Rancho Azul y Oro ~ Surviving the Dream

It's citrus season at the ranch.  There is something so hopeful about bright, cheery fruit that becomes ripe during the darkest part of the year.  One of the orange trees was picked in December.  Every single piece was truly enjoyed -- by New Year's. So now we turn our attention to the lemons -- so many lemons.  What can one do with lemons?  To start, we'll whip up a batch of limoncello -- but the bulk of the lemon is left over.  What then?  We'll juice what remains and put it in ice cube trays, freeze it, and use it for homemade lemonade during the summer or defrost several of the ice cubes to use for lemon juice when cooking. What can one do with limoncello, though?  How much can one possibly drink?  There is so much more to do with limoncello than mere drinking -- "mere" drinking?  Sorry, I didn't mean that. Anyway, our Pinterest/Recipe page is chock full of amazing recipes, so click away and go create something incredible. ...

As the sun sets on 2014, a year filled with many changes, and we look toward 2015 and many more changes and challenges to come, one cannot but be filled with the optimism that the new year brings. Along with that optimism comes resolutions, lists, and goals.  Our first major goal is to stop straddling two cities and move full-time to the ranch and enjoy a more peaceful, simplified life, while taking time to enjoy all the area has to offer, our new friends, and more time watching sunsets, playing golf and exercising, while perfecting our wine and olive oil. We plan to be bottling our 2015 olive oil soon, as well as our 2013 Zinfandel, followed by our 2012 Petite Sirah. The jury is still out on the 2012 Cab.  We plan to adhere to our racking, SO2, and bottling schedule. 2015's plans also include the purchase of a labeling machine, so we can free up hundreds of hours spent in the barn yearly labeling -- despite the hours of fun that trying to line up a label and bottle on a...

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...