WENATCHEE, Wash. – Stemilt’s signature apple variety, Piñata®, was the star ingredient on Seattle chef Ericka Burke’s menu during Stemilt’s first-ever “Meet the Grower” blogger dinner held on September 17 at Beecher’s Loft overlooking Pike Place Market and the waterfront in Seattle. The event brought 12 popular food bloggers together for an evening of food and conversation around the multi-generational family owned fruit company and its many proprietary products and programs.
Held on the eve of the start of the International Food Bloggers Conference in Seattle, the dinner began with a warm welcome from Stemilt Marketing Director Roger Pepperl and fifth generation grower and Director of Sales, Tate Mathison. Mathison shared a bit about his family’s rich farming history in Washington State, and the innovative varieties and products the company has been bringing to market over the past several years.
The group then settled down for a dinner featuring the flavors of Stemilt’s recently harvested Piñata® apples and Rushing Rivers™ pears. Prepared by Chef Ericka Burke of Seattle’s Volunteer Park Cafe, Chop Shop Cafe & Bar, Canal Market, guests enjoyed a four-course menu that included a red pear and heirloom cucumber salad, roasted butternut squash and Bartlett pear bisque, pork tenderloin with celeriac puree, white chanterelle mushrooms and candied Piñata® apple-fennel salad, and a Piñata® apple pie with brown butter ice cream for dessert.
Among the blogger attendees were Alyssa Brantley of Everyday Maven, a blog devoted to real food recipes for the everyday family; Lynne Feifer of 365 Days of Baking and More, a Phoenix, AZ based blogger who shares everyday recipes; and Holly Nilsson of Spend with Pennies, a blog featuring comforting family recipes, household tips, and more. Throughout the dinner, bloggers turned to social media to document their dining experience with Stemilt by using the hashtag #stemiltfruit and the company’s social media handles.
“The “Meet the Grower” dinner was a continuation of our work in connecting our proprietary products, like Piñata® apples, with influencers in the food world,” said Pepperl. “It was a great evening filled with excellent food and conversation about farming, Stemilt, and up-and-coming, consumer-favorite varieties like Piñata® apples. We enjoyed helping these well-known bloggers kick off their weekend in Seattle for the International Food Bloggers Conference and sharing with them the passion our company has for growing wholesome and flavor-first fruits.”
The “Meet the Grower” blogger dinner also helped kick off the new season of Piñata® apples, which are coming off the tree now in Washington State and expected to be available in November. First introduced to the U.S. and Canadian marketplaces back in 2009, Piñata® is Stemilt’s exclusive apple variety and available from November to May each year. The apple was bred in Germany in the 1970s and is a cross between Golden Delicious and two heirloom varieties, Cox’s Orange Pippin and Duchess of Oldenburg. The fruit’s thin skin and unique sweet-tart-tropical flavor profile make it a great choice for fresh eating, but as Chef Ericka Burke discovered, Piñata® apples are also a standout in any culinary dish.
“This was my first time tasting and cooking with Piñata® apples and I was totally impressed. The fruit has a unique flavor profile and tropical essence that stands out, and I love that it’s grown in the Northwest. Piñata® is going to be one of my go-to apples to use in the kitchen,” Burke said.
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About Stemilt
Stemilt Growers is a leading tree fruit growing, packing and shipping company based in Wenatchee, Washington. Owned and operated by the Mathison family, Stemilt is the leading shipper of sweet cherries and one of the largest suppliers of organic tree fruits in the nation. Stemilt has also demonstrated a commitment to sustainable agriculture and social responsibility since 1989, when founder Tom Mathison launched the company’s Responsible Choice program. For more information about Stemilt, visit www.stemilt.com and follow Stemilt on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, and You Tube.
Source: Stemilt Growers