Once again residents of the Lodge are out and about exploring our community. This time our adventures have taken us to the delicious breads and pastries of Semifreddi’s, one of our favorite local bakeries.

Our CEO, Lauren Zimmerman Cook, won a tour of the Semifreddi’s World Headquarters at a fundraiser for Alameda Meals on Wheels. Instead of keeping the tasty treat for herself, she offered it up to the residents of the Lodge. We were greeted at the door by Mike (official Mad Scientist, Chief Creative Officer, and Co-Owner), adorned with the latest in hair net fashions, and escorted on a 45-minute tour that was simultaneously educational, entertaining, and memory evoking.

We learned:

• They use more flour in a day now than they used in a week when they first opened!
• One of our residents is quite familiar with the intricacies of the food and beverage industry, he was a sausage maker for more than three decades!
• They use mixers that are bigger than some of us, but the challah bread is still braided by hand – we got to watch!
• The proofing boxes are HUGE! They opened the doors of an empty one and offered to let us explore. They are big enough to hold our entire group, but warm enough nobody wanted to get closer to the door than arm’s length.
• The reason (we think) their bread is so delicious is they only ship 40 miles in any direction, fresh is best!
• We know one of their drivers!
• The chocolate croissants are amazing!
• Exploring our community is a lot of fun – all this delicious fun is just 2 miles from home!

And we ended the tour secure in the knowledge that Semifreddi’s goodies still rank high on our list of favorites! They sent us home with bags of goodies to torment share with our friends.

THANK YOU SEMIFREDDI’S! The treats were delicious (some of them never made it home), the tour was a delight, and we can’t wait to do it again!

The Activities Team at the Lodge strives to provide our residents with a varied and entertaining monthly calendar. To see our current calendar please click here.