I am so excited to be sharing with you that I’m working with Stemilt Growers this summer. Stemilt is a family-owned company that has been around almost as long as I have. It’s also name I’ve associated with summer trips to Eastern Washington since the 1970’s.

Stemilt Family Owned for 50 Years

Long, lazy days stuck in a hot car with no air-conditioning, travelling a winding two-lane highway, in vehicles loaded down with camping gear on our way to Sun Lakes State Park or Lake Chelan. It seemed like it took  an eternity back then to make the trip, but when we started seeing the Stemilt name, we knew we were getting close.  It’s funny how landmarks can trigger memories. I’ve made that same trip many times over the years, as a tween, teen, young adult, and a mom and I still get excited when we hit Wenatchee because I know we’re getting close to our destination and vacation is about to begin.

My husband and I will be making the trip over the pass a few days after the Fourth of July weekend. It’s a birthday treat for me and a chance to spend a day visiting the Mathison Family Cherry Farm in Wenatchee, WA.  The Mathison’s have owned and operated the farm since the 1800’s  and the Stemilt name comes from the hill  it’s located on. Stemilt grows many of their cherries are here, but they’re also grown in other locales across the country (see Farming Stemilt).

While the hardworking Mathison family and their crew start their day off at around 4:30am, I’ll be heading over at a much more reasonable hour, though barely! These people are making their way out of the fields about the time I sometimes get my day started. That’s because it gets hot in Wenatchee during the summer and they want to be out of the fields before it becomes unbearable and the cherries get too warm. But it’s those hot summer days that create the amazing dark-sweet cherries I’ve come to love.

Stemilt Newsletter – The Stem

As part of my partnership with Stemilt Growers, I’ll be providing some content for their weekly email newsletter. I’m joined by fellow blogger,  Carolyn Ketchum of All Day I Dream About Food. Carolyn specializes in low-carb, gluten-free, and diabetic recipes which are featured on her blog with some of the most amazing food photography I’ve seen. Her writing style is delightful and informative and I’m looking forward to her cherry recipes.

Carolyn Ketchum's Gluten Free Cherry Pavlova is the first of four recipes that Stemilt will send to consumers via e-mail during the #CherrySweet Summer Sweepstakes.  - Photo Credit: Stemilt.com

Carolyn Ketchum’s Gluten Free Cherry Pavlova is the first of four recipes that Stemilt will send to consumers via e-mail during the #CherrySweet Summer Sweepstakes. – Photo Credit: Stemilt.com

While Ketchum has created some healthy cherry recipes for you, I’m covering the preserving/dehydrating and DIY of cherries as well as sharing some of the nutritional values and benefits they provide. So what’s that mean? Well today I counted cherries to find out the average number in a pound. You’ll be happy to know, it’s around 75. Even more interesting? Each sweet cherry has about 5 calories, so that means the pound of cherries I ate while I was counting them was only 375 calories! Talk about a sweet snack that I didn’t feel guilty at all in eating! Plus I started collecting sturdy cardboard tubes for a craft I’m making with cherry pits – no, really! I’ve also been freezing and dehydrating cherries for days to have plenty on hand to bake with along with some other fruits I’ll be mixing in.

#CherrySweet Twitter Party – July 30th

In addition to providing recipes, DIY, and more on my blog plus content for  The Stem, I’ll be hosting a #CherrySweet Twitter Party on July 30th at 6pm Pacific Time. I’ll be posting an invite & RSVP in a few weeks, but I hope you’ll mark your calendars now so you can join me. I’ve invited a few blogging friends to help me out as co-hosts and we’ll be chatting about cherries and giving away prizes!

Stemilt – More Than Cherries

Did you know Stemilt doesn’t just grow cherries! Sure, I may be a little bias because they’re my favorite fruit and while they’re in season I go a bit nuts eating their sweet goodness, but on the off chance you’re not a cherry love like me, I wanted to let you know they likely grow something you love. Sign up for The Stem to get information and recipes for your favorite fruit!  Choose from apples, pears, peaches, nectarines, and apricots and get smart snacking ideas, nutritional information, and learn more about the family who grow your fruit delivered right in your in box for the summer.

Enter the #CherrySweet Summer Sweepstakes

Win 4 pounds of Stemilt cherries and a retro row gift box!

Wanna get rewarded for signing up for The Stem? Well, some lucky winners will! Stemilt is running a #CherrySweet Summer Sweepstakes through July 28th with a weekly prize of four pounds of sweet Stemilt cherries, packed in the most adorable wooden retro gift box, shipped to the winner’s door! Then on July 28th, a grand prize of a $100 Visa Gift Card and a Stemilt box of cherries will be awarded! So just by subscribing,  you’ll get a fabulous newsletter packed with great stuff AND a chance to win some great prizes – that’s a win/win in my book!

Stemilt – What’s Next?

Stemilt is pretty proud of their impressive history and they should be! They’re doing so many amazing things with organics and new varieties and instead of trying to cover it all right now, check out this video they produced.

Come Along on this #CherrySweet Ride With Me This Summer

To say that I’m excited about this partnership with Stemilt is an understatement. I’m thrilled to be participating and I can’t wait to share my Cherry Farm visit, recipes, crafts, DIY, and more with you. You can keep tabs on me while I’m in Eastern Washington and while I work to create some fun recipes using dried cherries and cherry juice, and see what I do with those cherry pits and the tubes by following the hashtag #CherrySweet on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

Don’t forget to sign-up for the Stemilt Newsletter which will enter you in the Sweepstakes and trigger a once a week email with updates. You can also connect with Stemilt via their social media accounts – Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter and check out their amazing Stemilt Blog. The photos are STUNNING – you’ll be glad you visited!

Thanks for coming along on this journey with me and I have to ask, are you a cherry fan? How do you eat them?