Kefir to Curds and Whey, and lots of it!

I started learning about Kefir a year or so ago, but I didn't know anyone who made it. I knew I needed some live little grains, but I just didn't want to order them online. Then, a couple of weeks ago, I was taking dinner to a (very deserving!!) friend and we were chatting in her kitchen. I looked over on the counter and thought to myself, "Why does Julie have a jar of milk sitting on her counter with a paper towel on the top?" Then it hit me, she's Kefir-ing! As soon as I asked her if that's what it was, she very graciously offered to give me some grains next time she had extra. I was so excited! Well, Julie is a woman of her word, and in less than a week I had Kefir grains, including a handout with all kinds of great info and recipes.
I made my first batch, about 12 ounces, and turned it into a strawberry smoothie for my husband before work. That was great and he loved it, but the rest of us were left wanting some also. Well, on the handout Julie gave me, there was a technique for brewing a gallon in 2-3 days. "Great," I thought, "I'll make a gallon and then there will be plenty for all of us!" Probably not the best idea with my 2nd batch of Kefir. Honestly, I have no idea what I'm doing yet!! All was going well, and I woke up on the day 3 and thought it looked ready. However, I had to leave early that morning and didn't have time to separate the grains and refrigerate the finished Kefir. "I'll just do it when I get home this afternoon," I thought to myself. I arrived home about 5 pm, to find my 'Kefir' floating on about 3 inches of some unkown, clear fluid. It turns out, when you brew the Kefir too long, you get curds and whey, who knew?! Well actually, plenty of people know, and thanks to the internet, I am now one of them. Determined not to let it go to waste, I separated what whey I could and the rest will be made into smoothies with frozen strawberries, bananas and real maple syrup for sweetener. The kids and I had it for breakfast and it was actually really good! If you are wondering what exactly Kefir is, this gal has a great page explaining it. Now I just have to go buy some more frozen strawberries so we can use up the rest of my Kefir, uh, I mean curds and whey. Maybe we'll have Kefir next week . . .