8
community
february8
2011
Jewell’s Bleu Cheese Dressing-- Handcrafted (and Available) in Vernonia
Jewell Halsey has been making
Bleu Cheese Dressing for family and
friends for years. Many of those lucky
recipients of Jewell’s heavenly creations
have encouraged her to try to process,
market and distribute it on a retail level--
to turn it into a local cottage industry.
And now she has.
“It’s really exciting and I have
no idea where it’s going to end up,” says
Halsey, who resides in Vernonia.
Jewell’s Bleu Cheese Dressing,
the first and, for right now, only
product in Halsey’s business-- Jewell’s
Heavenly Creations-- is now available
for you to buy and enjoy. You can find
it on the shelves at the Vernonia Sentry
Market and Bales Thriftway in Portland.
Hopefully, it will soon be in even more
locations.
What makes Jewell’s Bleu
Cheese Dressing so special? First is
the taste. For those of you not crazy
about chunky bleu cheese dressing, then
Jewell’s is for you. Halsey’s dressing
is subtly flavored with bleu cheese and
it’s creamy-- it’s almost more of a ranch-
style dressing.
Second is the quality-- Halsey
uses high-quality and fresh ingredients,
and she doesn’t use fillers to thin it down.
Third is versatility. Not only is
it great on salads and as a dipping sauce
for wings, fries and veggies; you can
also use it as a spread on grilled cheese
and other sandwiches and on burgers.
Halsey says she uses it in or on omelets,
as a spread on meats and chicken, and
on pizza. Halsey told me about a local
little girl who sent her a note and told
her that she eats the dressing on her
peanut butter sandwiches-- she takes it
to school with her in a little container in
her lunch. “Her parents told me that she
eats vegetables now, too,” says Halsey.
And fourth-- it’s local. Jewell’s
is an Oregon-produced product;
purchasing it helps stimulates the local
and state economy.
Halsey is originally from
Cottage Grove, graduated from Forest
Grove High School, and moved to
Vernonia with her former husband, Mike
Pihl, to start Pihl Logging. She lived
in Vernonia for twelve years, moved to
Portland, and recently relocated back to
Vernonia. In 2007, she lost her job at
the start of the economic downturn and
is currently working in the restaurant
business. “I think that’s what inspired
me to do this [the dressing], just getting
back in the food business,” explains
Halsey. “I’ve been a foody since the
day I was born-- my whole family loves
to eat and we just create things all the
time.”
Halsey says she bounced ideas
off co-workers at the restaurant
where she works and started
trying sample batches with
her daughter, Lindsey, and her
family. Eventually, she hit upon
a recipe that she felt worked.
And in January of 2010, Halsey
decided that she was ready
to set some goals and move
from talking about starting her
business to actually doing it. “I
kept talking about it and how I
wanted to sell it and my daughter
Janis said, ‘Come on, do it!’”
Halsey worked through the
process slowly, working with
the Department of Agriculture
to find out how to proceed. She
initially processed her product
in an established commercial
kitchen in Tigard and sold her
product at some small farmer’s
markets, including the Vernonia
Open Air Market, last summer.
She recently began renting the kitchen
at the Vernonia Christian Church, a
Department of Agriculture certified
kitchen, to prepare batches.
“I’m kind of a baby-step
person,” says Jewell. She recently
had to upgrade her labels for her retail
Vernonia
Coffee Roasters
establishments to include a bar code and
nutrition panel. “Now, I’m really ready
to start marketing it,” said Halsey.
She is already seeing success at
the Vernonia Sentry Market-- the first
delivery sold out very quickly and she
already had to make a second delivery.
Halsey says that in addition to
getting her dressing on the shelves in
more locations, she is also receiving
feedback and considering producing a
chunky bleu cheese dressing and a larger
size of her current product. She is also
considering expanding her line with
some other types of heavenly creations--
maybe a baked good or something else.
“I’m a health nut and eating healthy is
really important to me,” she says. “But
I’m going to take it slowly.”
Halsey wanted to pass on a thank
you to the folks at Riverhouse Dressing,
who make vinegarette dressing at the
Oregon coast. “They’ve been around
for twenty years and they gave me a lot
of wonderful tips about how to walk
those baby steps and grow slowly,” says
Halsey. “They were wonderful.”
For Halsey, marketing and
selling her dressings is a dream come
true. “It’s already a success story to
me because I followed through on this
small goal and it’s always been a passion
of mine to do something in the food
industry.”
For more information about
Jewell’s Heavenly Creations, go to her
Facebook page.
Midway Veterinary
Clinic
Small and Large Animals
“QUALITP COFFEE ROASTED
TO PERFECTION”
Open in Vernonia
503.429.0850
503.816.2265
WWW.VERNONIACOFFEEROASTERS.COM
Wednesday & Saturday
9 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Call for Appointments
(503) 429-1612
Or 24 hr. Emergency Number (503) 397-6470
700 Weed Ave. Vernonia, OR
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline
1-800-273-TALK (8255)
suicidepreventionlifeline.org
Are you feeling desperate, alone or hopeless? Call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline
a free, 24-hour hotline available to anyone in suicidal crisis or emotional distress.
Your call will be routed to the nearest crisis center to you.
Veterans Suicide Prevention Hotline
1-800-273-TALK (8255) Press 1