This past January, I got a surprise text from Tom: "Happy Mother's Day! We're going to Full Belly Farm May 9!" Having dinner at the farm is something I've wanted to do for a long time, but they sell out very quickly. Tom happened to look at their website the day they posted the 2015 events, so he was able to secure our reservation early. I was very excited! We reserved a place for six of us so that Mom and Dad could go too, and we've all been looking forward to this for several months.

You might recall that we visited this farm once before, last Father's Day, on our hunt for local almonds. The farm wasn't giving tours the day we were there, but when I reached out to them, they welcomed us to look around on our own, and we did. It's a lovely place, but we only saw a very small part of it. We got to see much more last night!

We were told to arrive at the farm at 5:30. It was perfect weather; hotter in Guinda than in our part of the bay, sunny and about 84 degrees. We pulled up to the newly built event center, which was gorgeous.

Friendly farm dog Milo ran up to greet us, and we made our way to the back patio, which had beautiful bouquets of flowers, pretty dining tables, and a side bar of Lemon Verbena iced tea. Delicious!

We enjoyed our beverages whilst chatting with the owner and chef, Amon (we met his wife Jenna a little later, as she was busy doing her own 'chef-ing' in the amazing kitchen). Dad and Amon talked a lot about the reclaimed wood used to build the center, and we enjoyed the view and being together.

I'd like to cook in this kitchen!

We then climbed aboard a touring wagon fitted to a tractor. We had a pretty cute driver.

Third generation farmer-in-the-making

Amon and his son took us around the property. Full Belly Farms has been certified organic since the early 80's, and it's a beautiful place, with birds flying everywhere amongst the fields filled with 70 different crops, cows and chickens and sheep in the background, five bee hives, and a thriving flower business. One of the best things about this farm is that they house and board their farmworkers each year, with a permanent crew of about 40 there full time.

Amon was very proud of his family farm, and he should be, it is a very inspiring place.

Back to the event center, and time for dinner! We opened the wine we had brought with us (thanks to the families at my work and teacher appreciation week, we had a very nice bottle indeed!) and tucked in.

I didn't take any pictures of the meal, because I was too busy enjoying the food and the company (also I don't believe in phones at the table!), but it was all excellent, one of the best meals of my life, I think. We had wonderful house made cheese, salami, pickles, pasta, lamb - everything from the farm or close by. I think my favorite thing was the peach-leaf ice cream; it tasted rather almond-y and I can't wait to make it at home. It was a very 'spring' menu; it was a very 'California' menu; it was simply lovely.

I urge you to make your own visit to this magical place. There are many events happening this year; I think we'll try to make it back for the Hoes Down event in October. Many thanks to husband Tom, and hosts/chefs Amon and Jenna for a perfect evening!