Friday Finds #93: Homemade Yogurt and a 103-Year-Old Pianist

 

1 – Canva Alternative

Canva has been a major tool for years in both my studio and here on Piano Pantry. Designing social media images is made easy with tools like Canva. I’ve recently been made aware of another one out there called Design Wizard I’m going to be playing with. Does anyone else use Design Wizard? If so, I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments!

 

2 – Copyright Education

Recently I was reading through a page on copyright FAQs that MTNA has on their website. I would encourage you to read through it, as it’s always good to refresh our minds on copyright laws. They also link to a really fun educational video that would be great to share with students – I’m going to have mine watch it during lab time.

 

3 – 103-year-old pianist

There really is no age limit to music-making. This 103-year-old woman is proof. Although, I must say she sure doesn’t look 103 to me!

 

4 – Instagram Stories

After my friend, Christina (who write the Varsity Musician’s Playbook series here on PP), made me realize Instagram was the place to build community within my studio, I’ve been a fan of the social media platform ever since.  (Find me here). Instagram Stores are still a strange phenomenon to me though. I don’t really get it, but want to learn more. This article is a great tutorial.

 

5 – Homemade Yogurt

My parents got me this Instant Pot for Christmas. For years I’ve been wanting to make homemade yogurt but never made the effort. My instant pot sat and stared me in the face for a month before I even tried it. My husband was the first to try making yogurt in it and thanks to his initiative, it’s now a favorite.

It’s incredibly creamy and surprisingly a lot less bitter than any store-bought plain Greek yogurts I’ve tried. Here’s the recipe I’m using. (We found that 2% milk made just as good of yogurt as whole milk so we’re sticking with that). Be sure and drain the yogurt in a colander lined with cheesecloth set inside a bowl to get the thickest Greek yogurt. We usually do so overnight. Here’s the cheesecloth I buy.

 

6 – Welcoming Visitors

Why I don’t sit with my husband at church.

 

7 – Routine Pep-Talk

The Universal Path to Live-Giving Routine

 

8 – Grants Deadline

The deadline for MTNA Grant applications is coming up next week on May 1. For years it never even crossed my mind that I should apply for a grant. Once I did, I wondered why in the world I hadn’t tried sooner. I received a grant last year to attend the GIML (Gordon Institute for Music Learning) Conference and the year prior it was to attend the GIML Professional Development Level training for piano in Boston. It’s a great opportunity – don’t let it pass you by!