
Rainy today– quiet, restful–we slept a little late and now we are picking up and reorganizing. We had a wonderful Farm to Table Dinner with close friends Sharon and Craig Voldberg hosting and providing their farm products as well (apple and pumpkin pies, grass-fed red Angus Sirloin tip roast, home-made bread, local cheeses and wine, etc.) , and some good friends attending our “pilot dinner”–our first attempt at this, a fun group! For our farm’s contribution Russ grilled an herbed, butterflied leg of lamb outside, and I sauteed some Mutton Loin Korabiak inside, plus baked a “Free” Pumpkin pie (gluten, dairy, and sugar free (!), made pesto and Brioche for appetizers, etc. Sharon and I also prepared oven-roasted fall vegetables and steamed Swiss Chard from our gardens. I think we just have experienced the “Five loaves and Two Fishes” story in the Bible. When the event started, I had 4 bottles of commerical wines that we especially like with our lamb out on our counter. Russ opened his favorite Centine (CHEN’-tin-nay)Tuscan Italian blended red to share. Sharon and Craig brought over a gallon of friend and coworker Father Ina’s homemade, local grape/peach wine, which was also very good. Somehow when the party ended we had 6 bottles of unopened commercial wine up on our counter and a 7th cooling on the back porch, ranging from Nebraska to California to Chile to Italy–quite a sampling! Oh, and this morning I am finding homemade Bread and Butter Pickles, elegant Chinese teas, Sharon’s home-baked bread, various cheeses, etc.! Planning some pea soup, but with that and some leftover lamb, I don’t think I’ll have to cook again for the entire weekend. We did not intend this to be a food and beverage exchange, but to be a good time. Thank you to all our guests for their good company and generosity–we are relaxed and feeling rested today after much laughter and quality conversation. We have started to plan another with Craig and Sharon, a long evening sometime next summer. If part of the venue is outside and the weather forecast is good, we can invite more guests! It was a wonderful way to celebrate our bounty, to thank prior customers, and to introduce both food and products from our farms to our guests. Most importantly though, it was a great time!