Now that winter is coming to a close (we hope!), my belly and I have been getting excited about having access to farm food again. These pictures from last year’s bounty have been helping me get in the mood.

Guinea egg:

Homemade pizza, right down to the dough from local whole wheat flour, that I’ll never be able to re-create:

Kombucha and baby spider plants:

OK, this isn’t exactly homemade or local, but who doesn’t love a nice selection of cheese and crackers?

And wine! Sigh, I haven’t had wine in a loooooong time …

Erik’s take on huevos rancheros:

My first adventure with preparing pork belly (from the farm!):

I used this recipe, and OMG.

I had never in a million years imagined that pork and potatoes could taste SO good.

Canning, of course:

14 quarts of tomatoes to the rescue!

Fun with a gifted cake pop machine, thanks to Erik’s mom:

(Oops!)

Erik’s pork tenderloin with blackberry vinegar-mustard glaze:

Might have been loosely based on this recipe. So delicious that my jaw hurt!

Farm-grown grapes!

Popped sorghum!

Tons of apple pie, thanks to the Feld’s apple-picking visit and Kristin’s pie plates!

Of course, this beautiful and intriguing pie box from BRM arrived after my pie-baking extravaganza:

Maybe I’ll be able to break it in with some spring/summer fruits this year.

We finished out the season with this year’s farm-to-table dinner at Erik’s farm. Welcome to the Fire Pit Fiesta!

That “El Diablo” cocktail was no joke!

We took a VIP tour of the outdoor kitchen setup.

Monkfish in progress!

We sipped and nibbled and mingled until it was time to take our seats.

The amuse bouche was a work of art as always: crab, cucumber, and anise hyssop with charred tomato and lovage broth.

The light started to fade fast, making it hard to capture the beauty of each dish. Just take my word that these were all winners!

First Course: Fire pit roasted beets, carrots, and smoked Apple Street Farm ham salad with goat’s milk yogurt and kale chips; whey, caraway, and Lady Apple vinaigrette.

Second Course: Grilled monkfish in radicchio with fried shishito peppers and arugula; Point Judith squid, pumpkin broth.

Third Course: Wood-fired grass-fed rib eye in cracked pepper and garlic with short rib, fresh dug velvet potato, and gratin of cardoon in bone marrow; shallot Cotes du Rhone jus.

Dessert Course: Grilled pear with vanilla-lime pots de creme and smoked chocolate ice cream.

Plus s’mores fire pit …

… and macaron party favor!

Although I probably only understood two-thirds of the menu, everything was DELICIOUS. However, nothing can beat the first year’s Festival of Tomatoes.

Erik will be working at a different farm this season, so I think we’ve seen the last of the L’Espalier farm-to-table dinners, sadly. We could never afford to go on our own dime! New adventures await 🙂

Sigh. Fresh, local food is just around the corner!