Wednesday, February 18, 2015

A Birthday Abduction (part 2)

I left you with the following clue at the end of part one of the birthday abduction:
Lee was the only one to figure out the clue, and he did it with ingenuity, so I think he deserves the credit. Clue #4 lead us to Cowgirl Creamery. I had never heard of Cowgirl Creamery before, so I couldn't really guess it and didn't have any way to figure it out (as Lee did). I came up with "cowgirl cheese," which just made my wife laugh. She kept saying, "You don't know how close you are," and she was right.

At the creamery, we got a demonstration of how cheese is made (which was pretty darn cool) and got to taste a bunch of cheese. There were a couple of cheeses that came in cups and were similar to sour cream, but I didn't like those; I don't like sour cream, either. The others were good, but one in particular stood out: Red Hawk. It's very similar to a brie, and it was awesome! We bought a hunk (which I later used to make some awesome grilled cheese sandwiches (possibly the best cheese I've ever had)). We also had lunch there.
That cheesy looking thing on my wife's plate is called a toastie. It's like a piece of bread with grilled cheese and onions on both sides. It was teh awesome!
I got the mac 'n' cheese, one of their signature dishes. It's made with two different of their cheeses and was SO good. But it was also too much for me to finish. I brought it home and was going to share the rest with my kids but, while I was out, they stole it and ATE IT! Later, when I was going to get it, it was gone! It was sad-making, but at least they enjoyed it.

Cowgirl Creamery is definitely on my list of places to visit again.

After lunch, I was given my final clue card:
This one should have been much easier for me than it was but, I guess, I was out of context. I did come up with "honey" and "wine," though. Of course, that's why I should have gotten it. Do any of you have it?

The answer is "honey wine" or mead, and I should have known that, because I had been talking for months about wanting to try some. The whole adventure actually started with the mead, because my wife wanted to take me to a meadery. Heidrun Meadery to be precise.
We got a tour of the facility and did a tasting.
Normally, we get to see the bees, too, but, well, there was the rain and stuff, and, even if we had wanted to trudge through the mud to get to the bees, they were all inside sitting by their little hive fires or whatever it is they do on a rainy day. Certainly not out flying around, though.

I bought a jar of macadamia nut honey and a bottle of Alfalfa and Clover Blossom mead. It was tasty. That's another place I want to go back to, because I still need to see the bees.

That was the end of the adventure, but it's not the end of the story, because I had a surprise of my own in store for my wife and my family!

This year, I decided to give everyone else a present on my birthday, so I got Lego all around. The kids each got something small, but I got a big Lego for my wife. Well, it's kind of for the family, but it's mostly for my wife, because for a while now she has been talking about how cool it would be to make a little Lego town. She didn't know they actually have such a thing, so I got for her the first building for her little Lego community:
She was so excited and surprised by the Lego, she conceded that I may have equaled her on the birthday surprise thing. Once we've made a place to display it and get it put together, expect another post.

14 comments:

  1. That's an awesome gift idea. I know NJ wants to eventually have a doll house.... but maybe I could convince her Lego is the way to go, haha. We've already bought a couple of custom Lego figures that resemble our fictional characters from a shop in Tokyo. *takes a breath* That was a mouthful!

    I love Red Hawk cheese! You definitely have to visit again, because they change their 'limited' cheeses from time to time, and you can only buy them at the cheesery. The mead also looked tasty, and I don't even drink!

    Sounds like it was a great day. Glad you enjoyed it! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Alex H: Oh, we have a dollhouse. I mean, we have one of those you buy and construct, but it's still in the box and has been for years. It was going to be way more work than anyone thought it was going to be, I think, so we've never ended up making room to construct it.

      We did get to try the Devil's Gulch cheese, but I didn't like it as much as the Red Hawk.

      Delete
  2. Some cheeses I wouldn't want to see made. Like Cheese Whiz.
    Clever to give everyone else gifts. One year I took my wife shopping on my birthday and spent a couple hundred bucks on her. Much more fun than spending it on myself.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Alex C: I kinda doubt Cheese Whiz falls in the "cheese" category.
      When I was a kid, I did get to see hogshead cheese being made. That's an experience I don't ever want to repeat.

      Delete
  3. They did a scavenger hunt like that in Gone Girl but at least this one didn't frame you for murder.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Pat: That's true. I guess I need to make sure my wife is always with me for these things in the future.

      Delete
  4. Good cheese is the best birthday present of all.

    What a cool looking Lego theater. That should be a lot of fun to put together.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jeanne: I know! As soon as we figure out where to put it!

      I'm not certain my kids would thank me much if I started giving them cheese for their birthdays.

      Delete
  5. You guys are so cool. This was awesome.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Briane: Yeah, it was awesome. Now I have to think of something even better for her birthday.

      Delete
  6. I'm a fan of cheese so I think I'd like Cowgirl Creamery. My wife wouldn't take me there probably unless I asked since she's not as much of a cheese fan as I am. She can really put away that while Mexican ranchero cheese though. When we get a supply from Costco she'll put it on just about everything she eats.

    Mead is something I've always wanted to try ever since high school when we read Beowulf. The idea of a drink made from honey sounds very intriguing to me. Even more so if I can get a little bit of a buzz from it. I really like honey a lot.

    Arlee Bird
    A to Z Challenge Co-host
    Tossing It Out

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Lee: It's hard to go wrong with cheese and honey.
      If I ever get down that way, I'll try to remember to bring you some of the mead.

      Delete
  7. What an excellent way to spend a birthday! Your wife did well.

    ReplyDelete