Polly Introduces Tullamore Dairies

Hi there and welcome back to Vinca's In Tha Kitchen. It's been a long time since I've made my presence felt here and frankly I feel guilty about it! Sad to say that I could offer excuse upon excuse, each as relevent as the other, but honestly folks I think it was a mixture between bloggers block and a lack of heart...

First of all, let me just say that I haven't been totally idle since my last posting. Oh no, I've been getting plenty of exercise surfing away and catching up with my own reading which is something that often doesn't happen when I'm busy blogging and making cards. It's important to catch up and to keep up, so while I've been feeling sorry for myself with all the exciting developments in my life I've been chilling out on the net in between times. So, I've got quite a bit to catch up on...

First of all my love affair with Glenisk. Well, I'm sure that regular readers have often heard me refer to the Cleary family from Killeigh and their ethically conscious dairy company, and just every now and again their sister company Tullamore Dairies. I feel it necessary for me to offer an apology of sorts, in so far as I seem to have almost neglected Tullamore Dairies - the original incarnation, in preference of their younger flashier sister company.

For those of you who don't live locally Tullamore Dairies is still very much up and running. They provide some of the nicest, creamiest and cheapest milk in the locality, just as they have been doing ever since they first set up as an independant dairy. Rather bizarrely, I made an interesting discovery about this company just last week - they supply skimmed milk...

Up until last week I had somewhat reluctantly been purchasing what I refer to as 'pink milk' from their competitor & major stakeholder in the dairy business here in Ireland. To the best of my knowledge this huge conglomerate was the only supplier of the slightly thinner version of everybody's favourite healthy drink. As a consequence I have been buying their product in bulk and freezing it until needed, as it is often difficult to purchase skimmed milk in Ireland at all!

To be honest I've yet to buy my local Tullamore Dairies product as I've still got a healthy quantity of the frozen stuff to use up, but believe you me I'll be looking for the distinctive green and white waxed carton in the shops next time I go shopping...

Polly See's Cleary Now...!

Dear God; will these guy's never stop? Hot on the heels of my last post; in which I championed some famous Offalian's on a local, national and international level I just received the latest copy of the Glenisk Newsletter.

Not content with being famously innovative; this family business has gone from strength to strength over the last thirty or so years. While still incarcerated at the Sacred Heart Convent in Tullamore I have fond memories of opening the quarter pint tetra-cartons of milk donated to the school on a daily basis during the early years of the Tullamore Dairies story.

As Christmas approaches so do the memories of the Cleary's driver dropping off a carton or two of cream from Santa Clause. The Cleary's have been a part of the community from start to finish, their dreams have grown to reality in the time that has realised enormous changes in this country alone. From being up there in the third world league tables, the Bengal Tiger famously immigrated and took Irish nationality...

Sadly it seems that the bubble has since burst; but not for Glenisk - the organic side of a business that started up a generation or so ago in Newtown, Killeigh. Not only does this company have a strong work ethic; upholding the belief that we should interfere as little as possible with our planet and all that it produces is equally important. Locally the Cleary's use Airtricity; generated from the one naturally occuring resource that Ireland is seldom short of - Wind! Maybe next they will be harnessing another type of wind produced by Green Cows!?

A little further afield this local hero is supporting yet another important project this Christmas; from a humble pot of cream to a herd of goats, maybe even a hive of bees. Glenisk has teamed up in promoting and sponsoring Bothar to produce a beautifully photographed Calendar for the New Year in 2009.

Vincent Cleary is pictured (right) with Patrick McCarrick of Bóthar and Sandy, one of Glenisk's goats at the launch of this year's calendar.

Each calender will cost just €10 (including postage to anywhere in the world) and it features images of successful projects in Nepal and Tanzania. Funds raised from the sale of this calendar will form part of the ongoing support to poor families in these two countries. Also featured are images of dairy goats from Ireland.

The Cleary family of Glenisk made the decision to sponsor the calendar because, as Vincent Cleary puts it: "We greatly admire Bóthar's work in helping to alleviate hunger among the world's poorest populations."

Just in case you are one of those poor people like me, who remember the the days when Christmas actually meant something, was smaller and more enjoyable why not have a look at gifting for charity. Faced with the difficult decision of what to buy for whom visit Bothar and download a copy of this years Christmas catalogue, let's help someone else for a change. Face it guy's; "...unlike most of the presents we exchange at this time of year, these are gifts that reflect the true spirit of Christmas."

"The Difference Is Cleary"

Did I forget to suggest that you pay the Cleary's another visit and check out their Awards and Accolades Page and see what these guy's are really up to..