Sunday’s Child

My mother just wrote to say that both she and I were born on a Sunday. I wonder how she remembers such a thing. Are we really bonny and blithe and good and gay? And what is blithe really, anyway? These are the things that concern me this morning.

Last weekend Molly and I finally (after one postponement due to my health) made our weekend getaway to the Santa Cruz mountains. Rain, heavy traffic, darkness and eventually fog made our drive nerve-wracking to auto-phobic me, but Molly drove like a champion. We stayed in the Cowboy Room at Flipjack Ranch, an AirBnB that Molly discovered.

Awaiting us in our room was a bottle of PopCrush Sparkling that we opened and tolerated some of.

There was a wood stove: cheerful and pleasant but incapable of throwing out much heat into the chilly room. Eventually we went to sleep to the sound of raining pounding on the tin roof.

We were awoken by loud turkey-gobbling right outside our window.

This being a B & B, and a farm-to-table one at that, we were treated to a sumptuous breakfast of fresh eggs, bacon, popovers, and all manner of accompaniments. I could barely touch anything because there was too much. Then we went for a tour of the farm.

And then to the beach at the intersection of Highway 1 and Bonny Doon.

Our next stop was a half-mile walk from the B&B to the resident winery, Beauregard Vineyards, for a sampling and then a glass of our favorite outside in the intense green by a pretty little brook.

While we were sipping away, our hosts were preparing our fancy farm-to-table dinner. They served us rabbit paté (I wouldn’t touch it), hoshigaki (dried persimmons), and just-made goat cheese. Here’s the rest, served to us and to another pair of people:

• Salad of Foraged Chickweed and Miners’ Lettuce with Cara Cara Oranges, Pickled Beets and Pomegranate Vinaigrette
• Roasted Leg of American Guinea Hog with Fennel Rub
• Lorenzini Heritage Quince Chutney
• Smashed Rosemary Potatoes
• Roasted Heirloom Squash
• Ranch Favorite Popovers
• Apple Galette with House Churned Candy Cap Mushroom Ice Cream

Oh, it was so wonderful to spend time with Molly, just us two. We left the B&B after a delicious French puffed parmesan omelette, etc. and headed north to Molly’s house, where I retrieved my car and bid a really sad farewell to my younger daughter, whom I don’t see enough.

To look forward to: a visit, I hope next week, from Eleni and family.