Welcome to where I am, where my kitchen's always messy, a pot's (or a poet) always about to boil over, a dog is always begging to be fed. Drafts of poems on the counter. Windows filled with leaves. Wind. Clouds moving over the mountains. If you like poetry, books, and music--especially dog howls when a siren unwinds down the hill-- you'll like it here.


MY NEW AUTHOR'S SITE, KATHRYNSTRIPLINGBYER.COM, THAT I MYSELF SET UP THROUGH WEEBLY.COM, IS NOW UP. I HAD FUN CREATING THIS SITE AND WOULD RECOMMEND WEEBLY.COM TO ANYONE INTERESTED IN SETTING UP A WEBSITE. I INVITE YOU TO VISIT MY NEW SITE TO KEEP UP WITH EVENTS RELATED TO MY NEW BOOK.


MY NC POET LAUREATE BLOG, MY LAUREATE'S LASSO, WILL REMAIN UP AS AN ARCHIVE OF NC POETS, GRADES K-INFINITY! I INVITE YOU TO VISIT WHEN YOU FEEL THE NEED TO READ SOME GOOD POEMS.

VISIT MY NEW BLOG, MOUNTAIN WOMAN, WHERE YOU WILL FIND UPDATES ON WHAT'S HAPPENING IN MY KITCHEN, IN THE ENVIRONMENT, IN MY IMAGINATION, IN MY GARDEN, AND AMONG MY MOUNTAIN WOMEN FRIENDS.




Wednesday, August 5, 2009

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.)

4 comments:

Jessie Carty said...

What a terrific event! And now I want that vegetarian napoloean :)

Vicki Lane said...

That menu! I am consumed with desire -- but dealing with my own very local food has left me time only to fix fish tacos tonight.

(Love the cabbage poem too!)

Kathryn Stripling Byer said...

Fish tacos. Sounds good. HOw do you do it? Jessie, I had the napoleon and it was great.
Now, some cabbage recipes would be most welcome.

Sam Hoffer / My Carolina Kitchen said...

What a wonderful event. I noticed they used walnut oil - one of my favorites for vinaigrettes. All nut oils are temperamental, just like people and can go bad if left unattended (meaning they need to be care for and put in the refrigerator).

One of our favorite restaurants is in Franklin - Cafe REL.

A poem on cabbage - great and fitting. Thanks for all the beautiful pictures.
Sam