Outstanding in the Field

In December, Terry took me to a foraging dinner in Santa Cruz hosted by Outstanding in the Field. www.outstandinginthefield.com

I took this picture because the farm, called "Pie Ranch" was a quaint little family farm beneath the hills and directly across Route 1 was the ocean. I loved the shed which stored the tractor and the surfboard.

We were asked to bring our own plates, so that the tables would be ecclectic and each diner's place would be different. We loaded them up on this trailer when we arrived and they took them down to the barn before dinner.

The wine was flowing freely, courtesy of a local winery and the farm owners were encouraging us to graze on the strawberries, which were delicious and had a faint green apple taste in them.
The dinner was built around mushrooms, of which I am not a huge fan. However, there were so many varieties, so fresh, and prepared with such great dishes, I just loved everything we ate!

After being introduced to the ranch family and learning about their farm and their lifestyle, we hiked up into the hills for a spectacular view of the Pacific.

Here we are at the top of the property with the ranch behind us.

We then hiked down to dinner in the barn. It was seasonally decorated and well heated which was good because we had been out in the cold for about 3 hours.

The dinner was several courses. There were two fish dishes and the fishermen who caught the fish, stood up and talked about where the food we were about to eat came from and how it was prepared. We also heard from the gentleman who foraged for and provided the shrooms.
After a long meal, we picked up our washed plates and were led back to our car by lantern.

It was a wonderful experience. We will definitely do it again!