The big reveal and a confession

So what was the culinary destination on my road trip?

We went on a tour of the Cowgirl Creamery! The Cowgirl Creamery is a small artisanal cheese maker located in Point Reyes, CA.

The tour really wasn't a tour - it was more of a sit and listen to lots of interesting facts about cheese making. 

About 20 people that signed up for the tour gathered around this long table.

I sat facing the cheese making room - which was very fun.

All the beautiful cheeses.

I picked up this while I was there:

 
Creamy, rich and nice and tangy creme fraiche.

Tonight I used it in two dishes. 


Chicken in a lemony white wine reduction with creme fraiche:

 

And pan seared asparagus with a lemon pepper creme fraiche sauce.

I pan seared a chicken breast in olive oil until cooked through.

I pulled the chicken from the pan and added 1/2 cup of white wine to de-glaze the pan.

Then 3 Tbsp. of chicken stock went into the pan along with 1 tsp. of lemon juice and ground black pepper to taste. 

When the alcohol had cooked off (about 5 min) I turned the heat to low and whisked in 1 1/2 Tbsp. of creme fraiche. 

At this point I sliced the chicken breast and added it back into the pan. I let it all simmer together for another 5 minutes and it was done.

A side of red grapes.

This was full of rich taste - I would definitely reccomend it.


You might notice that the chicken is shown without side dishes.


My confession? Sometimes I eat a meal in stages - First I make and eat the meat portion. A while later I will make the vegetables. Later on, I will make some rice or potatoes. 

Yeah, I am weird like that.


Later on I made a very simple asparagus dish.


I pan seared some asparagus over medium heat in a bit of olive oil. The asparagus pieces were pretty big so I peeled the stems.

When they were bright green and just slightly brown, I took them out of the pan and set them aside.


Then 1/4 cup of chicken broth, 1 tsp. of lemon and ground black pepper went into the pan to simmer. I stirred in 1/2 a Tbsp of creme fraiche and whisked until the sauce was smooth and glossy.

The asparagus was still a bit crunchy and the lemon sauce really complemented the flavor of the asparagus.


Creme fraiche - It's a good thing:-)

300 steps

After my culinary adventures yesterday, I wanted just a little something for breakfast:

Vanilla Chobani yogurt with Chai tea.

I sprinkled some muesli on top of the yogurt for some nice crunch.

I am really liking the nice savory spice of Chai tea in the morning.

One of our destinations on the road trip yesterday was the Point Reyes Lighthouse.

If you are afraid of heights (like I am) this is an intimidating place to visit.

300 steps.

See that teeny tiny building in the distance? That is the lighthouse and you have to descend (and later ascend) 300 steps to reach it.

Nope, that was definitely not happening for me. 

But my brother-in-law was nice enough to take pictures when he and my brother bravely faced the intimidating stairway.

So most of the photos in this post (other than the ones of my breakfast) are courtesy of my brother-in-law.

He did take some gorgeous scenic shots:

And some really interesting pictures of the mechanisms in the lighthouse - something I never would have thought to take pictures of.

The gears that turn the light.

The foghorn.

The way back up.

I am about to head to the store to pick up a new usb cable - so stay tuned for more pictures of the big trip!