Smucker’s Trip

AROUND THE FAMILY TABLE WITH SMUCKER’S 2011

I had the pleasure of being invited to Smucker’s in Orville, Ohio this past November. I must say that it was pretty amazing. 18 bloggers got to go hang out, laugh, eat and learn. You cant ask for more.
It is so wonderful seeing a company like Smucker’s who has been on business for sooooo long, still be family owned and operated.
So you think Smucker’s, you think jelly, right? Oh sure, they are the kings of jellies and jams, but they are so much more. Just click here and see their family of products.. You will be amazed.

I must say meeting Richard Smucker was pretty cool. I wanted to bow down to him and chant “I’m not worthy, I’m not worthy”  but I thought that might be a bit inappropriate. So I held back my emotions and just settled for a hand shake. He met us at the Smucker’s store. You can buy most of their products there and some other fun nick-nacks. I was in heaven. Maybe they will open a store in Tampa? No? Oh well, a girl can dream.

We got to take a tour of the original  J.M Smucker home. It was built in 1907 right on the plant property so he could keep a watchful eye out for his operations. Smart man. The home was filled with rich history of the family. Everything from family photos to tax records of the company.

Me with Shelly from Cookies and Cups ….LOVE HER!

Kate from Our Best Bites …Love her too!

Bet you didn’t know that Smucker’s was in the coffee business did you?? Neither did I.On one of our sessions we learned all about coffee. Ohhh coffee. It keeps me from falling right on my face in the morning.

Did you know that the Us drinks 213 BILLION cups of coffee a year. It’s possible I drink 200 billion of those cups. Smucker’s is responsible for 48 billion of the cups.
Now we can call ourselves official Baristas! Delicious coffee was made..oh yes it was.

Stacy DeBroff with Mom Central

I think my favorite was the Peppermint Mocha. Its pretty simple. Just take a cup of brewed coffee and put a big ol’ scoop od peppermint ice-cream on top! Yum. So delicious and so simple.

 

Erin from Deal Seeking Mom

The R & D tour was very interesting in the science sense of it all. The employees that work in the food science labs were referring to themselves as dorks, so you can imagine I felt right at home. They had all sorts of fancy and not so fancy machines that they use for testing products such as jellies sugar content and viscosity.

As you can imagine Smucker’s does A LOT of taste testing panels. They have to get the outside worlds blind opinions on their products. Feedback is one of their most valuable tools for improvement.

We were busy people. Ice cream and pie crust was next. With the use of Eagle Brand Condensed Milk, you can make some pretty delicious ice cream.

I made it to use my Key Lime Pie Ice-Cream a while back.  We all were able to “design” our own flavor. We made the base ice-cream and then let loose in a room full of every topping and mix in ingredient you could think of. I kept it safe..I added bananas, chocolate and peanut butter.

It’s was a safe bet but still mighty tasty! We each had to make our own pie crust. I personally love making pie crust.

It’s actually extremely easy and once you get the hang of it, you won’t buy store bought again. Pffttt, it would take you more time to drive to and from the store to pick up the refrigerated variety than to make your own.

Nichelle from Cupcakes take the Cake

Anna from Cookie Madness

Tremont was next on our agenda for dinner at Rocco Whalen’s Fahrenheit Restaurant.

I can not say enough good things about this establishment. Rocco Whalen is extraordinary chef.  Everything he served us incorporated a Smucker’s product.

Everything was a gastrnomic  delight. My favorite was the Chocolate Pots de Creme. I am pretty sure my eyes rolled in the back of my head at the first bite. Rocco was a very gracious host and talked to each and everyone of us.

Kelsey Nixon(from the Next Food Network Star) stopped by to chat with us. When I saw her I actually gasped out loud. She is such a tiny TINY little thing and cute as a button.

I could have packed her up in my suitcase and brought her home with me(she would have probably fit)!

I loved getting a lesson in food styling. They taught us how to but the perfect piece od pumpkin pie!

We also got to have a mini photography session with Kalman & Pabst photo group. They gave us handy food photography tips.

Look at all of these wonderful women I met
Erin- $5 Dinners
Nikki- Arts and Lemons
Anna- Cookie Madness
Shelly- Cookie and Cups
Nichelle- Cupcakes take the Cake
Tara- Deal Seeking Mom
Shiana- Food for My Family
Shannon- For The Mommas
Nicki- Macaroni Kid
Stacy- Mom Central
Tanya- Mommy Goggles
Amanda- Mommy Mandy
Kate- Our Best Bites
Laura- Real Mom Kitchen
Crystal- Simply Being Mommy
Jenny- Southern Savers
Melissa- Stock Piling Moms
Toni- The Happy Housewife
Shannon- The Mommy Files

And a HUGE thanks to the team at Cohn&Wolfe and the folks at Smucker’s for putting together this trip. I had an amazing time and am now proud to be a part of the Smucker’s family

Oh, and what trip would be complete without a nice poke on the Pillsbury Dough Boys Belly!