A couple weeks ago I had the opportunity to take my first press trip. I left early Monday morning and was picked up at the airport in a beautiful Escalade (I currently have a mild obsession with these sexy vehicles) and taken to Springhilll Suites just outside of Cleveland, OH. What a fabulous hotel room.
My early arrival gave me the chance to get in a great workout in the hotels fitness center and then take a nice long shower and take my time getting ready for the evening.
Before I was done getting ready, a fabulous surprise arrived at my room....
Check out these goodies. Lots of tastey things I didn't even know Nestle made. And why yes that IS a Nikon Coolpix!
That evening we were picked up from the hotel and taken to the Nestle frozen food headquarters.
For the evening we were paired up with Stouffers chefs (and given our own, personalized chef jackets) to help prepare the evenings meal.
I helped make these lamb chops. They were really good, much thanks to the chef though as I only really grilled them. (Ok, helped grill them, just slightly longer than it took to take the photo above.)
And the other event attendees helped create some of these delightful dishes. (Confession, I did not even attempt to track my Weight Watchers points for this evening but I lost 5 pounds that week anyway)
I was going to be good and pass on dessert but it just looked so good I figured one small piece wouldn't kill me.
After dessert and a little more chatting we were taken back to the hotel for the evening. The next morning after some breakfast at the hotel and checking out, we returned to Nestle. There we went through a brief version of sensory training that Nestle employees go through. This was super interesting. We learned about the parts of taste and the types of taste. And I confirmed that I do NOT enjoy bitter tastes (IE why I do not enjoy dark chocolate or wines) and learned that it is most likely because I have a high concentration of bitter taste buds. This also seems to mean I have a LOW concentration of salty taste buds, hence my overuse of salt!
We learned about a lot of variables that go into perception of taste and how they minimize these when they do product tastings. It was a very interesting session!
And then we lunch and more learning. We learned about trends in food and culture and how that translates into marketable products.
This was a sampling of customization of food. Main dish above and add on choices below. So yummy!
And we learned about how sometimes the WAY something is cooked is the key to the appeal. This steamed fish was part of the inspiration for the new steamed Farmer's Harvest products.
And then we got to try two of the new varieties
These single serving (plated amount is a VERY small fraction of the serving because we were trying so many things in one sitting) frozen entrees were really good. The veggies stay crisp and the noodles al dente. And the sauces are rich and full of flavor.
And then we wrapped up with another fabulous dessert while they set out our final surprise. We were each given a fabulous Nespresso machine!!
That looked like so much fun. All of the food looked delicious too!
ReplyDeleteWow, they treated you quite well! The food looks delish and sounds like it was a great event.
ReplyDeleteYum! I will have to look for those in the freezer section!
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