A few years ago there was a popular series of ads based on the question \u201cGot Milk?\u201d. \u00a0My thought was always \u201cYes!!\u201d. \u00a0When I was growing up the milk cow was a basic staple of farm life. \u00a0This is a picture of my dad with the last milk cow that we owned. \u00a0Milking the cow was always part of dad\u2019s duties. \u00a0I would remember getting up in the winter and looking out the window while it was still dark outside. \u00a0There would always be a light in the barn, meaning daddy\u2019s day had already started.<\/p>\n
One cow would always give more milk than my family could use. \u00a0Back when I was growing up we would drink milk with practically every meal and still have milk left over. \u00a0Not sure what modern nutritionist\u2019s would think of a diet with that much whole milk in it but we managed to do OK.<\/p>\n
We would sell or trade the extra with different neighbors and relatives. \u00a0Mom would also sell extra butter that we would produce. \u00a0One time a neighbor wanted to buy some milk from us. \u00a0My mom asked the lady if her children would drink it since they were used to \u201cthe store bought stuff\u201d. \u00a0She said she would find out. She came back in a few days and said they did not drink it at first but she figured out a way for it to work. \u00a0The lady would take the milk and pour it over into jugs from the grocery store. \u00a0The children never said another word.<\/p>\n
Every year you \u00a0would have to turn the cow \u201cdry\u201d \u00a0when she was getting ready to have a calf. \u00a0During this time we would get milk from our uncle. \u00a0He and my dad would always try to coordinate when their milk cows were bred so we could have milk all year long. \u00a0Back in those days there were several people that still had milk cows in the area. \u00a0I am afraid this is another casualty of our current culture.<\/p>\n
As I mentioned earlier, \u00a0Mom also made a lot of butter back in those days. \u00a0Thankfully this was after electric churns were in use. \u00a0I do not remember how much mom would make in a week but we would always have extra, even though we did eat a lot. Breakfast usually ended with a hot homemade biscuit filled with butter and jelly. \u00a0After churning the butter, mom would always press the butter into a mold that would shape the butter into a form for storage. \u00a0Most people had a wooden butter mold although I have seena few made out of metal. \u00a0Most of the time the top of the mold would have some sort of image carved into it so a design would be on top of the finished cake of butter. \u00a0If I remember correctly ours had a bird carved in it.<\/p>\n
Another fun part of having all that milk and cream was getting to make homemade ice cream in the summer. \u00a0The first ice cream maker we had was manual with a hand crank. \u00a0A lot of times this would be a Sunday afternoon family project. \u00a0My parents, sister, and myself would take turns cranking for what seemed like forever. \u00a0The longer you cranked, the harder it was to turn. \u00a0I did not mind that because I knew that finished ice cream was not far away. \u00a0That ice cream was delicious, especially after all of that cranking. \u00a0We finally got an electric freezer that is still in the basement. \u00a0Sometime I may have to get it out and give it a try.<\/p>\n
The final\u00a0part of this to mention\u00a0was buttermilk. \u00a0This is something a could not develop a taste for, although me dad used to drink it on occasion. \u00a0In my opinion it\u2019s main purpose is to be an ingredient in biscuits.<\/p>\n
Well, so much for my thoughts about the family milk cow. \u00a0Hope you have a nice day.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A few years ago there was a popular series of ads based on the question \u201cGot Milk?\u201d. \u00a0My thought was always \u201cYes!!\u201d. \u00a0When I was growing up the milk cow was a basic staple of farm life. \u00a0This is a picture of my dad with the last milk cow that we owned. \u00a0Milking the cow…
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