Rancho La Zaca

Cucumber Soup to Cool Summer’s Sizzle

You will wonder how you’ve gotten this far into summer, and possibly into life itself, without this cold cucumber soup. Stop on your way home today and get the ingredients, and whip up a batch asap. Takes 15 minutes, max. Chill. Repeat. All summer long. You will want a supply in your fridge at least until Labor… Continue reading Cucumber Soup to Cool Summer’s Sizzle

Happy 4th of July From Rancho La Zaca

I’m back at the ranch this week and Cowboy (for new readers, His Grace the Cowboy is my sweetheart) and I have my nephew and three of his buds flying in from Georgia. For their 18th birthdays my nieces and nephew each get a trip with Auntie anywhere they want to go. John Rex wanted… Continue reading Happy 4th of July From Rancho La Zaca

Wild Sweet Peas in the Vineyard, and a Painting

As His Grace and I left the ranch last Friday for New York and parts East for a few weeks, I felt a twinge for the days of early spring I will miss there. Here’s an idea: Surely these wild sweet peas came last year, but dawg if I remember them. That’s the thing about… Continue reading Wild Sweet Peas in the Vineyard, and a Painting

Possibly the Best Pasta Ever

I have eaten this pasta for 3 of the last 4 days and still want more. So dang good and not one of the same old recipes. This one, oh, this one will make you want to slap your grandma. It’s a smokey-sweet-savory mixture of sausage, caramelized onion and fennel, asparagus, artichoke hearts, spinach, olives, a… Continue reading Possibly the Best Pasta Ever

Doing Up for Valentine’s Day

Life at Rancho La Zaca was so hectic around the holidays that I never got around to posting about our New Year’s Eve party,* but when I was doing up the table–with friend Nina Griscom and sister Duvall’s help–I kept thinking it would be pretty that way for Valentine’s Day, too. We’re not having quite… Continue reading Doing Up for Valentine’s Day

Chocolate Chip Cookies To Die, and Vegan, too! Updated April 2020

I was torn about telling you these unbelievable cookies were vegan, worried it would put off the bacon-cheeseburger set (of which I, too, am a member). But these are so dang good I feel a sudden urge to wear Birkenstocks–which I pray will pass. Recipe by Stephanie Valentine, below. Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies Vegan or… Continue reading Chocolate Chip Cookies To Die, and Vegan, too! Updated April 2020

Country Life and the Chicken Catalog

Have I been in the country too long, or is it normal to be mesmerized by the newly arrived McMurray Hatchery catalog? “The World’s Rare Breed Poultry Headquarters,” it says. It’s fabulous. For new readers, I am a small town Southern girl who lived in Atlanta during the ’90s and in New York City since… Continue reading Country Life and the Chicken Catalog

An Al Fresco Autumn Dinner and Thanks to Jackie

RANCHO LA ZACA-Calif. I’m on a gratitude kick lately. Decorating tips to follow, I promise, but bear with me: In last Thursday’s post, One Little Thing, I talked about the big benefit of doing the one little thing of a gratitude journal. The idea came from author and motivational speaker Jerry Posner, who, in his… Continue reading An Al Fresco Autumn Dinner and Thanks to Jackie

Thanks for the Wineries…

SANTA YNEZ VALLEY, California-While we’re in the mode of giving thanks, and heaven knows eating and drinking, let us give thanks for the harvest and for the folks who make wine from it! The beautiful Santa Ynez Valley, Santa Barbara County, where I am lucky to live part of the time, is part of California’s… Continue reading Thanks for the Wineries…