year it creeps up on me.
Fortunately, I discovered that I could email an Amazon.com gift card,
and get immediate delivery. This may be the answer for those last
minute gifts or when you just can't spare the time to go shopping and
mail a gift.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/gc/ref=g_gc-gc_dp_redirect
Hey Dude! Where's my Money? Update 2
Our money, deposited by check drawn on my US bank on December 1st
finally made it into our local account on December 23d. The check
reached my US bank on December 4th, so for 19 days someone else had the
use of our money, even though I paid the local bank $5.00 for being
allowed to put my money there.