The MiL had to wander far afield yesterday and luckily went past the farm that sells Jersey cow milk. Jersey milk, for those of you who have never had the great pleasure of encountering it, is just about the best milk there is. It has a higher fat content than the ordinary milk you get at the grocery store--which most likely comes from Holstein cows--and that makes it that much more delicious.
Jersey milk is the Rolls Royce of milks. And it elevates my already-beloved coffee with chicory to something approaching ambrosia. I'm drinking it right now. It's a good start to the day.
This day will also include some spectacular weather. It's supposed to be about 78 degrees with sun and low humidity. This has been a relentlessly humid summer, so it's nice to dry out a little.
And most importantly, my parents are at this very moment asleep just a mile down the road from Blackrock. At least, I assume they are. They were supposed to arrive at their rented cottage around midnight last night. I didn't wait up for them, because I don't love them that much*.
But they love Charlie enough to fly all the way from Arizona for his first birthday. Lucky boy.
It's going to be a really good day.
* J.K.! I totally would have waited up for them. But only if they promised to get up at 5:30 a.m. with my children. Mothers of small children do not stay up until midnight if it can be at all avoided.
Have a wonderful birthday celebration--and family gathering! Mary in MN
ReplyDeleteOoooh, I love Jersey milk. Here in the UK they sell "Channel Island milk," and I'm not sure if it is a rip-off of Jersey milk or just a broader thing because they also have Jersey cows on Guernsey and Sark or something. Either way, it's pretty good. I'll stop here so I don't bore you with a paragraph about differences in British and US milkfat percentages and prices, because I've been known to do that.
ReplyDeleteHappy first birthday to Charlie!
Grabd day for a grand little chap.
ReplyDeleteWe used to have a Jersey..two actually but not at the same time.
Jersey milk makes wonderful butter.
I bet your parents WOULD have volunteered to get up with the babies this morning.
Beth
Of course, that would be GRAND ....
ReplyDeletegoodness. :) Beth
MIL here, in response to Haley: Guernseys are another Channel Island breed, one that also produces very rich milk. In days gone by, Alderney also had a eponomous breed, the Alderney, to which one can find references in 19th century British novels, as it was considered top-of-the-the line. The Alderney and Guernsey were closely related and interbred a bit. The Alderneys were exterminated during one of the world wars -- I'm not sure whether I could tell the difference between Guernsey milk and Jersey milk -- but in my grandfather's day (he was a Guernsey breeder and Cubby's great, great grandfather)Guersney milk was considered to be the very best tasting.
ReplyDeleteThanks, MIL! I'm guessing most brands use both Jersey and Guernsey milk, so that's why they don't differentiate and just call it Channel Island milk.
ReplyDeleteThe Guernsey cow is a special breed. Guernsey milk is higher in beta carotene (a precursor of Vit A), giving it a beautiful golden color year round. Other breeds only have some gold color in their milk when the cows are out on pasture in the spring and early summer. The rest of the year Holstein milk is chalky white.
ReplyDeleteToo bad commercialization took over and ended single sourced milk. Now it's all just processed together and it's almost exclusively Holstein milk. I think a small dairy could figure out a way to market it at a premium if they could find a way to sell it legally that didn't cost a fortune. We need local/regional micro processing facilities.
The Guernsey cow is a special breed. Guernsey milk is higher in beta carotene (a precursor of Vit A), giving it a beautiful golden color year round. Other breeds only have some gold color in their milk when the cows are out on pasture in the spring and early summer. The rest of the year Holstein milk is chalky white.
ReplyDeleteToo bad commercialization took over and ended single sourced milk. Now it's all just processed together and it's almost exclusively Holstein milk. I think a small dairy could figure out a way to market it at a premium if they could find a way to sell it legally that didn't cost a fortune. We need local/regional micro processing facilities.