Get inspired at The Bob’s Red Mill Cooking School!  We have four wonderful classes that will nurture your family and inspire you in the kitchen. Call now to register and reserve your spot: 503-654-3215 x 208. Classes are held at our Whole Grain Store in Milwaukie, Oregon.

Bob’s Red Mill Whole Grain Store
5000 SE International Way
Milwaukie OR 97222
503-607-6455
Directions

“One Dough Does It All” Gluten Free Bread-Baking with Carol Fenster!
Tuesday, June 4, 2013
5:00-7:00 p.m.
Class fee $60.00

Time is precious, so maximize your kitchen time with easy, versatile bread dough that has many uses. A single dough can be made into Sandwich Bread or Focaccia Flatbread … just by making some minor tweaks. Another simple dough makes Veggie Pizza or Chocolate-Berry Breakfast Pizza or Breadsticks. Carol Fenster, author of 1,000 Gluten-Free Recipes, takes you through the steps of (1) making a basic dough using her versatile, time-saving flour blend; (2) refrigerating the dough to improve flavor and texture – the secret of many artisanal bakers; and (3) successfully shaping the soft, sticky dough. Her recipes include: Sandwich Bread, Italian Focaccia, Veggie Pizza, Chocolate-Berry Pizza, and Breadsticks.

“It’s as Easy as Pie” Gluten-Free Pie-Baking with Carol Fenster!
Wednesday, June 5, 2013
5:00-7:00 p.m.
Class fee $60.00

Pies are one of life’s supreme pleasures, and making pie crust doesn’t have to be challenging. Once you master a simple gluten-free pie crust, you can easily make Old-Fashioned Cherry Pie, Tarts, Pot Pies, Quiches, and Pie Crust Appetizers. Carol Fenster, author of 100 Best Gluten-Free Recipes, shares her tips on (1) secret ingredients that make the pie crust easier to handle,(2) special handling and shaping techniques for no-fail, delectable pies, and (3) how to vary this basic crust recipe to suit your needs. Her recipes include: Old-Fashioned Cherry Pie, Berry Ice Cream Tart, Chicken Pot Pie, Quiche Lorraine, and Pie Crust Appetizers.

Crikey, it’s Crackers (And Dips) with Chef Ivy Manning!
Thursday, June 13, 2013
5:00-7:00 p.m.
Class fee $50.00

Whether you’re grabbing a handful of nippy cheddar crackers for a mid-afternoon snack or crafting elegant cracker sheets for your next party, crackers are a part of all of our lives, so why rely on boxed crackers that are full of preservatives and trans-fats? Baking crackers is as easy as whipping up a batch of cookies, and they taste so much better than commercially made snacks! Join Chef Ivy Manning, food writer and author of Crackers and Dips for a class jam-packed full of crackers and dips. Recipes will include: Gluten-Free Almond Flax Seed Crackers with 2-Olive Tapenade, Amaranth Crackers with Cheddar and Pepitas, Japanese Rice Crackers with Edamame Wasabi Schmear, Graham Crackers with Hot Salted Caramel, and more! Signed copies of Ivy’s book will be for sale. Don’t miss it!

Hands-On Pretzel Making with Andrea Slonecker!
Thursday, June 20, 2013
5:00-7:00 p.m.
Class fee $60.00

Here’s a new twist on an old favorite—pretzels not from a street vendor, but still warm from your very own oven. In this hands-on class, learn how to make authentic German pretzels with Andrea Slonecker, the author of Pretzel Making at Home. From mixing and shaping the dough to developing that characteristic color and flavor, she’ll divulge the tricks of the pros for making pretzels in a variety of shapes – with fillings too! Plus learn how to make homemade mustard for dipping. You’ll make Whole-Wheat Soft Pretzels, Savory Stuffed Pretzel Pockets, and Herbaceous Homemade Mustard in class, plus take home recipes for delicious soft pretzel variations: Caraway-Rye, Cinnamon-Raisin, and Gluten-Free Pretzels.

Supplies to bring: Apron and two kitchen towels

Ever wonder how Bob spends his day at the mill? I sat down with Bob last week to find out.

Between 6 and 6:30 am, Bob gets up and starts his day off with a bowl of one of our many hot cereals lovingly prepared by his wife, Charlee. He tops it off with half of a banana (split with Charlee, of course), skim milk, nuts, flaxseed meal and date pieces.

Around 7:30 am he arrives at the mill, where he starts his work day off with a cup of coffee (he always waits to have his coffee at the mill) and chats with people during the 8 am shift change. Then, he heads up to his office where he goes over his calendar with his assistant Nancy. There is not a day on his calendar that doesn’t have at least a few appointments and meetings. He typically spends the first part of the day greeting folks around the office and razzing whoever is lucky enough to be in his path.

At 10 am, he wanders downstairs to greet our tour guests (learn more about our tours here) and play a song on one of his two pianos (yes, we have two pianos in our mill).

From there, he walks our plant, all seven acres of it. He stops by the shop, one of his favorite places in the mill to see what they’re working on and how each project is coming along. He visits our distribution warehouse and drops by the lab. There is always something new to see and someone he wants to catch up with. Working here, you quickly learn how much he cares about each of us. He knows our names and our families. Bob knows something special about each of us, whether we like fly fishing or are working on rebuilding a car, if we just got back from an Alaskan cruise or whether we play in a band on the weekends. It’s uncanny, really.

By 12:30 pm, he’s walked the plant, visited various people, dropped in on a meeting or two and is ready for lunch at our Whole Grain Store. Nearly every day, he orders two eggs and steamed spinach with a side of corn grits. Occasionally, he’ll order a sandwich made on our whole grain bread. He talks to customers and takes pictures with their kids.

By 2 pm he’s back at the mill where he sits in on more meetings, if required, or catches up on the day’s events. A day is never complete without a trip to our Purchasing Department to learn about different issues that affect our supply of grains.

Around 4 pm, he’ll wander back downstairs to chat with folks during the shift change. He feels it is the best time to catch up with people he might not otherwise see during the day. From there, he sits at his piano with Nancy and plays a few pieces with her (and that is why we have two pianos).

He usually knocks off at 5 pm and heads home to Charlee for a delicious meal and a quiet evening at home.

That, folks, is what Bob does Monday through Friday, 8 am to 5 pm.

What:

Bob’s 84th birthday party! We’ll have cupcakes and live music to celebrate our founder’s 84th year. There will be special gifts for the first 500 guests. Come have lunch and stay for the party.

When:

Friday, February 15th, 2013 from noon to 2 pm.

Where:

Bob’s Red Mill Whole Grain Store
5000 SE International Way
Milwaukie, OR 97222
Map & Directions

Can’t make it? Leave a birthday greeting here or on our Facebook page and we’ll make sure he sees your message.

Feast Portland runs September 20-23rd.

This weekend (starting tomorow, to be exact), Portland will open its kitchens to Bon Appétite’s Feast Portland. Feast Portland is a celebration of all things culinary in Oregon from charcuterie to beer to hand crafted ice cream set up in a multiple-venue festival fashion (akin to SXSW). Foodies and chefs from all over the country will flock to Portland for the four-day edible extravaganza. Events run the full gamut of food endeavors—private dinners, cooking demonstrations, food and wine pairings, speakers, sandwich invitationals, you name it! How about Pork & Pinot Noir or Thai Street Food with Andy Ricker (of Pok Pok fame) or an entire event dedicated to taking comfort food to the next level?

The crowning event will be the Oregon Bounty Grand Tasting- a mini food festival unto itself in Portland’s Pioneer Square on Friday and Saturday. Over 70 vendors, including craft breweries, wineries, chocolatiers, and some of Portland’s best restaurants will be on site sampling their finest nibbles and sips to eager foodies. Bob’s Red Mill is honored to be the official Whole Grains Sponsor for this event and had the privileged of providing some of our best ingredients to chefs from all over the country to use in their dishes. We’ll even be there serving crispy Amaranth Cakes and slinging whole grain samples!

Find out more about the event at FeastPortland.com. Several events have already sold out, but there are still plenty of wonderful options to choose from. Tickets for the Oregon Bounty Grand Tasting are $60/day or $100 for both days. The Grand Tasting runs from 2 pm to 5 pm on Friday, September 21st and Saturday, September 22nd. To make this festival even more tasty, all net profits from the four-day event will be donated to Partners for a Hunger Free Oregon and Share Our Strength (read more about these organizations here).

The weather will likely be gloriously fall (hoping for crisp air and sunshine) and I can’t think of a better way to spend an afternoon than meeting some of Oregon’s top food artisans and tasting their wares. Hope to see you there!

Keep up to date with Feast happenings by following @FeastPDX on Twitter.

Japanese Lace Leaf Maple.
Photo: Andrew Stockton, Joy Creek Nursery

Noted professional ornamental horticulturist and gardener Michael Miller will provide two instructional demonstrations tomorrow, September 8th, at the Bob’s Red Mill Whole Grain Store and Visitor Center on how to prune Japanese Lace Leaf Maples. The sessions are open to the public and free of charge for all who attend.

The Bob’s Red Mill Whole Grain Store and Visitor Center has six Japanese Maples as part of its landscaping, and Miller’s instructional demos promise to be lively interactive sessions. Miller will discuss and demonstrate the choosing, planting, placing and maintenance of ornamental plants, including:

• Japanese Maple nomenclature
• The growth life cycle of Japanese Maples
• Use of the trees in design
• The shaping of Japanese Maples for specific spaces
• Best techniques and times of year for pruning

Michael Miller is the former gardener, lead pruner and education director for the Japanese Garden Society of Oregon, and he maintained the Portland Japanese Garden for more than 15 years. He has worked professionally as an ornamental horticulturist for more than three decades.

Sessions will take place on Saturday, September 8th from 9 am to 10 am and 11 am to noon. Stop by to learn a bit more about the care of your Japanese Maple from a professional.

In addition to the demos, we will also be hosting a pet adoption for Oregon Humane Society. Read more about this event here. The pet adoption will be held from 12:30 pm to 3:30 pm.

Bob’s Red Mill Whole Grain Store
5000 SE International Way
Milwaukie OR 97222
503-607-6455
Directions

Permission has been granted for use of the OHS logo for the Bob’s Red Mill Adoption Event on Sep. 8th 2012. Permission must be granted before use of the logo for any other purpose.

We love our furry friends at Bob’s Red Mill, which is why we are so pleased to be hosting a pet adoption event for the Oregon Humane Society this coming Saturday, September 8th. The kind folks over at OHS will have a booth set up in front of our Whole Grain Store from 12:30 pm to 3:30 pm. Adoptable animals will be there for the loving and hopefully we’ll be able to find some good homes for these animals. OHS will also be accepting monetary and pet food donations, in the event that you’d like to help out, but can’t take home a new family member. Staff will be available to process adoptions and answer any questions you may have. Some animals may need special care that will require additional training, in which case the adoption may take longer.

Beyond pet adoption and financial donations, there are many ways to support OHS and the many animals they care for. Visit OregonHumane.org to find out how you can be involved and learn more about the plethora of wonderful programs they offer.

In addition to the pet adoption event, we’ll also have a fabulous demonstration by noted professional ornamental horticulturist and gardener Michael Miller. Miller will demonstrate how to properly prune Japanese Maples in two sessions on Saturday, September 8th. More info to come.

Bob’s Red Mill Whole Grain Store
5000 SE International Way
Milwaukie OR 97222
503-607-6455
Directions

Last week, the US State Department brought a group of seven women from the Africa Women’s Entrepreneurship Program on a tour of Bob’s Red Mill. This group, representing Benin, Ghana, Malawi, Nigeria, and Zambia, was touring around the United States to learn about different industries and how they can improve their businesses at home.

Topics included information on organic growing practices, import/export advice, overcoming social barriers, different packaging options, raising capital and crafting business plans. Each of these women own some type of business including organic farms, beauty products and investment firms, among others. After first visiting several cities on the East Coats, Portland was lucky enough to be asked to host this group and on the list of destinations was Bob’s Red Mill.

On Monday, June 11th, Bob and our Outreach Coordinator, Lori Sobelson, gave these ladies the grand tour of Bob’s Red Mill. Bob inspired these women with his stories of entrepreneurship (all of which you can read in his biography, People before Profit). The group was very interested in learning about his many ups and downs on his path to founding Bob’s Red Mill. Bob entreated them to value their employees and treat them as the very important asset that they are to the success of a company.

Afterwards, they met with our VP of Marketing, Dennis Gilliam to learn a little bit about how we market our products. Dennis taught them that the job of any marketer is to craft a genuine story around their brand. He asked each woman to tell them her story and as they did, you could see their faces light up and the passion each of them had for their business.

Truly, we learned as much from them as they learned from us and we hope to host another such tour in the future.

I know many of you aren’t anywhere near Portland, Oregon, but if you should find yourself in our neck of the woods this summer (or anytime really), we’d love to give you a tour of our mill. We’re technically in Milwaukie, Oregon, which is a darling little town about 15 minutes south of Portland. (Click here for directions.)

Our mill is open for public tours Monday through Friday starting at 10 am. Tours typically last about 90 minutes and consist of a video, hands-on grain display, old mill equipment (including our first set of mill stones) and a window tour that shows you how our products are milled and packaged. You almost always get to see Bob and sometimes he will even play you a piano ditty on one of his two mill pianos (yes, we have TWO pianos in our mill). It is a great tour for kids and adults alike, and our amazing tour guide, Christie, will leave you all jazzed up about whole grains. She probably knows more fun facts about our company than even Bob himself!

We recently opened our cute little The Mill Store (seen above) that sells great memorabilia and other Bob’s Red Mill must-haves in case you need a souvenir to take home with you. If you have time, after the tour, we recommend a visit to our Whole Grain Store for lunch. The store serves breakfast and lunch until 3 pm and carries our full line of products (many available in bulk), as well as other special regional items.

Got a group of 10 or more? Call Christie at 971-212-1180 to let her know your group is coming and/or schedule a special tour.

Just can’t make it to a tour, but would like to see a little behind-the-scenes? Check out this video of our manufacturing facility and see what all the fuss is about!

We hope to see you soon!

The Oregon Ag Fest takes place this year on April 28th and 29th in Salem, Oregon. This two-day event is “an activity-filled festival where kids (and grown ups too!) can touch, taste and experience life on the farm.” We’re proud supporters of this festival and think it’s a blast to head down to the Oregon State Fairgrounds to check out the farm animals (read: horse show, petting zoo and sheep sheering), see the farm equipment, crafts and amazing garden feats, as well as enjoy some lively music (not to mention the great eats). Both days boast a full retinue of activities, including Bob’s Red Mill Cooking Demonstrations.

Tickets are $9 for adults and all kiddos ages 12 and under get in FREE—can’t beat that! Plus, FREE parking! Talk about an affordable family day. Festival hours are 8:30 am and close at 5 pm on Saturday and 10 am to 5 pm on Sunday.

Find more details and a full schedule of events here.

Today marks the launch of a new program at Bob’s Red Mill- Bob’s Birthday Club. We’ve partnered with Autism Speaks, the world’s leading autism science and advocacy organization, to bring birthday kits to children with autism. By making a minimum donation to Autism Speaks, adults can enlist an autistic child in the club, and in advance of that child’s birthday, the child will receive a Bob’s Birthday Club kit filled with gluten-free cake mix and other Bob’s Red Mill treats.

Here’s how Bob’s Birthday Club works:

• Anyone interested in signing up a child for Bob’s Birthday Club should visit www.autismspeaks.org/bobsbirthdayclub.
• With a donation of $30 or more made through the website, an adult can register an autistic child for the club.
• Then, as that child’s birthday nears, he/she will receive a special Bob’s Birthday Club kit, which includes:
  • Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free Vanilla Cake Mix
  • A recipe card puzzle
  • A kid-size cooking apron
  • A measuring cup

The kits are limited to the first 1,000 people who sign up.

We couldn’t be more excited to support such an amazing organization and bring a little extra birthday joy to some deserving kids. We’ve partnered with Autism Speaks in the past and supported their “Light It Up Blue” campaign earlier this month by lighting up the Morrison Street Bridge in Portland, Oregon (see picture below).