Showing posts with label tours. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tours. Show all posts

A Visit to Harry & David

December 17, 2011 David , factory tour 0 Comments

All my life I've driven up and down I-5. First it was family vacations when we would return from Saudi Arabia. We would often enter in Los Angeles and then do family activities as we drove back to Oregon to visit my aunt and cousin. Later I did the drive in the 80s when I would travel from college to Palm Springs for spring break. My years were the years that closed Palm Springs forever for spring breakers. Now I do the drive to visit my dad. He retired in Salem and so it's an 8 hour drive to and from. 

So it's pretty amazing that in all that time I never stopped in Medford to go to visit Harry & David. I must admit I've never really bought from Harry & David since it was always a bit on the pricey side for me and I live in the Sacramento valley where we have all the produce I could ever want. My tightwad ways. It was quite by accident that I stumbled on their headquarters this trip. I was stopping in Medford for lunch and drove right by their main store. 

Harry & David are brothers that took over their father's farm after his death in 1914. They took their agricultural expertise to expand the business with their famous Royal Riviera pears. The business took a hit, understandably, during the depression. It was some creative and inspired marketing that made the brothers venture into the mail order business. In 1934 they took boxes of their pears to influential businessmen in San Francisco and New York. The pears sold themselves and the mail order business was born. Since then the company has increased their product lines to include all sorts of fruits, chocolates, snacks, and baked goods. 

freshly dipped pears
There are factory tours offered several times each weekday. Since I was there on a Wednesday and not in a great hurry, I signed up for the 12:30 tour. The tours cost $5, but then they give you a coupon for $5 off your purchases later. I had already shopped and had used their Foursquare check-in coupon of 10% off.


The crunch time for Harry & David is from about mid September to the beginning of December. The factory is exploding with bustling business. I was mid December and the plant was pretty quiet. The last of the pears were being packaged and some gift baskets were being assembled.

cheesecake!
Here you see the variety of cheesecakes being split apart. They are assembling the variety packs with a quarter of each cheesecake packaged together.

Moose Munch mixer
Their biggest product is the Moose Munch. They have about 20 flavor variations. I like the dark chocolate with macadamia and coconut macaroon. The popcorn they use is of two varieties. I didn't realize that each variety pops differently. One pops in a mushroom shape and the other in a butterfly shape, which they like to hold more caramel.

I finished the tour and soon went on my way with a few purchases. I guess I'll be stopping in Medford more often now that I've discovered the treasure hidden slightly off the freeway.

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Bob's Red Mill Tour

December 04, 2011 Bob's Red Mill , bob's red mill tour 11 Comments

I was stunned when I saw the number of products made by Bob's Red Mill. After all, we usually see no more than 20 on any store's shelves. But I was at the headquarters and at their store where the shelves were lined with every product they made in multiple sizes.

When I went to college in Portland, OR in the 80's, Bob's Red Mill wasn't around, or wasn't big and visible like it is today. Now the large red mill is impossible to miss as you drive down Highway 224 through Milwaukie, OR. Farther down the road is the actual processing plant where all their products are packaged. It's at the plant where I was greeted by Cassidy Stockton, their Social Media Manager. She had kindly offered to take me on a private tour. (Public tours are offered every morning at 10 a.m.)

First mill

We started in a section of the plant that held some historical photos and milling equipment. The business started out as a bit of a hobby. Bob Moore's wife, Charlee, loved to use whole grains in her cooking. Bob started playing around with grinding his own flour for her. Slowly it grew to supplying friends and family until it got to become an actual business. Actually started in Redding, CA, the Bob's Red Mill moved to Oregon in the 80's. Over the years they have grown from grains and flour to include beans, mixes, soups, and more. They are especially known for their line of gluten-free products.


Here you see Bob's very first millstone. Bob's Red Mill uses only traditional French millstones that have been favored by mills for centuries. Apparently the granite at this one quarry in France produces porous granite that is extra hard with lots of edges that can grind down the grain. The channels that are cut into the stone automatically channels the grain so that as it gets finer, it moves down the channel to get ground down finer still until it finally drops through as flour.

Testing lab

As I mentioned, Bob's Red Mill has become particularly well known as the gluten-free market has grown and grown over the years. The company takes it very seriously to make sure there is no possibility of cross contamination. There are separate lines, staff, and labs for all of the gluten-free work. Production staff do not cross between the gluten-free and conventional lines to keep things clear.






Leftover bits of flour are given to local food shelters and banks. The debris flour on the floor is swept up to be used in animal feed. 

In a time of economic upheaval in the country, Bob's is one of the few companies that can say they have grown. Cassidy tells me they have seen 20% gains each year. She couldn't supply me with numbers for the gluten-free versus conventional sides of the business, but I suspect the percentage growth is higher in the gluten-free area.

This machine mixes together ingredients for cake or pancake mixes (etc)
Sorghum flour being milled
Inventory ready to be shipped
After my tour was over I headed to the store and was so overwhelmed with all the products that I didn't buy anything. One thing I liked at the store was that they sell huge 25 pound bags of some items, like the flour. Usually we are only exposed to their little one pound bags in the store. They also had bulk bins, which is a wonderful option. I would love to have a Bob's store with all the products and options nearby.  For now I'll have to make do with the fact I can go when I visit my dad up north.

I want to thank Bob's Red Mill and Cassidy for their time and generosity. Since it is the holidays I asked Cassidy if I could have some product for our food drive instead of for myself, which she is graciously sending.


Click here for more stories like this: Fun Things to Do 


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Scharffenberger Bakery Tour and Class with Yigit Pura

October 08, 2011 anthony's cookies , chocolate 3 Comments


What is your favorite chocolate treat? Cake? Cookie? Pie? Ice cream? Do you have a go-to recipe that you make all the time or that has been passed down? My go-to chocolate recipe is brownies because I like the moist density of them.

Every year Scharffen Berger chocolates holds a chocolate recipe contest. The last few years it was Chocolate Adventures, where you had to use their chocolate and a couple of unusual ingredients from their adventure list. I entered it two years ago with my peanut butter filled chocolate mochii. This year they decided to change things up and the contest is Elevate a Classic Dessert. The idea is to take a classic chocolate recipe and pump it up somehow to make it something truly new and outstanding.

As a kickoff to the contest, which was posted to their site on October 1st, Scharffen Berger invited a bunch of food bloggers and media to a San Francisco bakery tour. We visited four bakeries that use Scharffen Berger chocolate in their products. Each bakery created a new recipe just for us. After the tour we then returned for a cooking class with Top Chef: Just Desserts winner, Yigit Pura.

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Naturipe and the Future of Strawberries

September 20, 2011 farm , field workers 0 Comments

I grew up overseas. It was a big deal to come back to the U.S. on vacation and land on American soil. Usually the first thing we'd do was head to McDonalds. But that was in the 70s when I was a child.

We always loved coming back through California. It usually meant we were going to Disneyland, etc. I remember Anaheim of the 70s - Disneyland and strawberry fields. My father and I loved strawberries and so we would get a flat and it would be gone in a day. Are there any fields even left in Anaheim now?

Those are my first memories of California strawberries. Even today you can still find so many fields throughout the state and pick up fresh berries. Nothing compares to picked-that-morning fresh berries and we are blessed to live amongst them.

Will it surprise you to hear that in as soon as 10-15 years the fields as we know them might all be gone?

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Tanimura & Antle Part 2: Workers & Safety

September 16, 2011 farm , field workers 4 Comments
Sadly I seem to have lost the photos to this post!!!

 Field Workers

In Part 1 of my visit to Tanimura & Antle I described the family history and how the business has spanned over three generations. But it's much more than those two families. They consider their entire workforce part of the family.

Brian Antle's title is Harvest Manager. He has direct contact with many of the field workers that are out harvesting the produce every day. He knows almost all of his workers by name and everything about their families as well. Many of them have continued to work Tanimura & Antle (T&A) fields for over a decade.


A T&A field worker is guaranteed a minimum wage of $9.20/hour, but their paycheck is really calculated on how much is harvested in a day. Each harvest team's wages are based on team effort. It all amounts to how much their team pulls in a 'per piece' calculation based on the number of boxes filled. Because of this, field workers often specialize in a particular produce. You won't find a lettuce worker harvesting onions and vice versa. They have gotten a rhythm and technique down for picking their particular vegetable. Brian said that a lettuce harvester would be in danger of slicing a finger off if he suddenly switched to a cauliflower field. In reality, then, the teams are often making closer to $14-18 an hour.
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Taste of Chinatown - Honolulu

September 13, 2011 chinatown , chinatown tour 4 Comments
holding a manapua, or as we know it, Chinese bao
I love food tours where you get to sample a variety of things from different places for a reasonable price. Every big city seems to have them now. Even in Sacramento we now have Grubcrawl, Dishcrawl, and Local Roots.

In Honolulu there are a couple of food tours as well. I chose to go on the Taste of Chinatown tour with Walter Rhee. Walter grew up a Korean diplomat's son and so he was exposed to a lot of Asian travel, cultures, and food. As an adult he got a degree in marine biology but soon found that his interest in eating his studies was greater. He then got a Master's in food science and has taught it at the University of Illinois and the University of Hawaii. Currently he's been teaching cooking classes, writing a cookbook, and taking people around Chinatown to taste the treasures found there. Due to his food science and cultural background, his tours are full of all sorts of interesting food facts.

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2011 Cemetery Tour Schedule

January 15, 2011 cemetery , tours 0 Comments

I volunteer at the Sacramento Historic Old City Cemetery. I figured that if I'm going to volunteer for something it's easiest to go to something in my neighborhood.

I go and help in the gardens with weeding, pruning, and planting. There are three specialty gardens. The Historic Rose Garden is known for it's roses that date back to the Gold Rush period. Many of the original starters came from Europe or China boat, train, and wagon train. In another section is the California Native Plant Garden where you can find California lilacs, sages, and more. Lastly is Hamilton Square, named after William Hamilton, the son of patriot Alexander Hamilton. It contains mostly perennials and is also being used for a native bee study by UC Davis.

Volunteers are needed for all sorts of things. There is gardening, tours, repair of headstones, photographing and documenting of plots for a registry they are working on, etc. If you have an interest in helping, contact Sharon Patrician at patricianone@att.net.

Cemetery Symbology - lambs indicate a child

I'll also occasionally help with the tours, usually the night lantern tours. They give tours by theme, which I think is pretty cool. Below is the schedule for 2011. Tours start at 10 a.m. and meet at the front gate. Day tours are free. Donations are requested for upkeep of the cemetery. For the latest updates, always check the website.

March 5  Pioneers in Petticoats
April 7 Survivors of Winter Storms
May 7 Symbology and Victorian Funerary
June 4  Police, Fire, Legal Lore
July 2 Patriots
August 6 Railroads
September 3 Fun with Family and Children
October 1 Medical Bag
November 12 Veterans Medal of Honor

Around the cemetery you can find plaques with resident stories.

Night tours happen a couple of times a year and are used as fundraisers for the cemetery. Volunteers dress up in costume to act out the person they represent from the grave. They research stories of cemetery residents to find the most interesting to portray. There are stories of murders, crimes, even grave robbing and being buried alive(?).

Night Tours - times to be announced
May 13 - Friday the 13th
Oct 28 & 29 - Halloween tours

What I love is that our cemetery has always been multicultural.


Garden tours will also be offered on March 20, April 16, May 21, June 18, Sept. 17, Oct. 15, and Nov. 19.

Finally, remember that Sacramento Free Museum Day is February 5th and includes the cemetery (although it's always free anyway).


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