milky ways

Some of you may (or may not) know that the Kroger here in Charlottesville has some of the best options for local milk, butter, and ice cream! (thanks to Sarah and Arley for that tip!) The company is called Homestead Creamery, which is based in a place called Wirtz, VA, near Smith Mountain Lake. My mom used to buy their milk from Good Foods Grocery in Richmond. I remember we always had two or three milk bottles rattling around in the back of the car waiting to be returned to the store. That's the great thing about it--you buy the milk and pay a little bit more for it than a gallon of Kroger brand milk, but once you return the bottle you get back two dollars plus tax. Then (after sanitizing them) the company reuses the bottles. Plus, the chocolate milk is amazing, and the butter is delicious. With 85% butter fat, it's definitely real butter. And the ingredients in the vanilla ice cream, with a French custard base, are all things that you can pronounce! The fact that it comes from a place a little over 100 miles away is just icing on the cake. Next time you're at Kroger, I would suggest picking some up, or if you shop at Harris Teeter, just make the short trip down to the other end of the parking lot for milk.

Picture from Ellwood Thompson, also in Richmond