Unfriended: A Geek and Stud Romance (Love in New Highland Book 1)

by Deana Farrady

  METHODOLOGY:

  Going by the label of my half gallon of Half & Half (ingredients: Milk, Cream) and the USDA Nutrient Database, I calculated what the counts would be if it were made by using half whole milk and half light or heavy whipping cream by volume.

  RESULTS:

  Here's my math (please somebody double-check me):

  One half gallon of Half and Half has 63 2-tablespoon servings. That's 126 tablespoons. I converted everything to cups to make it easier. Each cup of fluid has 16 tablespoons (and incidentally 8 fl oz), so the half-gallon container has about 8 cups total. This means each cup of Half and Half has 8 servings.

  There are label conventions for rounding. I do not know these, so I guessed.

  The label says one serving (2 tbsp) has:

  1 g protein

  3 g fat

  1 g sugars/carbohydrates

  4% calcium (or, I extrapolate, 40 mg, based on a DV of 1000mg of calcium)

  40 calories

  So one cup of Half and Half has

  8 g protein

  24 g fat

  8 g sugars/carbs

  32% calcium (320 mg)

  320 calories

  Now, according to the USDA nutrient database for whole milk (listed as Milk, whole, 3.25% milkfat, with added vitamin D) one cup of milk has about:

  8 grams of protein,

  8 grams of fat

  12 grams carbohydrate

  28% calcium (based on a DV of 1000mg of calcium)

  149 calories

  And one cup of heavy cream (Cream, fluid, heavy whipping) has about:

  7 grams of protein

  86 grams of fat

  7 grams of carbs/sugars

  16% calcium

  809 calories

  And one cup of light cream (Cream, fluid, light whipping) has about:

  5 grams of protein

  74 grams of fat

  7 grams of carbs

  17% calcium

  698 calories

  So if we assume it's measured by volume, a half cup of milk will yield:

  4 grams protein

  4 grams fat

  6 grams carbs

  14% calcium

  75 calories

  And a half cup of light cream will add:

  2.5 grams protein

  36 grams fat

  3.5 grams carbs

  8.5 % calcium

  349 calories

  Which would give you, per cup,

  6.5 grams protein

  40 grams fat

  9.5 grams carbs

  22.5 % calcium

  424 calories

  Which would yield, per 2Tbsp=1/8th cup serving:

  1 gram protein (rounded)

  5 grams fat

  1 grams carbs (rounded)

  3% calcium

  53 calories

  However with heavy cream instead of light, one half cup has:

  3.5 grams of protein

  43 grams of fat

  3.5 grams of carbs/sugars

  8% calcium

  405 calories

  So one half cup heavy cream mixed with one half cup whole milk gives:

  7.5 grams protein

  47 grams fat

  9.5 grams carbs

  22% calcium

  480 calories

  Which will yield per serving:

  1 gram protein

  6 grams fat

  1 gram carbs

  3% calcium

  60 calories

  CONCLUSIONS:

  Whole milk combined either with heavy cream or light cream yields the right amount of protein and carbs indicated on the label, but more fat, more calories, and less calcium than the actual label implies for Half & Half. The actual label implies less fat, fewer calories, and more calcium.

  Based on this, I conclude that IF the mixture is determined by volume, the milk used is NOT whole milk, but skim or reduced fat or a mysterious combination.

  And yet…why do the protein and carbohydrates jive with the label? Since as we know there is more protein and carbohydrate in milk than in cream, wouldn't this go up, too, along with calcium, if a greater proportion of the volume came from the nonfat part of the milk? Unless it's an artifact of rounding…?

  Also possibly relevant data: Milk is listed as the first ingredient, and cream the second. Since I THINK according to labeling conventions, ingredients have to be ordered by weight, descending, this implies there is more milk by weight. And since fat floats, cream is lighter than milk. So this would imply the calculation is done by volume.

  But: how would they be listed if the weight WERE equivalent?

  Is my math sound? My assumptions? My reasoning?

  Discuss.

  TL;DR: My calculations seem to imply that Half & Half, if measured by volume, is half cream and half something-other-than-regular whole milk. But the results suggest a more complicated answer. So maybe it's not measured by volume, but by weight. But the order of ingredients implies volume. Unless it doesn't. Help?

  Single Comment Responding to Above Post

  Dude…seriously here…for your own sake…get a life.

  Deleted Scene B

  Email from Charis to Melanie Alvarez, nee Norrell

  Sent three-ish years after the events in this book

  FROM: charsloane@marmotcanyon.HPS.edu

  TO: melalvarez@nucentlaudenpllc.com

  SUBJECT: The Unexciting Annals of Charis and Asher

  Okay, Mel, this is for you. Just remember, you made me do this and I'm only bothering because there is literally nothing else to do, I'm relegated to my desk and even then Asher's on my case, and I'm getting desperate. It might take a few days. I'll probably go ahead and email them whenever they come to me.

  So check me on this first. You wanted me to record absolutely everything, right? All the stupid little exchanges your brother and I had over the years during our "courtship period." I really don't see how it can make any difference to the dude, but you're the expert.

  But I'm not going back all the way, sorry, some of that is just too…I don't know. The one below is the first time we met on the quad as adults. The rest probably won't be in order. And you're not getting a book. Just the bare bones of the few times that stand out. I'm sick of writing.

  Personally I think they're going to be really boring. It's just me and Asher hanging out.

  Good luck getting through them if you even bother. I still think it's a waste of time. By the time he's old enough to read them, the dude'll be all like, "Did they actually talk that way back in the olden days?"

  Later,

  Char

  P.S. I want you to know after this I am never sharing with you again. I tell you one time about my pregnancy-induced total word recall, and this results.