If you’ve ever been to Austin, TX you know how cool it is (well, scorching hot, but in a cool way)! If you haven’t been – it’s cool! Of course the music scene is one of the best in the US and you can catch live shows at almost any time of day in any genre. As I walked around Austin and checked out some of the bands playing, it became evident that Austin believes in something I believe in as well – nothing goes better with great music than great food and drinks?!

Because of this amazing food scene, last week I had the opportunity to go to Austin to shoot our newest Tillamook Kitchen restaurant. This restaurant has been recognized as having The Best Hamburger by the Austin Chronicle, is on the top 15 best hamburgers list on Eater National, and is run by some pretty cool guys who believe in the power of great food. It’s called Hopdoddy Burger Bar and it is a must have!

Since opening their doors in 2010, co-founders Larry Perdido and Chuck Smith, have been grillin’ and chillin’ the highest quality, most delicious burgers, fries, and shakes in Texas in the uber cool neighborhood of South Congress (they’ve also added locations in North Austin and Dallas – and they’re not done yet!). They use high quality ingredients (they grind their own meat, make their own buns and have used Tillamook since day one) which allows their food to speak for itself as the star of the show. We’ll be sharing recipes, tips and videos with you soon, but here are some teasers to whet your appetite in the meantime.

If you find yourself in Austin or Dallas please go to Hopdoddy Burger Bar. It might just end up being the best thing you do!

By Matt

Being a brand ambassador on The Loaf Love Tour is kind of like a grilled cheese sandwich… it sounds amazing, but getting the cheese to melt perfectly without burning the bread is not an easy task. With a forever-changing call time, chaotic traffic, and unpredictable weather the team always has to be prepared for changes! Fun, hectic, animated, amusing, are just a few words that come to mind when describing what it’s like behind the scenes, but they still don’t suffice. Check out all these photos from behind the scenes.

We like to keep our YUM buses nice and shiny! Being cheesy at the car wash

Car wash is all done, so we decided to take a photo. Aren’t they shiny?!

Cubing these tasty loafs for our event days, we call this a Cubing Party!

We always have fun at work, but even when we’re off the clock we stick together and stay cheesy!

 Post by Elida

By Tillamook

Being a Tillamook Cheese Brand Ambassador on the Loaf Love Tour is one exciting job! We are a team of 6 unique individuals sharing our love for the Tillamook brand to the people. We are on the road traveling city to city for several months, creating lifelong cheesy memories, meeting and creating Tillafans. What’s there not to love about it?

The best part of our job is driving to and from events. It’s awesome to drive these fun little VW Yum buses. We love to see the smiles, laughs, thumbs up and waves! If you stop by for an event we’d love to take a picture of you next to one!

Cleaning the Yum buses and maintenance is crucial to keeping them in great condition. We take great pride in the Yum buses as they are unique and so nicely detailed. We clean them often and Ray does weekly maintenance to make sure they are in tip top shape! Look at him cheesn’!

I like to clean too! :)

A lot of prep work goes into each day of our events.  We cube our Medium Cheddar, Monterey Jack, and Pepper Jack cheeses so that we’re able to share our love of cheese in cute tiny cubes! It’s one of my favorite activities because we have so much fun listening to music and catching up while we’re cubing! We call this a cubing party!

Setting up at the stores can be a challenge. Taking all of the materials out of the YUM for the event and carefully putting the kiosk together takes time and care because we want to look our best for our Tillafans! It is a really great display when we have the Tillamook banner up, cheese trays out, and tooth picks in place! Our events are the best!

We are excited to share our love of cheese and hope to make it a memorable event! We do that by giving away Smile Sticks & Buttons. Taking pictures next to the YUM bus and enjoying cheese samples are all part of the experience! Mary is one of our Tillafan’s from California and has been following the Loaf Love Tour online. She took the time to see all of us Brand Ambassadors while in San Francisco. It’s always nice to see our Tillafans and share our Tillamook excitement! Hope to see you on the road!

Post by DeeDee

By Tillamook

In the spirit of Mother’s Day, some of the Tillamook Marketing Team wanted to share some of our favorite memories and celebrations of our moms!

Katie
My family isn’t big on gifts, so we celebrate holidays with adventures we think our loved ones will enjoy. This is especially meaningful now that my brother and I live far away from our parents, so we get a chance to catch up and be together. My favorite Mother’s Day was spent walking around the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle with my brother and our Momma Anne. My mom loves animals, and it’s always been one of her favorite outings in the Seattle area. Hearing my mom giggle at the animals, and seeing the little skip in her step as she tells us she is “Sooo happy to see you both!” put the biggest smile on my face and made the 3 hour drive totally worth it.

Amalya
My favorite Mother’s Day memory comes from the years of macaroni picture frames and illegible cards involving a LOT of glitter. I remember back in preschool my class worked for hours to cover old soup cans in fabric and puff paint to make vases. We filled them with purple and pink tulips and presented them to our moms at a very special luncheon that involved a lot of singing. While I couldn’t find that beautiful tin can vase, I did come across another Mother’s Day craft from my days as a professional artist. I love you mom!

Susan
My favorite Mother’s Day memory is the time my brothers and sisters and I decided to make Mom breakfast in bed.  So the six of us – ages 10 and younger – worked hard in the kitchen making scrambled eggs, bacon, toast, pancakes and a cup of tea for her. I think we used every pan, bowl, and utensil we owned. We found a tray in a cabinet, placed everything on it, and my sister went outside and pulled up a daffodil (literally bulb and all) to make the meal pretty. We were so proud of ourselves! Then up the stairs we proceeded with runny eggs, burnt toast, undercooked bacon, no pancakes and a lukewarm cup of tea, most of which ended up on the floor.  It didn’t matter – Mom burst out laughing at the sight of her breakfast, told us it was all great and she even proceeded to eat some. She always made us all six of us feel special in our own way, and we loved her!

Tori
My memory comes from the receiving end of Mother’s Day. This was my son Noah’s Mother’s Day project last year at school. For those who need 1st grade translation, I believe the 3 best things about me at the time were 1) snuggling on the couch 2) going out to dinner 3) spending time together ♥

Matt
Everyone says this about their mom, but my mom was, is and will forever be the best. She and my dad were always there to support myself and my sister – and did it with a purpose. From soccer games, to baseball practice, to choir concerts, my mom didn’t miss anything – even when I’m sure she was exhausted from having to deal with us. She inspired us to be who were we are, regardless of what others think or say. More importantly, she instilled in us a moral compass and level of compassion that has helped guide how we lead our adult lives. As this picture indicates, she also taught me important life lessons like how to properly throw a football while rolling out of the pocket! My mom helped make me the person I am today and I thank her for that every day. I love you everyday mom!

Gillian
For Mother’s Day in elementary school, I made my mother a bouquet of “flowers” out of tissue paper wrapped around the individual cups of egg cartons and then attached them to pipe cleaners. Those poor little flowers are now over 25 years old, but by golly she still has them on her bedside table. The tissue paper has faded and the pipe cleaners have wilted, but the love is still there in each little flower cup.

They looked like this example from Make and Takes.

Will you share your favorite Mother’s Day memory with us!?

By Tillamook

It’s no secret that around here we love cheese and bread grilled to melty perfection! So when we were generously offered the opportunity to visit our friends over at the Dave’s Killer Breadquarters, another Oregon company built on quality, we jumped at the chance! Before we even entered the facility we could smell the sweetness of the baking bread! It wasn’t until our friends Dan and Adam showed us around the bread floor that we realized just how complex and detailed the whole process was. The whole team of breadmakers work diligently to make sure every loaf of bread is perfectly coated with grains and baked to perfection!

Dave’s Killer Bread was founded back in 2005 by Dave Dahl. Before his delicious bread baking days, he was a self-proclaimed four-time loser (read his incredible story here). With unflappable dedication and hard work, he and his team have created an amazing whole-grain bread that makes for a dangerously addicting combination with Tillamook Cheese.

With some delicious Dave’s Killer Bread in hand as we left, naturally, we immediately went back to the office to cook up some grilled cheese sandwiches! Take a look – there might be some Dave’s Killer Bread in your neighborhood too!

By Amalya

After being on the road for almost a month and a half already, it’s easy to start missing home a little bit! My cheesy family and I always get together once a week for a “family dinner” where we all make something to contribute. These last couple weeks have been a lot of fun with everyone cooking up recipes that make them think of home!

Potato + Broccoli + Onions + Cheese = Yum!
When Tillatastic Ash is missing her hometown of Walla Walla, WA she whips up a perfect recipe to make her feel at home again! Her cheesy, baked Idaho potato, broccoli, and Walla Walla sweet onion dish is quick to make and leaves the belly feeling happy!

Cheese and Crackers
If you’re wondering how I spend my Friday nights at home, it’s usually sitting around a table with friends playing games and snacking on cheese and crackers! My favorite combination is with an array of crackers to choose from and the 3 Year Aged Vintage White Extra Sharp Cheddar. The cheese is so decadently delicious, I usually just end up using the crackers as a vehicle for the cheese to get in my mouth!

Gluten-Free Pasta
Although ShellBe Sharp can’t have gluten anymore, that hasn’t stopped her from making delicious gluten-free meals that even gluten lovers like PepperJack Matt enjoy! Her favorite dish to make when away from home includes gluten-free brown rice pasta, a little of this, a little of that, and of course some Tillamook Cheese! Her cheese of choice is usually the Vintage White Extra Sharp Cheddar! To ShellBe Sharp this colorful dish reminds her of Fall in Portland, OR when the leaves are changing colors and the weather starts to get a little cooler.

Grilled Salmon with Butter, Rosemary, and Garlic
One of the perks of spending my Spring in Texas has been the 70+ degree weather on a regular basis! If I were at home this time of the year, I know I would not be uncovering my BBQ for at least another couple months! During one of our “family dinners” we grilled up some salmon with Tillamook Salted Butter, a little salt and pepper, garlic, and some rosemary! It was juicy and scrumptious and reminded me of warm and sunny summers in the NW!

Waffles
Food carts have really come into their own over the past few years in the NW, specifically in Portland. One of my favorite food carts to visit is Flavour Spot. They have several cheesy waffles featuring our very own Tillamook Cheese, but one of my favorites is their Sausage and Maple combination! To help me recreate this tastiness on the road I usually add Tillamook Unsalted Butter, maple syrup, and sausage on top of my Texas shaped waffles! While my version is a little different from Flavour Spot’s, it still helps me reminisce of all the wonderful food carts in my hometown!

Now that I’ve shared some of my favorite NW dishes, what are some of your favorites? Share with me on Twitter or Facebook!
Twitter: @AprilFoCheezy
Facebook: April FoCheezy

By Tillamook

We’re so proud of our Dairy Products Quality Manager, Jill Allen, who had the incredible honor of judging at the 2013 United States Championship Cheese Contest®. At Tillamook, Jill and her team taste test hundreds of cheese samples every day to make sure each little loaf delivers the consistent quality our fans love. Although Jill didn’t judge any Tillamook Cheese at the competition, she put her fine-tuned taste buds to good use by grading several cheeses from across the country. Jill wasn’t the only one to receive recognition at the championship; check out the awards our own Tillamook cheeses took home! I had the opportunity to chat with Jill about her exciting experience.

Q: Was this your first time judging a cheese competition?
A: Yes, this was my first professional judging competition. I was very excited to judge at a National Level.

Q: How were you selected to be a judge?
A: I obtained my Wisconsin Cheese Graders License, and then was nominated to judge by other grading professionals.

Q: Which types of cheese did you taste?
A: I graded Flavored Semi-Soft Cheeses, Smoked Hard Cheeses, Reduced Fat Soft and Semi-Soft Cheeses, and Reduced Fat Hard Cheese.

Q: What were you looking for in each category?
A: We judged the cheese based on flavor; body and texture; makeup and appearance; color; and rind development.

Q: How many samples do you think you tasted altogether?
A: Probably around 100.

Q: Can you talk a little bit about the judging process? Did you eat or drink anything to cleanse your palette in between samples?
A: I was partnered with another judge and we worked as a pair. Each judge had to be precise and assess the cheeses individually, but also collaborate as a team. After each tasting we cleansed our pallets with tart green apples and water.

Q: Did you learn anything surprising during the competition?
A: It was great being able to experience the excitement of judging at the US National Cheese Contest®. Judges came from all corners of the country. It was an experience like no other; to be part of an elite judging team that gets to experience and choose the best cheese in the United States.

Q: How much cheese do you taste each day at Tillamook, and do you ever get tired of eating it?
A: Tillamook has a grading team of 6 members, and together we probably grade around 400 pieces of cheese a day. My team loves what we do and loves Tillamook cheese!

Q: What’s your favorite type of Tillamook Cheese?
A: My favorite Tillamook Cheese is any of our Cheddars, Yellow or White.

Q: What is the weirdest type of cheese you have ever tried?
A: At the 2010 World Championship Cheese Contest, I tasted a semi soft cheese, wrapped in seaweed!

By Callie

I could not wait to get behind the wheel of that awesome looking bus! I instantly knew that while driving, I would be able to put a smile on people’s faces. But…what I didn’t know was how difficult it was going to be for me to drive!

Prior to the YUM, I was driving an automatic 1992 Ford Crown Victoria, and had never driven a manual car before. When I learned the YUMs were stick shifts I freaked out! I was both scared and excited to learn something new.

Brian, The Bus Man, was a great driving instructor! He was so knowledgeable and patient. He was still smiling after I stalled the bus five times in a row at the stop sign! Whoops! Thankfully as time passed, and with lots of practice, I was able to get the hang of it!

Now that I’m out on tour I feel a lot more comfortable behind the wheel. My favorite thing about driving is seeing people’s reactions on the road! I loaf it! But I’m still nervous for those hills in San Francisco! Good thing I’ve still got some time to practice! Catch me in the Loafster coastin’ through California!

- Madison Ornstil, West Tour

“I get to drive that cute little orange bus!” was the first thought I had in my head when I learned I would soon be driving the YUMs. But I can’t lie, this cheese lover was a bit nervous about getting behind the wheel! For some of my teammates, Elida and Katie, it was their first time learning to drive a stick shift, and certainly, none of us had ever driven a custom VW Bus before!

The Bus Man, Brian, took us to an empty parking lot to test our skills in our new mode of transportation. We took turns getting in, buckling up, and gave it our best shot! We instantly had a number of passerby’s walking over to check out the buses. There was an abundance of smiles and waves from other cars –  Ahhhh I could get use to this!

Driving the bus was a bit scary at first. They are extra sensitive to pressure on the clutch. During my first day of sampling, the Tillatruck ran out of gas and I almost had a mini panic attack thinking I’d done something terrible! (See the video!)

My two veteran teammates, April & Ashley, were very helpful! We’re all driving like pros now! Come catch us cruising through Texas this Spring!

- Inge Pe’a, East Tour

By Tillamook

To help curd-loving fans across the country, and to support our partners at the Oregon Food Bank, we released the curds to our Online Shop for one day only on our 104th birthday! Squeaky Cheese Curds are highly perishable and start to lose their “squeak” after just a few days, so we’ve never been able to facilitate shipping them on a daily basis before. In order to ship these squeak-packed bags of curds, the Tillamook Marketing team took several days away from our regular jobs to personally hand-pack and ship orders from the Tillamook Cheese Factory! Here are some photos from our adventures in shipping Squeaky Cheese Curds.

Here come the curds! The curds we sent were taken fresh out of the vat at 6am (boy, was it early!) so we had time to pack all the boxes.

Good morning! We shipped brand-squeaking fresh curds with overnight shipping, to ensure optimal squeak when they arrived at their final destination.

Here are some empty boxes, waiting for their curds! Each box of curds was handpacked with two bags of curds, an ice pack, a packing slip, and lots of love.

Here’s our UPS truck, squeak-packed with our first day’s shipment of cheese curd orders.

We had a fun time packing all 700+ orders of cheese curds! Thanks again for supporting Tillamook and celebrating our 104th birthday. We hope you can visit us soon at the Tillamook Cheese Factory, where you can get cheese curds all year round.

Yours cheesefully,
The Squeaky Cheese Team

By Katie

We know you have been waiting! It’s that time of year again when our group of energetic, cheesy cheese-loving brand ambassadors hit the road in Tillamook orange in a city near you! They will kick off the tour in Phoenix and Lubbock spreading the Loaf at a store near you. Don’t miss meeting the team! See pictures below and read a short bio about each unique team member and don’t forget to check out the schedule online!

WEST TEAM

Madison O.
Hey cheese lovers! My name is Madison Ornstil and I grew up eating awesome Tillamook Cheese in Oakland, California. I come from a sports loving family, so when I am not eating yummy Tillamook cheese you can likely find me cheering on my favorite teams.  My only issue with sports games is people eating all that processed nacho cheese. To them I say, “GIVE ME TILLAMOOK!” I moved to Portland after graduating college in Chicago. Chicago was great, but I needed more natural cheese in my life, so I decided to move straight to the source.  Can’t wait to see you on tour!

Matt M.
Monterey Matt checking in from Portland getting all excited to hit the road and visit y’all! I have grown up on Tillamook my entire life and am ready to share some of my memories and experiences with you and hope you will share in return. Tillamook Cheese goes best on nacho cheese chips melted in the microwave or on a juicy burger piled high with an egg and bacon. When I am not sharing all my knowledge about Tillamook, I will be enjoying the sunshine in Southern California, spring training in Arizona, and attending many, many country concerts wherever they are. Some favorites include Brad Paisley, Eric Church, and of course George Strait. I can’t wait to hit the road and see all your smiling faces after I give you the most amazing cheese. Here’s to a great Loaf Love Tour 2013!!!

Pokou X.
*Waves* Greetings Tillamook Lovers! My name is Pakou and I’ll be on the road spreading the loaf love! I was first introduced to Tillamook Cheese and all of their dairy goodies when I moved to Portland, Oregon from Northern California. Since cheese was not something that was a part of my culture, I grew up thinking that processed cheese was real cheese. Boy was I wrong, and once I learned the difference, I haven’t gone back! Tillamook is about the only cheese you’ll find in our refrigerator these days! This is my second year on tour, so I look forward to catching up with people that I’ve met last year and meeting with new people! See you all soon!

Virginia H.
*Dancing in the Cheese Aisle!* I’m Virginia and I love Tillamook Cheese! When I heard there was a job telling the world about what awesome cheese Tillamook makes, I knew it would be the perfect job for me and my cheese shaped earrings! I can’t wait to go to new towns and share the great products that Tillamook makes! If I’m not sharing our cheese samples with you, I may be in the ice cream isle looking for my favorite Tillamook Marionberry Pie Ice Cream!

Dee Dee R.
Hi Guys! My name is Dee Dee! I am so excited to be a part of the Loaf Love Tour!!! To represent a company from Oregon that I truly love! I can’t wait to share the products that I enjoy with the West Coast! I have enjoyed Tillamook products all my life! My favorite Tillamook product is the Sharp Cheddar Cheese. Pair that with a Summer Sausage on a Ritz crackers and Yummmm it’s tasty! Our team will be hitting many cities up and down the West Coast and I can’t wait to rollerblade the Boardwalks of California! Perhaps wearing a Tillamook shirt while rollerblading? You might just see me! You can follow me on twitter @CheesyDeeLLT! Tweet Me! I’d love to hear from you!

Ray W.
Hi! I’m Ray, my Twitter name is @LoafOutLoud because I am always laughing. I grew up in a little barn house on the Little Nestucca River. That’s just south of the Tillamook Cheese Factory! I was raised on Tillamook Cheese, and have even met several of the farmers and their cows. My favorite cheese is Extra Sharp Cheddar Cheese, because it’s like a huge kick in the mouth (in a good way, of course)! I’m a dork and you’ll notice this when you meet me. Be prepared for some cheesy puns and a hearty laugh!

Elisa B.
New girl on the block here, CheesyLisy checking in from the road! Originally from Oregon’s very own state capital, Salem, I am ecstatic to be a part of the Love Loaf Tour to tell you all about Tillamook’s yummy cheeses! I tend to only like the best of the best so naturally I have been a Tillamook connoisseur since I started buying my own groceries. In fact, I love Tillamook Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream so much I had a bowl of it EVERY night my first year of college! Mmm. Another thing about me is my love for swimming, so I am looking forward to checking out some of the local beaches we stop by on the tour! Maybe I’ll catch you there or you can follow me on Twitter @CheesyLisy to find out all about what’s happing on the Love Loaf Tour!

EAST TEAM

April A.
April FoCheezy 2.0! It’s that time of the year again where I get to load up my suitcases and fly on out to Texas to represent my favorite, Tillamook Cheese! I was lucky enough to be a part of the Loaf Love Tour in 2012 and am so excited to be back for the LLT’s fourth year! Growing up in Portland, my family always had Tillamook Cheese in the house. Throughout the years I’ve tried almost all of the different cheesy flavors we offer, but my favorite has always been our World’s Best Medium Cheddar! I love making my homemade Mac ‘n’ Cheese with the Medium Cheddar! It is always so creamy and flavorful and doesn’t require any other seasoning than a little salt and pepper!

Last year on the road I was able to do a lot of exploring in the different cities around the country we were working in.  Since I’m a pretty adventurous person, I’m very excited to get back out there and see what the cities will have to offer me this year!

Katie L.
Hi my name KT Loaf Love, but you can call me Katie. I was raised in Portland, Oregon on all Tillamook products. I am so excited to travel the country and tell you all about what Tillamook has to offer. My very favorite Tillamook products are the Medium Cheddar and Sharp Cheddar. They make the very best grilled cheese sandwiches! Other than traveling the country and talking about Tillamook, I enjoy going out with friends and enjoying all that Portland has to offer, and trust me, there is quite a lot. I can’t wait to meet all of your new faces on the road very soon!

Ashley R.
In the Tillamook community I’m known as Tillatastic Ash. I am a cheese-lovin’ veteran of the 2012 Loaf Love Tour and am beyond excited to be back for 2013! It was an easy decision to join the LLT team again this year because I’ve been a fan of Tillamook my whole life…but I really just couldn’t resist being around Tillamook Cheese 24/7 for another year! My grandparents took me to the Oregon Coast and Tillamook Cheese Factory every other summer when I was a little kid and I’ve been eating Tillamook products ever since! One reason I loaf being on the road is because I love adventure-I’ll try almost anything once. I enjoy being active outside; hiking, playing catch, going to the river, site seeing in new places! I’m entertained easily and excited about everything! Find me driving the new Tillatruck in Texas this year and I’ll share the loaf love!

Inge P.
Hello I’m Inge from Newberg, OR and my favorite Tillamook products are the Tillamook Cheese and Tillamook Ice Cream. I’ve been eating Tillamook products as long as I can remember. I really love visiting the Tillamook Cheese Factory and picking up a bag of Squeaky Cheese. I also slice a piece (or 2) of Sharp Cheddar off the loaf for my sandwiches. When I’m not eating cheese, I’m usually planning my next adventure trip overseas, playing basketball or decorating cakes.

Shelby J.
Hi there, I’m Shelby! And I am crazy in love with Tillamook Vintage White Extra Sharp Cheddar Cheese…we were introduced by a friend a few years ago and I’m certain I’ve found the Loaf of my life. I’ve been eating Tillamook Cheese for 24 years. I was raised on this stuff and will raise my own family on this stuff. Cheese makes everything better, and makes its way into just about every other, if not every dish that I make, I can’t help it, I LOAF the taste! Not to mention, I am a health nut and Tillamook Cheese is natural, WIN! I will eat cheese any way, but my favorite is melted in and over a hot dish of chicken enchiladas with a creamy white sauce, both topped and filled with cheesey goodness. Apart from my love for food and cooking, I am totally Oregon made, I love the outdoors!! I crave adventure and spontaneity, and will jump at any opportunity to do something I’ve never tried before, minus sky diving. One of my favorite recent adventures was going spear fishing in Hawaii! What are your favorite adventures and loaf love stories? Let me know on Twitter @shellBEsharp. Catch ya lata!

Elida G.
When I first learned that the tour I had applied for had something to do with Tillamook Cheese I nearly fell out of my chair, proceeded to shout “I LOVE CHEESE!” and “This is THE job for me!” Keep in mind I hadn’t even been called for an interview and I was still so excited, so when I received a call from the team offering me a position on the Love Loaf Tour I immediately accepted. I wish I could garnish my love for cheese with lavish adjectives, but it’s just so simple. I love Tillamook Cheese, and can’t wait to share the cheese with the rest of the country. Oh, I forgot to mention, I’m Elida! Feel free to follow me on my journey via Twitter @ElidaCheddar!

By Tillamook