Friday, January 30, 2009

Mmm Mmm Good

Campbell's Soup invited 11 bloggers...

MomCentral.com

Table4Five.net

ThisMamaCooks.com

MomAdvice.com

Busymom.net

Fromdatestodiapers.com

ThisFullHouse.com

Momtothescreamingmasses.typepad.com

Momof3girls.net

MomViews.net

and your truly

out to their world headquarters in Camden, NJ to talk with us about some of their products. Although bad weather on the east coast messed up a lot of our travel plans, we all made it out there ok. Eventually. Thankfully, my flight was just delayed a couple hours and I was able to pass the time at the airport bar texting my friend. OK, so I had a drink at an airport bar too. I even showed off my article in Good Housekeeping to one of the gentlemen there. In fact, I gave him my card and told him to pass it on to his wife. Yes, yes, I am shameless. Meanwhile, there was another guy at the bar who was drunk and telling everyone about his 3 ex-wives.

When it was time to board the plane, I was one of the last people on (because I hate getting on early and just standing there waiting for people to put their stinkin bags away and SIT DOWN!) So, I walk to my seat and who is sitting in the seat next to mine? That's right - the drunk guy with the 3 ex-wives. Thankfully he passed out 2 seconds after take-off. I shoved him against the window and had a decent trip.

I thought my driver was going to have a heart attack walking out to the car. I'm probably the most out of shape person you'll ever meet, but this guy was breathing so hard, I was like, "Can I just carry my suitcase? Please? Do you need to sit down or something?" Yikes!

So, I got to the Four Seasons hotel in Philadelphis (gorgeous hotel, btw!), got all checked in, and ordered me a cheesesteak 'cause when in Philly... It was as big as my head and I could only eat half of it, but it was de-lish!

I don't know why I feel the need to take pictures of every hotel room I stay in, but I do!


Huge bed to myself and you know what I did in my sleep? I piled pillows up against me as if they were Brooklyn. @@


Nice big bathroom with no toothpaste globs in the sink


My basket full of goodies from Campbell's. Yum!

Thursday morning we jumped on a bus and headed over the river to New Jersey and Campbell's. When we got there, a fire alarm was going off so he had to sit tight for a while. I personally thought it was refreshing and nice outside despite the fact the natives said it was freezing. (It was 35 degrees) I just laughed at them and said, "I can get a suntan in 35 degrees!"


10 of the 11 of us. Deb joined us a little later.


On the bus, ready to go!


I just thought this was a cool sculpture.


There were so many really cool looking buildings, but I didn't have any time to sightsee.


I have a ton to share with you about Campbell's, so I'm going to spread it out over a few days. For today, here's Chef Tom Helsel with a demonstration on how Campbell's makes their chicken soup. Yum! I wish you guy could smell this video. Mmmm, it smelled SO good in this kitchen! It's like watching Food Network and he's got some great tips for making yummy homemade chicken soup if you feel inspired to do more than open a can.

(I'm sorry if this video isn't working right now. I've been trying to get it to load since 9:00 last night. I fell asleep waiting for it to process. If it still isn't working, I'll mess around with it some more tomorrow.)

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

I am sure you were able to enjoy those lovely cans of soup in your hotel room. Love that sculpture too btw.

Anonymous said...

I'm jealous, Dawn! This sounds so yummy and fun! Moms who blog get all the cool stuff. I like soup too. So do other 20 something bloggers!

I'm in the mood for soup now. I wouldn't be able to survive these Chicago winters without my chicken noodle soup!

Anonymous said...

Looks like a fun trip.

Cookie said...

I grew up outside of Philly and Campbell's in Camden used to be one of my clients that I would visit (that's when I was a "grown-up" not when I was a kid). Camden is a scary place. Glad you made it back ok!

Anonymous said...

Very interesting, Dawn! I read your blog every day. It is very entertaining!

Rebecca said...

Hi. I read your personal blog, and I think I've commented there once or twice.

I'm so sorry you had to be in Camden. I grew up about 20 minutes north of Camden; my dad grew up about 20 minutes east. It used to be a fantastic city, but as Philadelphia grew stronger, Camden suffered. Please do not think Camden is the be all and end all of New Jersey!

If you'd had the chance, I hope you got out to some of the smaller towns outside of Camden - Moorestown, Riverton, and so on. They are beautiful towns full of history and trees and old houses and so on.

Of course, Philadelphia is a wonderful city (I say better than NYC, and I am supposed to like NYC, as an actress). I'm glad you got to see some of it!

RefreshMom said...

That's nice that the canned soup man gave you tips for homemade soup. I'll look forward to seeing the video.

Anjie said...

That bed looks sooo inviting! The Four Seasons are some of the best Hotels in the world (loved the one in Brussels).

I think it's cool you take pics of the hotels rooms...that's all the kids care about anyway.

Can't wait to read more about it.

Anonymous said...

The question is- WHO'S cheesesteak did you get? It's a hot, never ending debate in Philly on who has the best- Geno's, Pat's or Jim's.

Lisa said...

I am very jealous of the hotel room you had, that BIG huge bed oh my... My hubby travels A LOT, and is often upgraded to suite's..I told him this last time (3 weeks) I am going on a mom only getaway just for me and I want a room just like Dawn's..and ya know what he said YES!!!!!

Anonymous said...

Living, just 20 minutes outside of Philly, and having gone to college in the city, I always forget how cool the city can be.
I was actually born in Camden, and toured the factory way back in elementary school!
Glad you got your steak wid!
Man, I can go for one, now! Maybe we can order cheesesteak stromboli, or pizza for the game tonight...(I feel my arteries clogging up, now!).

Cheryl said...

That's a pretty hotel room. You should always post pictures of the hotel rooms you stay in for those of us just dreaming of traveling! :-)

MaNiC MoMMy™ said...

You know I lived in Philly (near) for a while and the one building with the guy on top--if you're driving into the city a certain way, his sword looks like a ... well, you know ... yep. It does.

Martha said...

Hmmm - I SOOOO miss Philly Cheesesteak's the size of your head.... home sweet home! Sounds like you had a great time in my old (and soon to be again) hometown! It was good to see "Billy Penn" on top of city hall. Gosh, I miss home!

Mary said...

Looks like an interesting trip, that sculpture is really cool, I would have taken a picture of it if I had seen it too. 35 degrees sounds like a heat wave for us midwesterners this winter, can't wait for spring this year!

Laura ~Peach~ said...

love the sculpture too... and I LOVE my CNS!
blogging has really turned into something fantastic for you It gives hope to the rest of us that maybe one day it will be us getting to do the great fun stuff. :)

Michelle said...

Oh how fun. Gotta love how they put you up in the nice hotels on your junkets :) I need to figure out how to get me in on these things... because you know, I'm not nearly busy enough ;)

I'd love to see Food Network kitchens or any professional kitchens like this. I'm fascinated by food and what we can do with it and how we do so. And mmmm the smell of chicken soup. One of my faves. I did my homemade chicken noodle soup last week, and the house smelled soooo good as I made the stock. Now I want some more!

Anonymous said...

I miss Campbell`s soup, particularly the cream of mushroom. Here in Guatemala, it`s only available in the capital, so if you`re willing to risk being decapitated by a gang member . . . just kidding. It`s not that dangerous, but we rarely go.

Suburban Correspondent said...

The picture of the peaceful, clean hotel room just took my breath away.

Martha said...

I used the campbellkitchen dot com site to find a chicken recipe for tonight! I love that the recipes can be printed out in cute recipe card format! Mmmm Good!

Long Live Cream of Mushroom Soup!