>> coming up on "california country": think this sweet treat just cab't get any better? think again. >> oh, my! it's ready. >> it's ready? >> it's ready. >> then find out why this meal was 52 weeks in the making. >> i would like you to know that this morning at the farmers' market, we purchased everything that you're gonna have for dinner tonight. >> next, learn the hidden ranching roots behind hearst castle. and they're a summertime favorite--see what you can do with some of the season's best frt. it's all ahead, and it starts now. [captioning made possible by california farm bureau federation] >> ♪ la la la la la la da da da da... ♪ >> here at birk's restaurant in santa clara, they're known for being a south bay institution. since 1989, plate after heaping

plate has been served up to a pretty discriminating crowd. and no matter how full they are, most leave room for dessert, desserts that are almost too pretty to eat--almost. >> here we have the orange- creamsicle-flavored ice cream. it sits on a carved-out half of a navel orange. so here is our desserts for our v.i.p. table, special guests, of course. >> chef maurice dissels believes in keeping the menu as unique as possible, and for his desserts, he relies on a local girl done good--sheri tate. >> she brought a sample of her ice creams and sorbets, and as they say, the rest was history. >> it comes as no surprise, really, that ice cream has been called the great american dessert for a reason. each american consumes an average of 23 quarts of ice cream, ice milk, sherbert, and other commercially processed frozen dairy products a year.

but even the gre american dessert can get a makeover every now and then, and that's where sheri tate comes in. she came up with an idea to combine two of her favorite dessert staples: ice cream and liqueur. >> as a kid, my parents made liqueur-infused ice cream with their friends, so they made something called "grasshoppers," which is similar to the cream de mint we made today, and it was a blended ice cream drink with cream de mint liqueur. and i think that's probably where i got the idea. >> so sheri left her desk job in the silicon valley to pursue her dessert dream, and thus silver moon ice cream was created. it is the first artisan liqueur-infused ice cream and sorbet company on the market. she now has 18 flavors, from orange creamsicle, made with bitter orange; to coffee with brownie bits, made with coffee

liqueur; to praline and irish cream. and no matter what flavor you pick, they're all equally unique and delicious here, and each one starts out the same. >> we sample a lot of things, but usually i'm inspired by either a popular drink--so, for example, our pomegranate martini or the mojito ice, those are pretty popular drinks in bars, and then i'll try to emulate something like that in a frozen dessert. >> ok, so we are in--what is this? it looks like a big liquor cabinet to me, right? what is this? >> well, this is our ingredients storage room, but, yes, this is where all the magic happens for silver moon. >> mm-hmm. >> these are all the liquors that we infuse our product with. and these are really the secret sauce of silver moon. >> the secret ingredients, right? >> exactly. >> so what do we have here? >> so this is a strawberry daiquiri.

it's about half frozen right now, and we'll just do a little interim taste test here. >> it tastes good ta me. but besides a well-stocked liquor cabinet, sheri has another secret ingredient to her frozen treat: california- produced milk. she only uses premium milk with the high butterfat that is so rich and creamy you can taste it in every bite. and for that, she relies on the hundreds of dairy farms that call california home. one of those farms is the giacomazzi family dairy in hanford. for more than 100 years now, they've taken care of the land and the countless number of dairy cows they've had on the farm, all in an effort to supply healthy, wholesome milk to people across the nation. >> it is my responsibility as a dairy farmer to not only produce a very-high-quality product that has amazing

nutritional value, but also to do it in a responsible way. animals as part of our family in addition to being part of our business, and so our values require us to treat them with respect and make sure they're taken care of. >> in addition to caring for his animals, dino has won numerous environmental awards for his conservation efforts at the farm. he says for him, being a dairy farmer isn't a job or a career, it's a lifestyle, and as a multigenerational d@iry farmer, it's a lifestyle he hopes to continue well into the future. >> well, i think i have somewhat of a responsibility to my family's legacy. i'm the fourth generation, and we've been doing this now 117 years in the same place, and i'm not gonna be the one to blow it, right? i mean, i have to at least make it work and make it available to my son if he decides he wants to do that. >> and while dino's son is a little too young to enjoy this ice cream--don't worry, folks,

h's only scooping it here--others are over the moon for this new premium ice cream. >> it's like mixing the 2 best things in the world together in one. the golden state produces more milk, butter, and ice cream than any state in the nation, and since it's also a leader in both farming and innovative artisan foods, it looks like these two might just innovative artisan foods, it looks like these two might just have a spirited partnership for years to come. for "california country," i'm tracy sellers. >> brought to you by allied insurance, a member of the nationwide family of companies, which also includes nationwide insurance--on your side. from farm to feast--stay tuned for more of the tempting tastes of california.

>> welcome back to "california country." >> joanne neft didn't start out a few years ago yearning to become a food rock star, but now, in placer county, her swirl of bright gray hair turns heads everywhere she goes.

>> 20 years ago, i started the farmers' markets in placer county. and i thought to myself, what could we do that would help people understand that there's something wonderful to eat in placer county every day of the year? i had a friend, susan dupre, who came for lunch in december, and we had what i had picked up at the farmers' market on saturday. and so we finished our little lunch, and she pushed her chair back from the table, and she said, "why don't you just write a cookbook?" >> so along with professional chef laura kenny, joanne decided to show her friend and the rest of us just how it's done. >> so we started two weeks after we decided we were going to, and we had dinner, just the 4 of us, on january 5, and it was awesome. so we decided we should invite some more people to come with us. >> joanne and laura invited different folks over for dinner every monday night for a year. this book is a collection of those menus and recipes, organized in a easy-to-follow

manner while highlighting the region's farms and succulent foods. >> we've gotten to know quite a bit of the farmers over the past year. >> she has her motherly advice, and then as soon as she gives that, she pokes you with a sharp stick and gets you on your way, because it doesn't do it for you, but it helps encourage you to get it done. >> i was praying there'd be 100 people at the book signing, quite honestly, and i think, oh, we did phenomenal numbers. and just the community response has been overwhelming, and it's been wonderful. >> this is really a community process. this is not about joanne neft

and laura kenny. this is about the farmers, and this is about the greater community and connecting those two, and if you please, we're simply the facilitator. i just want to thank each one simply the facilitator. i just want to thank each one of you, too, because it takes a village. nobody does this alone. >> do you know that we've almost sold 8,000 books of our first printing? and our first printing is 10,000. so it's been out for a month and about 2 or 3 days now, and we are ready to go for our second printing already. >> first of all, welcome to our table. i would like you to know that this morning at the farmers' market, we purchased everything that you're gonna have for dinner tonight, and so--including the centerpiece,

which is some artichokes and some romanesco. >> we had a message--i mean, to eat locally, eat in season--but we didn't know how it was gonna be received, and luckily it's been received very well. it's very humbling. people's response is enormous. they love that we have a guide to the farmers' market for them to take with them and go home and be able to prepare meals that they know are local and in season and healthy and they should be eating. and now ey have the skills and the tools to be able to do that. >> we can all eat healthy food for the entire year and eat what nature is providing for us. >> this segment is brought to you by the california farm bureau federation.

>> welcome back to "california country." >> we're at the world-famous hearst castle here in

san simeon. it's a place that each year thousands of tourists flock to to get a taste of old hollywood fame and fortune. but these days, they're getting a taste of the new hearst empire, courtesy of a very special ranch. this palatial estate is what media mogul william randolph hearst is perhaps best known for--the hearst castle. once the home of the famous newspaper giant, it is now one of the world's largest tourist attractions. with 56 bedrooms, 61 bathrooms, 19 sitting rooms, a movie theater, and the world's largest private zoo, the castle is almost like a small, self-contained city rather than just one man's humble abode. >> william randolph hearst sat here in the center of the table. he liked to be surrounded by his guests. he sat here so he could talk and understand more about his guests. these were newswcrthy people that sat here around him for his meals. >> but it was the land just below his home that hearst truly cherished, a place

referred to simply as "the ranch." for a man who lived his life in the public eye, this was his true oasis, a place to slip into obscurity. >> so he built his castle here at san simeon, but the love of the ranch, the cowboy lifestyle--it was always something that hearst really favored. but william randolph hearst wrote a letter to his mother--once quoting, then, from mr. hearst-- that if he could spend a month anywhere in the world, it would be at the ranch at san simeon. >> today, william randolph's cowboy dreams are being lived out by his gisat-grandson steve hearst. the now 80,000-acre hearst ranch is one of the largest and oldest working cattle ranches on the california coast. but when the new generation of hearsts took over, the question quickly became, how can the ranch keep thriving in the

modern era? >> and it was my ranch manager cliff garrison who said, "gee, steve, it's a shame we couldn't do anything with our beef." and i said, "well, why couldn't we?" and so ultimately we started pursuing the grass-fed beef, and it fit right in with the whole conservation solution for the property. >> it's fun. it's a picnic every day. you know, we love it. it's a beautiful place and a great place to work. >> so from the shadow of their famous neighbor, the hearst ranch is stepping into the spotlight these days with their brand-w grass-fed beef operation. grazing on rolling hills with picturesque views, the hearst beef is billed as nothing being added but their history, and it's true. the cattle thrive on nutrient-rich native grasses that have been there since the days of william randolph hearst, and today they're

actually being helped and not hindered by the animals that call this place home. >> the native grasses and all the grassland areas that are here are a rult of the cattle operation. they've been here for the 140 years, as well. >> the perfect balance between man and nature is exactly what william randolph had intended when he began the cattle operation in 19 and built hi famous home overlooking his beloved ranch. the result of all those years of dedication to the land and animals is beef with extraordinary flavor that's almost as memorable as the surrounding landape. the once-niche product has become a staple among chefs looking for the newest and greatest product, especially when it comes from a local legend. >> it is funny to say. you hear the words "up-and-coming company," but people are like, "hearst?

he's been around for a long time." but yet their beef and their ranch is relatively new, their product on the market. and so far, it's just a wonderful product, so they're slowly growing that. and it's a great concept because they're very unique in what they do. they start from finish to the end. >> and this historic working cattle ranch and landscape will be preserved forever thanks to one of the largest land conservation easements in california history. it's just one more way that the hearst legacy is living on through the land and agriculture that have been part of this famous family for generations. >> i thought it might ruin it for me when i took over running the properties and--you know, because i'd be down here all the time working. and then when i got here, i realized that this job is kind of the best of all worlds because i can't tell whether i'm working or playing.

>> welcome back to "california country."

>> aancient chinese proverb promises, "eat a peach, live forever." and even to this day, the peach tree is still revered as the tree of life, which is a perfect metaphor for what peaches do for chef michelle polzine: breathe new life into her ever-evolving dessert menu here at the range restaurant in san francisco. from tarts to cakes and even ice cream, she believes every peach deserves its day in the sun and a place on her menu. >> this variety is a sun crest peach, which is kind of an old-fashioned variety. it's super fuzzy. a lot of the--a lot of varieties are hybridized to be less fuzzy, but these are kind of--these are like the old-fashioned, like, grandma peach.

>> and what does it take to grow a really great-tasting peach? is it the soil? is it the sun? is it the farmer? well, here in the central valley, one farming family thinks they have found the perfect combination for growing the perfect peach. at blossom bluff orchards in parlier, growing outstanding produce is all in a day's work. on more than 75 acres of rich farmland, ted and fran loewen look after some of the most prized produce seen on menus across the state. the couple represents the third generation of farming in a family that first moved to the area inthe 1930s. fran and ted eventually took over the operation from her dad herb and immediately saw a need to change a few things in order to stay competitive. >> father-in-law back in the sixties had a fairly typical orchard for this area, where he would have a number of varieties to go through the season and he would pack them, and they would get marketed with others doing the same thing.

as the market changed, we had a choice to make: either get bigger or find a niche market. >> in addition to changing the fruit they grow, the loewens also strived to change the way they grew their fruit. long before the days of organic and in a time when farmland around them was rapidly disappearing, the loewens, along with some local farmers, came up with a set of growing guidelines called "california clean," which later became the catalyst for them going 100% organic. >> taking care of the land--the idea is to do something that can be done forever. >> and today through meticulous maintenance of the land and careful planning, the family can now offer an assortment of unique varieties that ripen at different times, offerin customers a variety of sweet, exotic colors and fruits throughout the year. in addition, the family perfected their hands-on

treatment. you'll notice there are no machines in this packing shed, just trained eyes, with attention to detail being paramount. and from patterson apricots to may diamond nectarines to dapple dandy plums, the fruit here is extremely diverse, whether it's fresh or dry. >> the biggest demand is--would be apricots, apriums, plums and pluots, white nectarines, white peaches. people love them. and this is another way that we can continue our season at the farmers' market. >> so from the kitchens of world-class chefs to the world-class orchards they farm, the entire loewen family is hoping to ensure their fruit is around for generations to come. and now with the whole family completely invested in the land that has given theso much over the years, the next time you take a bite out of a blossom bluff pea@h, make sure to savor the fact that you are also biting into 75 years of a family's hard work and loving

care of the land. >> and as long as we can keep doing it, i just feel like it's a way of keeping up a tradition, and we take pride in what we do. everyone here takes pride in what they do, so we just want to do a really good job. >> hi. i'm adrienne garcia, and today we're gonna make a stone fruit granite and-- with whipped cream. so here we have some pots that i've cooked just in water and sugar. you just want to cook them until they're tender when you pierce them with a knife. and you can--what you're gonna do firsd is you're gonna puree these. you can use a blender, a food processor--whatever you want. i like the food processor becae you end up with a nice texture. and we're gonna puree this until it's--there are no chunks left. [whirring] so granite is just a french word for granita, or shaved ice. you need sugar in it or else it won't scrape at all.

it'll be completely rock lid. so what we're gonna do is just pour it into any dish you have. leave yourself overnight. and here we have one that i did a little earlier. it just freezes perfectly flat. you'll take a fork and scrape it just so you end up with your consistency of, like, shaved ice that you get at the fair or anywhere. you can do any fruit. you can do coffee, basil--anything--just make sure you have sugar in there. so now we'll just spoon some into our serving dish. and then to garnish it, i like to use products similar to what it's made of, or that complement the flavor, so i'm gonna use fresh pluot, peach, and apricots. and then because i--the pluots are--they're pretty tart, i like to put a little bit of

whipped cream on top just to cut that tartness. so this is a really simple, beautiful dessert that you can serve at a party. it can all be done ahead, and you're making people happy. >> that concludes today's tour of the best of "california country." join us next time for more undiscovered treasures from the most fascinating state in the country. [captioning made possible by california farm bureau federation] [captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org] there is really, only one boy... one girl... one tree... one forest... one deep, dancing ocean...