When we were finished, Jeni had me try tasting the milk. It was a little different from the store - a lot richer - with a little earthy flavor. When we got it in the house, we put it in a glass jar. There was another in the fridge with a layer of something at the top. Jeni saw me looking.

"Cream," she said. "We can do several things with it. We've got a little gadget that turns it into butter. Real butter, though," she told me, "not that fake shit in the plastic tubs."

By the time Aunt Kimi hollered that lunch was ready, I felt like I'd spent...