A Farm Reunion - Brix 25 Farm to Fork Dinner at Peace of the Earth Farms

My 30 year high school reunion and the farm to fork dinner all in one weekend made me think about how things evolve over the years.  In this case it just gets better and better!   Just as I saw the changes in my high school friends so I saw the changes on the farm.  The farm has grown to almost twice the size as last year with lots of new crops flourishing.  Funny how the aging of a farm brings more bounty and beauty, in sharp contrast to how I feel about my own aging! 

After Katy and Holly greeted us in true Brix 25 fashion with a glass of champagne, we began the evening with a tour of the farm lead by farmers Hillary and Brian Bergren who are so passionate about what they do you can’t help but feel the same way.  Walking through the farm and being pampered by the Brix 25 staff gliding by with champagne, oysters casino and oxtail rillette really made you forget for a moment, the amount of work these farmers do to provide this wonderful produce and it just feels as though it’s simply magic.

I felt the same enchantment as we moved to our tables for the farm dinner.  Elegance magically appeared in the middle of the field in between the trees and the rows of vegetables.  Waiting at our table were miniature mason jars with an almond and mushroom terroir with baby vegetables and herbs that looked as though it was a tiny garden unto itself. 

Chef Thad about to present our next course

Chef Thad then presented a bison tenderloin tartare with bright red baby beets, an olive oil poached steelhead with fresh from the farm bok choy, a cottage pie with slow cooked duck and roasted root vegetable ragout with potato puree.  The grand finale was Chef Thad’s Grandma Kennedy’s recipe of green tomato pie with lavender gelato. Every course was paired with a wonderful wine and we finished with a house-made coffee liquor and lemoncello….I’m pretty sure I let out a big sigh of contentment!



Bison tenderloin tartare

You know how you have such wonderful memories of an evening and you think they must be exaggerated?  Maybe you had a little too much wine, maybe the stars were aligned just right and that magic can’t be repeated.  Here we are sitting with great friends that we made at last year’s dinner, talking about our sense of community with the farmers who grew the fresh produce and I realize the enchantment has only grown and I can’t wait until my next reunion with Peace of the Earth Farms and Brix 25.