Milk

Ready for something different on your family vacation this summer? Feather Down Farms offers authentic farm stays where kids and adults can learn about farm life (yes, there are chores to do) while tent-camping at sites in Illinois, New York and Northern California. In California, Chaffin Family Orchards in the Sacramento Valley will begin accepting guests in mid-August. The farm raises grass-fed cows, lamb and goats. Its orchards produce olives, oranges, lemons, cherries, plums, figs and other produce year round - fresh fruits that guests may eat. During the stay, family members can tour fields and gardens, get up to milk the cows, learn to prepare and cook meals on an open-fire stove and even take a dip in a private mountain lake.

As cities and schools across California celebrated the 82nd birthday of slain gay rights activist Harvey Milk, Orange County elected leaders remained steadfastly silent. Activists, for the second year, asked Orange County supervisors Tuesday to recognize Milk's birthday with a proclamation, but the board declined the opportunity, as it did last year. One of the supervisors, Janet Nguyen, walked from the board room shortly after the activists began their presentation. Last year, Nguyen also left the meeting as the activists spoke.

SACRAMENTO -- State agriculture officials have lifted a ban on sales of raw milk by Organic Pastures, a Fresno dairy. The California Department of Food and Agriculture imposed the quarantine May 10 after inspections found harmful bacteria in samples of butter, cream and cow manure from the dairy's herd. The prohibition ended Friday morning after the facility was certified as meeting all state food safety and sanitation requirements. Organic Pastures' website immediately announced that it would soon restart distribution to stores and told customers that they could come to the dairy to buy milk immediately.

Last week was all about breast milk -- specifically, a big kid standing on a stool while being nursed by his young, attractive mom on the cover of Time magazine . In all the media hubbub, a story about raw milk infecting 10 people in California with Campylobacter didn't get the attention it deserved. In a Grub Street post , Krista Simmons points to a series of recent raw milk mishaps across the country. Never mind the raw milk advocates who swear by its many health benefits . Simmons not only argues against consuming raw milk but also against the push to legalize it. “Much as we support personal liberty, small farms, and less processed and commodity-raised goods, this raw milk business seems downright dangerous,” she writes, asking: “Wouldn't states like New Jersey, who are currently aiming to legalize the sale of raw milk, be better off fighting elements of the food system that are plaguing the nation?

Fresh mango glistening the brilliant orange of a late-summer sun, glutinous rice balls glowing a radiant pandan green, tender taro cakes blooming the same piercing purple as a field of lilacs. Bhan Kanom Thai is a rainbow rush of colors. The Hollywood favorite is a den of overstimulation, its shelves stuffed with Thai desserts alive with vivid colors, focused flavors and foreign textures. To a particular set of Los Angeles diners, the sweet shop is an essential experience. Yet even as Southeast Asian flavors move from places like Thai Town and Little Saigon into the mainstream, the region's diverse desserts remain largely unknown, tropical curiosities far more complex than a simple batch of banana fritters.

Google is counting on another high-profile Internet entrepreneur to boost its social networking aspirations: The Internet search giant is hiring Kevin Rose, the founder of Digg, according to technology blog All Things D. Rose announced yesterday that his company Milk would shut down its only product, Oink, less than six months after it launched. Rose did not respond to a request for comment. Google Ventures was an investor in Milk, which had raised $1.7 million in funding.

A sour note for the raw-milk fans out there: Unpasteurized milk is 150 times more likely to cause a disease outbreak than pasteurized milk, according to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Before it ever shows up in a carton, most milk is pasteurized -- heated to kill any harmful bacteria it contains. But there's a small but thriving market for unpasteurized "raw" milk. Some say they drink it because it has a richer, creamier taste, according to a 2009 article -- but more often the reason given is because, in this organic-conscious age, it's seen as more healthful.  Perhaps it depends on how you define "healthful.

Dear SOS: Milk has the best molasses cookies I've ever had. My entire family adores them, and I would love to be able to make them for my dad on his 66th birthday. Please help? These cookies are out of this world. I need the recipe, before I spend my last dime on them! Thank you! Selby Blum Los Angeles Dear Selby: Milk was happy to share its recipe for molasses cookies with us. These are thin and rich, so have a big glass of milk at the ready - it's all but impossible to eat just one. Milk's molasses cookies Total time: 1 hour Servings: 2 dozen cookies Note: Adapted from Milk on Beverly Boulevard.

The American school lunch, long the butt of schoolyard jokes, is in for a nutritional makeover, fueled by concern over a national epidemic of childhood obesity and funded by the first hike in federal contributions in three decades. Starting next school year, U.S. schoolchildren will see changes in school lunch programs that are expected to bring fruits and vegetables, more whole grains and potentially smaller portions to every meal served in...

Chocolate-chocolate cookies, compost cookies (made with potato chips, pretzels, butterscotch chips, graham cracker crumbs, etc.), blueberries and cream cookies, banana cream pie, brownie pie, hot fudge sauce, chocolate cake. I can't stop baking from "Momofuku Milk Bar," written by pastry chef Christina Tosi. The truth is, I think I take a lot more pleasure out of baking from the book than I ever did from stopping by the East Village bakery in New York. Maybe at least partly because these home-baked versions come with a dose of accomplishment, a testament to the recipes: The sweets turn out as good as the bakery's.