California dreaming – Sonoma cheese and Point Reyes

I’m out in California for a bit of mini-vacation time plus attendance at a national conference of a nonprofit social agency. (Nice that it’s in the Bay Area, eh?)

Well, I’ve not gone to every conference session. I did say it was also mini-vacation.

And, yes, cheese.

The Sonoma area is the heart of California dairy farming and cheesemaking. Yes, Sonoma and Napa are also known for liquid substances, but I don’t imbibe.

I do eat real cheese, and NOT the “cheese-like substance” made by Kraft Krap.

So, I went to Vella. Just off the historic Bear Flag Republic town square in picturesque Sonoma.

If you like cheddar, you MUST get to this place sometime. Whole Foods Market, and also Central Market, Dallas’ other lux grocery with multiple stores, sell Vella’s dry Jack (itself a delight), but don’t sell …

Vella’s 5-year-old raw milk cheddar.

Vella calls it “sharp.” I would call it “extra extra sharp.”

For you Californios, and other aficionados, it kicks butt on Fiscalini bandage and anything else you can think of, in my book.

I bought 10 pounds of it.

(Warning – if you take cheese on an airplane … it looks like plastic explosives to X-ray viewers.)

And, Vella is also “green.” Sustainably produced cheese, no rBGH, antibiotics, etc. Single-source dairy. Low salt. No animal rennet. Great

And, after that, it was out to Point Reyes National Seashore. Where Francis Drake landed in 1580 as part of his circumnavigation of the globe.

Point Reyes is also the point where the San Andreas Fault goes out to sea. The foreground of the historic lighthouse is gnarled metamorphic rock that came from Southern California.

(The picture is also Photoshopped; it’s my shoot. I used Posterize Edges and other commands.)

And here’s the interior of the historic lighthouse, still maintained: