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Since I was a little girl, I’ve made Kleinpeter my milk of choice. We were a loyal family, and my grandmother can tell stories of times someone mistakenly bought “the wrong milk” and got scolded for it. Since then, Kleinpeter has also won my devotion with its hard-to-find French Onion Dip. After several grocery trips, I finally found my old favorite again, and finished the container in two days. And what are they about to make that I’ll be buying on every grocery trip, along with milk and dip?

Ice cream.

I took the day off Monday and made a trip out to Kleinpeter’s plant for an ice cream tasting. I know, I’m the luckiest girl in the world. Well, it wasn’t just me, but still.

I sat for a couple of hours with a few friends discussing the joys of the family-owned local brand with president Jeff Kleinpeter. What could possibly be said about milk for that long? Lots. I’ll save all the delightful details for a later date, but I will tease you with one thing that I had to suppress a squeal about: café au lait.

But first, let’s talk ice cream. In about six to eight months, you, too, will be able to taste the joy of your favorite milk mixed with various flavors and fruits and concocted into six different frozen treats. And not just any ice cream. This will be the first probiotic ice cream available in the United States. What that means is that all the active, healthy cultures (the kind in yogurt, or in Kleinpeter’s K-Plus milk) will be in the ice cream, undetectable to your taste buds, but healthy.

Kleinpeter continues to test and tweak recipes and flavors. On Monday I tried the sugar-free chocolate, as well as two variations of vanilla. I can tell you that diabetics will be in heaven since the flavor is just as great as the one with sugar. And I’m a sugar fiend, and I swear I couldn’t taste a difference.

In addition to its commitment to taste, Kleinpeter promises to stick to another long standing tradition of supporting locals by including ingredients like Ruston peaches, Bergeron pecans and Ponchatoula strawberries (these aren’t yet set in stone, but they are in the works).

You can even suggest a flavor you’re dreaming about by visiting kleinpeterdairy.com. Mine, aside from butter pecan, was Community Coffee ice cream. Think about it …

If there ever was a company that listens to its consumers, it’s this one. Now, if we can just talk them into making cheese ...