I love the tangy flavor of yogurt. I think it's delicious both sweetened and plain and use it all the time as a substitute for sour cream. I would have guessed yogurt was hard to make, but I was surprised ? there's really not much to it.

If you read the recipes, making yogurt sounds complicated, but in fact, all you have to do is combine milk with a starter culture and keep it warm. Then, you cool the mixture in the refrigerator and there it is: Homemade yogurt!

We made yogurt at my house this weekend following a very simple recipe. Here's how it works:

1. Start with milk.(We used a quart of organic milk.)

Yogurt is a fermented food thought to have originated in Turkey. For centuries, people have made yogurt as a simple food preservation technique. Yogurt contains bacteria that produce lactic acid, which helps prevent milk from spoiling, makes it thicker and produces the tangy taste.

Yogurt from cow's milk is what most of us in the United States are used to, but in other parts of the world it's often made with goat or sheep milk. The nice thing about making your own yogurt is that you have complete control over what you use: goat's milk, skim milk, organic milk or even raw milk. It's entirely up to you.

2.Control the Heat.(We put the milk in a pot on the stove, and used a candy thermometer to monitor the temperature.)

The idea is to bring the temperature of the milk to just below boiling (about 200 degrees F) and keep it there for about 10 minutes. This kills any undesirable bacteria in the milk, and helps it thicken. After it's been cooking for 10 minutes, you need to cool the milk to about 120 degrees F. We put our pot of milk in a pan of cold water, using the candy thermometer to watch the temperature.

This is just one way to do it. Many yogurt recipes recommend using a double boiler instead of a regular pot. You can also buy a yogurt maker, which sounds like a simpler way to get the temperature right. Yogurt makers range in cost from about $15 to $50.

3. Add the Bacteria. (We used one-quarter cup of plain yogurt.)

Now you need to add the starter culture, which has the bacteria that turns the milk into yogurt. That sounds hard to find, but it's not. All you need is a little plain yogurt. Who knew? Yogurt creates more yogurt.