We went to the Autumn's Harvest Benefit Dinner for Healthy Food For All, a program that raises money to subsidize CSA shares for low-income families. The food was donated by numerous area farmers and food producers, and cooked on a volunteer basis by chef Samantha Buyskes, whose fare is also available at Simply Red Bistro. We learned that the meat served at Simply Red comes almost entirely from Autumn's Harvest Farm (nice to know.) The wine selections were donated by Hosmer Winery, which is not one we've tried before. So we got to do a wine tasting along with the meal (they were all very good.) Thank goodness it was a long slow dinner, with modest portion sizes, or we would have been laid low by it all. As it was, the amounts were just about perfect.
I had expected to see a lot of wealthy-looking people at the dinner, because of the steep ticket price, but many of the folks we met were farmers. We talked about animal behavior and housing arrangements, methods of food storage, how your life changes when you work outdoors, and similar topics. In some ways, it seemed as much a networking opportunity for the farmers as a way to redistribute the community wealth. Autumn's Harvest Farm is a mile or so from Cayuga Lake, with a gradual downslope between, so we got to watch the pastel side of the sunset over the water as we dined (the sun was behind our backs, toward the farmhouse.) We could see our breath over the last couple courses, but the cold wasn't unpleasant until we walked away from the canopy tent, after it was over.
We thoroughly enjoyed the experience: food, wine, music, and company. Greg is talking about doing it as a monthly event. We could cover the price within our monthly eating-out budget, if we cut back enough on other outings. Of course, Greg's out of town for the next one, and I suspect it won't be that common to find a menu that's as easy on my diet as this one was, so I'm guessing our presence will only be intermittent. But it was well worth the cover charge.
9/17 Menus:
breakfast: oatmeal (Cayuga Pure oats) with chopped apples (Littletree), maple syrup (Schoolyard Sugarbush), and almond milk (exception, Bremner Farms)
lunch: corn on the cob (Sabol's) with butter (Meadow Creek) and salt
snack: apples
dinner: Autumn's Harvest Farm Dinner
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