Everyone has his or her own idea of the ideal ice cream fix. For my husband, Bob, it's a frozen, crisp chocolate Klondike. For me, it's a rare dish of any flavor. Rare, because I'm lactose intolerant, and though I am never without chewable Lactaid pills, I don't like to push my luck. The pills, when taken with the first bite of any dairy food, protect by supplying the enzyme lactase that my body no longer produces.

	Food styling by Marlene Parrish, Martha Rial, Post-Gazette
	Chocolate and Vanilla Goat's Milk Ice Cream: Inspired by a grandmother's ice cream maker.

So I was instantly drawn to mentions of goat milk ice cream in recent issues of Sunset and Fine Cooking magazines. Goat milk ice cream? This is a new thought.

Goat milk is more easily digestible than cow's milk, and it contains only half the fat and cholesterol of cow's milk. The differences between goat milk and cow milk lie in the protein and fat structures. Goat milk, like human milk, does not contain the protein in cow milk to which many people are allergic or sensitive. Because of its smaller fat globules, goat milk is easier to digest, allowing for greater absorption of nutrients. It's also rich in calcium.

Goat milk can be used straight from the carton, and is interchangeable with cow milk in recipes.

So why not goat milk ice cream?

Ah, but what about flavor? I love goat cheese, and that's made from you know what. I needed to know more about goat milk ice cream, so I contacted Laura Howard, creator and owner of Laloo's Goat Milk Ice Cream in Petaluma, Calif. Turns out, she's from Pittsburgh, originally from Export.

After mutual squealing about a small world, the Steelers, Pirates and Pittsburgh's restaurant scene, she told me her story.

"I was a 4-H kid with the Boots and Saddles club growing up," Howard says. "After college, I worked in advertising in Chicago, first producing television commercials, then movies. My work took me to California. There, I got on a health kick and quit eating dairy and caffeine for a year. I felt better, but I really missed ice cream. I started making ice cream from goat's milk, using cartons of Meyenberg goat milk that I found in Whole Foods, and then fresh from local farmers."

Her grandmother died on the West Virginia farm where she spent many summers as a child, and the only thing Howard wanted as a remembrance was a hand-crank ice cream maker with a wooden barrel. She lugged it to California on the plane. For about a year, she regularly made goat milk ice cream by hand for her friends. They loved it.

Then Howard had a life-changing experience.

"As part of a freelance movie job, I lived in Tuscany for several months where I became involved with Slow Food. We ate only fresh and local food. My friends there taught me that knowing where your food comes from matters," Howard says. "It changed the way I live. I knew I didn't want to be in the movie industry forever, and I wanted to live in the country again. I made the decision to make my own goat milk ice cream and sell it."

Long story short: When Howard returned from Italy, she packed up and drove to Sonoma County. She slept on friends' couches while she peddled her ice cream, now made in an electric ice cream maker, from a cooler with dry ice in the back of her car. Her sales calls led her to meet Jim and Donna Pacheco, who have 500 goats on a 350-acre farm, where they make cheese. Their goats, bonding and friendship led to the founding of Laloo's Goat Milk Ice Cream in the fall of 2004, branded after Howard's teenage nickname.

Howard's goats frolic on and dine on grass and herbs in Sonoma County, where they are nurtured free of hormones, pesticides or genetically modified organisms. She rents a farm and barn where she does research and development. An inspected facility nearby pasteurizes the goat milk and makes the ice cream.

"We're making ice cream around the clock, seven days a week," Howard says. "I had no way to gauge demand. It's huge. Our customers are people who want an ice cream that's easy to digest, or like tasting the fresh goat-y flavor."

Laloo's goat milk ice cream comes in six flavors, including Scharffen Berger chocolate, French vanilla, pumpkin and mission fig. It is distributed on the West Coast only in Whole Foods and other markets. Howard is adamant about not wasting fuel trucking her California ice cream east.

I had to try the stuff, and I ordered a few pints.

Yes, it has a tang similar to goat cheese, but not as intense. The texture is creamy and not pumped full of air, really not much different from quality ice cream made from cow milk and cream. But ordering from the West Coast and FedEx overnight delivery, which depends on your ZIP code, is costly. The goat milk costs $8 a pint.

I decided to make my own.

Lacking a source of fresh goat milk, I used cartons of Meyenberg goat milk from Whole Foods. (I intend to play with it in the kitchen for the next few months. I've already used it in mashed potatoes, cup custard and waffles.)

My first recipe was chocolate ice cream. It is not baaaa-d at all. I kid you not. In fact, the goat milk ice cream is udderly delicious.

To find out more about Laloo, go to the Web site: www.goatmilkicecream.com.

RELATED RECIPE

Chocolate Hazelnut Gelato
This PG-tested recipe uses all milk, no heavy cream. The finished ice cream has a velvety texture and mellow flavor. Find Nutella on supermarket shelves in the peanut butter and jelly section.

• 3 cups whole milk or goat milk, divided
  
  
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
  
  
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
  
  
• ¹/₄ teaspoon salt
  
  
• 1 tablespoon very strong coffee
  
  
• 1 cup Nutella (chocolate-hazelnut spread)
  

Bring 2¹/₂ cups of milk to a boil over moderate heat in a 4-quart saucepan. In a separate bowl, whisk sugar, cornstarch, salt and the remaining ¹/₂ cup milk and coffee.

When the milk comes to a boil, lower the heat and carefully whisk in the Nutella and then the cornstarch-sugar mixture. Continue whisking and increase heat to medium-high and bring mixture to a low boil. Let mixture boil for 3 minutes or until thickened.

Remove from the heat. Cover and refrigerate until completely chilled, at least 2 hours or overnight.

Pour mixture into an ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer's directions. When it is done, it will have the consistency of soft-serve ice cream. I like to let this firm up in the freezer for a few hours or overnight. Makes 1 quart.