I confess the first time my sister made me a smoothie with powdered goat milk that I was skeptical. But then I learned that goat milk and blueberries go together as a very yummy combination. Even earlier than that was my first taste of goat cheese when I was 17. The Italian restaurant I served at made what they called a pastorale salad with a big medallion of breaded, fried goat cheese on top. The other adult servers prodded me to try the cheese and one day I finally did and it was delicious. I haven’t seen the likes of that fried goat cheese since moving from Illinois, but if you can find it, try it. Goat cheese is normally a pretty thick soft cheese, but when heated, it becomes molten goodness. My regular meal at the restaurant was made up of their fantastic focaccia bread, spread with warm and melty goat cheese, and topped with their spicy marinara. I miss that combination. Never again will I have those three exact items together again.

Onto present day where goat milk and goat butter are some of my favorite things. I’ve learned that my body shuts down when I have cow milk. Sadly. I drank organic skim milk for years. Then I switched to pasture-raised, grass-fed skim milk. Then the same but whole milk. I was going to try raw milk when a naturopath I was seeing asked me to do an elimination diet. In the elimination diet, for a couple weeks you stop eating all the things that could irritate your system, and then you start introducing things back in one at a time. When I reintroduced cow milk, I found out that it practically puts me to sleep within an hour. How crazy is that? I began wondering if my sleep disorder was real or if I should just stop drinking milk. I tried my variations of cow milk and even raw milk didn’t work for me.

Sigh. I LOVE milk. Or maybe I’m conditioned to it. All I know is cereal is never the same without regular old milk. I stay away from soy, I don’t like rice milk, the nut milks are okay… The best substitute I’ve found for milk is coconut milk. But then I realized that goat milk doesn’t seem to shut me down like cow milk does. Yay! I have my creamy milk texture back, although the flavor is a little sharper than typical milk.

I’ve learned to love goat milk. I don’t really eat cereal all that much anymore, but I still pour myself a cold glass of milk and love it. Goat milk is heavier and acts as a good replacement for cream in the recipes I’ve tried it in. I haven’t tried to whip it up into whipped cream, but maybe I will one day just for kicks. The flavor melds well with berries, making delicious smoothies. I buy goat yogurt that I’m also thrilled to be able to eat. Now I’ll have to try making goat cottage cheese and then I’ll be the happiest gal around.

My only problem with goat milk is the cost. My local co-op grocery store sells it for around $9 a half gallon. Which is crazy. I treat it as a luxury item and try to buy it only every other week. The expense causes me to appreciate it more, really enjoy it, and use it sparingly.

I keep telling Hank that a pet license for a goat is only $30/year in Seattle. That’s much more reasonable than buying 26 half gallons a year. I promise one day I’ll have my own goat, and then I’ll relish in all my dairy. Can you imagine the Shibas playing with a goat? It makes me smile.