Tag: Taste of Harmons Podcast

Join the Caramel Club

There are few things as good as a mouthwatering caramel, especially when they are made with love by a dedicated candy maker, and that describes Rowena Montoya perfectly. 

Rowena is the Utah-based owner of JulieAnn Caramels, which can be found in all of our stores, and is one of our favorites (admittedly, we have quite a few). On the latest edition of the Taste of Harmons Podcast, Rowena joins our hosts to discuss her story, trials, and ultimately her successes. 

You’ll want to tune in to hear her inspiring story, and you’ll be glad you did when you hear about the special promotion we are offering on JulieAnn Caramels. 

When you visit her site, you really CAN join the caramel club. 

We can’t wait to hear what you think. 

Maple bacon caramel from JulieAnn Caramels

Pumpkin vanilla caramel from JulieAnn Carmels

Rowena Montoya’s caramel story began many years ago, with two very loving aunts who took her into their home and hearts, following the untimely death of her mother. 

Among the gifts they shared, was a very remarkable caramel recipe, which has evolved into something extraordinary. 

She started her business in 2012, naming it JulieAnn Caramels after her two aunts. Her days are packed full as she works to grow her business and the women she employs. 

Looking for more Foodie podcast episodes? You can find all of them here. You can also check out our latest podcasts, Gluten Free Sweets from Lucky Spoon and The Art of Asian Cooking. 

At Harmons, we’re lucky to have incredibly talented artists at each store, and we’re sure you’ve seen their amazing chalk art as you wander throughout every location. We’re excited to be able to feature some of their work as the featured art on our podcast blog. This art is the work of Ryann Meyers from our Mountain View location. 

The Pros and Cons of GMOs

In the latest episode of the Taste of Harmons Podcast, Dietitian Sarah Kiel joins our hosts Chef Lesli Sommerdorf and Brandon Young. Sarah and our hosts discuss produce hybrids and genetically modified varieties of our food. The somewhat controversial subject of GMOs has many pros and cons to it. The practice involves altering the DNA of a plant to improve or change its properties. We’re fortunate to have Sarah’s knowledge as she breaks the details down for us. 

GMOs basically come two ways: genetically engineered and genetically modified. An example of genetically engineered produce is seedless watermelon. An example of genetically modified produce would be corn that is altered to resist insects or tolerate herbicides. 

Harmons Produce Partners

Most of the GMOs grown in the United States have uses other than human consumption, specifically animal feed. But Sarah gives us a great list of genetically modified produce and how it affects us nutritionally and otherwise. 

GMO Resources

Purdue University

Utah State University

University of Connecticut

Sarah Kiel, RDN, CD

Sarah aims to make healthy living easy and accessible for Harmons customers. Providing individual and specialized nutritional services geared at achieving and maintaining a healthy lifestyle, Sarah’s goal is to help Harmons shoppers recognize 

that shopping for and cooking healthy food can actually be fun. Sarah received a bachelor degree in dietetics from Indiana University. After a move to Utah and a visit to Harmons, she immediately knew that she wanted to be a part of the Dietitians Choice Program. And when’s she’s not helping Harmons customers discover their own health and wellness, you can find her discovering her own by mountain biking, running, hiking, or cooking.

This is Sarah’s third time as a TOH Podcast guest. We encourage you to tune in and listen to all the important facts she has to share with us. 

Her other podcast episodes include:

Isolation Health Tips with Dietitian Sarah

Eating for Exercise: Fuel Your Fitness

You can view all of our podcast episodes here. 

At Harmons, we’re lucky to have incredibly talented artists at each store, and we’re sure you’ve seen their amazing chalk art as you wander throughout every location. We’re excited to be able to feature some of their work as the featured art on our podcast blog. This art is the work of Ryann Meyers, the artist at our Mountain View location. 

Utah’s Botanical Garden—Red Butte

Red Butte Garden Concert Series, sponsored by Harmons

Harmons is deeply involved in our community, and so is Red Butte Garden. So the fact that we partner with them is pretty much a no-brainer. Today’s Taste of Harmons Podcast guest is Eddy Dawson. He’s the director of programs at Red Butte, and he joins our hosts Chef Lesli Sommerdorf and Brandon Young to talk about something a little different from food we eat—the plants we grow.

Red Butte Garden is a museum of living plants, according to Eddy. Its history is long and storied. In the beginning, Dr. Walter Cottam, a professor at the University of Utah from the 1930s through the 1960s, had a special interest in plants and trees. He shared this by planting them in the ground around him, turning the University of Utah into part of an arboretum.

The History of Red Butte Garden

Eddy shares the interesting story of Dr. Cottam and how his beginnings led to the eventual forming of Red Butte Gardner, located in Research Park at the University of Utah.

The visitors center was opened in the 1990s and while it’s more than 35 years old, it’s still young in the terms of arboretums around the country and world.

Red Butte Garden consists of 21 acres of highly maintained gardens, with another 78 acres of natural area and 5miles of hiking trails.

It is a unique arboretum. Most arboretums around the world are in cities. But Red Butte Gardens is located in the foothills of Salt Lake City. The end result is there is a lot of wildlife that also enjoys roaming around the garden. Moose, deer, bobcats, and turkeys are regular visitors. Eddy says they also saw some cougar tracks this past winter, but never did spot the wily cat.

Like most of us during the COVID-19, Red Butte Garden had to alter how they did things. They instituted virtual classes and zoom lessons featuring videography, held with teachers and their classes. And like the rest of us, they are anxious to get back to normal, in particular, the very popular and oft-asked about Red Butte Concert series.

Red Butte Garden Outdoor Concert Series 2021

Eddy says the series is “brewing” this year, but he doesn’t have any information because he’s the “plant” guy. Even so, he’s excited for some of the amazing talent that is in the lineup of performers at the Garden. The beautiful venue, in the amphitheater, is a one-of-a-kind experience. Everyone should get a chance to enjoy it. That said, the concerts usually sell out during the “presale” which is exclusive to members of Red Butte Garden. This is just one of the perks of membership at Red Butte Garden. 

And if you’re wondering how you’re going to keep your little humans entertained this summer, check events and ideas they have listed on their awesome website. The “boredom busters” offer great ways to keep your kids learning and entertained at the same time. 

Buy A Membership

A good way to stay up to date on what’s happening at Red Butte is to support them by purchasing a membership. (Hint: as we mentioned above, membership means you get to take part in the presale for the Red Butte Garden Outdoor Concert Series, which often sells completely out during the presale.)

You can also volunteer and of course they happily accept donations. Choose your favorite program or initiative, or simply give to the greatest needs of the Garden.

The Garden is also a great setting for a wedding or other private event.

Harmons is a proud partner with Red Butte Garden and we sponsor the concert series, which is one of the biggest forms of income they receive to keep the garden running. along with Bootanical.

Bootanical at Red Butte Garden, sponsored by Harmons

If you enjoyed this podcast, you’ll want to listen to our other episodes. You can find them here. Recent episodes include Understanding CBD and The Salt of the Earth with Darryl Bosshardt, of Redmond Real Salt.

Eddy Dawson

Eddy Dawson has a passion for connecting people with the importance of plants in all aspects of life.  His life’s mantra is “everyone loves plants, not everyone knows it.” He has spent 20 years working at Red Butte Garden in a variety of roles, including curator of plant records, director of information technology, and currently serves as the director of programs.  In addition to his Red Butte Garden experience, he has 30 years combined experience in the plant science and horticulture industries and is a 

volunteer leader engaged in the national American Public Garden Association. As part of the mission at Red Butte Garden, Eddy strives to continue learning and making new connections with plants and people  He has degrees in horticulture and botanical informatics from Texas A&M University. 

At Harmons, we’re lucky to have incredibly talented artists at each store, and we’re sure you’ve seen their amazing chalk art as you wander throughout every location. We’re excited to be able to feature some of their work as the featured art on our podcast blog. This art is the work of Ryann Meyers, the artist at our Mountain View location. 

The Salt of the Earth

Redmond Real Salt is the “real” deal when it comes to salt. At Harmons, when creating our made-fresh-in-store items it’s the only salt we use. And there is a very good reason for that. It’s natural, clean salt, which tastes very different than iodized salt. And not only is the taste better; so are the health benefits.

The Sundance Sea

So, where does Redmond Real Salt come from? Darryl Bosshardt, grandson of one of the original founders, joins our hosts to share the backstory behind the successful business. Salt is a natural topic in the state of Utah, considering we still have a large body of salty water, the Great Salt Lake, which is visible from the Harmons offices. But that’s not where Redmond gets their salt from. About two hours to the south of the Great Salt Lake there is an ancient seabed, a remnant of the Sundance Sea, an inland sea that existed in North America during the mid-to-late Jurassic Period of the Mesozoic Era (think dinosaurs).

Fast forward to 1958, when a prolonged drought forced the Bosshardt brothers to abandon their farming lifestyle in central Utah. Aware that Native Americans had once harvested salt rock from their farmland, Milo and Lamar Bosshardt borrowed a little money and went into the salt business with little more than sledgehammers, picks, and a determination to provide for their families. Their salt deposit provided a naturally balanced mineral salt that local ranchers credited for healthier herds. As the salt’s reputation grew, the Bosshardt brothers purchased land from their neighbors, giving them access to the entire deposit, estimated to extend several thousand feet below the surface of the earth.

Natural Clean Salt

Today, the family continues to mine the salt and Darryl is proud of their legacy, one that started with his grandfather and great uncle.

While many salts contain anti-caking agents and even dextrose, and others have been heat-processed and stripped of their natural trace minerals, Redmond Real Salt is unrefined and full of natural minerals and flavor. Not only is the taste different, but so is are the benefits to your health, as everyone needs salt to survive. Just not the high sodium, processed, chemical-tasting salt many people are used to.

The mine where they work is underground and large but does not really resemble other dangerous types of mines that quickly come to the mind. You’ll want to visit their website to see the very cool pictures of just exactly what the mine looks like and tune into the podcast to hear Darryl go in-depth into the fascinating world of salt mining. 

You Can Taste the Difference

As we mentioned before, Harmons exclusively uses Redmond Real Salt, including in our artisan bread and Kitchen items. We believe you can taste the difference. 

Along with their culinary salt, they also provide products for salting roads and agricultural purposes. They also have a body care line, including toothpaste, and you can even buy some clothing featuring their amazing products. 

Make sure you listen to the podcast to get the skinny on Redmond Real Salt’s unique product and learn all the ways you can enhance your food and elevate your cooking. 

Darryl Bosshardt

Darryl Bosshardt is passionate about healthly living, healthy eating, and life-long learning. Darryl grew up working for the family mineral business in Redmond, Utah, and then earned a bachelor of science degree at Southern Utah University followed by an MBA at Western Governor’s University.

If you enjoyed this podcast, you’ll want to listen to our other episodes. You can find them here. Recent episodes include The Science of Bread with Jason Lindsay and Meet Harmons Cooking School Chef Daniela Oliveira.

At Harmons, we’re lucky to have incredibly talented artists at each store, and we’re sure you’ve seen their amazing chalk art as you wander throughout every location. We’re excited to be able to feature some of their work as the featured art on our podcast blog. This art is the work of Kirsten Beitler, the artist at our Santa Clara location. 

The ABCs of Bean-to-Bar Chocolate

For DeAnn Wallin, chocolate is her life. “It’s what I do,” she says.

The owner of Solstice Chocolate literally eats and breathes chocolate, and we don’t know for sure, but she might dream about it when she sleeps.

DeAnn is a chocolate maker, specializing in artisan bean-to-bar chocolate. A chocolate maker is different than a chocolatier, as a maker gets the cacao beans and starts from scratch making the chocolate, step-by-step. The only thing DeAnn doesn’t do is grow and harvest the chocolate, because cacao beans will only grow close to in special climates. The only US state that can grow and harvest cacao is, unsurprisingly, Hawaii.

Steps to Making Chocolate

There are nine steps included in making chocolate, including harvesting, fermenting, roasting, conching, grinding, winnowing, tempering, and molding.

DeAnn experimented with making chocolate for years before it became so popular, and even before she founded her own company, Solstice Chocolate. Today, artisan chocolate is an industry, and things have changed a lot from the early days. But DeAnn has always loved chocolate, from her younger years working with her grandmother learning how to temper chocolate to her current expertise as a bean-to-bar producer.

From the time she receives the burlap sacks containing cacao beans to the end product showing up in stores, the level of her love for chocolate is apparent. Although DeAnn is a registered nurse, she says making chocolate is much more fun.

The Harmons and Solstice Chocolate Relationship

In the early days of Solstice, they thought about reaching out to Harmons, which is known for selling and promoting local brands. Their story is a good example of the local networking ties that Harmons has. Solstice wasn’t really sure how to go about it, but they had heard about Matt Caputo, who is currently CEO of Tony Caputo’s Food Market & Deli, a well-known Utah company known for its gourmet and specialty food and prowess.

They dropped some chocolate off to Matt, with a Post-it note explaining where it came from. Since they never heard back, they were worried the chocolate wasn’t good enough, but everything they heard from others indicated the opposite. Finally, they decided to reach out to him once more and discovered their note had fallen off the chocolate, never to be found, but Matt loved the chocolate and was happy to finally find out where it came from. He was also instrumental in getting Solstice on Harmons’ shelves.

Really Good Cacao Is Not Bitter

A lot of people think dark chocolate is bitter, and DeAnn works hard to set that misconception straight. “Really good cacao is not bitter, although it can have a bite,” she says.

Your Harmons cheesemonger is knowledgeable about artisan chocolate pairings and can make recommendations that will elevate your taste buds.

Special Promotion with Harmons and Solstice Chocolate

Listen to the podcast to learn more about the ABCs of making bean-to-bar chocolate, and as a special incentive, you can receive a 50 percent off promo code to try Solstice Chocolate. Details are announced in the podcast, so you’ll have to listen to take advantage of this offer, but we promise it’s worth it.

DeAnn Wallin, Solstice Chocolate

DeAnn Wallin is the creator and owner of the award-winning artisan chocolate company, Solstice Chocolate, which was founded in 2013. She is a chocolate maker who specializes in bean-to-bar chocolate. 

DeAnn is also a registered nurse, but she says chocolate is “more fun.”

If you enjoyed this podcast, you’ll want to listen to our other episodes. You can find them here. Recent episodes include Meal Prep and Planning Made Easy with Dietitian Genevieve Daly, and Eating for Exercise with our dietitians Sarah Kiel and Heather Lieber. 

At Harmons, we’re lucky to have incredibly talented artists at each store, and we’re sure you’ve seen their amazing chalk art as you wander throughout every location. We’re excited to be able to feature some of their work as the featured art on our podcast blog. This art is the work of Ryann Meyers, who works at our Mountain View location. 

Meal Prepping and Planning Made Easy

Meal prepping and planning can seem overwhelming to the uninitiated, but it doesn’t have to be that way. On the latest edition of the Taste of Harmons Podcast, Harmons Dietitian Genevieve Daly joins our hosts Chef Lesli Sommerdorf and Brandon Young to discuss the ins and outs of easy meal prep and planning. 

The very first step to meal planning and prepping is to make a grocery shopping list. Start by checking your pantry and seeing what you already have. We’ve made stock up easy with our How to Stock Your Pantry blog, which includes a pantry shopping list for beginning, intermediate, and advanced cooks. Put together by our amazing dietitians and chefs, all the pantry essentials you will need to make meals are included. 

KEEP YOUR PREP EFFICIENT AND EASY

Genevieve emphasizes that making a meal plan is essential to keeping your prep efficient and easy. She also offers pros and cons to meal prep and planning, including the tip that shopping from a list saves you money. With a plan in place, you are less likely to impulse buy and spend extra money on items you don’t need.

She also shares tips about the items you need to have on hand to efficiently meal prep, and also talks about some of the ones you probably don’t need. One of her must-haves is a sharp chef’s knife. 

In the podcast there are three types of meal preppers explored, and you’ll need to listen to the podcast to discover which one you are—or the one you aspire to be.

Effectively meal planning and prepping insures you are less likely to binge or order takeout food, which is often higher in all the things you don’t need, and low on nutrients your body requires for fuel.

Eat a Balanced Meal with help from MyPlate.gov

Checkout the MyPlate graphic above and visit the website to learn more about healthy eating on a daily basis. Half of every plate you eat should be fruit and vegetables (mostly vegetables), and that’s an amount that’s easy to remember. 

One of the things Genevieve really dislikes is food waste, and she recommends finding ways to repurpose food. Dietitian Jonnell Masson has a great blog post on reducing food waste. Check it out for some great ideas that are easy to incorporate in our household. 

For more information on getting started with meal prep check out Genevieve’s blog post here. 

Dietitian Services

While things have been different in our stores, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, our dietitians are still offering nutrition counseling services—virtually—and they are completely free!

They are also providing you with a month’s worth of weekday dinner meals for healthy living.

Click here to learn more about our dietitians and the services they offer. 

If you enjoyed this podcast, you’ll want to listen to our other episodes. You can find them here. Recent episodes include Eating for Exercise with our amazing dietitians, Sarah Kiel and Heather Lieber. Another must listen is A Passion for Pastries with guest Chef Adalberto Diaz, creator and co-owner of Fillings and Emulsions. 

Genevieve Daly

As a teenager, Dietitian Genevieve Daly began watching cooking shows which sparked an interest in food. She has since tried her hand at various ethnic dishes and has developed a love for trying new recipes to serve to her lucky friends and family. Learn more about Genevieve here. 

At Harmons, we are lucky to have incredibly talented artists at each store, and we’re sure you’ve seen their amazing chalk art as you wander throughout every location. We’re excited to be able to feature some of their work as the featured art on our podcast blog. This art is the work of David Costa, who works at our Brickyard Store.