I admit it: In many ways, I am absolutely a big ol’ stereotypical lesbian. My partner and I listen to folk music. We have cats, and drink herbal tea.

I have even, at one time in my life, worn Birkenstocks. Oh, the humanity.

And for breakfast, Barb and I often sit down to bowls of yogurt and granola. The granola is frequently homemade, which means we can sweeten to our liking, and use whatever ingredients happen to be floating around in the pantry. The latest batch involved some chopped Brazil nuts and extra wheat germ.

Making your own granola is not really news, as far as I’m concerned. Lots of our friends do it. But very recently, I made my first batch of homemade yogurt. Truly, I have reached some new level of stereotypical crunchy lesbianness.

Barb and I eat a lot of yogurt, and of course it’s always the organic stuff, which drives the price of our grocery bill up. This weekend, some friends passed along an unused yogurt maker that was taking up space in their pantry. A special appliance isn’t necessary, but the machine, basically a low-temperature crockpot, does make it easier and came to us free, and I’ve been wanting to experiment with yogurt for quite some time.

I spent Monday morning scalding milk and sterilizing equipment. By Tuesday morning, we had fresh, homemade yogurt, with whole milk from a local, organic dairy. The yogurt tastes fresh and sweet, if a little runny. I might let the next batch incubate longer. (Yes, there will be a next batch.)

And of course, it cost me a fraction of the price of store-bought organic yogurt. And I think mine tasted better.

Sadly, this new activity does nothing to dispel the crunchy-lesbian stereotype, but I’ll embrace yogurt-making if it means saving a few dollars in living expenses and eating a good breakfast. Plus it’s fun.

Tell me: is there a stereotype that describes you well, for better or worse? Does it help keep money in your pocket? And does it lead to new, fun activities where you get to eat the results of your labor? That’s my favorite part.