Making Kefir is a simple procedure, requiring only a few minutes of your time. Writing a recipe, however, is a problem. It is easier to start in the middle with the daily routine of making Kefir and then go back to explain how to buy your first Kefir grains.

Assuming that there is a quart jar of 2 or 3-day old Kefir standing on the counter top in the kitchen, this is the procedure:

1. Taste the Kefir to see that it is finished to your taste.
2. Pour the Kefir through a strainer into a bowl.
3. With the back of a spoon, gently press some of the remaining liquid from the Kefir grains.
4. Wash the Kefir grains that are in the strainer under the faucet or with a spray. Move the grains around in the strainer once or twice to be sure that the grains at the bottom are also being washed. The grains should be thoroughly clean.
5. Put the washed grains of Kefir into a quart of fresh milk. (Do not have the jar of milk completely full. Allow room for the addition of the Kefir grains.)
   A tea cupful of grains to a quart of fresh goats milk is just about right for a slightly thick Kefir drink. As your Kefir grains grow past this amount, you can start a second jar of milk.
6. Stir with a clean spoon, place a saucer on top of the jar to keep out the dust, and set the jar back out of the way on the counter top.
7. Pour the strained Kefir that is in the bowl back into the jar that it was made in, put on a top, and refrigerate.
8. Allow the new Kefir to stand for two or three days, stirring once or twice a day as you think of it.
9. Taste the Kefir milk occasionally after the second day in order to determine when it is done to your taste.
10. Repeat this process from No. 2 through No. 9 to start a new jar of Kefir.

Beatrice Trum Hunter has an excellent section on Kefir on pages 75-83 in her book, Yogurt & Other Milk Cultures. She gives the history of Kefir, its unusual health values, and a few excellent recipes. If her directions for freezing Kefir grains (middle of page 79) are followed carefully, it is a simple matter to store your Kefir grains during the winter when your goats are dry.