A Farm First

This last Saturday we had the privilege of hosting our very first Farm-to-Table dinner.  The dinner was for the Slow Food Greater Olympia group as a fundraiser to send two of their members to an international food gathering in Italy. 

The Slow Food group provided wonderful Chefs that created the most amazing meal using ingredients from several local farms, including ours,  and local meat producers.   The wine was all from local wineries,  the cheese for the pasta was even homemade with milk from local goats milked the morning before the event!   You can't get much more local or any fresher than that.  

So many wonderful pictures were taken by the volunteers at the event I couldn't decide which to post!   Take a few minutes to browse through the slideshows, then head over to the Greater Olympia Slow food website to check out other events they have coming up soon.  They really  know how to put on a meal and we had a wonderful time hosting this event for them.  There are several other Farm-to-Table dinners coming soon, so if you missed out on this one don't wait to sign up for the next!   http://slowfoodolympia.org/events

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Starters:
Trio of Herb Pestos with Crostini
Local Shellfish: Oyster-stuffed mushrooms
Oysters on the half-shell
Steamers with herb-butter

First Course:
Salad of fresh-picked farm greens and flowers with a sweet fresh berry, yogurt dressing

Second Course:
Handmade Ravioli stuffed with fresh goat milk ricotta and squash flowers, served on a bed of summer squash ribbons and creamy zucchini sauce.

Third Course:
Duck Confit with Polenta/Vegetable Terrine; layers of polenta and roasted vegetables

Fourth Course:
Little Emu Meatballs on Wilted Greens with a Sweet Cherry Tomato Sauce – rich without being gamey, emu meatballs are a riff on this classic Italian dish from Bari.

Dessert:
Chocolate Berry Tart is a decadent ending with a pecan shortbread crust, followed by a layer of rich chocolate ganache and topped with the season’s best berries

Many thanks to:
                 the Chefs:  Treacy Kreger and Christine Ciancetta;  Paula Liechty and crew on desserts
             the Help:  Jesse, Gorby, Holly, Jaeden, Celeste, Emily, Ginny, Loretta, and many more!
             the protein Providers: 
                   Backacher's Emu Ranch (www.weduemu.com) for the Emu; 
                   The Laughing Goat (www.thelaughinggoat.weebly.com) for the goats milk; 
                   Pigs-Hens And-Berries homestead for the duck