This morning I got home from work a little tired but too wired to sleep (admitted a primip in early labor around 0400 and never went back to sleep). Looked in the fridge and noticed that the milk was at least a week past the 'sell by' date, but still smelled ok. put some in a dish and the cats drank it (my real acid test for spoilage - they are finicky!). Made 1/2 gallon of tapioca pudding and 2 loaves of banana bread (using the 4 large bananas that had totally black peels, just sitting there on the counter.
I used a recipe for the banana bread a little different from my usual one (looking for a way to use up the last of the milk). This recipe comes from the new cookbook from the King Arthur Flour Company.
The actual recipe is not on their site, and since the book is newly published and (C) I am not going to type in the recipe. What makes it different from my usual banana bread is that is adds in cinnamon and nutmeg, uses a combination of baking powder and baking soda, and adds in cultured or soured dairy at the end of the mixing process. They give an option for buttermilk, plain yoghurt, or sour cream. What I used was milk that I had soured using crystalline Vitamin C (a kitchen staple of mine). The bread turned out very well indeed, and now I don't need to worry that the milk will spoil in the fridge before use.
Part of what triggered me to even look at the milk (since I don't drink it) was a post over at Elinor's that the Sleepy Mommy referenced. Great catechesis and history in the post, but I have a few issues with the difference between soured milk and spoiled milk. None the less, do go read it. If you get inspired to bake something yourself, let me know.
