A day in Pescadero

We have (finally) been blessed with some phenomenal whether in SF. So what do we do? We head out to Pescadero, about 49 miles south of SF along the beautiful Pacific coastline. Call us crazy, but we were on a mission to milk some goats! Nick and Genny had a whole itinerary of fun planned for us this past Saturday. This involved the aforementioned task as well as eating pie, pumpkin patching, and drinking some brews. I knew this day was going to be a good one when we hit our first stop.

Now, pretty much any place with the word "pie" in it gets two thumbs up from the Maddens. We were the first customers and quickly scooped up the first mini-pies being unloaded off the cart - Sean with his pumpkin, me with my walnut. If it weren't for Nick and Genny, our bellies would not have experienced happiness like it did that day. Our bellies remain fortunate as we have been feasting off a berry pie we purchased for those oh-so-frequent sweet-tooth moments after dinner. Only a couple slices left (sigh). This place was a great follow-up to the Slow Food Nation events we had attended at the end of August. Pie Ranch focuses on food going from seed to the table (and even to composting!), growing everything they put into their delicious pies on their very own farm. Next up: Harley Farms. Here's a description of the tour:

"Guests receive a 'behind the scenes' look at the workings of an award winning goat dairy farm. Follow the flow of the milk - from the goats to the cheese making. Meet our friendly goats, milk a goat, learn how to make goat cheese. At the end, we have a cheese tasting upstairs in our refurbished hay loft. The tour lasts about 2 hours (although it quite often goes longer due to high interest and many questions!)"

As you can see, Nick and Genny were clearly entertained.

After the tour, we tasted the variety of cheeses Harley Farms had in their small shop, which included chevre, feta, and whole milk ricotta. Most of their goat cheese go from goat to store shelf within 48 hours, so what we were sampling was incredibly rich and fresh.

Of course, we couldn't spend a fall day in that area without hitting up a Half Moon Bay pumpkin patch! They are, of course, home of the Pumpkin Festival, a pumpkin lover's dream. Unfortunately, our camera ran out of batteries at this time, but trust me when I say this was the most INSANE pumpkin patch I've ever been to. I'm used to the ones in Oregon that are simple, with bright orange pumpkins just scattered around for our perusing. This one not only had the usual jack-o-lantern pumpkins but about 20 other varieties as well. Not to mention the haunted house, the hay labyrinth, the petting zoo, the taqueria stand, hay rides, choo choo train, and pony rides!

All's well that ends well...we were happy to finish off the day with a pint (or two) on the Half Moon Bay Brewery patio.