LOCAL FOOD GALA: Land Trust for the Little Tennessee

A few months ago Kate Parkerson of the Land Trust for the Little Tennessee asked me to write a poem for their summer Local Food Gala. Of course I said I'd be honored to do so, even though I didn't have a clue at the time about what I'd take as my subject. As the deadline for the poem drew nigh, and Kate emailed me a reminder of my promise, the subject surfaced, or rather, pushed its way out of the sod. Cabbage! There it was, all ten heads of it in my garden.

So I wrote the poem that you can see on the cards placed at all the plates. To make this project even more fun, the photograph, made by an old-fashioned pin-hole camera, by Phyllis Jarvinen, (www.phyllisjarvinen.com) captures the cabbage in my friends Ron and Cathy Arps's CSA garden.

The Gala itself was a feast of locally produced food, aside from the French wine. Local wineries and breweries had tasting stations before the meal began, though.

The Menu:

Appetizers--
Panseared Tellico Farms trout cake served with creamy coleslaw and smoked corn salsa.
Tomatoes topped with fresh basil and Dark Cove goat cheese drizzled with a balsamic reduction

Entrees

Filet of Beef--Thinly sliced Brasstown Beef filet served atop savory bacon bread pudding accompanied by fresh green beans tossed in walnut oil, garnished with a cherry demi-glace, and topped with fried sweet onions.

Vegetarian Napoleon--Layered and grilled eggplant, zucchni, squash, peppers, and potatoes with a cilantro pesto and black beans.

Dessert:

Panna Cotta--Spring Ridge Creamery Cream crafted into a light delicious Panna Cotta with a honey ginger syrup topped with fresh berries and finished with a dark chocolate square from Dillsboro Chocolate Factory.
(See photo at beginning of post!)
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The location for the feast was one of the most beautiful valleys I've seen, tucked away outside Franklin. The evening was memorable. Both my husband and I even won door prizes, he an elderberry plant and I a gift certificate to Highland Hiker.

Please consider joining the LTLT. (www.ltlt.org) It does good work in our region. And it celebrates good food. Who could ask for more?



(Driving into the Green!)



(Ron and Cathy Arps)



(My Poem)



(Beautiful table settings!)





(Local potter Joan Byrd in the right-hand corner of the photo)





(Kate Parkerson, hand on head--organizer of the event.)