Dairy Location Shoot

Big thanks to dairy friend @PeteThePhoto today for a lot of hard work on the location shoot….

Cheesy Christmas Creative Concepts

We’ve just been reviewing the creative work for our own Christmas card here at dairy towers….

The most important job of the year and we can guarantee plenty of cheesiness again plus random shots of cows of course!

Look out for it coming soon….

10 Years Ago Today…..

I remember it like it was yesterday. A bright Autumn Saturday morning, a peaceful lounge with the new wide screen TV tuned in to the Rugby World Cup Final. Australia V England….. could it get any better? The anxiety and fear, knowing that those pesky Aussies always seem to pull it out of the bag when they need to. But we had our our secret weapon – Jonny!

Re-live it here – http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/11/22/england-2003-rugby-world-cup-win_n_4321997.html

I shall be spending most of this afternoon doing just that!!! Nige

Sad Local News…

It seems to be the end of an era in terms of local industry in Nottinghamshire. FJ Bamkin – a local independent sock maker that can trace its family roots back 200 years has finally succumbed to modern economic pressure. The company has been wound up with the loss of 45 skilled jobs in Hucknall after diminishing orders from the MOD and a huge bad debt when Blacks Leisure went bust recently. The dairy worked with the brand some years ago and thoroughly enjoyed the relationship – particularly the larger than life character that was the MD – Andrew Hamilton……

Read more here – http://www.insidermedia.com/insider/midlands/99778-fj-bamkin-wound-after-string-crises?utm_source=eastmidlands_newsletter&utm_medium=top_story_article&utm_campaign=eastmidlands_news_tracker

The World of 3D Printing!

A huge dairy thanks to the Ingenuity Programme from the University of Nottingham for their presentation this morning.

Professor Chris Barnatt always gives good value when he speaks – but today’s subject of 3D printing was exceptional. He covered the advances in recent years to his predictions for the future – 3D printing is really starting to have an impact in all of our lives and it won’t be long before we see compact 3D printers in most offices. You can see more here – http://www.explainingthefuture.com/cjb.html

Freshers Fair!

The dairy team has just been along to the University of Nottingham Freshers Fair to check out the various goodies we provided for the Nottingham City Transport stand. The place was as packed as usual and the pizza was as good as usual – we suspect the NCT team had more than their fair share… But the best use of balloons award goes to the local taxi firm –

NEED OFFICE SPACE IN NOTTINGHAM??

Our lovely tenants at Unit 4 Park Lane Business Centre are leaving us at the end of this month which means we have either one floor or both floors of the building free to rent. It is just under 2,000sq. ft in total and is ready to move into. Would suit all office staff or office on the top deck and storage and even light industrial on the bottom deck. x6 car parking spaces included (but no parking levy!) Call me for more details – Nige Rowlson 07966 460409

Has the time come for BlackBerry to take over?

The new Blackberry Z30 unveiled earlier today, shows impressive technology with its five-inch, touchscreen display, and a host of multimedia capabilities! This includes an updated version of BBM letting users preview messages arriving from alternative apps, such as WhatsApp, from within its flagship messaging service!

Through running on the BB10.2 operating system, it is designed to excel at ‘communications, messaging and productivity’!

Blackberry CMO Frank Boulben, said: “We want to be the leader in mobile computing at large and that means devices but it also means services.”

Follow the link to see the new ad!: – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQVKISYQ31s

It’s Easy Peasy!

It’s coming to the start of the University year and here at The Dairy we understand the need for students to budget their cash, and how food and transport can take a large cut in the daily budget!

With this in mind we have joined with Nottingham City Transport combining a source of food and transport which are both cheap and easy, forming our latest ‘Easy Peasy Campaign’ which will be released in the fresher’s fair week commencing 23^rd of September!

For those interested in the campaign, here are a sneak peak of  some of the recipes…

Pea and Ham Soup

Ingredients:

Can of Mushy Peas

Smoked Ham

Vegetable/Chicken stock cube

Method:

• Put peas in a microwavable bowl and heat on full power for 2 minutes or begin heat up in a pan.
• Add half a sock cube to half a cup of boiling water.
• Add to the bowl/pan and heat for a further couple of minutes.
• Slice the ham and add.
• Take off the heat and blend with a hand held blender.
• Season to taste and serve.

Mushy Pea Curry

 Ingredients:

3x tins of mushy peas

1 tin of baked beans

1 tin of tomatos

1 onion

Mushrooms

Curry Powder

Method:

• Lightly fry the onions.
• Add the mushrooms and cook until tender.
• Add all the other ingredients and stir together
• Put a lid on your pan and leave on a low heat for 20 minutes.
• Serve with rice or naan bread.

Salmon and mushy pea fish cakes

Ingredients:

Can of salmon drained

Can of mushy peas

500g potatoes, peeled and chopped

1 beaten egg

Bread crumbs

Olive Oil

Method:

• Boil the potatoes until soft, drain very well, mash and season well with salt and pepper.
• Place the salmon in a large bowl; remove any large bones and skin.
• Add the mushy peas and mashed potato and mix together well.
• Divide into 8 portions, and shape into a fishcake shape, place on a baking sheet, cover and chill.
• Brush the fishcake with egg and coat well with breadcrumbs.
• Shallow fry the fishcakes for 3-4 minutes on each side or until golden brown.

Mushy Pea and Leak fritters

Ingredients:

Can of Mushy peas

60g butter 

1 medium leek (trimmed, halved, finely shredded and washed and dried)

Vegetable or corn oil for frying

3tbsp self-raising flour

150ml beer or cider to mix

 

Method:

• Cook the peas in a pan then blend in a food processor until smooth.
• Melt the butter in a pan, add the leeks, season and gently cook on a medium heat for a couple of minutes, stirring every so often.
• Transfer into a bowl and add the peas.
• Line a tray with Clingfilm and spoon heaped teaspoon-sized pieces of the mixture on to the tray. Place in the fridge for a couple of hours, until set.
• To make the batter, mix the beer or cider with the flour in a bowl to make a fairly thick batter.
• Heat 8cm of oil to 160-180C in a large thick bottom sauce pan or deep fat fryer.
• With a spoon, drop the pea mixture into the batter then straight into the oil.
• Leave for a few minutes until golden then remove and let dry.

Hi from Emily!

Hello to all those browsing the dairy blog, today is my first day working with The Dairy and already I feel my next two weeks should be a fantastic experience. Nige, the Managing Director, and Kay, Project Manager, have been warm from before even setting foot in the door; literally! – Thorough directions were given over the phone to me, after getting off at the wrong bus stop, guiding me straight into their welcoming arms. I am the latest student working with the company having just finished my first year studying Marketing, Design and Communications at Nottingham Trent University. As it is coming to the end of the summer I was led to believe the workload would be dying down however I have been informed they will be keeping me busy from start to finish and so far this has proven to be true. (Damn). I contacted The Dairy for work experience earlier in the year after being chiefly impressed with its quirky website and references to all things cow related. I now understand that this offbeat theme is actually because the company originated on a dairy farm – makes sense! And they have kept it with them ever since. I also understand, after browsing some of their case studies, The Dairy believe in environmental sustainability and are continually looking for ways to improve their systems, another pull factor for me to work with them. It wasn’t until meeting with Nigel, prior to being accepted as a future intern, that I discovered the company was reasonably small in size, forming a faultlessly friendly community at  Park Lane Business Centre. This attracted me more to the company as I felt I would have the opportunity for a more hands on approach to the Marketing and Design I am looking to gain experience in, without feeling afraid to ask any questions. I look forward to working with the team over the duration of my internship, already feeling part of the family and can imagine it will be sad leaving such a lovely team of good workers!