Milk

Rosie Ahern of Willits, Calif., was looking for a recipe for pineapple squares that she remembers from her childhood. Her mother, who baked bread on a weekly basis, came across the recipe on a package of Fleischmann's yeast. Barbara Davis of Salisbury sent in the recipe she believes is likely the one Ahern was searching for. The photocopy she sent in appears to be from a magazine advertisement for Fleischmann's yeast. She says she has had it since it was published back in the 1950s and it is still a favorite with her family today.

Ron Holter likes to say he's farming as God intended, without pesticides on the grass fields or hormones or antibiotics in the cows. But visitors to his organic dairy farm west of Frederick on Tuesday also heard about how the Earth, animals, consumers - and his pocketbook - are also benefiting. Holter, a fifth-generation farmer at Holterholm Farm in Jefferson, was host to a field day for about 50 farmers to spread the gospel. He's had the tours before, but this year he added speakers on grazing management, farm income and marketing from the day's sponsors at the Maryland Grazer's Network.

Got milk? You should Laura Vozzella's June 7 story on milk may have actually confused more than clarified how to navigate milk choices ("Today, multiple answers to the familiar question: Got Milk?"). True, there are more choices in the dairy case, but milk is good and consumers need to know that and feel good about drinking milk. Milk is the most tested food in our food supply. All milk products are wholesome and safe, whether they come from organic or conventionally managed dairies. I'm a pediatric nutritionist and registered dietitian.

Patty Sullivan of Catonsville is stumped by the dairy case. One kind of milk promises to make her children smarter. Another claims to come from healthier cows. Unable to sort all that out, she reaches for good old, conventional Costco milk."I find it very confusing," said Sullivan, who picks up five gallons a week for the Burtonsville preschool she runs. "You need a research degree to find out the differences. And is it really that much better for you?" Not long ago, consumers only had to ponder one thing before hefting a gallon jug into the shopping cart: How much fat did they want?

By the time you read this, Bobby Prigel, the only organic dairy farmer in Baltimore County, should have a few thousand more bucks to help catch up on his legal bills. His friends and neighbors - at least the farm-friendly neighbors who think that a dairy farmer ought to be able to sell his cows' milk on his own farm - will have thrown a party to defray some of the $130,000 Mr. Prigel has had to spend to get his Long Green Valley creamery open. Other neighbors have not been so generous; they've tried to grind Mr. Prigel down and stop him from processing his milk in the big, barn-style building across the road from where his cows graze.

A man whose efforts to open a creamery at his Long Green Valley dairy farm had been thwarted by a few neighbors emerged victorious Thursday when the Baltimore County Council passed a zoning regulation that will allow him to sell organic products from the milk his cows produce. "This bill will support the county's $300 million agricultural industry, help meet our land preservation goals and help farmers supply fresh local produce to patrons," said Chris McCollum, agriculture liaison for the county's department of economic development.

The full moon rises above Baltimore's eastern horizon at 9:08 tonight, even if these miserable clouds block our view. It won't be precisely full until just after midnight, but who's measuring? This is the second full moon after the spring equinox, and therefore the one once called by various people in various place the Milk Moon, Corn Planting Moon, Flower Moon or Hare Moon.

While prices might still seem painfully high in the supermarket aisles, long-suffering consumers are beginning to see a break in their grocery bills - a bit of good news amid the economic gloom. Falling raw-material costs coupled with a feeble economy have curbed soaring food inflation in recent months. Food prices fell on a month-to-month basis in February for the first time since April 2006. Last year, food and beverage prices as calculated by the Bureau of Labor Statistics rose 5.4 percent, the largest annual jump since 1990, because of a big run-up in commodity and energy costs.

Grabbing a flavored milk for the kids at Wegmans? The "Intense" vanilla milk might look more healthful than the bright pink strawberry milk next to it, but a cup of the vanilla has 80 more calories, 5 more grams of fat and 3 more grams of saturated fat than the strawberry. Kate Shatzkin Intense Strawberry Milk (Lowfat) Per cup: 170 calories 8 grams protein 3 grams fat 2 grams saturated fat 31 grams carbohydrate 0 grams fiber 10 milligrams cholesterol 120 milligrams sodium Intense Vanilla Milk (Original)