It’s hard to decide whether I consider the first cool
refreshing gulp, or the last satisfying slurp of a glass of milk is the
best. Of course all the swallows in between those two smile making times
are just as wonderful. The same could be said of a big gulp soda or an ice
cold beer. But milk has a slot of its very own.

There is an art to pouring a glass of milk when you *really*
want, no let’s say you *crave* that cool white liquid. Of course you can
just go to the cupboard, pull out any ole glass, pour and suck the milk
down. Some will even skip the glass all together and in a rush to get that
hit of milk will drink right out of the milk jug. Putting the plastic jug
to your mouth and sucking the liquid out until the plastic collapses and
gives way to the vacuum created by the empty space created when the milk
leaves the jug and travels down to your satisfied tummy. To the horror of
it all I admit I have done this. But to my credit I have not done it since
I grew up and learned about all the little germs in everyone’s mouth. Yuck.
Please don’t drink from the carton unless you live alone! Okay let’s slosh
along.

Before I give up my secret to creating the perfect glass of
milk, here is a story where you might see yourself—or not. I grew up in a
house of three kids and not tons of money. We were comfortable but not
affluent. So over the years there were things that were done to save a
shekel here and a penny there. Like cardboard in your shoes when a hole was
there.  It wasn’t like a lack of money was announced, and I didn’t realize
it until I was older that some money saving things were being done. Well
one of those things that was the norm in our home was to pour milk into a
glass and stop a little over half way. At first you might think that it was
done because the kids were small and couldn’t handle a full glass. But in
retrospect it was to save money.

It wasn’t until I was into marriage for some time when my
other half looked at me one evening and said I poured milk like my mom and
he wanted me to know he was grown up and could have a full glass of milk!
Live and learn right? So now I pour right up to the top—and sometimes when
I want to get his goat I pour right up to the tippy top! Ah, karma

So on to the most satisfying way to have a glass of milk…
It was quite by accident this was discovered. Two things happened. First,
when newly married we would travel to buy groceries for a month at a time.
Something we still do in some respects. In doing that we would buy milk, in
the waxy paper cartons, by the cases and bring them home and freeze them.
If by accident, or just laziness, I occasionally forgot to take milk out to
thaw before needing it. This would sometimes result in ice crystals being
in the milk when poured. Can’t you just taste the coolness?

Second, when making pudding, when you still had to cook it
on the stove, I used my metal measuring cups and measured the required milk
into the pan then on a whim I measured another cupful and gulped it down.
It was so cold and refreshing.

So what to do with the knowledge of ice in the milk and the
coolness the metal cups brought to the table when pouring milk? Well now
when the cow inside me moos, I take one of these wonderful enameled blue
and white speckled cups we bought just for this purpose and run our 46
degree out of the faucet cold water on it until the cup is as cold as the
water, to chill the cup, then fill it—to the top–with milk right out of
the fridge and (can you taste it?) with the gusto of a desert rat who just
came upon an oasis, the perfect cup of cold wonderful milk is poured down
my pie hole!

Now before you ask why I don’t put that tin cup in the
freezer and get it really cold. My answer is, 1)I just don’t have the
patience for that and 2) the few times I have tried that the milk literally
freezes to the cup—as did my lips! Doesn’t take a truck load of turnips to
fall on this chickadee for me to learn a life lesson!

So to recap. Metal cup, cold water, milk, lips. My work
here is done.

*Trina lives in Eureka, Nevada. Her book ITY BITS is on
Kindle. Share with her at **itybytrina@yahoo.com*