The Ranch Cafe

The Corn Stand, operated by Davis Ranch, has been open this year since March, I think. The first crop they sell in the spring is asparagus. Other crops are added as they ripen.

This year there is something new at Davis Ranch. The Ranch Cafe.

Tucked next to the old building, under the shade of the old pecan tree, there is now a permanent "snack bar." Over the years people have brought in trailers and sold BBQ meat, coffee, Kettle Corn, and other things. While the location is excellent, and some of the vendors produced very good products, no one managed to make a go there as a business.

That was before Peggy.

Peggy is the wife of one of the Davis Ranch owners. When she sets her mind to something, it gets done. A couple of years ago she thought there should be a way to combine Davis Ranch's excess produce with volunteers who would pick it, so food could be donated to those in need. Last year Helping Hands Produce harvested and sent over 1 million pounds of produce to food banks and other charities.

I first heard about Peggy's proposal for the cafe last fall. I have to admit I was skeptical, just because that's what I do best. Peggy knew nothing about running a restaurant. In no time, she had enlisted the help of new homeowners across the street from the Corn Stand who did have experience and were looking for something good to do with their time. She camped out at the planning department, got to know all the rules and regulations, and regulators, and construction on the cafe commenced. With all the paperwork in place, it officially opened this week.

The menu is on two blackboards. Breakfast burritos are a popular item with the local work crews, I've heard it's hard for them to keep with demand. The coffee isn't made in a plain old pot, it comes from an espresso machine and it's excellent.

For lunch, there are hearty meat sandwiches made from meat that is BBQ'd on the spot. And there are sweet things. An espresso float. For those who don't know, it is a sploosh of ice cream in a cup of espresso.

The strawberry shortcake is made from hydroponic strawberries grown at the ranch, and homemade whipped cream.

If you're like me, you might be wondering why there aren't items on the menu that utilize the vegetables that are grown here. That's an interesting topic.

The first couple of days, they did offer salads. Wonderful salads with fresh tomatoes and onions and cucumbers and other stuff. They sold two. The lady from across the street said that people come to Davis Ranch to buy fresh produce, but what they want to buy at the cafe is the sweet stuff. She said it's like they're rewarding themselves for buying so many veggies by having something that's totally not healthful.

As I was eating my salad there this afternoon, I watched this happen. Kids, of course, were looking for ice cream cones or Coke. But all the older people who were carrying sacks of veggies ordered the really gooey stuff. They enjoyed the heck out of it.

When I first looked at the menu it struck me that the only thing I could eat was the iced tea. But we soon came up with something perfect: a meat salad.

This is a bed of spinach and raw zucchini with a few slices of tomato and onion. On the left is a small serving of pulled pork and on the right is slices of really, really good tri-tip.

I ate this at 2 p.m. and I'm still full.

So now we have two places to eat in Sloughhouse. If you want a fancy, sit-down dinner, there is the Sloughhouse Inn. If you want a quick breakfast or a great sandwich, pull off the road into the Ranch Cafe. If you want a salad like mine, they'll make that, too. Homemade pies are in the planning stage and are sometimes available right now.

On the wall of the old barn, a young local artist has painted a colorful mural. It has yellows and greens that match Uncle Jim's old John Deere tractor that's on display.

This all amazes me. I'm not accustomed to things happening so quickly. I sit here and worry about where to put all these chicks and overthink what to do about it. Meanwhile there are people like Peggy who just get things done.