Discovering Artisan Cheese with Cowgirl Creamery August 17, 2008

Discovering Artisan Cheese with Cowgirl Creamery

August 17-22, 2008
About the Program

Join the founders and cheesemakers of Northern California's famed Cowgirl Creamery - Peggy Smith and Sue Conley - on an in-depth journey of presentations and tours of making and tasting handcrafted cheeses. Cavallo Point's Cooking School Director, Kelsie Kerr, guides hands-on cooking classes of cheese inspired recipes that you turn into memorable lunches and dinners. Travel to Marin County to visit the Cowgirl's creamery for a private tour and tasting. Take a guided tour of the San Francisco Ferry Building Marketplace and visit their eponymous award-winning cheese shop and other artisan food makers.
At-a-Glance

* The week begins with dinner on Sunday night and ends after dinner on Thursday.
* The class is limited to 16 guests.
* The fee is $2140 and includes all tours and visits, 4 hands-on cooking classes, all tastings, transportation for local visits, all breakfasts, lunches, dinners Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Thursday and the hotel parking fee.
* 2008 Sign-Up Specials: Sign up with a friend and receive complimentary lodging for two for 5 nights – a value of $1425 or more! Or sign up alone and receive one night’s accommodations free. Click here for details or contact Reservations at 888-651-2003.

Highlights
Sunday

Check in to Cavallo Point at your leisure * Enjoy the basking pool at the Healing Arts Center and Spa or join a group hike in the Marin Headlands * Group reception and welcome dinner
Monday

* Each day starts with a buffet breakfast * Cowgirl Creamery introduces the class to cheese - how to select, store and serve (with plenty of tastings) * Hands-on cooking class with lunch * Enjoy a free afternoon: sign up for a guided hike or healing arts treatment * Learn to pair wines and cheeses in the cooking school with with Cowgirl Creamery and guest wine expert * Dine with the presenters
Tuesday

* Ferry across the Bay to the San Francisco Ferry Building Marketplace for the farmer's market * Take a tour at the Cowgirl Creamery, Ferry Plaza Wine Merchants and other artisan food stands * Lunch at the Ferry Building * Enjoy a free afternoon * Sample the best of European cheeses with Cowgirl Creamery in a guided tasting * Hands-on cooking class with dinner
Wednesday

* Travel to the Cowgirl's Creamery warehouse in pastoral Marin County to see the cheeses being made and aged * Countryside lunch from the Cowgirl Cantina * Stop at Heath Ceramics in Sausalito for a tour and shopping * Afternoon and evening free to enjoy Cavallo Point
Thursday

* In-depth presentation with Albert Straus of the local award winning organic dairy Straus Family Creamery * Spend the day in a cooking class, preparing the group's final lunch * Enjoy a free afternoon * Gather in Cavallo Point's elegant Bacchus room for a private gala dinner prepared by Murray Circle's Joseph Humphrey
Bio

Kelsie Kerr is a passionate chef and teacher. Over the past 20 years she has contributed to the success of many well-known restaurants in the Bay Area, most recently as the chef of Chez Panisse Restaurant. She collaborated with Alice Waters on her latest book, The Art of Simple Food. Kelsie operated an intimate cooking school in her home, which received rave reviews from students and media alike.

In 1997, Sue Conley and Peggy Smith opened Cowgirl Creamery in Pt. Reyes Station. They started with an old barn, made it beautiful, put in a small plant for making hand-crafted cheese, bought organic milk from the neighbor, Straus Family Creamery... and before long the world found them! From the beginning, they wanted to make delicious, artisan cheese, to be environmentally responsible, and they also wanted to support their cheesemaking friends in being sustainable land stewards. Cowgirl Creamery makes a small collection of cheeses, four soft aged and three fresh. Their circle of cheesemaking friends has grown like wildfire and they now distribute extraordinary artisan cheeses from over 200 of America's and Europe's most prized producers. To learn more about Cowgirl Creamery, click here: http://www.cowgirlcreamery.com.

Albert Straus began helping his father William Straus, feed the cows when he was 3 years old by learning to steer the feed truck while his father threw hay out the back. Albert was always trying new things, much to the alarm of his father, who worried that Albert's great ideas always cost a lot of money. Forty-two years later Albert's most innovative idea to date, converting the farm to organic, saved the farm. Today, he helps to guide other family farms in their decision to go organic. Two years ago, he installed a methane digester on the farm. Always an innovator and with an eye towards responsible farming and business practices, Albert Straus has shown one way to continue farming into the 21st century. To learn more about the Straus Family, click here: http://www.strausfamilycreamery.com.

Official Website: http://www.cavallopoint.com/program_culinary_artisancheese.php