Wooden Spoon
By Elaine Revelle

Well it was “turn the tables” at the Schley’s.
   Seemed to me as if it were time to see the Guest ’s owners, Wolcott and Teona Schley, on their own turf—so to speak. With this issue, The Wooden Spoon is back at the ranch for a visit with the dynamic duo behind this magazine.
  I’ve known various members of the Schley family since 1972. My first encounter was when Mike Schley (Wolcott’s nephew) returned from a ten-week, American Field Services stay in Paraguay. We feted his return at the Hansen & Schley ranch in Happy Canyon and feasted on dishes prepared from recipes Mike brought from his host family.
  Right then and there, I fell in love with the ranch and have jumped at every chance I’ve had to re-visit. Part of the allure is an old house that faces Alisos Avenue. My grandmother was born there and it was only after meeting Wolcott and Teona that I had the opportunity to see it from the inside. (It is now no longer part of the Hansen & Schley Ranch, but I’m told that the new owners are treating it with the respect it deserves.)
  I’ve actually known Teona longer than Wolcott. One day in 1982 a petite woman entered The Book Loft, where I work, with a book in her hand. She introduced herself as “Teona Tone,” an author whose first book, a mystery titled Lady on the Line , was just off the presses. She wondered, were we interested in stocking it? We were, we did and that was just the beginning. Two more books followed, a second mystery Full Cry and a nonfiction entitled Housemates , a how-to book which covered everything from finding someone to share your house, to the legal aspects of sharing living space with another person or persons.
  During the time it took to write the second and third books, Teona and Wolcott were married and moved to the Hansen & Schley ranch to help with the family’s cattle business. Daughter Jessica was born in 1984. Life became even more busy five years later when son Daniel joined the family.
  As if that weren’t enough, in 1992, Wolcott and Teona were offered the positions of publisher and editor of the Los Padres Sun newspaper, which was then published weekly here in the Santa Ynez Valley. Both had degrees in English and a background in writing, so the offer was too good to pass up. For the next three years, they and their staff covered public meetings, political rallies, high school athletics and all the other things needed for a good local paper. In the midst of the hectic, weekly schedule, they also produced the quarterly Solvang Gaest , the precursor of the Santa Ynez Valley Guest.
  Today life for the Schleys consists of ranching, writing and producing the Guest. Jessica is in college and Daniel is a senior at Santa Ynez Valley Union High School. Both are occasional contributors to the Guest—Daniel shot a photo at Solvang’s Elverhøj Museum for the Fall 2005 edition and Jessica has an article about the Vintage Motorcycle museum in this issue.
  In addition to being proud of their children, the Schleys are proud of their beef. I was treated to a sampling of one of their porterhouse steaks and it was delicious. “Our beef is grass fed,” Teona explained, “and is extremely lean.” (I can attest to that.) “In addition to the ones we sell each year, mostly to other ranchers as breeding animals, we raise a steer for our own use. They are strictly grass fed until the last couple of months, then they get a bit of grain, usually barley,” she said.
  Well, the beef is delicious, the ranch is producing, the magazine is viable and life is quite busy for the Schleys, but Teona still finds time to turn out delicious dinners.
  Beef and mushrooms is a family favorite. Adapted from a 1984 Sunset Magazine recipe for a venison and mushroom pie, Teona’s take on a beef burgundy style stew is worth adding to anyone’s recipe repertoire.
  “I’m allergic to pepper, so I don’t use it,” she noted, “And, since beef stock varies in saltiness, use your taste buds as a gauge for seasoning.”

TEONA’S BEEF AND MUSHROOMS

1/4 cup light olive oil
2 pounds very lean beef, cubed
2 tablespoons butter
1 clove garlic, minced
1 large onion, chopped
14 to 15 mushrooms, thinly sliced
1/4 cup (approximately) all-purpose flour
1-1/2 cup beef broth or bouillon (or a 12 oz can of diced tomatoes for a slightly Italian touch)
1-1/2 cup red wine (Merlot or burgundy)
Salt and pepper to taste

  Brown beef cubes well in olive oil in large fry pan or Dutch oven. Lift from pan with slotted spoon. Add butter, garlic, onion and mushrooms to the meat pan and cook until onions are limp. Sprinkle flour over vegetables and cook, stirring, for one minute.
   Remove from heat and immediately blend in beef broth, wine and salt to taste. Return the meat to this mixture, cover and simmer over low heat, stirring occasionally, until meat is very tender when pierced, about 1-1/2 hours. Serve over rice, mashed potatoes or noodles.
VARIATION: Place in baking dish, cover with pastry crust, cut vent holes and bake in a 375 degree oven until crust is golden brown and meat mixture is bubbling through the vent slots (about 35 to 40 minutes or 50 minutes if chilled before baking).

This hay barn and the corrals surrounding it were a very important part of the Hansen & Schley cattle raisingt operation.