The Stonyfield Blogger Barnstorming Tour is off to a great start!
This morning, I drove up to Stonyfield’s corporate offices in Manchester, New Hampshire to meet our tour guides for the trip: Nancy Hirshberg, Vice President of Natural Resources, and Amy VanHaren, Social Media Manager. (Do you recognize Nancy’s last name? She’s the sister of Gary Hirshberg,Ā Stonyfield’s CE-Yo!)
Within minutes of arriving at Stonyfield, I was kindly offered my choice of yogurt. I wasn’t very hungry, but, as you know, I can pretty much always eat. Plus, Stonyfield has a new yogurt in their flavorĀ repertoire that I hadn’t yet tried: Mango Honey. Mmm… mango + honey = heavenly. It was so tasty, IĀ ended up eating the whole thing!
(P.S. This flavor would be fantastic in any summer smoothie! š )
Once we tied up a few loose ends, Nancy, Amy, and I packed up “Big Blue” (aka our transportation for the weekend) and hit the road to make the two-hour trek to Burlington, Vermont.
On the ride to Burlington, we made a pit-stop at the Co-Op Food Store in Hanover, New Hampshire to have lunch.
The three of us sat outside and ate lunch together. I ordered a Thai Tofu Wrap, which was made with big chunks of marinated tofu and shredded veggies. Mmm! I ended up eating about 3/4 of it. It was a huge portion!
I also enjoyed a few bites of Strawberry-Rhubarb Crumble, which Nancy, Amy, and I shared.
During the second half of the trip to Vermont, I drank a Pomegranate Blue Honest Ade.
Right before we hit Burlington, we stopped by the Northeast Organic Farming Association (NOFA)Ā to pick up some information for Nancy’s organics presentation tomorrow morning. NOFA is a “non-profit organization of nearly 5,000 farmers, gardeners, and consumers working to promote healthy food, organic farming practices, and a cleaner environment.” I’m really, really looking forward to tomorrow– there’s so much to learn about organics!
We arrived in Burlington around 4:00 pm and headed straight to the airport to pick upĀ Anne and Kristina. A little while later, we met the final blogger on the trip,Ā Valerie,Ā who drove from Pennsylvania and was waiting for us in Burlington.
Once we had the whole group together, we headed to dinner atĀ American Flatbread. The majority of the ingredients used at American Flatbread are local and/or organic, so I was really excited to eat there.
I started with the Evolution Salad, which was made with organically grown Spring Mix, organic carrots, celery, Arame seaweed, toasted sesame seeds, and fresh ginger tamari vinaigrette with homemade fruit vinegar. The dressing was outstanding!
I also enjoyed a glass of Italian red wine with dinner. (I may have picked this particular wine because it was from Puglia! š )
We ordered 4 flatbread pizzas to share between the 6 of us. We had the Pitchfork Farms flatbread, which was one of the daily flatbread specials. (Ingredients listed below.)
We also ordered the Punctuated Equilibrium Flatbread: Kalamata olives, oven-roasted sweet red peppers, handmade Vermont goat’s cheese, fresh rosemary, red onions, cheeses, and fresh herbs.
New Vermont Sausage: Farm fresh pork in homemade nitrate-free maple-fennel sausage baked with sun-dried tomatoes, caramelized onion, mushrooms, cheeses, and herbs.
Sun-dried Tomato & Mushroom: House-cured dried tomatoes baked with mushrooms, caramelized onion, cheeses, and herbs.
I tried a piece from each of the different flatbreads, plus an extra piece of the New Vermont Sausage, which was easily my favorite of the evening. The maple-fennel sausage was to die for!
Round #1:
Round #2:
Round #3:
Success!
Anne and me!
Valerie and Kristina!
We’re spending the night at a beautiful bed & breakfast in Vermont. It’s seriously a-mazing. I’ll be sure to snap some photos tomorrow! š
I have a big day tomorrow, which starts bright and early with a 6:30 run with Anne. I neeeeeeed sleep. Good night!!