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UMassFive: A New Benefit of Co-op Member-Ownership
We are pleased to announce that member-owners and employees of the Old Creamery Co-op are now eligible to become members of the UMassFive College Credit Union. This new benefit is liberally extended by UMassFive to family members of Old Creamery Co-op member-owners and employees, including spouses/partners, siblings, parents, grandparents, and grandchildren.
 The credit union is itself a cooperative, owned by its members and governed by the same cooperative principles used in governing the Old Creamery Co-op. These principles are demonstrated in some of the credit union's practices and programs. Two examples are interest-free loans to join local CSAs, and "green" auto loans with reduced rates for high-mileage vehicles.
UMassFive informational brochures are available at the Creamery. And credit union representatives will be on hand at our next member-owner appreciation day to personally answer your questions. You can also see what UMassFive has to offer by visiting its website (click here).
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From the General Manager
What products are we excited about this week? Nitty Gritty Grain Company! We will be offering its Vermont-grown grain products as a regionally sourced and organic alternative to the Bob's  Red Mill products we will continue to carry. The cornmeals and flours come in gorgeous packages. How about putting together a basket of these great grains as a gift for the baker in your life? The Wapsie Cornmeal especially catches my baker's eye; Wapsie Valley corn is an heirloom, open-pollinated variety. The kernels are harder, intensely flavored, and more nutritious than hybrids but yield less corn per acre. The corn grinds into a rich orange meal with an earthy, robust flavor and a very crunchy texture.
Things to love:
Nitty Gritty Grain Company of Vermont is a small, family-owned, certified organic farming operation committed to producing delicious, wholesome, locally grown products. Its aim is to participate in the cycle of sustainability both nutritionally and environmentally by growing certified organic grains. They are reaping the bounty of what the earth has to give and returning the gift by preserving the land for future generations.
Compostable Package: Labeled with recycled paper and printed with soy ink. The one-pound bag is nonpetroleum cellophane; larger sizes are bagged in paper and sewn closed.
Grown and Produced Locally: On their Champlain Valley farm by a seventh-generation Vermont farmer.
Freshness Dated: To assure quality of whole grains.
Certified Organic: By Vermont Organic Farmers (NOFA-VT).
See you at the co-op!
--Karen
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The West Cummington Church Has a New Home!  | The West Cummington Church congregates last Sunday.
(Daily Hampshire Gazette photo) |
This past Sunday was the first service held by the congregation of the West Cummington Church in their new building.
As most readers know, the prior church building that was built in 1839 burned to the ground almost three years ago. We share in the joy felt by all of our friends and neighbors of the West Cummington Church for this great milestone in the long and storied history of this congregation. You can read a Daily Hampshire Gazette article about the "new" church by clicking here (you may view one article on the Gazette's website, and then register to view five free articles per month).
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Cheese of the Week! Last week we featured this cheese in our newsletter, but an astute shopper realized that we had a different offering for tasting and sale last Saturday. Please accept our apologies for the confusion, and, no kidding, you can sample and purchase Alpha Tolman this week. Alpha Tolman is a burly Alpine-style cheese made at Jasper Hill's state-of-the-art, 22,000-square-foot, underground cheese-aging facility in Greensboro, Vermont. It is a raw cow's milk cheese, aged 7 to 11 months.
Alpha Tolman is a Jasper Hill Creamery original, inspired by the  classic Alpine cheeses of Europe with a modified recipe designed to showcase the cows and landscape of Vermont's Northeast Kingdom. Its name pays homage to a Greensboro ancestor, Mr. Alpha Tolman, a philanthropic dairy farmer.
Alpha is made using the traditional Alpine methods of cooking and pressing the curds during cheese-making to achieve a tight, elastic texture and robust, complex flavors. Fresh wheels are washed with a cultured brine to cultivate a rosy orange rind that imparts a funky depth to the ripening paste beneath. Young wheels have milk, fruit, and nut flavors and a smooth mouth feel. Mature wheels are more bold and meaty with amplified butter and caramelized onion flavors carried by a rich and crystalline texture. Try pairing with a robust ale, plummy red wine, or onion jam. Come down this Saturday and have a taste! Remember, we'll take 10% off all day! Hope to see you soon.
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Karen's Recipe: Pasta Carbonara
This week's recipe comes from our Co-op general manager, Karen Doherty.
 If anyone asks me, "What is your 'go-to' recipe, when you are tired and famished but a sandwich just won't do? When you need something warm and substantial, that takes only moments, and you know everyone you make it for will fall in love with it instantly?" Here's what I'd say, without a moment's hesitation: "Pasta Carbonara!" It is all that. And perfect for those December nights when you've been running the kids to evening school performances, or last-minute shopping, or cross-country skiing all day, or caring for a sick friend. Ingredients are usually found at hand, so here it is in all its delicious, simple weeknight glory! This is a family favorite I hope you enjoy!
(Click here for a link to the recipe.)
What's your favorite "go to"? Submit a recipe and a little story and we may share it right here in the Recipes section. Just send it to info@oldcreamery.coop.
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Following is one of a series of weekly articles in recognition of the United Nations' International Year of Cooperatives.
A Brief History of Credit Unions
For more than 100 years, credit unions have provided financial services to their members in the United States. Credit unions are unique depository institutions created not for profit, but to serve their members as credit cooperatives . . .
Read lots more here.
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Help us spread the word! Consider encouraging your friends to sign on to receive the Creamery's weekly email newsletter. Better yet, encourage them to become member owners of the co-op. You can forward this email to your friends and relatives, and rest assured, we won't clog their inboxes and we will respect their privacy. We will not disclose your or their email addresses to anyone else. You can unsubscribe at any time. Thank you for your interest, commitment, and support.
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Many items are on sale every week at the Creamery. Look for the brightly colored shelf tags. These items are 15%-45% off regular prices. We work hard to find bargains on many different items, including staple groceries, treats like chocolate, juices, refrigerated items, personal care products, and supplements. The shelf tags indicate when the sale price expires. Some sale items are one-time opportunities that remain on sale until sold out. Many are purchasing opportunities that can be replenished over several weeks at great prices. Enjoy the savings!
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Your continued patronage supports the ongoing success of our community-owned, values-based cooperative. Thank you for supporting the Old Creamery Co-op as a member-owner, as a shopper, as a friend. We value every contribution to the success of the Old Creamery Co-op.
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