Jayne

Hi Everybody! February is half over and I can just feel spring in the air since we have had such a mild Minnesota weather. Speaking of Minnesota, I just have to talk to you all about “local”. I just love local and I love talking about local. So I thought I would show you some great recipes using some of our great local products right here in the Midwest.

Today I thought I would talk about French Toast with homemade blueberry syrup and homemade whipped cream. This is ‘yummy” no matter which way you look at it.

Homemade Blueberry Syrup

The first thing I’m going to start with is my homemade blueberry syrup. Now you are probably going to say “you can’t get local blueberries in the middle of the winter” and you’re absolutely right! That is why in the winter months Coborn’s gets many of our blueberries from Chile. They have the optimum climate for growing blueberries in November through April and let me tell you Chile grows product that is the finest and safest for export to us way up north. Of course they are healthy, they score a 100 on the NuVal Scoring System and in just one cup you can receive almost 4 grams of fiber and 25% of your daily requirement of Vitamin C. They are so delicious and nutritious and I just have to use these Chilean blueberries for my homemade sauce.

Homemade Whipped Cream

The next step is creating the luscious whipped cream and that is to die for. For the whipped cream I always use Kemps Heavy Whipping Cream not only because of the great quality but here is another local company and what I love best about Kemps is how giving a company they are to our communities. What more can I say? Kemps it’s the Cows!

Now after adding the whipping cream you need to also add the sugar and again both local companies. Crystal Sugar is from the Red River Valley area and has factories in Minnesota and North Dakota. The vanilla is a favorite of mine and that is J. R. Watkins and they are right out of Winona, Minnesota!

French Toast

Now the final step the French toast.

I am using Country Heart Bread and it is made right here in St. Cloud, Minnesota. If you are ever in the St. Cloud area you just have to drive by their Bakery, because the smells are to die for. The smell of fresh bread that you will experience, there is nothing like it!  Country Hearth bread is also in the Coborn’s Penny Pinchers a lot too so stock up and freeze it, I would recommend using that bread with in one month of freezing. Now when you are heating up the French toast make sure to check out Smude Sunflower Oil that has a phenomenal buttery flavor and is also produced right here in Pierz, Minnesota.

French Toast

Ingredients

Local

Now I love supporting local and I bet you do to. You can pick up these local products at your favorite local Coborn’s store. You know what I really love about my job at Coborn’s? I love working for a local company. When my son was in baseball as a child, the team was sponsored by Coborn’s and they still are today. So I hope when you think of local you think of Coborn’s because our support center is right here in St. Cloud, Minnesota and we employ almost 8,000 great employees throughout the Upper Midwest, it’s a great company and thank you for supporting us for nearly 96 years. Enjoy your local French Toast and we’ll see you in two weeks! Enjoy!!!

Jayne
Coborn’s, Inc. Merchandising Specialist Team Manager – Bakery and Deli