Milk

Q: For the last two months, I have been taking a green coffee bean extract recommended by Dr. Oz on his show. So far, I've lost 10 pounds without even trying. What's your opinion of it? A: Generally, if something seems too good to be true, it probably is. But this stuff may actually work. Excitement about the weight-loss magic of green coffee bean extract began this year, after a "randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, linear dose, crossover University of Scranton study.

Dear Polly: Could you tell me if milk and powdered eggs have any cholesterol? I have to watch my cholesterol intake. - Tana Dear Tana: If the powdered milk were whole milk, yes, it would contain cholesterol, as do powdered whole eggs. However, powdered non-fat milk, which is the kind normally found in the supermarket, does not contain cholesterol. Powdered egg whites (as opposed to powdered or dried whole eggs) also do not contain cholesterol. Dear Polly: Here's a quick dish: Heat a can of chicken-and-rice soup (don't dilute)

WASHINGTON BORO, Pa. - Twenty years ago, John Harnish was happy if his cows each yielded 17,000 pounds of milk a year. These days, his 145 black-and-white animals are veritable dairy queens - producing a hefty 27,000 pounds each. He credits most of the increase to breeding, more frequent milking, and better feed. Another factor comes straight from the biotech lab: biweekly injections of synthetic growth hormone. If you don't like that, you won't like this: As of Feb. 1 in Pennsylvania, consumers won't be able to tell the difference between milk from farms that inject their cows and milk from those that don't.

Q. A friend of mine buys two or three gallons of milk and puts them in the freezer. I heard that milk shouldn't be frozen because that's where the watery taste comes from. True or false? Mrs. Eddie Parsons Shreveport, La. A. When I was a child and we forgot to bring the delivered milk inside in the winter and it froze, we had to throw it out. Nobody would drink it. So recently when I read in the University of California's Wellness Letter that milk can be frozen and kept in the freezer for about a month, I assumed that since all milk is now homogenized, which it wasn't when I was a child, it could now be effectively frozen.

Milk is the perfect food. Not. That's the message from Dr. Benjamin Spock and several colleagues, whose concerns about cow's milk vary from a warning that it can be harmful to infants to a demand for a flat-out boycott of the white substance by people of all ages. Spock, 89, once a proponent of milk, now says that "breast feeding is the best milk feeding for babies. I want to urge parents, especially with subsequent babies, to use breast milk. " "This does not mean that every child that's been on cow's milk is doomed," Spock said yesterday.

It seems schools are always under fire for the food they serve, but here's one of the many things the Philadelphia School District is doing right for our children - it serves milk free of rBGH, an artificial hormone that increases milk production but is also linked to colon, breast and prostate cancer in humans. Most of the industrialized world has banned rBGH. The U.S. not only allows it, but also serves it to our children. School boards from California to Wisconsin have passed resolutions making their districts officially rBGH-free.

With an eye toward saving precious landfill space, two Montgomery County dairy farmers are selling some of their milk in bags and discouraging consumers from buying bulky plastic containers. The milk bag, once emptied of its contents, collapsed and disposed, requires much less landfill space than plastic or carton milk containers, the dairy farmers say. "We've been telling our customers for eight to 10 years, if you stack a truck full of those plastic jugs, it takes up a lot of room," Steve Quigley, a manager at Merrymead Farm in Lansdale, said, "but if you would stack the bags in the same truck it wouldn't take up a fraction of the space.

A small milk-distribution center in the Matlack Industrial Park was approved unanimously this week by the West Goshen Board of Supervisors. Rosenberger's Dairies Inc. plans to move into the 4,700-square-foot office and warehouse from its plant at 700 S. Bradford Ave. in East Bradford Township. Each night, one tractor-trailer will drop off the milk from the company's Hatfield plant; route drivers will pick up the milk early in the morning. The new office will be built on a 2-acre lot at 209 Carter Drive, the last lot to be developed in the industrial park.

Dear Polly: I make ice cubes out of milk and add them to my child's milk thermos in his lunch box. This keeps the milk really cold and fresh without watering it down. - Mom Dear Polly: An electric blanket makes a wonderful heating pad if you have a sore back. Just spread the blanket on a bed or the floor, plug it in and lie down on it. Very soothing. - Marian Dear Polly: To keep natural peanut butter from separating after stirring it up the first time, just put it in the refrigerator.

Dear Polly: I read many food magazines containing recipes for custards or puddings that specify "do not use low-fat or skim milk. " Why is this? I cannot make these recipes since I can only drink skim milk. - Mrs. V.S. Skim or low-fat milk can tend to make custards a bit watery, but I have made all manner of puddings and custards using skim milk and 1 percent milk, and they turn out fine most of the time. I'd say go ahead and make the recipe using your low-fat or skim milk so you can judge the results for yourself.

S ALEKA SHYAMALAN , the daughter of Bucks-based director M. Night Shyamalan , laid down some tracks at MilkBoy the Studio recently, my sources tell me. I hear that the 17-year-old Shyamalan has a piano-based, singer-songwriter type of vibe. Think Vanessa Carlton , or, like a super-cute, less-depressed Billy Joel . The studio would not comment on the session, but Saleka apparently joins Meek Mill , Miley Cyrus , Justin Timberlake and Pink , who have all used MilkBoy's services.

Makes 2 cocktails 3/4 cup whole milk 3 ounces dry gin 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice 1 teaspoon fresh lime juice 1 teaspoon orange-flower water 1 egg white 2 tablespoons powdered sugar 1. Put the milk, gin, lemon and lime juices, orange-flower water, egg white, and powdered sugar into a cocktail shaker filled with ice cubes. Cover and shake vigorously. Pour into 2 tall glasses and serve. Note: You may need to seek out a source for the orange-flower water, but do so, because it is vital to the drink's distinctive perfumed taste.

"I like Mother's Day," says Katie Couric , 56, of that dread day. "But I also like my daughters to be nice to me all year long," she says of Ellie , 21, and Carrie , 17. Couric tells USA Today she's worked hard to keep her girls out of the media. Until now. All three women pose in the latest "Got Milk?" ad, which premieres Friday on Couric's gabfest, Katie . "I'm really proud of them. I think they've turned into exemplary young women. " Couric, who struggled with bulimia in college, says the milk ads stress "healthy eating and healthy body image.

It was the post that blogger Jo-Lynne Shane says she almost didn't write. When the Pottstown-area woman and her three children got sick from raw milk early last year, she knew she owed it to her readers to write about it. As a blogger about family, fashion, and food, Shane had written of her love for the raw milk from her local organic market. Her family thought it tasted better than regular, pasteurized milk, and she believed it was more nutritious. But she and her husband always worried about whether raw milk could sicken their family.

Makes 6 servings 8 medium to large russet potatoes, peeled 2 tablespoons butter ¼ cup milk Salt to taste 1.    Peel the potatoes and cut them into 1-inch chunks. Place in a large pot. Cover with cold water. 2.    Bring to a boil and then turn down the heat to medium, letting the potatoes continue to cook for 15 to 20 minutes, or until they can be easily pierced with a fork. 3.    Drain all but about 2 tablespoons of water. 4. Add butter, and with a mixer, begin to whip the potatoes, slowly drizzling in the milk a little at a time.

Q: Do I really need milk for calcium? I hate the stuff but I don't want to do anything to compromise my health. - Ms. Conscientious about Calcium A: I don't think we ever "needed" cow's milk for general nutrition, let alone for calcium, contrary to popular belief. All mammals, including us, produce milk for their babies. As far as I know, we're the only mammals that drink another species' milk, like, forever. Also, I think it is interesting to note that osteoporosis is highest in industrialized nations where there is high consumption of animal protein, dairy products and milk.

The distance between Peach Bottom, Pa., and Wajir, Kenya, is 7,800 miles. That also happens to be the distance of Karl Frey's life trajectory, which has arced from growing up Mennonite on his family's Lancaster County dairy farm to helping improve children's health in a drought-stricken area of eastern Africa. Don't even bother asking Frey if he's got milk - the answer will be yes. "I did drink a lot of milk when I was growing up," said Frey, 50. "It is the best thing out there in terms of nutrients, right?"

HOT CHOCOLATE is like pancakes. Both aren't hard to make from scratch, but for some inexplicable reason, most people use mixes and the end result suffers. Here are some wonderful recipes guaranteed to produce wintry, chocolate bliss. Boozed-up or "virgin," spice-laced or marshmallow-topped, enough for a crowd or a single cup just for you - there's a hot chocolate recipe to cover every need. The first one doesn't even use cocoa.   HOT SPICED WHITE CHOCOLATE 1 pint whole milk 1/2 cup heavy cream 2 tablespoons honey 6-7 cardamom pods, lightly toasted and cracked Zest of 1 lemon Pinch salt 8 ounces quality white chocolate Bring all ingredients but chocolate to a boil in a saucepan.

Alfred Wanner Jr., a dairy farmer in Narvon in Lancaster County, would love to see higher milk prices, but he knows a surge to $6 to $8 a gallon - expected if Congress failed to prevent 1940s milk-subsidy rules from taking effect - would do more harm than good. "Consumers will back off on their purchases. It'll just disrupt the whole market. It would not be a good situation," Wanner, whose family milks more than 600 cows on his farm, said in an interview Monday. It appeared late Monday that lawmakers in Washington were on track to approve an extension of the expired 2008 farm bill.

Mauro Daigle leaned forward in his chair, his face set in a no-nonsense expression, as he disclosed the highly sophisticated reasoning behind his and wife Annie Baum-Stein's decision to launch a business in their West Philadelphia neighborhood, where commercial enterprise wasn't exactly thriving. "Smoked salmon," he said. And bagels, Baum-Stein added. "You literally couldn't get bagels and smoked salmon" without getting in the car and driving to another part of the city, she said, deeming that "absolutely unacceptable.