Every year, California rancher Elizabeth Poett takes a pause from working the land to bake seasonal sweets for family and friends. Here she shares a few of her favorites from her new cookbook, The Ranch Table.
Long before Elizabeth Poett became the host of Ranch to Table on the Magnolia Network and grew a robust social-media following with her posts about living and cooking on a 14,000-acre cattle ranch, her family had been working the land on California’s Central Coast—for seven generations to be exact. Poett’s family’s ranch, Rancho San Julian, dates to 1837, when the Mexican government granted her great-great-great-great-grandfather the land near Lompoc, which by today’s measures is an hour’s drive north of Santa Barbara.
While the business of cattle ranching and growing apricots and lavender remains the same as it has for over a century, Poett, alongside her husband Austin, has taken a 21st-century approach to telling the story: with cooking workshops and dinners through her business The Ranch Table, the TV show, social media posts recapping the range of activities from pig feeding to pie making, and mail-order merch.
Her new book, The Ranch Table: Recipes from a Year of Harvests, Celebrations, and Family Dinners on a Historic California Ranch, collects dozens of simple and satisfying recipes organized around the rhythms and events of California Central Coast ranch life such as “Breakfast After a Hunt,” “Beach Cookout,” and “Holiday Baking Party.” The latter is from where we’ve sourced these delicious desserts Poett makes by the dozen each holiday to bring to fellow ranchers, family, and friends.
Like so many of Poett’s recipes, there’s an unfussy, homey appeal to them that comes from a farming culture where time is precious and the ingredients are few but of the highest quality. We hope you enjoy these with your family this holiday season just as Poett and her family do on their beautiful ranch.
For more delicious recipes, check out The Ranch Table: Recipes from a Year of Harvests, Celebrations, and Family Dinners on a Historic California Ranch.
“This sweet, crunchy brittle is a favorite holiday treat among everyone in my family. The recipe comes from my husband Austin’s mom, Debbie. She shared it with me years ago, and it introduced me to the technique for making sugar-based candies. This process can seem intimidating if you’ve never done it, but it’s actually super simple: All you need is a candy thermometer that attaches to the side of the pot and sticks down into the cooking liquid (without touching the bottom of the pot). Then you simply watch the thermometer until the mixture reaches the right temperature, pour it onto a prepared pan, and let it cool. Last, you spread on some melted chocolate and add handfuls of crushed almonds.”
“Airy meringues seem fancy and sophisticated, but they’re actually one of the simplest cookies around. Just whip egg whites with sugar, add the flavoring of your choice (in this case it’s instant espresso powder), and spoon dollops onto a sheet pan. The result is light, chewy, and crunchy all at once. They’re so easy, in fact, that I make various kinds of meringue cookies all year, flavored with whatever ingredients I have on hand. These meringues will keep at room temperature in an airtight container for a couple of days.”
Tip: Don’t try to make meringues on a very humid or damp day; the egg whites won’t whip up to their full volume.
“Caramel corn is a fun, affordable, and pretty quick treat to make for a crowd. To get the caramel to really coat all the popcorn (instead of making big clumps), you’ll need to heat it in the oven a couple of times as you stir it into the popcorn. To do this, I pour it into a 10-by-18-inch disposable aluminum tray with 3-inch sides; they’re easy to find in any supermarket. You can also divide the popcorn between two high-sided sheet pans and reheat it for half the time called for in the recipe.”
