Safeway Fresh and Local Produce Tour with Ron Rivers Pear Orchards and Duckwall Fruit

Me at the Pear Orchard (photo
credit: Safeway)

This free trip was sponsored by Safeway. I also received free swag for going, but I was not obligated to write up this post. My thoughts are mine and my family's own opinion and have not been altered by anyone else. I did not receive any other compensation for posting.

On August 22nd I was whisked away to a gorgeous pear orchard nestled in the Hood River Oregon Valley. This is one of many farms and orchards that supplies Safeway stores with fresh produce locally. This particular pear orchard is owned by a 5th generation grower and farmer named Ron Rivers and Duckwall Fruit. They have been producing and perfecting pears since 1919.

I carpooled with a local blogger, Maryann Collier and her colleague Dawn from Coupon Savvy. We headed to Portland to meet the other bloggers, media and Safeway representatives, etc. at the Hawthorne Boulevard Safeway. When we arrived we were greeted warmly by the Safeway representatives and put on a very large tour/shuttle bus complete with its own bathroom for the journey to Hood River. They also had made us each a large gift basket filled with goodies to sit next to. I felt very spoiled ;)

When we got to the Hood River Safeway we picked up some other Safeway representatives along with Fred Duckwall (President of Duckwall Fruit), Ed Weathers (VP and Sales Manager of Duckwall Fruit) and Scott Bradley (VP of Safeway produce). They answered some of our questions as we were transported to the farm. When we got to the orchard we all got out, took in the gorgeous scenery and had a lesson on pears from the experts. We met Farmer Ron Rivers and his wife. They told us the ins and outs of having a pear orchard.

Ron Rivers has over 200 acres of pear orchard located in the foothills of Mt. Hood outside of Parkdale Oregon. We learned that because of the micro-climate and fertile soil that is rich with vitamins, minerals, and nutrients from the volcano, Hood River Valley is one of the best places to grow pears and other fruit. A single pear tree can produce pears for over 100 years and some of the trees we saw while we were there were over 50 years old! When frosts threaten the crop they turn on large fans and heaters called smudge pots to help the orchard warm up and create a smoke blanket to protect the fruit trees from radiative cooling. A pears skin is fairly delicate so the really cold moisture can damage it or the blossoms before fruition. On the Ron Rivers farm they have about 55 employees that work 10 months out of the year to prune the trees, thin the fruit, and hand pick the fruit. Hand picked fruit is in better condition with less bruising than fruit picked by machine. Duckwall Fruit gets over 2.5 million cartons (7000 bins) filled with pears annually that were picked in the 60 day long picking process. The pears are transferred from the farm to a ambient air cold storage or controlled atmosphere storage (CA) facility at Duckwall Fruit to be further hand sorted and graded. The CA storage suspends the normal ripening process and allows the fruit to be held up to eight months after harvest. You can read the complete process at Duckwall's website.

I told Mr. Rivers that I had a farm with a couple of pear trees on it and he told me that he would love to visit sometime and give me pointers on my small orchard. I thought that would be fantastic and told him I would like that very much. We then rode the tour bus to the next area where they had set up a yummy looking spread of food and some tables and chairs for us to sit at all under a canopy tent. We were welcomed at the entrance by a Safeway banner that said, "Welcome Have fun and enjoy the farm!" It started raining and we could hear thunder and see lightning in the distance. We hurried with our cameras and other blogging devices to the closest shelter. Mr. Rivers saw me trying to get photographs of the canopy with Mount Hood in the background and he personally invited me up to his covered upper deck that overlooked the valley. It was a breathtaking view!

Chef Ben from the Celilo Restaurant and Bar in Hood River prepared a feast that incorporated pears into everything we ate and drank. For the drink we had Sparkling Pear Soda with Honey Drinking Vinegar. It wasn't overly sweet with the honey and minced pear and it had mint or basil to bring out the flavor. Next on the table was Phyllo Wrapped Pears and Curry Butter. These were really good and I loved the interesting combination of sweet and spicy. Next was Pear Endive Spears with Walnut Vinaigrette. These were one of my favorites. They had a great crunch with the endive spears and the pear that was paired with the nuts and tangyness of the dressing was perfect. Next was Pear Jam and Crackers. I love the Open Nature Multi-Grain Cracker Crisps they picked for spreading the jam onto. I am definitely going to have to seek out a box of them at Safeway. The Grilled Prosciutto Wrapped Pears were so good with the salty and the sweet! I also loved the smokey flavor of the Cedar Planked Pears that were grilled to perfection. Then there was the Grilled Pear, Turkey, and Brie Sandwiches with Roasted Garlic Aioli. These were actually two sandwiches skewered together and since I love brie and garlic this was delicious!

Me dishing up the yummy food. (photo credit: Safeway)

I was getting a bit full when they brought out the desserts! There was a Thai Sweet Chili Glazed Pear Tartin which was something I wouldn't have thought of to put together, but it was really good and there was Roasted Pear Pie Butterscotch and Caramel Parfait which was, in my honest opinion, too sweet. I wanted to finish the parfait, but I just couldn't. While we ate under the canopy we listened to the rain and thunder. Wow so much yummy food! They also gave us some pears and large bags to bring home some extra food if we wanted to. How could I pass that up!?

Once the rain cleared we had pictures taken of everyone and headed back on the bus.

We stopped off at the Hood River Safeway again and got a first hand look at the display for the Duckwall Fruit pears with Ron Rivers' picture hanging over it. We then wrapped up the day with our last questions, headed back to Portland and then back home with our swag. Safeway is an awesome host! This was a very fun and productive day. I learned a whole lot and wouldn't mind visiting the pear orchard and Mr. Rivers and his wife again if they would have me.

You can go to Safeway's Website and see other fresh produce that is in season and in their stores now. You can also read and watch video clips about other farmers that harvest fresh produce for Safeway.

DISCLOSURE/DISCLAIMER: I went to this event because I was invited. I wanted to let you, my readers, know of the awesome farmers behind the scenes of Safeway's produce so I wrote this post. Thanks to Safeway and their representatives, Ron Rivers and family, and Duckwell Fruit for providing me with the information and inviting me to this event. I received free swag for attending. My thoughts are mine and my family's own opinion and have not been altered by anyone else. I did not receive any other compensation for posting.

Safeway Pin2Win Sweepstakes

Safeway is having their first Pin2Win Sweepstakes from Dec. 12th - January 2nd! Visit the Safeway Pin2Win Sweepstakes Facebook tab once per day through January 2nd. Pin your favorite featured recipe & enter your email address. Hit Submit & Pin! and you'll be entered to win a Safeway $50 gift card. You can also get 8 entries per day by pinning all 8 recipes!

DISCLOSURE/DISCLAIMER:
For my participation in this Promotion I will be entered to win an "I'M HUGE ON PINTEREST" t-shirt. Thanks to Bloggertunities for providing me this promotion information. My thoughts are mine and my family's own opinion and have not been altered by anyone else. I did not receive any other compensation for posting this promo.

Food on the Table - Easy Meal Planning - FREE

Food on the Table is an awesome Meal Planning Service that is based on sales of well known grocery store chains to help you make your grocery lists, save money and come up with meals from their recipes. They have Safeway, Fred Myer, Albertsons, QFC, Save-A-Lot, and Whole Foods on their list of stores they work with.

Since I am shopping more frequently at Safeway now because of Safeway's Just For U savings program I am excited to use this also!

Use promo code: SPRINGFREE and you will get this Free For Life!

DISCLOSURE/DISCLAIMER: I wrote this blog post because I thought you might be interested in knowing this information and taking part of this deal because I also have signed up for it. I thought I would share the savings. My thoughts are mine and my family's own opinion and have not been altered by anyone else. I did not receive any compensation for doing this post.

Portland Oregon Safeway VIP Blogger Event Recap #Safewayj4u

On Wednesday May 16th, 2012 I was privileged to attend the Safeway VIP Blogger Event in Oregon at the Safeway Portland Division Office. This was my very first blogger event so I was thrilled to be invited! I met up with some other bloggers, traded information and socialized. We were also very well fed both breakfast and lunch. Safeway sure knows food :) The Signature Cafe Buffalo Chicken Pasta Salad, O Organics Blood Orange Italian Soda and the Safeway Select French Berry Lemonade Sparkling Soda was my favorite for the lunch portion of the event. On the table beside the food Safeway showcased some of their brand name food items.

We sat at long tables and Tweeted, Facebooked and sent our readers quick messages about where we were and what we were learning. Safeway showed us a presentation about their new clip-less coupon program called Just for U.

Essentially when you sign up for Just for U on the Safeway website you can save roughly 10-20% more than usual if you add the coupons that you want from their website directly to your Safeway Club Card. This makes it so simple to save money. These personalized price offers in Just for U are even better than Safeway's Everyday Low Prices and great Club Card specials. For those of us that don't clip coupons because of time restraints this is a much easier method and isn't time consuming at all. For those of us that clip coupons religiously or just part time this is also great for you too because you can still stack coupons with the Just for U offers as well and if you have a better offer on a clipped manufactured coupon than the digital manufactured coupon offered or vise versa you get the better offer...so the higher discount always wins. I will go into the program in more detail on another post to try to answer all your questions. There are some questions already answered about the Just for U program on the Safeway website.

After the presentation we were handed a Safeway $50 Gift Card and were told we would be going to one of their Safeway stores to shop so that we could get the feel for exactly how the Just for U program worked. First we needed to sign into our Just for U accounts on the Safeway website and add coupons we would use to our Safeway Club Card. So I added a few to my card that I thought I would buy, but when we reached the Safeway store by shuttle I found that I forgot to add a few of the offers. Fortunately they have computer consoles at the store with printers so you can load your cards with the offers there too and print out your lists. This is handy for those like me that have forgotten to add a few of the offers or those that do not have a home computer and need to add them before they start shopping. You can also add them from your iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad or Android.

When we arrived at the Safeway we were going to shop at there was a press conference held and Steve Frisby, Safeway Division President for Seattle & Portland spoke about the program to the media and answered their questions. After the press conference some of the bloggers were followed around by media and filmed for the news. I now wish I had been bold enough to have done this too as my blog could have used the media attention.

The Safeway sponsored shopping trip was a whole lot of fun even though I didn't buy too much because I didn't want to have to carry it all to the shuttle. I saved a nice 36% on my purchases although along with the Just for U savings I used a manufactured coupon I found beside the Tazo Giant Peach Drinks for $1 off and am also getting a rebate back for the 6 pack of Snapple. See how I did on my shopping excursion on my receipt.

After we got back to the division office we had a question and answer session. Then we were given a Safeway reusable tote full of Safeway swag goodies to take home with us. I was the last blogger to leave so they gave me the 5 red mylar balloons that were tied to the railing outside to give to my kids.

Here we are, the Portland Safeway VIP Bloggers. I am the shortest one in the front, with long brown hair wearing purple, green and blue. I really enjoyed my day with the other bloggers, Safeway personnel, and PR. It was fun filled and I hope to do it again soon!

DISCLOSURE/DISCLAIMER: I went to this event because I was invited. I wanted to let you, my readers, know of the savings you could get by signing up for the Safeway Just for U program so I wrote this post. Thanks to Safeway and their representatives for providing me with the information and inviting me to this event. I received free swag for attending. My thoughts are mine and my family's own opinion and have not been altered by anyone else. I did not receive any other compensation for posting.

Safeway and Betty Crocker's Sweet Spring Treats Review and Giveaway

For great spring recipe ideas, visit Bake Sweet Memories website today. Bake Sweet Memories has delicious recipes for fun desserts using your Betty Crocker favorites, including Easter Bunny Cakes and even morning brunches, like the Impossibly Easy Breakfast Bake, which are sure to brighten any morning!

From March 24th through April 6th, visit the Safeway family of Stores to purchase Betty Crocker SuperMoist Cake and Traditional Brownie Mixes at the special price of $0.69!

Even if you miss the sale, check Bake Sweet Memories website for great coupon offers that download right to your Safeway Club card. Make life a little sweeter with Betty Crocker this Spring!

I received a "Sweet Spring Treats" prize pack that included one VIP coupon valid for a free Betty Crocker product, in addition to a Wilton Easy-Flex silicone 9 X 1 1/2" round baking cake pan (oven safe to 500 degrees, freezer, fridge, microwave and dishwasher safe), stainless steel mixing bowl, oven mitt, Betty Crocker mixing spoon, and a $25 Safeway gift card for being part of MyBlogSpark to review and keep for free. I got a single serve microwaveable Betty Crocker Warm Delights Molten Caramel Cake with my coupon. I was surprised that the coupon wasn't for something that I could have used my new silicon baking pan, stainless steel mixing bowl, oven mitt, and Betty Crocker mixing spoon with. I guess they figured I would buy something to make with them from the Safeway gift card. At any rate the Betty Crocker Warm Delights Molten Caramel Cake was very good! My kids were giving me the evil eye because it was a single serve dessert and I wasn't sharing :) The picture on the box it comes in shows a neat application of the gooey caramel. I just couldn't accomplish this with the packet of caramel that it came with. That being said it baked very nicely in my microwave and in a minute 15 seconds (plus the 5 minutes to cool time...don't forget this step or you will be sorry) I had a yummy rich dessert without all the mess and cleanup. The cake was moist and delicious and the caramel made it even better!

WIN IT:
Jennifer at MyBlogSpark has has generously offered a "Sweet Spring Treats" prize pack for one of my readers to win. It will include a silicon baking pan, stainless steel mixing bowl, oven mitt, Betty Crocker mixing spoon, and a $25 Safeway gift card. Please note that the winner's prize pack will not contain a VIP coupon.

Mandatory:
1. Share which spring recipes from the Bake Sweet Memories website you would most like to try.

Additional entries:
1. Subscribe to my blog by email and let me know. (2 extra entries)

2. Become my fan on Facebook and let me know on my wall you are entering this giveaway. (2 extra entries)

3. Blog about this giveaway on your blog and provide me with the link. Make sure you have the link to this post and BakeSweetMemories.com in your blog entry or it won't count. (2 extra entries)

4. Grab My Button (see sidebar to the left) AND/OR Put My Blog URL in Your Blogroll - Leave Your Link. (1 extra entry)

5. Technorati my blog and let me know your link. (1 extra entry)

6. List this giveaway on any giveaway listing website or blog and tell me where you listed it. (2 extra)

7. Add me on Twitter and Tweet this: @finamoon WIN Betty Crocker Safeway Prize Pack #giveaway http://bit.ly/byCdtI (Daily Extras are Available)

Make sure you leave me your email in all posts so that I can contact you. This contest ends on Friday April 23, 2010 at midnight (GMT-08:00) Pacific Time (US & Canada). This Giveaway is open to U.S. Only!!

DISCLAIMER: The "Sweet Spring Treats" prize pack that included: Betty Crocker Warm Delights VIP coupon, silicon baking pan, stainless steel mixing bowl, oven mitt, Betty Crocker mixing spoon and $25 Safeway (also good at Dominick´s, Tom Thumb, Randalls, Vons, Genuardi´s) gift card, information and additional Prize Pack without coupon to give away were all given to me free from Safeway (Dominick's, Tom Thumb, Randalls, Vons, Genuardi's) and Betty Crocker through MyBlogSpark. My thoughts are mine and my family's own opinion and have not been altered by anyone else. I did not receive any other compensation for doing this review.

Yoplait Fiber One Yogurt‏ Review and Safeway Giveaway

Yoplait Fiber One yogurt has only 50 calories, 5 grams of fiber (20 percent of the Recommended Daily Value), and 0 grams of fat so there's zero guilt. It is also a good source of calcium and vitamins A and D. Fiber One yogurt is now available at your local Safeway family of stores including Dominick's, Tom Thumb, Randalls, Vons, Genuardi's.

I received a coupon for free a 4-pack of Fiber One yogurt and a $50 gift card to Safeway. I tried the strawberry and I really love that it tastes like regular yogurt. Each cup includes the creamy, delicious taste you expect from Yoplait, and you don't have to feel guilty about enjoying it. Fiber One yogurt is available in a variety of flavors including, Strawberry, Peach, Vanilla and Key Lime Pie. I couldn't distinguish the taste from the strawberry yogurt I am accustomed to. It was very good!

Take advantage of the great savings on Fiber One yogurt and more! From January 13th through February 9th, the Safeway family of stores has a special deal where you can purchase two 4-packs of Fiber One yogurt for only $4!

WIN IT:
Kelly from MyBlogSpark has generously offered a Safeway $50 gift card to give away to one of my readers!

Mandatory:
1. Go to the Yoplait Fiber One website and tell me which flavor of Fiber One yogurt you would like to try AND share your recommended tips on how to maintain a healthy and frugal lifestyle (do both or be disqualified).

Additional entries:
1. Subscribe to my blog by email and let me know. (2 extra entries)

2. Become my fan on Facebook. (1 extra entry)

3. Blog about this giveaway on your blog and provide me with the link. Make sure you have the link to this post and Yoplait Fiber One in your blog entry or it won't count. (2 extra entries)

4. Grab My Button (see sidebar to the left) AND/OR Put My Blog URL in Your Blogroll - Leave Your Link. (1 extra entry)

5. Technorati my blog and let me know your link. (1 extra entry)

6. List this giveaway on any giveaway listing website or blog and tell me where you listed it. (2 extra)

7. Follow me on twitter and retweet this: @finamoon WIN: Safeway $50 Gift Card #giveaway http://bit.ly/dAWy86
(Daily Extras are Available)

8. Fave me on Momfaves. (2 extra entries)

9. Comment on one of my other of my posts and tell me which one. (2 extra entries per post)

10. Fan Yoplait on Facebook. (1 extra entry)

Make sure you leave me your email in all posts so that I can contact you. If you subscribed by email, blogged about this, listed it, commented on another post, or faved me on Momfaves leave 2 entries saying you did. This contest ends on Friday February 19, 2010 at midnight (GMT-08:00) Pacific Time (US & Canada). This Giveaway is open to U.S. Only!!

DISCLAIMER: The Fiber One yogurt VIP coupon (good for a free 4-pack of Fiber One yogurt), $50 Safeway (also good at Dominick´s, Tom Thumb, Randalls, Vons, Genuardi´s) gift card, information and additional gift card to give away were all given to me from Safeway (Dominick's, Tom Thumb, Randalls, Vons, Genuardi's) and Fiber One through MyBlogSpark. My thoughts are mine and my family's own opinion and have not been altered by anyone else. I did not receive any other compensation for doing this review.