For the past six months I have been playing with kefir. I read an article about making ginger ale in a Grass Roots magazine (GR211) and decided this could be fun. The article suggested that the ale could be made with kefir powder or grains. Since it appeared that grains were only available online, I decided to search for the powder.
When I visited my local health food store, I was offered a kefir milk culture. I hesitated as I have always considered myself lactose intolerant, but then curiosity got the better of me. So I walked away with the culture along with a packet of kefir powder sachets.
The kefir milk culture is amazing as it provides an easy way to make yoghurt. If a friend offers a kefir culture, I recommend accepting it. Put the culture into a glass bottle and pour in a litre of milk.  Loosely cap the bottle and after 24 hours store the bottle in the fridge, still loosely capped. Start a new batch by placing ½ cup of the remaining kefir into a clean bottle and repeat the steps. I let the first batch sit on the counter for a few days. By this time, the mix had separated into curds and whey. It was an early lesson on what not to do with kefir, and now the mix is always placed in the fridge around the 24 hour mark. However, it is helpful to know how to make a serious amount of whey if needed for a recipe.
The mix continues fermenting while sitting in the fridge so it is important to loosely cap the bottle. I have two jars with lids that easily pop up if the p...