Pie Ranch- Davenport, CA by Leslie

August 3, 2007

Today, we traveled from Madera, California to Pie Ranch, outside of Half Moon Bay. We stopped en route at the Roadhouse Restaurant and Inn in Davenport, which was super busy but gave great service and served terrific food. When we got to Pie Ranch, we lost all internet and cell phone connectivity, which was a little scary at first, but quickly brought us back to the reason that we've embarked on this trip--to witness inspiring feats of sustainable agriculture and share them with you all. And today was nothing short of amazing.

If you could see Pie Ranch from the sky, you'd know how it got its name. It's wedge-shaped, just like a slice of the good stuff. In fact, Jared Lawson, who runs the ranch along with Nancy Vail and Karen Heisler, tells us that the shape of the property was part of the inspiration for its business model. Basically, they grow all of the ingredients for fruit pies (berries, apples and wheat) and they bring inner-city youths to the farm to work for brief stints, thus offering high-school-aged kids a chance to connect to their food and, by extension, to the land that it grows on. Jared also confessed that pie is a great way to lure kids out to the ranch. They sell their pies at Mission Pie in San Francisco's Mission District.

We talked a lot today about pie (of course) and how reminiscent it is of a safer, happier, more community-oriented time. People have alway shared pie. Although it's possible to make a pie small enough to eat oneself (Diane did--in fact, in her first round of road trip zaniness, she put a smiley face on it and named it Harold) pies are typically made for about a half-dozen people, served at social events and given to friends and loved ones.

So Jared and Nancy gave us a tour of the farm and let us harvest a bit of heritage Senora wheat and berries (Albion and Chandler strawberries, and thorn-free Chester blackberries), then took us up to the house for a hands-on pie-making tutorial (above, Jared and Nancy's son, Lucas, helps mix the pie crust ingredients). Needless to say, a great time was had by all (as evidenced by the photos). We were joined by Pie Ranch friend Lesley Littlefield.

This evening, we served up our pies, along with popcorn (grown last year the ranch) at a fundraiser film screening in the ranch's roadside barn. Proceeds (and I hope they were plenty) went to the ranch's Capital Campaign. Together with the Green Oaks Agricultural Trust (GOAT), the Pie Ranchers aim to purchase and become nonprofit stewards of the land adjacent to the farm. We showed The Meatrix Angelo Sacerdote's Fed Up, a fierce indy documentary about genetically modified food. We chowed down on the pies we made and baked this afternoon and served them up with locally produced (and delicious) Bonnie Doon port. There was a great turnout for the event--around 50 or 60 people, I'd say, and we made a bunch of new food-minded friends...which brings me to this...when we embarked on this tour I thought it was all about bringing attention to the inspiring work being done in sustainable agriculture--and it is, but it's also about the fact that we are all in this together and should be sharing in the making and eating of real, healthy, wholesome food.

Big thanks to Nancy, Jared and Karen for slowing us down and making our first farm stop so amazing.

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Pie Ranch Pumpkin Pie

Preheat oven to 375; rack in the center.
Roll crust for 9-inch pie, preferably in glass pan. Build up a fluted rim. Glaze with egg yolk.

Whisk thoroughly 2-3 eggs
Then whisk in thoroughly:
2 cups fresh-cooked pumpkin or winter squash puree
1½ cups goat milk
½ C sugar and 1/3 C packed brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
½ tsp fresh grated or ground nutmeg
¼ tsp ground cloves or allspice
½ tsp salt

Warm the pie crust in the oven until it is hot to the touch, letting filling stand at room temperature. Pour the pumpkin filling into the crust and bake until the center of the filling seems set, but quivery when the pan is nudged, 35 – 45 minutes. Let cool completely on rack, then refrigerate for up to one day. Serve cold, room temp, or slightly warmed. Accompany with fresh whipped cream.

*You can substitute 1½ cups light cream, or evap milk, or ¾ C milk and ¾ C heavy cream for the goat milk OR substitute 1 can sweetened condensed milk (without additional sweetener) for the whole ration of milk and sweetener combined.


Pie Ranch Pie Crust

Ours is a butter-rich crust, and very simple. If you want to increase the flour to butter a bit, the recipe can accept some modification, and still retain the delicious flavor of butter. You can make this crust either by hand, with a pastry cutter or two knives, or with a food processor.

2 or 2½ C freshly ground Pie Ranch grown whole Sonora wheat flour
2 sticks organic sweet cream butter
½ tsp salt
up to 1/3 C of ice water, perhaps a few drops more if you use the full 2½ C flour measure
flour for rolling

Mix flour and salt in a bowl or in the bowl of the food processor.
Cut butter into ½ - ¾ inch chunks and add to the flour. Cut swiftly into the flour until the size of peas or smaller (with food processor this will likely take 3-4 seconds of processing, or 8 or 10 pulses.) Add ice water in portions until the crust begins to hold together. Turn out the unconsolidated pastry onto your work surface and, with the heel of your hand, rapidly and roughly smear it 6-8 inches in front of you by egg-sized clumps to make a final blending of butter into the dough. If the pastry is dry, sprinkle a few more drops of water in. Don’t overwork the dough. Form two cakes of dough about 5 inches in diameter, flour lightly, and refrigerate before rolling out, if possible.

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Want to read more about our events today?
The Road to Madera
Hollywood to Madera

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