While the first day of the Harry & David blogger tour took us outside into the pear orchards and to the chocolate factory, during the second day of the tour we were able to see the creative side of the company.
Gift baskets!!!
I had no idea how much time, effort and research goes into the company’s famous gift baskets. (They ship five million gift baskets during the holiday season!) Every year they design new baskets for the seasons and holidays and listening to Arlene Warner, the creative director of packaging and development, speak about trends and design inspiration was very interesting.
For the holidays this year their two big designs are quite different. One has a traditional holiday feel with greens, reds, plaid and nature elements while the other is more whimsical with bright colors and fun artistic designs.
The whimsical look was playful and everyone in our group got a kick out of Nanuk, the plush polar bear that doubles as a gift basket.
Just pull off Nanuk’s head to find your treats! That’s some slightly morbid holiday fun!
Our group had a lot of fun providing feedback on the gift baskets and offering ideas. Oftentimes our group would be split down the middle when it came to whether or not we liked certain gift baskets and boxes and I must give the creative team a lot of credit for creating such a wide variety of products to try to appeal to different styles. I personally like the more natural, rustic baskets or wood boxes, but there’s definitely a market for colorful baskets, boxes and tins.
One thing we all agreed on was how delicious the sweet treats tasted, even at 9:30 a.m.
Sampling cookies, Moose Munch, cupcakes, cheesecake and candy in the morning had our group on quite the sugar high. As someone with an enormous sweet tooth, I felt like a kid in a candy store and went to town.
My favorite sweet treat was the buche de noel that is essentially a chocolate sheet cake rolled up with a sweet cream coffee filling and smothered in rich chocolate frosting.
The coffee cream was light and fluffy and packed with coffee flavor. The shape reminded me of the pumpkin roll that my sister and I made for Friendsgiving last year! I want to try to recreate this at home.
The barks we sampled also stuck out to me and I really liked the chocolate peanut butter and banana bark and the macaroon bark.
The Moose Munch featured in the small bowl in the upper left of the above picture is the company’s new dark chocolate blackberry variety and it is easily one of the most delicious flavors of the popcorn I’ve tried.
Lunch
Lunch followed shortly after the sugary samples and our group happily dug into sandwiches from a local sandwich shop, salad and Harry & David soups.
I initially went for the greens and filled my plate with salad and gumbo.
I then ate two halves of the caprese pesto sandwich and used the crust for dipping into a small bowl of creamy corn chowder that I also tried when I went back for seconds. I just have to try everything when it all looks so good! I actually ended up purchasing a few of the corn chowder mixes from the Harry & David store later in the day because I liked the soup so much and think it will make a perfect winter meal on a chilly night.
After lunch, our group had half an hour to walk around and chat at a nearby pond. The weather yesterday was perfect and it felt good to feel the sun on my face.
(Dara, Sandy, Maggy, Sommer, Brian, me, Gaby and Carrie)
Once we headed back inside, we were split into two groups. My group tackled ribbon tying while the other group made gift baskets before we flip flopped.
Fancy bows! We were taught how to make gift basket bows and let me just tell you it is not easy! Our bows looked pretty sorry in the end and we agreed we’d leave bow-making to the experts.
While we waited for our turn to assemble gift baskets, we chatted the Larry Garrison, the vice president of assembly, as we watched the beautiful Harry & David pears undergo inspection. Larry used to live in Elmherst, Illinois, so I had fun talking to him about my former hometown of Palatine and our shared love of Chicago.
Larry told us that 200 hundred tons of pears are inspected a day and the fruit that doesn’t meet Harry & David’s standards is sold to commercial retailers or made into juice. The pears must also weigh a certain amount and the little white boxes you see on the conveyor belt in the above picture drop the eligible pears down to be inspected.
Then we got to play with pears of our own as we put together a gift basket!
We were able to send our basket anywhere and I sent mine to my mother-in-law because I know she loves Harry & David pears and she has a very special birthday coming up in November.
Matt made sure to keep his super-snazzy bow when he shipped off his basket. A wise decision. 
Before calling it a day, our group spent an hour shopping at the Harry & David Country Village.
I made a beeline for the spiced apple cider tea I loved from our day in the orchards, but also bought pralines, chocolate covered cashews, pears, several soup mixes, salsa, pistachios and two fall kitchen towels. I could’ve spent hours in that store!
Dinner
Following our time at the store, our blogging group had dinner at Pallet Wine Company and couldn’t get over the beautiful décor.
The food was fabulous and included seven courses, each one paired with wine. Harry & David wine! The company will be offering their own brand of wine next year and it was such a treat to be able to try the different varietals, all of which come from southern Oregon or Rogue Valley.
I’m not a big wine connoisseur (I’ll leave that to Matt) and just drink what I think tastes good, though I absolutely love learning about wine and the wine-making process. My favorite glass of the evening was the Gewurztraminer which was a white wine that had hints of tangerine, apricot, apple and baking spices.
Our evening at Pallet Wine Company ended the trip on such a high note. As our group of bloggers said goodbye to our new friends at Harry & David, we could not thank them enough for inviting us to Oregon, covering our travel, food and lodging expenses, and allowing us to take a peek into their company. Over and over again, I was impressed with the close-knit feel of the company and participating in this trip was an honor.
I must also say how much I loved spending time with the other bloggers on the trip. Since our blogging group occupied every room at the Magnolia Inn bed and breakfast during our stay, we said we felt like we were all back in college, since we could call down the hall to each other to borrow a necklace or a belt, walk around in our socks and chat late into the evening while grabbing handfuls of candy corn.
And Oregon. What a beautiful state.
Thank you again to Harry & David for such a memorable experience!
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looked like you had an amazing time!
We only ever get pears from Harry & David so it’s fun to see what else they offer! And I’m sure your mother-in-law will love the gift, who wouldn’t!?
That polar bear gift basket is too cute! We got a Santa one a lot like that a few years ago, and my mom still puts it our every Christmas (although all the goodies are long gone, of course, so it’s not nearly as fun haha)
That sounds like so much fun! I discovered the Moose Munch last year and had a serious problem putting it down. 🙂
your whole trip sounds amazing and I am extremely jealous of all of your activities. The decor of that restaurant is how I want my future wedding to look like 🙂
Oregon is gorgeous and I really need some of those yummy treats. I love your blog and going to all the fun places with you! (and I love Sadie- she is fabulous! I know she misses you,)
Wow! What an awesome and exquisite sounding trip. And seriously, that buche de noel – YES PLEASE!
All of those sweets look amazing! This makes me want to order a basket from Harry and David!
Everything sounds so amazing! I looked up Harry & David & there is an outlet store close to me! Definitely making the trip for some holiday gifts 🙂
That is so neat that you could make your own gift basket! That looks like such a fun trip!
I never could quite figure out how to make those pretty bows when wrapping gifts. Every year I say I’m going to take a lesson in bow-making before Christmas…but every year all my gifts end up looking like a small child wrapped them. haha
I just learned about the bouche de Noel in French class yesterday! How neat!
I am so glad you enjoyed Oregon 🙂 Sherwood is north of where you were quite a bit, but the entire state of Oregon is great to me. Also I had NO IDEA that Harry and David was located here…learn something new every day! Very cool trip, I bet your MIL is going to be so excited to get that package 🙂
What an amazing trip, really. They know how to sponsor a group of bloggers.
The Kidless Kronicles
What a great time! I don’t know if I could trust myself in that store!! But I would still jump at the chance! 😉
So this trip is kind of like the best thing ever! So glad you’re enjoying yourself! Harry and David is an amazing company! Did you get to try any new products that have yet to be released?
That’s so sweet of you to think of your Mother-in-Law… she’s gonna love it! My best friend was a H&D FANATIC, and I always got to reap the benefits. 😉
Wow the pear inspection contraption looks intense! Seems like you all had a great time!
Wow that is one jam packed day! The food all looks incredible! The savoury was much needed I’d imagine to soak up all that sugar! The dinner setting is absolutely beautiful, you could imagine a wedding there!
Everything about this trip looks like so much fun! Of course I’ve had Harry and David before, but I don’t think I’ve ever had one of their pears; I’m assuming that’s what they’re known for?! I guess I’ve got to track one down!
Looks like an amazing trip! I love that you got to create your own gift basket!
I’m drooling over all of that amazing food you got to try!!!!
Looks like you had an amazing experience. There used to be a Harry & David store at the mall near me, but they left years ago. I loved to do my holiday shopping there to. How were their soups?
What a gorgeous setting for dinner!!!
I sent my ex’s family a cheesecake wheel from Harry and David last year, and they loved it! They have good little gifts I think!
It looks like you had an awesome time at Harry & David’s! I looove the pics and upcoming holiday gear you presented us with. Overall, what was your hands-down favorite part of your trip?
Wow all the things going on in the back stage of Harry & David seems so exciting! All the food looks so fancy and the scenery of the location is gorgeous. I hope to someday have the opportunity to tour like that 😉
Small world! I grew up in Elmhurst!! Go York Dukes!
Oh my goodness!! This looks amazing! What a great trip. Love Harry & Davids even more now! 🙂 My hubby loves pears, maybe this year is the year to get him some from them?!
I want to eat everything in this post!!!
This looks like such an amazing experience! I’m a blogger from Ocala too and I’m so excited to follow along with your blog. I loved reading about your blogging tips! I so wish I could try that apple cider tea. Sounds amazing!
xo
MacKensie
Oregon does seem gorgeous. Looks like you had a great time…and yum yo the spiced apple cider tea!
What an amazing trip! Thanks for bringing us along with you 🙂 I really enjoyed seeing the behind the scenes gift basket making!
Julie – thank you for sharing the wonderul experience you had at Harry & David. What a thoughtful person you are sending your mother in law a Harry & David gift basket. I am sure she will love it.. Around the holiday time (Christmas) my former boss use to send out Harry & David gift baskets to his staff..it was an amazing gift to receive.
thanks again…:)
What a small world! Brian took family photos for my family here in Boston this past August. He was great to work with and mentioned he worked predominantly in food photography. This tour looked amazing!
Here’s Brian’s work – http://talkativetlc.blogspot.com/2012/08/family-matters.html
“Just pull off Nanuk’s head to find your treats! That’s some slightly morbid holiday fun! ” <– Oh my gosh. DYING laughing!!!!!! 😀 You are too funny Julie!
It was such a great trip! I completely enjoyed meeting you and your vibrant smile and beautiful personality. I had so much fun creating & sending that basket – great recap!
Our last day together … boo hoo. It was so fun! Loved the 3 days getting to know you and your beautifully written posts, Julie.
Happy Monday!
Hi Julie! I’ve been a reader for a while now and I thought it was so amazing that you ended up visiting Medford and Ashland this weekend. I’m an actor at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and have called Ashland my home for the past 2 years. How amazing that a blogger from the east coast came all the way to where I live! It’s a small world indeed. Hope you enjoyed your visit. The valley is a fun place!
Oops-this is the real link to my blog!
Coopers Hawk winery has their own Gewurztraminer that is quite delicious!
That Buche de Noel looks and sounds amazing! Too bad its $50, is it worth it?!
I had never heard of Harry & David prior to this post, but after reading I was super curious! Took a look at their site and yowza! Everything looks amazing! Ended up getting Halloween gift baskets for, like, everyone I know. haha! Thanks for the great recommendation!