In the beginning of November I was invited to participate in the American Dairy Association & Dairy Council’s Fall Dairy Tour and Food & Wine Getaway. This was the first event of its kind that I have ever attended in my role as a blogger. I must say from the moment I stepped foot onto our accommodations to the tour itself I had a wonderful time. Not to mention educational and informative too. Who knew learning, cows, cheese, wine, and wonderful could go into the same sentence. Well it does and it was amazing!

Let’s start with our accommodations. All of us bloggers were put up at Geneva on the Lake, a gorgeous resort filled with beautiful villas. My husband and I had a two-bedroom villa that was easily suited for a king and queen. The room was tastefully decorated and very comfortable. However, the best part of this resort was the customer service. Everybody was so nice and accommodating. As usual I always forget something important when I travel. This time around it was my toothbrush and within seconds someone brought one upstairs.

Here I am living the dream.

 Here are some more pictures of Geneva on the Lake.

 

 

 

The dining at Geneva on Lake was spectacular from the breakfast to the gourmet dinner we had Saturday night. Everything was great and I plan to go back again in the near future. You should too!

Now I would have been a happy girl if all the American Dairy Association & Dairy Council wanted me to do all day is lounge, drink wine, and eat cheese but that would be later the next night. During the day is when they took all of us to Cornell University for their fall dairy tour. YAY!

Like I said I never did anything like this before so I was not sure what to expect. Let’s just say I was beyond impressed with everything I learned that day. Even my husband was taking notes. It is funny how we get so caught up in everyday life that we tend to forget where our food comes from and that there are real people behind the scenes taking care of business.

In the morning we learned all about how dairy products are made. The staff at Cornell University took us from the vision/idea for a product all the way through production. It was fascinating to see the facility where all this magic happens.

Showing us how to make frozen yogurt.

 

Then he showed us the processing plant. I felt like I was on the set of willy wonka

In the afternoon, we got to listen to presentations on yogurt making, creating healthier schools for our kids, and dairy farms. It was fascinating. My husband and I especially loved the presentation on behavior and foods choices with kids. One point that really stuck with me was when the presenter talked about making decisions in the cold state vs. hot state. The cold state means when you are calm, not in a hurry, and less stressed. During this state we tend to make healthier decisions because we are not in “crisis” mode per se. When we are in the hot state we are more rushed and stressed. During these times we tend to just eat what is easy and fast. I related a lot to the cold and hot state theories because on my blog I write about planning ahead of time to help prevent making unhealthy choices when life gets stressful –because as we know life happens.

 After the presentations we headed out to a real dairy farm complete with cows. This part of the tour was so much fun and extremely informative. I have never been to a dairy farm before. When it came to milk I just went to the store and purchased what I needed from the dairy section. Even though I knew milk came from cows I never really thought about the real cows and people behind the scenes making it happen. So to see the whole process with my own eyes was very cool. Not to mention these cows were so happy and observant. I loved the way they watch all of us as we walked around.

Getting ready to dive in with ziplock boots!

My favorite!

After the dairy farm tour we headed back to the resort and got to rest for a couple hours. I passed out! Seriously, I don’t know how farmers do it all day. I was exhausted from just watching them.

At night we participated in a wine and cheese testing. I know I said this on facebook but I will say it again. If the only thing I ate for the rest of my life was wine and cheese I would be one happy girl. That was so much fun!

To top off the day we were treated to a delicious gourmet dinner featuring New York State Wine & Dairy prepared by Geneva on the Lake’s Culinary Team. It is hard for me to put into words how delicious this dinner was. Not only was the food (and dessert great) it was so nice to sit back and talk with other bloggers and friends from the Dairy Association & Council.

I highly recommend taking a trip to visit all that the Cornell Dairy Plant has to offer. It is a great getaway for you and your significant other but I highly recommend bringing the kids too. I know my kids would love to see how their ice cream and yogurt are made and I think it is important for them to know that a lot happens before it makes it way to the grocery store shelves.

Thank you Cornell University and the American Dairy Association and Dairy Council for a great informative trip!

Disclosure: Accommodations and food were provided to me by the American Dairy Association and Dairy Council. All opinions are my own.