Rancho Azul y Oro ~ Surviving the Dream

I'll admit it, I cannot have Christmas without eggnog.  This is not, however, store-bought eggnog -- you know, the kind that comes in the cardboard quart container that is so thick one can barely swallow it.  No, the eggnog of which I speak is reminiscent of fluttering angel's wings (like that?), like accumulated snow atop the hills.  It is Christmas. So what (you may ask) is someone aspiring to achieve great heights in winemaking doing making eggnog?  Well, since you asked, I will just say that until eggnog is made, Christmas bells cannot chime, elves cannot get to those Christmas lists, Christmas trees cannot be dressed, and the halls cannot be decked. Yes, yes, like the geeks that we are, eggnog has been thoroughly researched.  I will pass along a link on the history of eggnog:  http://www.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/12/08/mf.about.eggnog/, and a factoid that a journal from 1796 cites travelers stopping at an inn in Philadelphia mentioning eggnog, "a mixture...

 Our harvest this year was a little like the folk tale about stone soup.  A tired traveler makes small talk with a woman at a farmhouse.  After striking up a convivial conversation, the traveler offers to make stone soup out of virtually nothing but rocks if he was lent a pot.  The stone soup story always ends on a happy note. After bringing in a beautiful crop last autumn, issues beyond our control affected our oil.  The new year brought new blossoms to the trees -- hope springs eternal, and all of that.  Just as soon as that phrase was spoken, one of the only rain storms hit our area and threw in some hail for good measure.  Just in case there were a few blossoms left on the trees, the area suffered hot, dry and sustained high winds for a month or two. Dejected and discouraged, we vowed that we would try again next spring.  We expected nothing from our trees, but as the year wore on and the olives changed from green to black, it became cle...

Rancho AyO Sweet Potato Pecan Pie with Olive Oil Crust  Makes 1 pie Preheat oven to 325 degrees For the crust: 1/3 Cup olive oil 1/4 Cup water 1 Cup unbleached flour 2 tsp. baking powder 1/2 tsp. salt Place oil and water in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil.  Add your combined dry ingredients and stir quickly until a ball of dough is made.  Place in a pie pan and press. Sweet Potato Filling: 1 large sweet potato (enough for one cup) cube, place in Pyrex with a little water, cook until fork                     tender;  1/4 Cup packed light brown sugar 2 Tbsp. sugar 1 small egg, beaten 1 tsp. heavy cream 1 Tbsp. unsalted butter 1 Tbsp.vanilla 1/4 tsp. salt 1/2 to 1 tsp. ground cinnamon (to taste) 1/2 to 1 tsp. ground allspice (to taste) 1/2 to 1 tsp. ground nutmeg Combine all ingredients in a mixing bow.  Beat on medium speed untill batter is smooth...

Since everyone is busy with fall activities, I thought this might be a nice recipe to revisit and try since it is the prettiest time of year and it would be great to start a weekend day with a delicious Tuscan Breakfast Strata, some fruit salad, some muffins, and perhaps a little pumpkin coffee. This recipe is courtesy of Celest Carducci of McClelland-Priest Bed & Breakfast Inn. Tuscan Breakfast Strata Serves 10 Preheat oven to 375 degrees Ingredients: 2 loaves French bread 1 dozen eggs 3 cups of 2% milk 8 oz. shredded cheddar 4 oz. of Monterey Jack or Parmesan 4 oz. can sliced green olives 4 oz. can sliced black olives 1 small can pimentos Chopped Italian parsley 1 sliced green onion 1/4 tsp. garlic powder 1/4 tsp. Italian herb seasoning Olive oil for drizzling Optional:  Chopped Italian salami, ham, bacon, (or AyO's twist, baked prosciutto) Oil large baking dish; line bottom with 10 pieces of sliced French bread (cut off crust);...

 Using the Sicilian proverb as our guiding principle, we should have barrels of olives this year -- barrels.  Our drought produced a decent enough growing year that we had a decent budding and a beautiful blossom, but then we received only our second storm of the year, and it was at the end of April, right when all the blossoms were on the tree.  We even got hail, right when we didn't need it, and then there was no more rain this year. Sadly, the next day, we saw all of the olive blossoms laying on the ground under the trees and came to the sad realization that we would probably not have any olives this year.  So this was the way it was going to be. Meanwhile, we attempted to manage a very ambitious construction schedule, tend to our table and wine grapes, get last year's olive oil bottled, labeled, make our spring and summer jams and jellies, get the grapes netted in July, and keep things moving forward. If you read this blog, you may remember an epic war we...

For those of you following our escapades and adventures, the rancho has been attempting to oversee and manage the remodel the ranch house, whilest the management occupy outer buildings, nurture the crops, net the grapes, determine adjustments due to the drought, and begin harvesting, picking, and processing one of our earliest crops, the table grapes.  We've learned how to dehydrate fruit and have actually produced some rancho raisins, and over 100 jars of one of our fan favorites, our Tequila Pepper Grape Jelly. Tequila Pepper Grape Jelly Finally, ranch bisquits that worked! In the meantime, we've also been attempting to create some new recipes -- some have been winners and some have been not-so-great.  For some great recipe ideas to use with our products or just some foodie inspiration, check out the Rancho's Pinterest page, and click on the Recipes folder http://www.pinterest.com/ranchoazulyoro/. In the meantime, we are hurdling toward the wine g...

We have been waiting with baited breath for harvest to begin.  The drought has caused challenges to a grower of anything.  This is the first year since 2005 that we have not had cattle grazing the property.  We lost most of our olive blossoms during a late April storm, and lost most of the Zinfandel in June due to the incredible onset of heat and heavy, hot sustained winds.  The workhorses of the ranch, however, are the Petite Sirah and Cabernet, which were looking amazing -- so amazing, in fact, that we sewed the nets shut.  We were concerned that animals desperate for food would go after them -- and go after them they did. Despite the netting, our Petite Sirah began disappearing at an alarming rate, so it was suggested by other farmers to purchase electric netting.  It is, however, a race against time to get the netting delivered.  In the meantime, a game camera was set up to attempt to capture (of only by photo) the culprit.  It was coyotes...