I can hardly believe that June has come and gone. The summer in Northern Michigan is fleeting and I’ve never been more certain to take advantage of each beautiful day. That means barbecues, swimming, wine tasting, camping, gardening & fresh-squeezed lemonade!
Garden planning is what pulls me through the last few months of winter. I don’t know how I did it before. The seeds, the dreams, the drawings, they all make the cold weather a little more bearable because spring is on the horizon.
Harvest often concludes with a social celebration of the season. It’s a time to remember the energy and hard work that has been poured into the fields, while recognizing that success is based on the whim of Mother Nature. Growers gratefully honor the harvest of the season by sharing their food with others. Growers, like the Inn at Black Star Farms.
Their Harvest Dinner essentially began eight years ago with the introduction of the annual “Morels in May” event. Over the last few years, farmers in our region have continued to make strides in extending their season and providing us with local harvests year-round. In an effort to educate the public and raise awareness of our northern Michigan agricultural community, the Black Star Farms Harvest Dinner became a monthly series in March 2013. Each Harvest Dinner focuses on one or two items that are truly distinctive to that particular month. Those items are highlighted along with the chef’s creativity in each course that’s prepared.
When I think of Seattle my first thoughts are of Karrin & Heather, two of my very best friends. Then of course comes seafood, wide open waters and dreamy green flora. I just came home from a weeklong visit filled to the brim with incredible food and fresh air.
I love pasta. I eat it all the time, in its various shapes and sizes. I eat it in the summer dressed with light olive oil, fresh sun gold tomatoes and basil. I eat it in the winter with thick, rich sauces. I’ve always loved the idea of making the pasta fresh, but never had the tools or the know-how… until now. The KitchenAid pasta attachments I received for christmas make me squeal with delight, even still today when I pull them out of the pantry.
There are countless documentaries making comments on the current state of our food system. They each differ in varying degrees of tragedy, omission, honesty and optimism. “Fresh” became part of that ever growing panoply of films in 2009. The film’s director, Ana Sofia Joanes, sets “Fresh” apart by providing a well-balanced account of the dismal realities in industrial agriculture while layering the narrative with promising, inspiring and practical solutions that are beginning a movement.
I never hesitate to lead with and further explain my ineptitude for the skills baking requires. The chemistry metaphor for baking is so perfect, that I’m only slightly embarrassed to tell you I almost failed chemistry in high school, shocker. Truth be told, my failures in both subjects are most often the result of impatience and casual lack of focus. So when I was handed the job of preparing the dessert for a recent get-together with friends, I decided to buckle-down and forget my previous failures. I was determined to make something not only edible, but downright delicious.
