Day Trip to Big Sur (seriously it's only an hour away!!-@#%&*)

Would you believe it?

Well for those of you that don't know what Big Sur is just look at this picture taken at a pull off just before the Historic Bixby Bridge:

(Bixby)

...I'm waiting for the words to come.... How about another picture?:

(Jim and Guy)

This land is magical. I've visited so many beautiful places on this continent and here, on the edge of the world, I just stood there with my jaw on the ground, staring out across the Pacific.

Big Sur is the name properly given to a region of the California coastline south of Monterey. Historic Highway 1 is the only road travelling through this area, carefully trapseing the cliffs of the Pacific Coast between the ocean and the Santa Lucia mountains. It just might be the most breathtaking roadtrip I have every been on, and it's only an hour or so away from the farm in Santa Cruz.

Monday was a day off for the apprentices, following our busy Spring Plant Sale weekend. The weather being perfect as usual, a group of ten of us set off looking for beaches and soon found ourselves heading south. Along the way we stopped off at a local food market to put together a picnic. Upon our arrival in Big Sur we found a lovely little beach where a river runs into the sea, called Andrew Molera beach, to have a snack and catch a swim.

(Joe and Guy just out of the cold water)

Traveling onward we also hit a spot known as Jade Cove where that precious stone known as jade is just chipping away out of the cliffs in big boulder sized chunks. The water there also took on the complexion of jade stone and I sat mesmerized by the waves staring into that clear blue water.

On the way back we stopped at one more beach known as Sand-Dollar beach, but we could find no sand-dollars, only large cobbles on which we were able to lay surprisingly comfortable and nap.

Our final push back north (again, only an hour) was quiet and sun-sleepy and we watched as the sun itself went to sleep under the sea.

Group plans have already been made for a return trip this weekend to hike ten miles into the wilderness to a hot spring located up in the hills. What else are we to do on the weekend?


Guy

Cooking for the Masses

Meals here are a big deal – both in importance and sheer quantity. As you might imagine, folks who devote their lives to growing healthy and delicious food take mealtime quite seriously. And there are 46 mouths to feed! It can also be rather complicated to meet nutritional requirements at each meal when there are wheat, soy, corn, peanut, dairy, and egg allergies to take into account!

Everyone must cook, taking turns in pairs. When it is your day to cook, you are responsible for all three meals and the afternoon snack (cookie fairy!). The night before must be spent doing prep, so you are wedded to the kitchen for a solid 24 hours. You do not participate in curricular activities. There is no time! The morning of your cooking day, you rise at 5 to have the breakfast bell ringing by 6:45. Lunch must be done by noon, followed by an in-field delivery of cookies at 4 PM. Dinner is served at 6:30 PM, and by the time the kitchen is clean, you were ready for bed hours before.

Guy and I signed up to cook together on Friday, April 30^th. In preparation for a busy weekend (our annual Spring Plant Sale was May 1^st and 2^nd), folks needed to be fed extra well. Our hearty southern breakfast consisted of fried eggs, straw potato cakes, and cheesy grits (with vegan option). Lunch was vegetarian French onion soup, two gargantuan challah breads (with vegan and wheat-free loaves, too), and a salad of chard, kale, foraged miner’s lettuce, nasturtium flowers and leaves, and borage flowers. The cookie fairy delivered vegan, wheat-free peanut butter blondies (almond butter blondies as an alternative). Dinner’s main course was a cheesy mushroom risotto cooked in a pan that I could have bathed in (with dairy-free alternative). We fried and salted sage leaves from the garden as a topping, and Guy made three gorgeous rosemary focaccias. The steamed broccoli was a necessarily simple side dish. Nevermind how tired we were; there would have been chocolate pudding cake for dessert if we hadn’t run out of sugar.

(6 AM)

(Guy stirring challah dough)

(Salad toppings)

(Risotto's almost done!)

(The buffet chalkboard)

Everything was so well received. Guy and I were applauded with the traditional rumble of fists pounding on the table to salute the chefs. The day proved to be more challenging than many college courses, but we loved it. Good thing we'll get to do it six more times!