Friday, October 8, 2021

Sweet Milk and Mt. Dew

On Tuesday, I tossed a empty milk carton with use by date of August 12, 2021.  Yes, I knew the date and drank it anyway. It was fine, very sweet. You may remember this is a2milk, $4.49 for less than a half gallon. I try to buy it when it is on sale. I found it 3 for $10 and bought 6 cartons. And, it remains sweet milk 7 weeks after the expiration date. Now, I have a carton open that "expires" the middle of October. I wonder what they do to this milk for it to remain sweet and not sour for so long.

I remember when milk was referred to as "sweet milk." Do you?

Back in my mother's time, when milk was fresh, it was "sweet milk." When it was old it was sour milk or clabbered milk and used in baking.  No, it has no sugar added to it. 

If your milk hangs around until is is not fresh and sours, just use it to bake. It won't hurt you. As you may remember, if my milk turns, I just put chocolate in it and drink the chocolate milk. I cannot tell the difference. 

My mother and grandmother referred to milk as "sweet milk." My mother did start calling it just
milk." I rarely ever hear anyone refer to milk as sweet milk, anymore. Do you talk to anyone or hear anyone who refers to milk as "sweet milk?" Did older relatives call it "sweet milk?"

By the way, if you have never heard it called "sweet milk," pronounce it quickly as if it is one word with two spondees. Both words are accented. Got it?

Mt. Dew? I love it. Never have I loved something so much yet not imbibed for so long. I think Mt. Dew is the best thing ever. But, I won't drink it. It causes my heart to beat rapidly because of so much caffeine. Plus, I do not need the sugar. Diet Mt. Dew is nasty and still has all the caffeine. Even years ago, I drank it once every six months. 

The only place I am tempted to drink Mt. Dew is in Lowe's because Lowe's does not carry Coke products. Plus, the cooler keeps drinks almost icy. Actually, I would buy a really cold bottle to drink in the car. Well, I did about ten years ago. 

Nowadays, I occasionally buy a six-pack of bottles bogo. Then, about once a month, we put one in the refrigerator.  Two inches in a cup are all I allow myself. It feels so good going down my throat. Tommy drinks the rest. I am quite sure Mt. Dew is pure poison. 

This willpower is something I need to harness for all my food loves. 

Do you love Mt. Dew?  Do you have a good story about sweet milk or Mt. Dew?

21 comments:

  1. Never heard term sweet milk. I like Diet Mt Dew, but I think sugar version is awful. It's corn syrup, not sugar and the change is why I hate Mon diet pop.

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    1. SAM,
      I didn't know about the corn syrup. But, I just like whatever is in Mt. Dew. So, what do you prefer?

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  2. Sweet milk used to be the common term here in the South for regular milk to distinguish it from buttermilk. You don't hear it anymore because very few people have both kinds of milk in their houses nowadays.

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    1. Frances,
      I live in the South. At first, the term was to indicate it was milk still fresh, the to distinguish it from buttermilk. For years, I had both in my house. Now, I have buttermilk powder or vinegar for buttermilk.

      Delete
  3. With the exception of the odd Diet Coke, I tend to avoid all soda. I also never bought in to the American Dairy "milk is good for you" propaganda, nor did my parents. Our beverages growing up were water, orange juice, tea and coffee. I use a bit of half and half in my coffee. Beyond that, I tend to buy heavy cream to whip for desserts, and what milk I do buy is used in baking or cooking. That said, I have no compunction about using dairy products that are past their "best by" dates. I draw the line at sour and curdled milk or cream, even for baking, however.

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    1. Meg, \I just love milk.
      we rarely had a Coke growing up. Even then, a six-ounce Coke was for two people. So, three ounces was all we got. The children drank unsweetened iced tea and milk and orange juice. Of course, orange juice is full of sugar, as bad as Coke. Only Daddy had coffee but he did not drink milk or ornage juice. This milk past the date was just fine, nothing wrong, still a sweet, fresh taste. The dairy products are fine for baking. Do you drink or cook with buttermilk?

      Delete
    2. I do have several recipes which actually *need* buttermilk. Making my own by adding vinegar to the milk just doesn't yield the same results. I would prefer to use the powdered buttermilk, but that's been off our supermarket shelves for a while, so I've avoided those recipes. (Not sure where the canister I know I had went.) I know I can use sour/curdled milk, but I just can't do it--I can't bear the odor.

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  4. The no-caffeine rule that my cardiologist told me is one rule that I stick to like glue. He told me that after I had a severe bout of atrial fibrillation that landed me in the hospital for 2-1/2 days. They snapped me out of it with two shocks of cardioversion. The atrial fibrillation stopped for about 2 weeks and then came back in a much milder form. Anyway, the doctor said caffeine could worsen my Afib and I sure don't want that. I have been drinking diet, zero caffeine Coca Cola or Diet Caffeine free RC cola ever since then.

    I always have whole milk in the morning, or anytime I get a stomach ache, and sometimes a mug of warm whole milk with a little vanilla in it at night on a cold night before bed. I prefer the taste of whole milk, so I have it. I feel like I give up enough. No regular sodas because of Afib and no alcohol because diabetes. Plus I believe whole milk lasts longer than the 2 percent, in my refrigerator at least. I always check how the milk smells as much as the date printed on it. I have had it stay good longer than the printed date, and sometimes a shorter time than the printed date.I think it depends on the temperature it has on the truck and in the store. I won't drink milk if it smells off at all. I prefer to buy buttermilk if I need it for cooking, rather than put vinegar in my good milk. One night I was just having some plain milk before bed, I fell asleep. When I woke up the next day it had changed to something that looked like yogurt in the cup. It didn't stink. I don't know what that was.

    It seems like I remember somebody calling whole fresh milk sweetmilk. It might have been my Grandma. My grandparents had milk cows and Grandpa did the milking and Grandma made butter to sell, and I guess they must have sold their milk and cream too. I remember so well how grandma would get my Dad or Uncle to turn the handle on the churn because they were "such young men with muscles". Actually, they were. There were a bunch of us sitting on the front porch swing and on the steps. I would have loved to have grown up living in the country.

    One time when I was a little girl the doctor gave me some kind of medicine and told my Mom it should be taken with buttermilk. I was really young and was about chin high to the kitchen sink. Mom gave me the medicine, and some buttermilk to drink with the pill. I had never had or smelled buttermilk before, but when I saw it, I thought it looked good. I took that cup and took a big chug of that buttermilk, and one second later threw up the pill and the buttermilk right into the sink, and then I threw up some more just because I was sick with fever. We tried taking a pill a little later and Mom gave it to me with just milk. I have never been able to drink butter milk for the rest of my life. The thought of it now nauseates me. I hadn't thought of that buttermilk incident in years.

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    1. susie,
      I have had bouts of heart beating fast or irregularly, so I drink Diet Coke caffeine Free. I rarely have caffeine. I suppose that is a good thing for me to do for my heart.

      I wonder what on earth happened to yur milk? That is a little scary!

      Well, I never heard of taking any med with buttermilk. But, I can see why you never drank buttermilk again. Yuck! I like buttermilk, but that story sort of puts me off it. Thanks for the story.

      Now that I am old, I wish I had lived in the country. Well, I did, sort of.

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  5. I've never heard of sweet milk. Milk here is not sold after expiration date. In fact most food items here are not sold after expiration date though there are a few stores that mark things down a bit. Just last week I was at a pharmacy that sells food. They had bagged slaws and salads for 50% off and that night they were taking it off the shelves. I wanted to look at it and was told I was welcome to it as they were taking them off the shelves. I thought why do they want to sell them to me if they were just about to throw them out! I said ?I would buy them if they weren't going off". Anyway, back to the milk story. I do buy 4 litres of milk on a regular basis. From time to time, we are unable to use it all before it expires. I keep it in the fridge until I can taste or smell it going off. I think the last time this happened it lasted a full 2 weeks. I don't think I'd want it any longer than that unless as you say for cooking but I don't bake that much.

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  6. Joyful,
    I did not buy milk after the expiration date. It was in my refrigerator that long. Publix takes food off the shelf sometimes a few days before the expiration date or marks it down. I don't know any store that sells expire milk. I don't bake much anymore, either.

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  7. I have never heard the term sweet milk either. I did not know you could use old milk in baking. But, I did use milk that was probably on it's last day in instant chocolate pudding. Ate the pudding and had stomach issues the next day, so I won't do that again, LOL. I hate Mtn. Dew, but my hubby loves the stuff. He has cut down his consumption to 1 can a day. I guess that's the best I can hope for.

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    1. One,
      Getting sick afterwards would put me right off using older milk. I have a feeling the doctor might banish Mt.Dew from his life. It is evil stuff even though it is delicious.

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  8. My Mt. Dew story involves my mom. I do not know if any of this is true, but I do trust my mom. My dad was in the military and stationed in the south. After he got out they moved back to the north. Everytime we went to visit family in NC mom would buy a bunch of MT. Dew because she said it was bottled in the south with spring water and tasted better.

    It is just a nice memory.

    Amy

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    1. Amy,
      I don't know, but it sounds reasonable...lol. Maybe that is why it feels so smooth going down to me. Maybe I can test a bottle from the North.

      Delete
  9. I have such a hard time with chocolate. It gives me migraines if I eat too much and also the caffeine in it makes my heart skippy. (yes, the heart doctor loves when I tell him my heart is skippy or jumbles, lol.) But I have found in moderation I can have it. So I take the little snack size baggies and put a few pieces in each one and then try my best to only eat one a day or one every other day. Bags can be reused. Most of the time it works. That and I found freeze dried okra in bulk at our Winco store. Oh how I love that. Moderation or I would eat it all day long. lol.

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    1. Crystal,
      One time, about five years ago I ate way too many Kisses into the night while I watched TV, It was hours before my heart calmed down. I learned my lesson. the snack bags sound like a good idea. Okra would be no temptation here...lol. I can imagine how your doctor reacts to a "skippy" heart...lol.

      Delete
  10. I have never heard the term Sweet milk
    I don't drink MD anymore as it gives me flip-flops.

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    Replies
    1. I learned the term "sweet milk" from recipes and cooking. It makes sense and I'm sorry that it's falling out of usage.
      I don't drink non-diet sodas--haven't for decades. They are just too sweet for me. And I'm trying to drastically reduce diet soda intake, except for those made with erythritol.
      But favorite "poison" is an icy cold Diet Pepsi. Oh my word, I hear the heavenly choirs when I drink it!
      I find that "use by" or "best by" dates on foods are not reliable. Sometimes food gets nasty before the expiry date, sometimes it lasts well after. It's a crap shoot, y'all!

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    2. Sue,
      Before Diet Coke, I drank Diet Pepsi even though I really hate regular Pepsi. You are definitely right about it being a crap shoot with expiration dates. I ate from the jar of expired Miracle Whip until it did not taste right, then tossed. Definitely a crap shoot.

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