Cook’s Ham Teams up with Price Chopper for Blogger Conference

Two days ago – on Tuesday, March 16 – I headed to the Price Chopper Supermarket location on Route 9 in Latham, New York for special blogger event. I was one of nine bloggers in attendance at this invitation-only event sponsored by Cook’s Ham.

Beth from The Angel Forever and I were livetweeting most of the event with the hashtag #cooksham, so you may have gotten the play-by-play already.

After the ladies from Cook’s Ham and Price Chopper introduced themselves, we all introduced ourselves as well. Then we began the meal preparation workshop, during which time we learned about the different cuts of ham, how to cook and carve a spiral sliced ham, and went over a few recipe ideas. This involved lots of taste tests, and I didn’t try a single thing I didn’t like. (Although I passed on the ham salad at the end of the demo.)

The recipes from the demo:

• Raisin-Chutney Glazed Ham
• Hamtastic Panini with Provolone and Black Olives
• Breakfast Ham “Tacos”
• Cook’s Ham Steak Pasta Salad

We discussed how no one really likes leftovers, but if you have some great recipe ideas like these in mind ahead of time, it’s like you’re planning ahead, not eating leftovers. You’re not eating the same thing three nights in a row – each recipe is unique – and tasty!

I liked the idea of using the George Foreman grill to make paninis. I’d never thought of that before, but I’m definitely going to keep it in mind. We love George.

After the cooking and grilling demo ended, we got to the get-up-and-move portion of the event. Each of us was given a shopping cart and 15 minutes to go through the store to pick up items (totaling under $100) we would need to make three different meals using a Cook’s spiral sliced ham. My cart added up to $69, and I decided I wanted to make:

• Ham & Cheese Omelets with Home Fries, Milk, and Orange Juice
• Grilled Ham, Egg & Cheese Sandwiches on Four Cheese Artisan Bread with Red Potato French Fries and Fruit Salad
• Ham Calzones with Homemade Dough, Served with a Side of Marinara Sauce and a Romaine Salad with Ranch Dressing and Croutons

Then we found out that we got to keep the groceries we shopped for! We all shared our menus, and prizes were awarded for the most value (lowest shopping cart total), most creative, and easiest to make. I didn’t win any prizes, but I definitely felt outclassed in the creativity department! What can I say, though? We’re picky eaters.

I’ll be posting my recipes and the recipe for the breakfast ham tacos as future blog posts.

We filled out a survey and had a brief group discussion before we were given our goodie bags filled with Price Chopper Central Market items and a beautiful flower arrangement from Central Market Florist. (The lilacs smell like springtime, and they included my favorite flowers – alstromeria.)

Overall, I think we all had a great time. It was a little cramped in the food court and a little noisy, but otherwise pretty good. I just suggest that, for future events, more than just a single post on the Price Chopper fan page should be used for publicity. I’m a Facebook fan, but the way FB works now, I didn’t see the post in my timeline. I only saw it because one of the other attendees tweeted about it, asking if anyone else was going. But Beth and I did talk with Heidi about how to find local bloggers more easily once a project of ours comes together… so hopefully it will be easier for them to reach out next time!

My fellow attendees wrote posts of their own about the event:

• Bringing Home the Bacon from Price Chopper on Albany Kid
• Price Chopper hosts a Cook’s Ham blogging event on The Angel Forever
• Cook’s Ham Blogger Event At Price Chopper In NY 3/16/10 on Koupon Karen
• Cooks Ham & Price Chopper Blogger Conference on Frugal Finds 4 Mom
• Cook’s Ham Event hostbed by Price Chopper on J. Leigh Designz

Also in attendance were bloggers from:

• Mom Central
• A  Couch With A View

Disclosure: I did not pay for this event, nor was I paid to post about it. I was “wined and dined” with soda from the cooler case and samples of the ham recipes during the event. I was sent home with the groceries I picked out during the shopping challenge, a bag full of Central Market food products, a flower arrangement, a coupon for a free Cook’s ham, a jump drive, and several other Cook’s Ham logo items.

Christina Gleason (976 Posts)

That’s me: Christina Gleason. I’m a writer, editor, and disability advocate. I'm a multiply disabled autistic lady doing my best in this world built for abled people. I’m a geek for grammar, fantasy, and casual gaming. I hate vegetables. I cannot reliably speak, so I’ll happily conduct business over email or messaging instead.