Why do Russians Hate Ice?

[Amy_and_Victor 159]

Are you kidding? Alla drinks milk like crazy and we get it straight from the cow, Jersey cows, with 6% fat content. She skims the cream for her coffee which leaves about 3% milkfat, like normal whole milk. She will not drin it any other way and I take it directly off the flash cooler tank. We have a dairy farmer for a neighbor, I go there and fill our 1 gallon pitcher off the tank and leave him $4 in the coffee can. Alla loves it and will not use any other milk. She says it is responsible for her now having wonderful natural fingernails. The boys drink it also, but not as much as Alla.

Well, fresh milk directly from the cow is a whole different thing from the typical milk that most Americans consume, and I can see anyone of any nationality loving this milk, having experienced it on occasion myself (unfortunately not as available to me as I'd like it to be). It seems like Alla's personal preference is to drink lots of this particularly high-quality milk (again, not typical for your average American to have access to), but in the city where Victor lives it's not very typical at all for people to drink this much milk (again, in rural areas it's more common to drink more milk, but he lives in a big city). If I had this kind of fresh milk accessible to me, I'd also want to drink it.

-Amy

[Amy_and_Victor 159]

It's Victor from Russia writing. Amy isn't kidding, all she wrote is true and as native Russian guy (I live in the West part of Russia all my life) I can put my sign under every her phrase in that post. No one of my relatives or friends in Russia "drinks milk like crazy". And on our vacation together with Amy I was so wondering that she is drinking milk just with usual meals sometimes. I don't doubt that your wife drinks a lot of milk, but it's very unusual for Russians who had live in cities (Russians from villages drink more milk, of course). One more fact - I was wondered that in US it's popular to buy gallon-packs of milk because in Russia biggest typical factory-made pack of milk is 1 liter (about 1/4 gallon), also we have 0.5 liter packs (1/8 gallon) and 0.2 liters packs for children (1/20 gallon). Why? Because almost nobody would buy gallon-bottle of milk in Russia, you should have giant family here to use gallon of milk earlier than it will be spoiled. Of course, some Russians drink a lot of milk, as some Americans don't drink milk at all, but thats not typical. And Russian children of course drink milk more than adults. Typical Russian adult will not drink milk every day, and never will drink milk with usual lunch/dinner meal (which includes meat, chicken or vegetables, for example). Though, typical Russian loves sour cream and eating it a lot with a many meals.

I love you, Vitya!

I noticed that in Russia the milk tastes different. I'm not quite sure how to describe how it tastes. But all the dairy tasted different from the dairy here. Maybe the cows have different feed or something like this? But the sour cream, milk, and ice cream there tasted dramatically different than it does here. It's not better or worse, just different.

I don't crave milk often, but occasionally I wanted it with dinner or breakfast...And Vitya was really like, "wow, you're drinking milk with meat! Will your stomach be ok?" So no, we aren't kidding!

-Amy

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

It's Victor from Russia writing. Amy isn't kidding, all she wrote is true and as native Russian guy (I live in the West part of Russia all my life) I can put my sign under every her phrase in that post. No one of my relatives or friends in Russia "drinks milk like crazy". And on our vacation together with Amy I was so wondering that she is drinking milk just with usual meals sometimes. I don't doubt that your wife drinks a lot of milk, but it's very unusual for Russians who had live in cities (Russians from villages drink more milk, of course). One more fact - I was wondered that in US it's popular to buy gallon-packs of milk because in Russia biggest typical factory-made pack of milk is 1 liter (about 1/4 gallon), also we have 0.5 liter packs (1/8 gallon) and 0.2 liters packs for children (1/20 gallon). Why? Because almost nobody would buy gallon-bottle of milk in Russia, you should have giant family here to use gallon of milk earlier than it will be spoiled. Of course, some Russians drink a lot of milk, as some Americans don't drink milk at all, but thats not typical. And Russian children of course drink milk more than adults. Typical Russian adult will not drink milk every day, and never will drink milk with usual lunch/dinner meal (which includes meat, chicken or vegetables, for example). Though, typical Russian loves sour cream and eating it a lot with a many meals.

Alla will not buy milk in a store, but they sell it here in 1 pint, 1 quart (about 1 litre), 1/2 gallon and one gallon sizes.

Alla has always lived in a city and considers anything less than one million population a "village" and we now live in what passes for a "city" in Vermont, which means most of the people are not farmers but there are farms scattered throughout the city. One of them is a short way from our house and they sell fresh milk (this is not allowed in all states)

When I was young a man came 3 days per week and delivered fresh milk to our porch, 4 gallons every other day. I had 7 brothers and sisters and we drank a glass of milk at every meal. We had milk at school each day for lunch. We brought our own lunches from home but the school gave everyone a pint of milk for 3 cents. My Mom collected pennies from all of us whenever we had them and kept them in a cigar box. Each day she made the luches for 8 children and put 3 pennies in each lunch box for "milk money" Of course now if you suggest that schools do not serve a 4 coursemeal at breakfast and lunch you are some sort of monster that wants to starve children

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

I love you, Vitya!

I noticed that in Russia the milk tastes different. I'm not quite sure how to describe how it tastes. But all the dairy tasted different from the dairy here. Maybe the cows have different feed or something like this? But the sour cream, milk, and ice cream there tasted dramatically different than it does here. It's not better or worse, just different.

I don't crave milk often, but occasionally I wanted it with dinner or breakfast...And Vitya was really like, "wow, you're drinking milk with meat! Will your stomach be ok?" So no, we aren't kidding!

-Amy

Oh I know you are not kidding.

Alla is in Ukraine right now and Sergey is here with me and I have been warned about all the bad things that will happen to his stomach if he eats terrible food. Sergey asks if I can make tacos again! Pasha has been bringing home leftovers from the Drive-in Theatre snack bar every night and Pasha and Sergey pig out on that crapo and play video games until 3-4 in the morning (they both work in the evening) The "evidence" goes in the trash can outside where Alla would NEVER look. That is their "safe" play time. Alla is sleeping. If they tried that during the day she would put them to work.

Alla says the same. The milk tatstes different. She even discussed it at length with the farmer where we buy milk. She wanted to be SURE he was not "doing anything" to the milk. Adding chemicals and such. He even took her through his operation, from the milking room to the flash cooler where I take the milk. Alla determined that it must be the flash cooler, the milk is sucked out of the cows and within a few seconds it is at 34 degrees F. Alla was OK with that, it not "artificial" or chemicals, but swears that must be the difference in taste. Alla always bought her milk in Ukraine at the market, fresh from farmers, warm, brought on the train.

Different breeds of cows could also be why. Holstein and Jersey raw milk do not taste anything alike, Jersey milk is sweeter and almost yellow compared to holstein milk, so they may be using a different breed of cow or selling milk witha higher or lower fat content.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Well, fresh milk directly from the cow is a whole different thing from the typical milk that most Americans consume, and I can see anyone of any nationality loving this milk, having experienced it on occasion myself (unfortunately not as available to me as I'd like it to be). It seems like Alla's personal preference is to drink lots of this particularly high-quality milk (again, not typical for your average American to have access to), but in the city where Victor lives it's not very typical at all for people to drink this much milk (again, in rural areas it's more common to drink more milk, but he lives in a big city). If I had this kind of fresh milk accessible to me, I'd also want to drink it.

-Amy

We used to get the milk from a farmer that had holstein cows and I absolutely could tell no difference between raw holstein milk and store bought "whole milk" in tatse. Another farm nearby had jersey cows which have higher fat content milk and their milk is often used for cheese and butter making (some farmers now have and sell "water buffalo" milk which has twice the fat of Jersey milk) Alla took one taste of the jersey milk and said she would never drink any other milk again. Plus she gets real cream for her coffee and uses it for cooking also.

You are correct it is not available to many Americans. Many states do not allow the sale of raw milk (here they are required to post a sign that it is not pasteurized) The farmers markets on Saturday sell the stuff to tourists for $10 per gallon!!!!!!!!!!!! No sh*t! It is like crack cocaine or something. Vermont is a "dairy state" and there are dairy farms everywhere, even within the limits of the biggest city, Burlington.

[Brad and Vika 129]

I have heard that a adults past a certain age stop producing enough of the enzyme needed to digest lactose very well, and that it's not much of a nutritional benefit to keep drinking it in late adulthood (not harmful, either, unless you're extremely lactose intolerant). I fins I sometimes crave it, actually, but not very often myself, and I often don't even have any in my fridge unless I know I'll need to cook something with milk in the recipe.

-Amy

I heard that too. Lots of digestive problems in pensioners are dairy related apparently. I don't crave it ever, and that is probably a good thing at this stage in life.

[visaveteran1 33]

I think Russians like milk products...like in their coffee or expresso drinks. Also, ice cream, yogurt, Kefir, etc. In what my wife calls "the suburbs" (the boondocks), Russians still milk old Bessie for milk and drink it unprocessed. Still have "outhouses" too.

[1HappyGuy 45]

Alla will not buy milk in a store, but they sell it here in 1 pint, 1 quart (about 1 litre), 1/2 gallon and one gallon sizes.

Alla has always lived in a city and considers anything less than one million population a "village" and we now live in what passes for a "city" in Vermont, which means most of the people are not farmers but there are farms scattered throughout the city. One of them is a short way from our house and they sell fresh milk (this is not allowed in all states)

When I was young a man came 3 days per week and delivered fresh milk to our porch, 4 gallons every other day. I had 7 brothers and sisters and we drank a glass of milk at every meal. We had milk at school each day for lunch. We brought our own lunches from home but the school gave everyone a pint of milk for 3 cents. My Mom collected pennies from all of us whenever we had them and kept them in a cigar box. Each day she made the luches for 8 children and put 3 pennies in each lunch box for "milk money" Of course now if you suggest that schools do not serve a 4 coursemeal at breakfast and lunch you are some sort of monster that wants to starve children

I know that Lena would love to have your opportunity. Although we live in a farming area, finding a dairy that sells to the public is tough. Most are commercial organizations that would not bother with anyone buying less than 250 gallons of milk. Lena is from Kiev and she absolutely loves our small town, which of course would be a village to Alla. I wonder what Alla thinks about the really small towns of 250 to 400 people. We have a bunch of those around.

I laughed about your description of buying milk in school as a child. We must be about the same age. I remember that if we had an extra penny, we could buy chocolate milk on some days. That was a real treat. So was fighting for the milk delivered in bottles several times a week. The first to the bottle always got the cream on top for their cereal. Now you can't even find a milk bottle. You probably remember the jokes to a sibling that looked different as "he or she" was the milkman's kid. :rofl:

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

I know that Lena would love to have your opportunity. Although we live in a farming area, finding a dairy that sells to the public is tough. Most are commercial organizations that would not bother with anyone buying less than 250 gallons of milk. Lena is from Kiev and she absolutely loves our small town, which of course would be a village to Alla. I wonder what Alla thinks about the really small towns of 250 to 400 people. We have a bunch of those around.

I laughed about your description of buying milk in school as a child. We must be about the same age. I remember that if we had an extra penny, we could buy chocolate milk on some days. That was a real treat. So was fighting for the milk delivered in bottles several times a week. The first to the bottle always got the cream on top for their cereal. Now you can't even find a milk bottle. You probably remember the jokes to a sibling that looked different as "he or she" was the milkman's kid. :rofl:

Actually the farm we get the milk from is one of the largest in Vermont. He has over 700 cows and they take out TWO tank trucks every day. We just went up to the house while we were walking and asked and found out they already had a system set up and that many people buy the milk. Doesn't hurt to ask.

We used to buy milk from a little "hippie farm" but they found out tourists would pay $10 per gallon for milk and that ended that. I get to drive around Vermont a lot and there are a lot of farms. Many of them have signs out for "eggs", "milk", "honey", "pork" etc., also corn and tomatoes. I just had two ears of fresh corn with dinner tonight that i bought at a farm for $2 for 6 ears. Some are very reasonably priced, usually the same or just a bit more than you pay in the store, we pay $2.50 per dozen for eggs. Others are just crazy, stupid prices that reflect what they can get from tourists at the farmers markets.

We lived in a very tiny village on an island when Alla arrived. It did not work out but mostly because it was just too much driving every day for everyone so we moved to the "city". (very relatively speaking) Even though we moved 48 miles from where we used to live, Pasha goes to the same school, only now it is less than 2 miles from the house

Yeah, according to the jokes the milkman was banging all the MILFs except they weren't called MILFs then.

[Captain Hammer 113]

I think Russians like milk products...like in their coffee or expresso drinks. Also, ice cream, yogurt, Kefir, etc. In what my wife calls "the suburbs" (the boondocks), Russians still milk old Bessie for milk and drink it unprocessed. Still have "outhouses" too.

I get the impression that city dwellers drink much less milk than in "the village," kefir excepted of course. My wife can't stand the stuff, but she's a city girl, and she's also decided she's "laktoza" intolerant ever since she learned about it here.

[TBoneTX 44,679]

These are great stories, si man. I can anemically add only that little Mini-Bone (7 months old come Wednesday) is currently partaking of the first of his two nightly snacks "directo de la vaca" (directly from the cow), as Mrs. T-B. doesn't object to herself being called. It isn't hurting him -- he weighs 23 pounds already, and he's bigger than our former neighbors' 11-month-old, whee man.

I grew up in Iowa, but I visited a farm only once. Go figure, huh man.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

These are great stories, si man. I can anemically add only that little Mini-Bone (7 months old come Wednesday) is currently partaking of the first of his two nightly snacks "directo de la vaca" (directly from the cow), as Mrs. T-B. doesn't object to herself being called. It isn't hurting him -- he weighs 23 pounds already, and he's bigger than our former neighbors' 11-month-old, whee man.

I grew up in Iowa, but I visited a farm only once. Go figure, huh man.

It is good for the fingernails Alla says. She has very nice natural nails now, not acrylic fake nails and she says it is from the milk. Check Mini-Ts nails.

[slim 1,514]

It is good for the fingernails Alla says. She has very nice natural nails now, not acrylic fake nails and she says it is from the milk.

I have very nice nails and I very seldom drink milk.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

I have very nice nails and I very seldom drink milk.

Photos or it didn't happen. I actually have photos of Alla's nails but no clue how to post them here.

[TBoneTX 44,679]

Check Mini-Ts nails.

He has excellent nails, si man. In fact, when he was littler and had less control over his flailing arms, he would scratch his little face, so Mrs. T-B. had to perform mini-manicures on Mini-Bone.