A few weeks ago the California Strawberry Commission invited me to Pismo Beach, California to attend their #12Reasons to Love CA Strawberries – Farm Tour and Culinary Event.
*This post was sponsored by the California Strawberry Commission. Travel, accommodations, and meals were all covered. I was also compensated to share about the trip.
The first day I arrived at the Dolphin Dolphin Bay Resort & Spa and was awestruck at the gorgeous view in front of me! I couldn’t wait to go for a walk before dinner and check out the views and the beach.
Then it was time to head to the restaurant to meet the others on the tour. We enjoyed drinks overlooking the water and then a delicious strawberry inspired dinner.
The next morning we started out the day with a delicious fruit salad and the most amazing strawberry scones. I cannot wait to make those scones in my own kitchen! We also listened to a presentation about strawberry farming. One of the things that was brought up was the “Dirty Dozen” list.
Have you heard about this list that the Environmental Working Group puts out each year regarding pesticide residue on produce? We were given some interesting thoughts regarding this. People avoid eating fruits and vegetables because of unnecessary fear that is brought on by lists like these.
Did you know that a woman my age could consume over 2,000 servings of strawberries per day without any pesticide effects?!?!?! Of course there might be other stomach issues from eating that many strawberries in one single day, so I don’t recommend that anyway. You can visit SafeFruitsandVeggies.com for more information regarding this.
Our bodies need fruits and vegetables to reduce the risk of things like obesity, heart disease, and cancer. Do not avoid these foods because of a list that is generated to scare people into choosing different foods at the grocery store.
It is important to make sure you are getting those healthy veggies and fruits in your diet, whether it is conventional or organic.
After breakfast we headed to Providence Farms where we met Tom and Ruth Jones. They shared with us about their farm and how labor intensive strawberries are.
They provide many jobs for people in the area and keep their workers happy with benefits and sick time. We learned about small immature plants and how acres and acres of strawberry plants need to have the flowers removed BY HAND so the plant can grow larger before producing strawberries.
Warm strawberries from the sun are seriously the best! They have so much flavor, juice, and vitamin C. FYI: Did you know that strawberries actually have more vitamin C than oranges?
After a delicious lunch at Presq’uile Winery, we headed to L&G Farms where we met Farmer Luis Chavez.
He shared with us how he started with just a few acres many years ago and how it has grown to almost 300 acres with 300 workers. We were able to pick more strawberries before heading back to our resort.
Of course, I had to share about all the amazing strawberry inspired foods that we ate. This is just a few of my favorites that we had over the 2 days.
I enjoyed french toast with strawberries, strawberry scones, crostini with goat cheese & strawberry salsa, strawberry salad, salmon with strawberry salsa, strawberry shortcake in a jar, Summer Breeze with rum and strawberries, creme brûlée with strawberries, strawberry meringue tarts, and so much more. There was definitely not a shortage of good food on this trip.
I came home with strawberries on the brain, and I couldn’t wait to add them to a bowl of this easy Strawberry Shortcake Fluff Salad.
