Oh boy, Olallieberries

Saturday, my family flew into San Francisco to meet me so we could have a little family vacation. We spent the day in the city and then drove down Highway 1 to Monterrey, CA. The most amazing thing happened on our way there. We saw whales off the coast swimming in the water. I don't think I've ever seen a whale in the ocean before! It was a truly unique experience.

On our way there, we stopped in Pescadero for dinner at Duarte's Tavern. (Apparently it's a pretty famous little place... and we had to wait forty-five minutes to be seated even though the rest of the town was dead.) I'm so glad we waited though! For dinner I had blackened catfish with grilled vegetables (yum), and when it came time for dessert, we decided to try a piece of their Olalliberry pie (because they're famous for it).

Now me, I'm not really a big fan of pie. I can see why some would like it, but I kind of really love cake. Well, the waitress explained that Olalliberries are a hybrid blackberry (and I love blackberries) so I decided to try it. OH MY GOODNESS, IT WAS AMAZING! I can't even explain to you the bliss my tastebuds felt. The crust was perfect! Flaky, but not dry, and it had a yummy buttery undertone. Oh and the Olalliberries were so yummy! They were big and tasted a lot like blackberries, but they were shaped more like raspberries and they were nice and warm. I made sure to get a little bit of vanilla ice cream in each spoonful. I probably could've eaten an entire piece by myself... it was that good.

Since Saturday, all I've been craving is Olalliberries.

Today we came to Carmel, and ate lunch at a little cottage tea room called the Tuck Box. It was so picturesque and was built in 1927 by the designer, Hugh Comstock. (There are a lot of these little cottages in Carmel... all built by him... and apparently the whole reason he built the first one was so that his wife could have a place to keep all of her dolls... hmm).
We had lunch and then they brought us scones with what? Olalliberry jam! I was so excited! Oh I wish I could eat scones with Olalliberry jam every day! But I'm sure, if I did that, that I would become rather large. So it's probably a good thing that it isn't an option for me.
Mmm... so sweet and so succulent. If you ever come across Olalliberries. Try them! You will be so glad that you did! (And then... buy some and bring them back home to your friend, Hayley).