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Thursday, February 7, 2019

Milking It

I love this creamy organic milk. Image from stonyfield.com.
As a I step away from sugary treats--to the left, to the left, devilish cupcakes and brownies--coffee and milk [both together and apart] have become primary indulgences.

I love a hot latte or a tall tumbler of milk. But I don't want them to be ordinary. Just as I sought out the finest dark chocolates for years, in every city and town I visited, I seek out the best coffee beans and organic milks.

Years back at Good Housekeeping, we were reporting for the Nutrition/Diet/Fitness pages about, if I remember correctly, a blind taste test among staffers, comparing regular and organic milk. The conclusion? No real difference in terms of richness and taste.

But when the copy went on for approval [as every piece of copy did] to our formidable editor in chief, she came back to me and told me to check with another editor on staff, someone who had grown up in the Midwest, someone who bought organic milk for her family. That second editor said yes, definitely, organic milk tasted richer and creamier.

I can't remember how our report ended up; we may have tweaked a sentence to give a nod to that opinion.

Cream of the Crop
Now I'm into pure organic milks, even though they cost a lot more than regular pours. I also like young Punch to have them. The milk truck has passed for Figgy, since she is vegan, and Dan generally pours his milk into coffee, so it doesn't matter as much.

My favorite--better than Organic Valley Grassmilk ["cream on top"--and almost $7 per half-gallon], Byrne Hollow Farm and Whole Foods 365 Brand Organic--is Stonyfield Organic Whole Milk. It's rich and creamy--dessert in a glass, night cap in a cup. This is a true treat for someone who grew up with powdered milk, stirred in a pitcher to avoid lumps. [Dan remembers powdered milk from his childhood, too.]

And coffee! My favorites at the moment are Toby's Estate in a decaf latte and Joyist's Java Love brew in a regular latte, poured into a wide, deep to-stay cup.

How about you? I would love to know.

TCOY
  1. 7 a.m. support group; helpful.
  2. Walked around block.
  3. Oatmeal with pure pumpkin, almonds Sis brought back from Cali, a little maple sugar, a little cream, a shake of cinnamon and 1 T? dark chocolate chips. 
  4. Met my friend for an important talk/insights.
  5. Tweaked resume, resent to someone I know.
  6. Ate veggies at lunch and dinner.
  7. Ice water.
  8. Said yes to another freelance assignment.
$ MONEY OUT OF POCKET
  • Gas pump, near a half tank, $15.
  • Tolls to drive Parkway to friend's house: Estimate [since we have E-Z Pass], $1.50.
  • ShopRite, hot [but not fried] food bar for lunch, $8.18.
  • ShopRite, small bag chips, peanut butter, large hummus, bananas and half-gallon of my Stonyfield milk, on sale, 80 cents off reg price, so $4.49. Wow, yesterday I bought the same milk at Kings for $5.89. Balance, $10.72.
  • Java Love with Punch after school and before CCD, her drink, donut, $3 Valentine's Day donation for good cause that helps adolescents and tip, about $12.50.
  • First order on Tobysestate.com; I registered and got 10 percent off. I love that you can choose French press grind; the Ghost Town label with pink accent for decaf; and the fact that the shipping by First-Class Mail from Brooklyn is $2.65 [you could also pay $35+ to get the 12-oz. bag overnight by UPS!!!!!!] $15.93.

DAILY TOTAL: $63.83.









6 comments:

  1. I like milk, too, but rarely have a whole glass. 1% is how I roll--in my coffee and oatmeal and occasional cold cereal. I have used 1% for so long that I don't think I could drink whole milk straight, but it is nice in coffee. If the whole milk I leave in the airbnb is only half used, we bring that up and finish it off in coffee as a treat. I can tolerate skim in my cereals, but do not like it in coffee. Just too thin. I have become fussy about my coffee, too. I enjoy Stumptown, but I mainly buy Counter Culture (a roast from NC sold at my nearby coffee place. Apollo is the mix I like and we go French press. Ever since my introduction to it in Portland!

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    1. Hi Kim. My college roommate, Meggy, said the same--after many years of skim etc., whole milk tastes too rich. I loved it when I stayed with Anne and Elly in an Airbnb in the Catskills and they left a retro glass bottle of milk. I like those coffee brands, also. :) Alice xox

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  2. Not a milk gourmand. Also 1% milk In coffee and a cup at night with dinner. I drink a ton of water during the day, and nothing else, so milk at dinner something different. Peter likes half n half for coffee and has cut to one cup (goodfor him!), sometimes I will have that.

    I love coffee, but I react strongly to caffeine in my old age so none after the morning. (And no chocolate at night). I have let it creep up to 2-3 cups. When I am on my game I switch to herbal teas or hot water. I try to interrupt the sugar stream bynot sweetening teas, but def sweeten coffee.
    Liz

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    1. Liz, I need to get back to more water! It is so healthy for us all. Yeah, I stop caffeinated coffee by 5 and switch to decaf if I have any after that. Thanks for the note! Alice

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  3. I buy 2%. The boys drink a lot of it. I also buy chocolate Fairlife … I think I talked to you about this before. It's got extra protein and is very high in calories. James needs a little boost to gain weight as he plays two intense sports and is built like Peter. It helped!

    Do you remember Michelle T., who I think was a freelance copy editor when we were at GH? She had a little carton of milk with her lunch every day. She would give me kind lectures, as a 30something with kids to a 20something who definitely was NOT thinking about bone density. She would tell me to have some calcium every day. That was very sweet, now that I think about it.

    My mom was a major consumer of milk and she had really strong bones -- bounced right back from some bad falls, whereas a lot of older Irish ladies are prone to osteoporosis.

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  4. Hi Eileen. Great Michelle T. story! So good! She lives in Montclair, and I ran into her recently. I think her daughter is getting married soon. :) I love this: "My mom was a major consumer of milk and she had really strong bones -- bounced right back from some bad falls, whereas a lot of older Irish ladies are prone to osteoporosis." That is inspiring. You know, my weight is not what I want it to be, and skim or low-fat milk would probably help, but whole milk is my treat now.....I hope I'm not sabotaging myself. I have bought that Fairlife milk at your suggestion, and it is also very good, and I do think it helped Punchy, too. I've gotten Fairlife small Smart Snacks chocolate nutrition shakes at CVS [sold in four-packs, often on sale] made with honey and oats and P likes those, too. I like to have them around for her. I hope all is well. Love, Alice

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