This week we were fortunate to be invited to attend the Product of the Year awards, as the guests of our McCormick Recipe Inspirations client. Recipe Inspirations won the Product of the Year in the herbs and spices category.
Very inspiring to us to have followed this brand from its inception through its launch, all the way to this incredible honor, alongside other terrific brands including Pretzel M&Ms and Pantene.
Congrats to McCormick on this big win.
Last week McCormick was featured on NPR’s Morning Edition and now they’re on the CBS Evening News. We love seeing our clients in the news, especially a story as “spicy” as this one.
Listening to NPR over the weekend I heard the morning edition piece of “U.S. is a Spicier Nation (Literally) Since 1970s” featuring our client McCormick. As the U.S. palate has expanded thanks to Food Network and the like, demands for such spices such as Roasted Cumin, Coriander and Cinnamon have exploded. Our client Celine Endler commented on that particular product line which we have had the great opportunity to work on. Read the article on NPR.
This year, for the first time in 5 years, we are not doing our annual Fourth of July Beach Barbecue. It’s been too busy of a spring, and we are really looking forward to a weekend of relaxation instead of errand running, prepping, and the post-fireworks cleanup free for all.
The lack of activity has left us with a bit of time on our hands, so we thought we’d share some Fourth of July grilling and food inspiration with our faithful blog readers.
Kristi is master of all things grilled and her favorite find of the past few years is Peter Luger’s steak sauce. She likes to marinate flank stake in this magical mystery marinade.
Mark Bittman (the Minimalist columnist for the New York Times food section) seems to be a bit of a maxmilaist with his list of 101 fast grilling recipes.
Mark’s grilled corn recipe (#10) sounds amazing, but we prefer our grilled corn to be prepared Latin American-style, with smoked paprika and lime mayonnaise. The Sawtooth team discovered this amazing taste sensation when we were developing a new TV campaign for McCormick, designed to target Hispanics in the US. Here’s that recipe for the adventuresome mayonnaise aficionados out there.
Finally, a shout out to our friends at McCormick Grill Mates. Their marinade packets are fantastic and they continue to offer new and interesting ways to broaden the Master Griller’s reportoire. Their grilled pizza recipes are to die for – a new favorite is the Baja Shrimp Grilled Pizza.
I have had the opportunity to intern at Sawtooth my senior year of high school, in place of two school courses. Each day entails a new mission, and each mission has a different result. The results of the work I do here not only familiarize me with the job field, but teach me a little more about the real world and about myself every time.
Each day begins by arriving in Woodbridge after a long forty minutes of nonstop blasting music and singing in the car. How else would a teenager spend this long of a drive by themselves? What can I say, there has to be some transition between school and work. Upon arrival, the happy, cheery faces of the hard workers that make up the Sawtooth team always welcome me. I believe that the most inspirational aspect at Sawtooth is the team of people that keep me motivated each time I come here. Constant laughter and devotion definitely inspires me to one day be as comfortable with my job as these people are.
There are projects that I get to help with, as much as one can without a degree in this field. The tasks here that I partake in entail interaction with the workers and hands-on tasks on both the computer and paper. Filing is very important in this company, so organizing and labeling filing cabinets and folders is a popular stay-busy for me. Speaking of organization, I have gotten extremely comfortable making binders for both the ads themselves and accounting. The Biggest Loser was a fun activity to witness as an outsider of the competition and I enjoyed tracking the percentages each week. One of my most exciting moments interning at Sawtooth was when I helped brainstorm taglines for companies, only to find out mine was selected, among a bunch nonetheless, as a potential candidate to be sent to McCormick.
There are also those days, though, when half of the office is out of town with clients and I get to partake in the fun. Sometimes everyone needs a break from his or her work and this was a great way to end work before Christmas break. It was around Christmastime and I worked as the “elf” of the office, hanging garland and ornaments all over the office. Sounds tedious, yes, but I actually had a lot of fun doing it. It’s times like these that I get to ask my friends, “Did you get to do anything like this today at your internship?”…the answer is always the same; “No.”
No matter what the day, busy or quiet, Monday or Wednesday, I always return home feeling accomplished. To see commercials on TV and be able to say, “I sat in when they first presented the script to Creative,” or “I was on the set when they filmed that,” is an awesome feeling. I have had an opportunity much different than the other interns at my school, in ways I can’t explain in words. I have learned more in the past six months than I imagined I ever would here. I look forward to coming each week and being able to spend time with the people that work here. When I’m at Sawtooth, it’s like a family–everyone is always asking how I am, how school is, and they truly care. I feel comfortable and welcomed here, and because of that there is not another place I would rather myself be interning at.