Sunday night dinner at Meling Ranch...

I rolled into Meling Ranch late Sunday afternoon, not really knowing what to expect, as their web site is a little vague. After checking in to my motel room and getting settled, I began wandering around the ranch, getting my bearings and exploring my new surrounding. Being a confirmed "foodie," I gravitated to the kitchen, where Andrea, Julie and Jicelia were hard at work, doing typical kitchen chores such as cutting vegetables, cleaning, and loading firewood into the wood-fired range. I was amazed when Andrea asked me what I wanted for dinner, as, well... do you really get a choice at a guest ranch about your dinner preferences? As I was the only guest at the ranch, she told me that I could have anything that I wanted, so I told her just to surprise me, as I love everything and whatever she makes would be good. I'm not sure if she really believed me, as she hadn't cooked for me before, but after a day or two, I made a believer out of her.

Photo: Jicelia and Julie pose in the kitchen. Note the wood-fired range to the right, which is already cooking dinner. Note the wood storage, behind Julie, where firewood is brought into the kitchen.

Clang, clang, clang, clang... At seven in the evening, Julie rang the triangle, to alert both staff and guests, or should I say, "guest" that dinner was ready. The picnic table in the kitchen was set for the staff, but for me, the only guest at the time, a place was set for me at a polished wood table in the huge dining room.

I sat down at the table and popped the top of a Tecate beer, as Julie brought my meal to me. Talk about food fit for a king, as she brought fried steak, a baked potato, tossed green salad, delicious fried zucchini, salsa, sour cream, a stack of bread, and butter, all contained in individual dishes, for an attractive presentation. I immediately was vaulted into "food overload," and my heart monitor almost flatlined, as I saw the delicious food placed on the table before me.

Photo: Julie fries my steak dinner, in a cast iron frying pan, over the wood-fired kitchen range at Meling Ranch.

So what is a food fanatic to do in a situation such as this? Cut and paste the food from the subdirectories to the root directory, which was located on the plate directly in front of me. Ooops, I'm getting computers and food mixed up, but you get the idea... Cut the meat, place it on the plate, copy some zucchini and paste it into the root directory... you get the idea.

Photo: Here's a classic Meling Ranch kitchen photo, as Jicelia prepares veggies and Julia tends to the wood stove.

Tonight's meal was the first meal that I had ever eaten that was prepared entirely over a wood-fired range, and I wasn't disappointed. Everything was perfect, as the salad was crispy and fresh, the potato almost fell apart as I removed the foil, and the steak was seared on the outside, yet juicy and tender on the inside. The presentation was beautiful, yet quite in keeping for a rustic cattle ranch in very rural Baja California, and I can't even imagine the words to describe how delicious the meal tasted. Not to mention, I enjoyed the company of Andrea, Jicelia and Julie, who are very friendly, and know how to make a guest feel at home.

Photo: Cable ESPN doesn't reach to Ranch Meling, but who cares when you're presented with a meal of this caliber? Fried steak, baked potato, fried squash, bread, salsa, butter, sour cream and a healthy, tossed green salad; who could want anything more for dinner? I rate Meling Ranch as excellent for food!