Bovines, cream, and milk jugs!

I have the coolest family.

This week, after a slight delivery error, I received a present in the mail from my father-in-law, sister-in-law, and brother-in-law.

That's a lot of "in-law", so instead, I am just going to call them my father, sister, and brother henceforth.  Okay?  Okay.

Anyway, I received this package and I was elated, ecstatic, and awe-struck with the beautiful treasure tucked inside:

Isn't she a beaut!

A lovely, cork-topped milk container - complete with four milk glasses.  And, ahem, did I mention that they all have a cow on them?

I am in love.  Loooooove.

And the best part is?  It's functional!  You see, we receive a raw milk delivery every two weeks.  We order a gallon of milk, which is enough to get us through until the next delivery.  However, because it's not pasteurized, our raw milk sours quickly (usually, about a week and a half).  In order to not waste any of our precious, ridiculously expensive milk, we freeze it.  (Don't worry, my super-smart-chemist friend Aileen told me that is preserves all the good bacteria perfectly!)  Anyway, we slowly defrost a little bit at a time as we need it and then just keep the remainder of the milk in the freezer.

My point being this: We need a cute container to store our milk in after it has been defrosted!

Enter: Cool, vintage milk jug from my father, sister, and brother.

I love it when things work out this way.  It makes me happy.

And now, I want to drink more milk just so that I can use a cute glass with a cow on it. 

Simple pleasures, my friends.  Simple pleasures.

On that same dairy note, I was at the health food store today picking up a few things when I ran across this little gem:

After months of searching, I finally found pasteurized cream!  While I was hoping to find raw cream, I've learned it's not available for commercial sale in Washington state.  I have been let down repeatedly at the store, as even with "organic" cream, they only will sell it ultra-pasteurized.   I don't want it ultra-pasteurized!

Ultra-pasteurized = Ultra-dead.

You can read more about that here.

To find this cream was a real score!  And at only $4, it was roughly comparable to an organic ultra-pasteurized cream from the grocery store.  While I wish that I could just skim the cream off the top of our raw milk, we don't seem to get enough to culminate into much.  And because I'd like to make my own butter one day, it was important to find a good cream source.

Bonus: It comes in a super adorable, reusable glass bottle.  A perfect bottle to reuse for homemade kombucha!

After all this dairy excitement, it may be possible that I enter into a lacto-induced coma within the next twenty four hours.

Please come and check on me if I do not return tomorrow. 

I'm sure that fresh whipped cream will bring me out of it. 

Love,
Your bovine, cream, and milk loving friend