Farm To Table Meal in Conway

Last Friday evening, my family and I attended a lovely Farm To Table meal at a gorgeous farm at the end of a dirt road in Conway, Massachusetts. 

The meal was a fund raiser for CISA - the local non-profit encouraging support of local agriculture. 

I have read about these kinds of events and always wondered what it would be like to attend. When you live on a farmer's and author/artist's income, there really isn't anything in the budget for fancy fundraisers, much less nice dinners out. (Yes, I sometimes do miss the days of travel and nice dinners out on a company expense account - not often, but once in a while.) We were invited at a reduced cost because we grew the lamb for the meal. It is good politics to include some real farmers when you are trying to raise money from people who have the means to support such an organization. 

The event was thrown and organized by a young couple named Shawn and Grace and held at Grace's family's farm. They had invited Chris Fischer, a chef from Martha's Vineyard and author of the new cookbook The Beetlebung Farm Cookbook to cook the meal. Here and here are some articles about Chris. 

Here are some photos from the meal. Chris set up a "kitchen" in the field on some tables. 

He cooked over a wood fire on grates and in large woks. 

He used the entire animal.

Including the head.

There were lots of veggies - most of which were raised at the farm we ate at. 

When we got home and flipped through the new Saveur, there was an article on Chris Fischer, the chef who cooked our lamb. His Tomato Salad is featured on the cover of the most recent Saveur. 

It was a fun experience and maybe we will be lucky enough to supply another one of our Leyden Glen Farm lambs for a similar meal another time. Thanks so much for inviting Mark, Julia and me to the dinner Shawn and Grace. We will remember it for sure. Such a beautiful evening.