NEW WEBSITE!

We have a new website over at www.somerdale.co.uk and the blog here will be closed.

The all inclusive new website will have the blog loading directly from there.

Goodbye blogger! Hello Somerdale!

Where In The World Is Marian? Arlington Heights, Illinois

Having just finished the Oregon Tour I had a quick turnaround and headed over to the ‘Windy City” and Arlington Heights near Chicago, Illinois.

Here I joined our local Broker, Theresa Cool (Cheese & Deli Sales) for a Somerdale Training Seminar, with our Distributor, DPI Specialty Foods. This Event was attended by the Retail Sales and Food Service Sales Representatives of DPI Specialty Foods - Mid West.  

Marian

Marian and a DPI Sales Representative

Marian at the seminar

Somerdale's display featuring Westminster
along with Long Clawson cheeses.

Pat Beal, President of DPI Speciality Foods, Mid-West

Marian with Theresa Cool, our local broker (Cheese & Deli Sales)

Where in the World is Marian? Bridgeport, Oregon

Tour Update: We completed our tour of the Whole Foods Market stores in Oregon at their Bridgeport Store, featuring Barber’s 1833 Cheddar. We had great response from the customers about our Barber’s 1833 Cheddar…..so full of flavour and the best tasting Cheddar….they loved it.

Marian

Eric (Team Leader) & Marian

Where in the World is Marian? Vancouver, Washington

Tour Update: As part of our trip working with Whole Foods Market in the Northwest, the weather changed…….was freezing cold and we woke up to snow! Our travels took us into Washington State, where we were featuring Barber’s 1833 Cheddar at the Mill Plain store in Vancouver, Washington.  

Despite the weather, customers still came in to enjoy our delicious, flavoursome Barber’s 1833 Cheddar.

Marian

Gerry, Gaye (Cheese Specialist) and Marian

Marian and Jeremy (Team Leader)

Gaye, Jeremy and Marian

Where in the World is Marian? Portland, Oregon

Tour Update: Our travels took us to Whole Foods Market’s Fremont Store, in Portland, Oregon, where we had a number of very enthusiastic staff to work with.

Marian

Erin, Gerry and Joshua

Erin and Marian

Gerry, Marian and Erica

Where in the World is Marian? Outside Portland, Oregon

Tour Update: Our activities in Oregon took us to Whole Foods Market, Laurelhurst Store in the Portland area. We featured Barber’s 1833 Cheddar with the local Honey Crisp Apples.

Marian

Marian, Liz and Elaine

Gerry, Helen and Marian

MARY’S DAIRY DIARY - MARCH 2011

March - early spring warmth after the cold weather is like breathing out after a shock - just the joy of it is enough.  All the signs of spring hasten on, buds swelling, birds engrossed in their courtship and nesting, spring flowers start - primroses, daffodils, blackthorn.  The landscape, so long held in suspension, slowly then faster and faster animates in the wild dance of the seasons.  Ravens call from the woods, a fat fallow hind, belly big with calf, can’t be bothered to skitter out of the way when she sees no threat from me, and walks over the hedge into the copse.   They’ve got a good eye for what’s a threat:  there is an old fallow hind who follows the woods tractor, knowing that the felled trees will give a good lunch on the soft bark from the top of the tree.  When she hears the grunt of the tractor, she follows the sound: won’t follow other tractors, just the one with Tony in it who fells the trees.

CROPS  -  The wheat, that’s sat so long patiently tolerating the frost, spread like so many spiders on the ground, now starts its orderly growth. The tillers develop first, the secondary plants that each will produce an ear - too few and there aren’t enough ears, too many and each ear never gets quite enough nourishment to make fat grains, full of starch, and makes lots of little withered grains, with too much leaf that’s prone to mildew.  We wait for some clear days to till the barley after the winter fallow.  It’s done its job harbouring flocks of birds.  There is enough keep on the established crops and on those fields we are fallowing for the next year.  Our wildlife scheme comes to an end this year: we hope to continue with it, using funds from Europe; we couldn’t fallow the areas we do without this backing.  It’s a skilful thing to do, invented in this country, from insights provided for instance by my father, to get farmers to provide environmental services.  In other parts of the world, the farmers and environmentalists can be on opposite sides, each demonizing the other.

COWS  -  The cows are out grazing.   Just the same as every year, we watch as the meagre store of grass that came through the frost and has grown since disappears down the mouths of the cows.  It’s always an anxious time and then in late March, it suddenly turns round on a sixpence, and the grass starts looking less like a lawn and more like leafy meadows.  Milk from the tender grass of early spring is flavoursome and not so fatty since the grass is so low in fibre - does the opposite to cows’ digestions than low fibre does to humans.  You just don’t want to be too close behind a cow doing one of the things a cow does best.

CALVES  -  Calves everywhere, lovely.  We are making sure that each one for certain is getting enough colostrum: gut looks a bit hollow after a few hours on mum?  Top them up.  We are determined to make sure these calves get the best start, and enough colostrum and all sorts of health problems just don’t show up.  The older calves from the autumn and heifers from the year before have all come through the winter well, looking even, shiny and no coughing.  I walked through the yards kicking the feed in to their reach, and heard not a single cough.     The youngstock will follow their mothers out to their grazing south of the main road when the weather is warm enough for them - young animals can find it tough being out in wet and cold, one or the other is OK, both too much. 

CHEESE  -  The milk is now established from the spring calvers, less cream than a few weeks ago - ‘lovely to make into cheese’, as Bruce said, so different from winter milk, particularly from the late calvers.  The curd is more robust, more protein compared with fat, more flavour from the grass.  The curd had a nice firm feel, which we don’t have to work to get.  On the other hand, the amount of milk rises day by day, one vat a day becomes two - will it go to three vats by the end of the month?   Just the sheer volume of milk makes it demanding for our labour intensive handmade cheese.  More curd to make sure is cheddared and salted right to the corners, more cheese to dress and press and handle.  So we are thinking about evening the calving out, calve more in the autumn as it is difficult to have a four times more milk in mid April than in mid January, and diluting the late lactation milk that is most tricky to make into good cheese.   We now sell more cheese for Christmas, and Thanksgiving for our American customers, than we used to so it seems more sensible for the milk to follow the time of year people want to buy more cheese.

RECIPE  -  I grew salsify and scorzonera, easy to grow roots that lasted the cold winter very well in the ground when I managed to stop the deer eating them.  I’ve also learnt how to cook with them, having been inspired by a lovely salsify sauce in a wonderful restaurant in San Francisco, ‘Quince’.  I’ve been playing with recipes I enjoy for these neglected vegetables with a delicate flavour.  Take a handful of salsify or scorzonera,  I skin them before cooking, but put immediately in stock (or put in water with lemon juice in to stop it discolouring) , and simmer till soft with some chopped onion and a garlic clove. Blend with a stick whizzer.  Add some flour and butter mixed together to thicken the mix a little, season with salt, pepper, and add a little Quickes Traditional Mature Cheddar just to add that richness to the flavour without overwhelming it. Top with a little chopped parsley.  Add some cream if you’ve got some in the fridge.  Serve as a complex and pleasing sauce on fish or white meat.

MARY QUICKE

Where in the World is Marian? Portland, Oregon

Tour Update: Continuing their activities in the Northwest, Marian and Gerry pulled up in Portland to promote our English Cheese' in Whole Foods Pearl Store.

Mandi Foods

It's been brought to our attention that Mandi Foods have an online store where you can purchase Westminster Cheese and various other Somerdale products.

If you've got a moment why not wonder over to their site and browse their selection!

www.mandifoods.com/shop

Where in the World is Marian? Hillsboro, Oregon

Tour Update: On the second day of their Whole Foods Oregon tour Marian and Gerry have gone to the Tanasbourne Store in Hillsboro, this time promoting Barber's 1833 Vintage Reserve Cheddar.

Gabriel and Marian

Ernie On Skype!!!

STOP THE PRESS!!!

Resident 'hi-tech hijacker' Ernie Waldron used Skype (with a headset) for the first time. Thankfully the moment was recorded for posterity and we are all the more grateful to be sharing this vision of achievement for all you PC Luddite's out there with your anti-technology movement.

Ernie on Skype! - now all he's got to do is find the "Power On" button.

Where in the World is Marian? Bridgeport, Oregon

Britain's best export - Marian and Gerry are on the move and this time in the Northwest working with Whole Foods Market throughout Oregon and featuring Barber's 1833 and Cotswold. We will keep you up-to-date with their activities and the list of stores where you can find our cheese.

Westie at Dumont Dunes and Baker, CA

Our favourite cheesy mascot has just been on yet another outing! This time he's touring around California in a 1965 vintage buggy...

Westie and Bob's Big Boy

Westie and the worlds largest thermometer

Westie on a vintage 1965 Sand Buggy

Westie on top of competition hill

Where in the World is Marian? Montgomery, Alabama

Marian attended Earth Fare Store's Grand Opening which featured Barber’s 1833 Cheddar, Cotswold and Red Dragon…..but they had a great selection of Somerdale Cheese varieties, as you can see from their Cheese Department displays.

Marian and Robert (Department Manager)

Gary - Sporting his 'The Who' Union Jack tattoo.