Table Scapes, arrangements by Candy Traven// Kintnersville, Pennsylvania

The Third Annual Peace Tree Farm Dinner

March 4, 2017

The Peace Tree Farm dinner came and went once again and it all seems like a dream. This was our third annual dinner and marks another year passing. This year was particularly challenging for me.

Though I have done it before, it is intimidating to pull this type of event off. In an oppressive political climate it is difficult not to feel hopeless and defeated, but I had the realization that it is now more important than ever that we gather our community.

The farmers that helped make this dinner possible work thanklessly every day to ensure that our community is able to eat real food, and it's such a thrill to showcase their efforts at our dinner.
I learned this event format out in California while working for Outstanding in the Field (OITF). I was so inspired by the grandeur of the table, the hyper-local menu, and the story of the farm, but I wanted to take it a step further. In those 200+ events I worked for OITF, I perfected the art of the tablescape and couldn't wait to share it with my community. I really wanted my dinners to be about the community, about the farmers, and to be for a greater purpose.

When The Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture (PASA) came on board as the benefactor last year, all of the elements of this dinner became clear. This dinner is about the Pennsylvania Agricultural community. PASA cultivates healthy and sustainable foodways and inspires and supports farmers. Being able to give back to PASA accomplishes what Eclectik Domestic aims to achieve, connecting communities around the power of food! This dinner would not have been possible without the farmers, producers and my friends and family.

Of the 110 guests we hosted at Peace Tree this year, we raised $900 for PASA. There were so many hands that made this dinner possible and I can't thank everyone who was able to contribute enough.

Here's to more unforgettable evenings in the greenhouse and continuing to support, connect and inspire our community even in seemingly terrible times.

The Greenhouse quilt// Kintnersville, PA, photo by Rob Cardillo

The Menu// Design Collaboration with Jonathan Childs & Emily Eder

Bay Laurel Forest// Kintnersville, Pennsylvania

Lupin Madness// Kintnersville, Pennsylvania

Succulent Dreams//Kintnersville, Pennsylvania

Herb Salt

makes a little over a pint

1 cup coarse sea salt

1/4 cup packed oregano

1/4 cup tarragon

1/4 cup packed fresh lemon thyme leaves

1/4 cup sage

handful dried lavender flowers

1/4 cup pink sea salt

In a food processor pulse together sea salt, oregano, tarragon, thyme and sage until combined. Pick out any large stems or twigs. Add lavender flowers and pink salt. Store in a mason jar.

Art by the endlessly talented Lunaria Gardens aka Kristen Jas Vietty// Kintnersville, Pennsylvania

Glorious Eggs from Conklin Farm// Upper Black Eddy, Pennsylvania

Emily Eder's Beet Pickled Eggs

Emily Eder has been pickling for years in the central coast of California. Her knack for recipe production and distinct palette give her pickles an incredible uniqueness that brings any dish to life. She most recently developed the Pantry Program at The Cremer House of Felton, California and now farms in the Hudson Valley.

BEETS

7lb beets boiled & peeled
1 yellow onion halved and sliced
Two 4" cinnamon sticks
1 tbsp. all spice berries
1 tsp cloves
5 whole star anise pods

BRINE
1 cups sugar
1 cup light brown sugar
2 tsp kosher salt
1 quart apple cider vinegar
2 cups water

In a large resealable jar, add beets and spices. In a medium stock pot prepare the brine. Combine sugars, salt, vinegar and water. Cook until sugar is dissolved. Pour over beets. Can if desired or store in fridge for 2 weeks.

EGGS
1 cup pickled beet brine from pickled beets (let pickle at least a day or two)
1 cup distilled vinegar
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp whole black peppercorns
1/2 tsp whole allspice berries
1 bay leaf
1 red onion sliced
12 hard boiled eggs, peeled

Prepare hard boiled eggs and place in jar. Add brine and spices. Let sit for 2 days. Enjoy!

Alex's Greenhouse Salad

Salad Dressing

makes about a pint

6 oz extra virgin olive oil

6 oz tahini

1 oz truffle oil

3 oz balsamic vinegar

1 tbsp dijon mustard

1 tbsp fish sauce

1 tsp lemon juice

salt and pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients together in a pint jar with a lid and shake to combine.

Salad

A big salad bowl full of fresh greens

2-3 watermelon radishes, sliced thin

handful of goat cheese crumbles

handful toasted almonds

pepper, to taste

Assemble salad. Pour dressing over greens and sprinkle with cheese, radishes and almonds. Enjoy!

Castle Valley Mills's Rye Berries

1 1/2 cups dried rye berries

2 bay leaves

Salt, to taste

Place rye berries in a medium saucepan and cover with water by 2 inches. Add 1 bay leaf and season heavily with salt. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cook until rye berries are tender, about 30 minutes. Drain in a fine mesh strainer and run under cool water until well chilled. Discard bay leaf. Place strainer over a large bowl and let drain for at least 15 minutes.

Blooming Glen Celeriac Porridge

3/4 pound celeriac, peeled and diced

1 quart whole milk

1/2 cup rice

salt and pepper

2 tablespoons sour cream

Place celeriac and milk in a medium sauce pot. Bring to a boil. Add rice and cover for 20 minutes until rice and celeriac are tender. Drain off and save excess liquid. With an immersion blender or a blender, blend to desired consistence. Add sour cream. Season with salt and pepper. Enjoy!

Great Road Farm Roasted Carrots

1 pound carrots, cut lengthwise

1/4 cup olive oil

4 sprigs oregano and thyme

salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Toss carrots in olive oil and salt. Bake for 30-45 minute until tender and caramelized, stirring every 15 minutes. Toss with fresh herbs and season to taste.

The picture does not do this justice! Heritage Farm Purple Kale, Duck Fat pesto Roasted Bobolink Beef, North Mountian Pastures Herb Sausage, Peace Tree Chimichurri and Pickled Red Onion// Kintnersville, Pennsylvania

The Morning After, Leftovers!// Upper Black Eddy, Pennsylvania

Last Year's Garlic from Heritage Farm// Upper Black Eddy, Pennsylvania

Crème Fraîche swipes// Kintnersville, Pennsylvania

Blooming Glen Chocolate Beet Cake

200 grams dark chocolate

250 grams beets, about 3-4 beets

4 eggs

150 grams sugar

120 grams ground almonds

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 tablespoon good-quality cocoa powder

Preheat oven to 350. Line a quarter sheet pan or 9 inch cake pan with parchment paper and grease the sides.

In a double boiler, melt chocolate. Grate beets with a box grater or food processor. Set aside. Separate the whites and yolks of the eggs.

In a medium bowl add beets and egg yolks. Add sugar, almonds, baking powder and cocoa powder. Mix together.

Whip egg whites until you have stiff peaks. Add to beet mixture. Mix well.

Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake for 45 minutes or until the center is firm and a stick comes out clean. Serve with crème fraîche.

THANK YOU TO ALL OF OUR 2017 SUPPORTING FARMERS, CHEESEMAKERS AND BREWERS!

North Mountain Pastures// Newport, PA
Conklin Farms// Newville, PA
P loughman Cider// Aspers, PA
Blooming Glen Farm// Perkasie, PA
Great Road Farm// Skillman, NJ
H eritage Farm//Philadelphia, PA
Yellow Springs Farm// Chester Springs, PA
Bobolink Dairy & Bakehouse// Milford, NJ
Ajiri Tea// Upper Black Eddy, PA
Birchrun Hills Farm// Chester Springs, PA
Victory Brewing Company// Downingtown, PA
T ait Farm// Centre Hall, PA
Homestead Coffee Roasters// Upper Black Eddy, PA

The Fourth Annual Beast Feast

December 1, 2016

I am pleased to announce the fourth annual Beast Feast. Join us Wednesday, December 14th for an evening of food, music, and community at my families Inn, Bridgeton House on the Delaware in my hometown of Upper Black Eddy, Pennsylvania.

We will be featuring some of our favorite locals including Peace Tree Farm, Bobolink Dairy + Bakehouse, Castle Valley Mill, Homestead Coffee Roasters and Ajiri Tea. We are also happy to welcome Philadelphia's own Heritage Farm and Mycopolitan Mushrooms to the menu. The one and only TJ Kong will also be gracing us with his trio in his much-anticipated return to Upper Black Eddy.

\\Doors at 6, Dinner at 7, Music and Dessert at 8. //

The Table at Peace Tree Farm// Kintnersville, Pennsylvania

The Second Annual Peace Tree Farm Dinner in Photos + Recipes

March 28, 2016

The Second Annual Peace Tree Farm Dinner came and went last month, and I am still reveling in my astounding community. This year the dinner benefited the Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture (PASA). PASA is recognized as the largest sustainable farming organization in the country and enables viable farming systems that help provide healthy local food throughout Pennsylvania and the nation.

In the dead of winter, a collection of farmers and artisans from Pennsylvania (and the surrounding area) retreat to PASA’s annual conference held at Penn State in State College, giddy with anticipation of the season ahead. I joined PASA last year while representing Peace Tree Farm. I was there this year to promote our farm dinner and the debut of my herb salt made with Peace Tree's organic herbs. Peace Tree Farm, owned and operated by my close family friends, The Travens, offers a variety of plant starts. They focus on unusual plant varietals like cardamom, coffee, and figs as well as their staple herbs like thyme, rosemary and, of course, their famous lavender. Bringing a couple of hundred plant starts to a dreary convention center in the middle of winter, with over-wintered farmers, is best equated to shooting fish in a barrel. We've all been itching for spring, and suddenly we have all the plants your heart could desire.

PASA focuses on education and offers a series of workshops throughout the conference from regional experts. My friend Alex Traven and I scoped out the workshops and bartered shifts so we could catch the classes we were most interested in attending. I had the pleasure of witnessing Sandor Katz' fermentation demo and found myself inspired by his fervor for the art of fermentation. Katz' books were the recipe bibles at the farms I worked at in California. Unlike many other fermentation books, Katz' methods are simple and prepared without special equipment or ingredients. He goes through the entire process, and his wisdom allows for one to elaborate on the basic principles of the recipe. In true groupie fashion, I asked Katz to sign my copy of his book and gave him some of my herb salt in return. I was ecstatic, just thinking about him someday using my salt.

We left PASA after three days of exhausting inspiration and headed back East, eager to prepare for our second annual Peace Tree Farm Dinner. The week before the farm dinner, I drove back out to Central Pennsylvania to pick up food from several generous farmers who were donating to the dinner. We had some snow fall that morning when I left my home in Bucks County at dawn. I watched the sun rise over the Delaware River as I drove alongside the icy Palisades, glimmering in the morning light. Three and a half hours later, I found myself in Newport, Pennsylvania with Brooks Miller of North Mountain Pastures. Brooks serves on the board of PASA, and while I attended the conference, we conversed about making a sausage for the dinner with Peace Tree’s herbs. Alex had sent me to Brook’s onsite butcher shop with over eight-gallon bags of fresh cut herbs for us to incorporate into the sausage. Brooks already had some fatty cuts of pork from his pastured hogs, seasoned with sea salt and we added Peace Tree's organic oregano, tarragon, thyme, basil and his homemade pear cider.

Brooks in his Cure Room// Newport, Pennsylvania

Brooks' Saucisson//Newport, Pennsylvania

This was my first time making sausage, and I was taken with the process. It was a bitterly cold winter morning, and we wore our winter coats underneath our plastic aprons as we made the sausage. First, we ground the pork into a forcemeat with the herbs and then added the cider. The pork was ice cold and it stung my hands as we made sure all the ingredients were well mixed. Afterward, we went into his home with a bit of the sausage to cook it off and taste it for seasoning. Brook's wife, Anna Santini, and their three kids, Kaj, Leila and Terra, were bustling about their cozy wood-heated farmhouse as we cooked up some of the sausages. The air was perfumed with herbs, sweet cider, and rich fat. We tasted the sausage, and I thought the subtle aromatic flavor the herbs added were perfect. We went back out to the butcher shop with the kids in tow and got ready to stuff the sausages. Leila and Terra cuddled on a playmat in the slaughter room, as Kaj played Star Wars with his lightsaber. The family scene struck me as I realized we were in fact, in a butcher shop; a place where their animals were slaughtered and processed, yet the kids were just hanging out with their dad as he worked. At one point, Terra was swinging from a levered meat hook that Kaj was maneuvering to lift her off the ground as he hysterically laughed. It was inspiring to see their family as such an intimate part of their farm. This was not just a butcher shop; it was their playroom, their imagination land, and their home. It nourished them and provided them a way of life. They were living in a complete food cycle.

Kaj started to tease me for how slow I was tying off the sausage and quickly showed me the ropes. We finished up the 50 pounds of sausage and returned to the house for lunch. We all sat at the family’s kitchen table eating the sausages we had just made, some pickles from last season and grits. We talked shop and about the menu for the dinner. We parted ways after I scrubbed down the butcher shop and Brooks’ showed me his impressive cure room, sending me off with two links of saucisson. I looked forward to hosting them at the farm dinner that next week.

Sausage Pre Grind// Newport, Pennsylvania

Delaware RIver Valley// Milford, New Jersey

The Greenhouses at Peace Tree Farm//Photo by Rob Cardillo

Ranunculus Love// Kintnersville, Pennsylvania

Herb Salt

makes about a quart

1 cup coarse sea salt

1/4 cup packed oregano

1/4 cup tarragon

1/4 cup packed fresh lemon thyme leaves

1/4 cup sage

handful dried lavender flowers

1/4 cup pink sea salt

In a food processor pulse together sea salt, oregano, tarragon, thyme and sage until combined. Pick out any large stems or twigs. Add lavender flowers and pink salt. Store in a mason jar.

Ironbound Cider from New Jersey Cider Works// Photo by Ellie Tremble — Ironbound Cider from New Jersey Cider Works// Photo by Ellie Tremble

Kristen Jas Vietty, Bartender Extraordinaire// Photo by Ellie Tremble — Kristen Jas Vietty, Bartender Extraordinaire// Photo by Ellie Tremble

The PASA/Peace Tree Team (Left to Right Lauren, Lloyd and Candy) //Photo by James Bassett-Cann — The PASA/Peace Tree Team (Left to Right Lauren, Lloyd and Candy) //Photo by James Bassett-Cann

Chef Marta Lynch plating Apps// Photo by Rob Cardillo

Conklin Farm Chicken Liver Pate with Great Road Farm Watermelon Radish //Photo by James Bassett-Cann

Jonathan's Cultured Herb Butter with Peace Tree Farm Herbs on Bobolink's Cranberry Walnut Bread//Photo by James Bassett-Cann

Chicken Liver Pâté

adapted from Jacques Pépin

1/2 pound chicken livers, trimmed

1 small onion, minced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 teaspoon thyme leaves

1 teaspoon herbes de provence

1 teaspoon dijion mustard

1 bay leaf

salt to taste, roughly 1 teaspoon

1/2 cup water

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, quartered

2 teaspoons Cognac/Scotch

Fresh pepper to taste

In a medium skillet, combine chicken livers, onions, garlic, spices and salt. Add water and simmer. Cover and cook on low heat for 3 minutes until livers are just pink in the middle. Remove from head and let stand for 5 minutes covered. Remove bay leaf and transfer mixture to a food processor and pulse till combined. With machine on add butter until combine and season with cognac, salt & pepper and process till smooth. Place in desired terrine or ramekin and cool in fridge until firm. You can also seal the pâté with fat such as schmaltz or butter, or with a gelee.

Alex Traven & I welcoming guests to the Greenhouse// Photo by James Bassett-Cann — Alex Traven & I welcoming guests to the Greenhouse// Photo by James Bassett-Cann

April & the Table// Photo by Rob Cardillo

Cheesin with the Table// Photo by Ellie Tremble

The Table in Action// Photo by Ellie Tremble

After months of planning for the farm dinner, my favorite part of the process finally began, cooking all that theoretical food I had been plotting for weeks. It is an odd skill to learn to produce mass amounts of food. It is something that is second nature to me now, which has come with many years of practice. It is a constant learning process, but I have always enjoyed the long hours of prep while listening to my favorite albums, cutting up hundred of pounds of vegetables, butchering meat and finding new inspirations with the unexpected results that come with large-scale food prep. There is always something that can’t be anticipated, and you have to be adaptable.

Like when we cooked the sausages, and they gave off an obscene amount of fat. A wonderful, wonderful surprise. I had over five quarts of lard by the end of it and knew it would be magical to cook the heirloom potatoes I had just picked up from Blooming Glen Farm of Perkasie, Pennsylvania.

Or like when I went to Conklin Farms in Newville, Pennsylvania and Joe Conklin & his Father Joe, unexpectedly gave me over 16 chickens, three pounds of chicken livers and a couple of pounds of chicken feet. This meant that I would not only be adding a chicken course to the menu but that I would also be serving chicken liver pâté and experimenting with chicken feet.

It's all about being flexible, and it is my absolute favorite thing, cooking with what you have. The availability of the season dictated this menu as it was what the farmers had in the middle of February. It takes some imagination to bring it all together on the table.

Alex' Peace Tree Salad Greens// Kintnersville, Pennsylvania

Alex's Green House Salad

Salad Dressing

makes about a pint

6 oz extra virgin olive oil

6 oz tahini

1 oz truffle oil

3 oz balsamic vinegar

1 tbsp dijon mustard

1 tbsp fish sauce

1 tsp lemon juice

salt and pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients together in a pint jar with a lid and shake to combine.

Salad

A big salad bowl full of fresh greens

2-3 blood oranges, peeled and halved

handful of goat cheese crumbles

handful toasted walnuts

pepper, to taste

Assemble salad. Pour dressing over greens and sprinkle with cheese, oranges and walnuts. Enjoy!

Green House Salad// Photo by Ellie Tremble — Green House Salad// Photo by Ellie Tremble

Blood Orange, Walnuts and Chevre// Photo by James Bassett-Cann — Blood Orange, Walnuts and Chevre// Photo by James Bassett-Cann

Candy Traven's Center Peices// Photo by Ellie Tremble

Table Setting// Photo by James Bassett-Cann

Great Road Farm Watermelon Radish// Photo by Ellie Tremble

Lloyd Traven showing guests the greenhouses// Photo by James Bassett-Cann

Plants & People// Photo by James Bassett-Cann

Dinner is served// Photo by James Bassett-Cann

Kitchen Team Plating Entree// Photo by James Bassett-Cann — Kitchen Team Plating Entree// Photo by James Bassett-Cann

Blooming Glen Potatoes// Photo by James Bassett-Cann

Blooming Glen Potatoes & Braised Cabbage

Roasted Potatoes

5# good potatoes

1/2 cup good lard

salt and pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cut potatoes into 1/2 inch cubes. Lay on sheet pan and season with salt and pepper. If lard is solidified, glob a top, if liquid, pour over sheet pan. After 10 minutes, stir potatoes. Cook for 30-45 minutes, or until golden.

Braised Cabbage

2-3 large purple cabbages

3 tablespoons butter

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar or beer

salt, pepper, red pepper flake, to taste

In a large cast iron skillet over medium heat, melt butter. Add cabbage and cook for about 5-10 minutes until soft. Turn heat to high and add vinegar or beer. Season with salt, pepper, and red pepper flake.

Brooks Miller + Anna Santini of North Mountain Pastures// Photo by James Bassett-Cann

Conklin Farm Roasted Chicken with Great Road Farm Turnips

Chicken

1 good 2-4# Chicken

3-5 sprigs fresh thyme

1-2 lemons, halved

1 head garlic, halved

salt and pepper

Remove any inners of the chicken. Set aside. Stuff the cavity with thyme, lemons, garlic and season the outside of the chicken with salt and pepper. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes-hour until golden or internal temperature reads 165 degrees. Enjoy!

Turnips

5# turnips

1/2 cup good lard

salt and pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cut turnips into 1/2 inch cubes. Lay on sheet pan and season with salt and pepper. If lard is solidified, glob a top, if liquid, pour over sheet pan. After 10 minutes, stir turnips. Cook for 30-45 minutes, or until golden.

Table Talks// Photo by James Bassett-Cann — Table Talks// Photo by James Bassett-Cann

Frecon Farm Apple & Tart Cherry Pie with Seven Star Farm Whipped Cream //Photo by James Bassett-Cann

The Cheese Line Up! Birchrun Blue from Birchrun Hills Farm, Drumm from Bobolink Dairy & Bakehouse, Yellow Brick Road from Yellow Springs Goat Dairy// Photo by Ellie Tremble

This menu was also an expression of the community I find myself a part of, of the relationships I have cultivated over the years and the people who have helped me to bring food to the table. This was most encapsulated by the cheese course served at the dinner. The cheese boards themselves were handmade by my Father, Charles Briggs, an eccentrically talented woodworker, who when I start working in the cheese world, made me these elaborate cheese boards. The cheeses themselves came together organically on the boards.

First up was the Yellow Brick Road, a goat’s milk cheese washed with Victory beer, made by Al & Catherine Renzi of Yellow Springs Farm in Chester Springs, Pennsylvania. I was a long time fan of their cheeses while working in Philadelphia and went out to visit their dynamic dairy farm years earlier. I had reached out to them again a few weeks before the dinner, and they were happy to support the cause.

Then there was the Drumm from Bobolink Dairy & Bakehouse, a cow’s milk cheese made by my neighbors Jonathan & Nina White, who have long been littering my menus. They were happy to be a part of the board and also provided the stellar bread, served alongside the cheeses.

Then there was the finale, the infamous Birchrun Blue, a creamy cow’s milk cheese from Birchrun Hills Farm, also hailing from Chester Springs, made by Sue Miller, one of Pennsylvania’s premier cheese makers. Sue also serves on the board of PASA, and offered a wheel of cheese to support the dinner back at the conference.

The cheese board was cohesive, telling the story of three renowned cheese makers, each cheese lending itself to the next, all assembled a top my Father’s woodwork. It was a true expression of my community.

Clear Skies at Peace Tree Farm// Photo by Ellie Tremble — Clear Skies at Peace Tree Farm// Photo by Ellie Tremble

Candel Aftermath// Photo by Ellie Tremble

Cheers to a job well done// Photo by Ellie Tremble

Goodnight// Photo by Ellie Tremble — Goodnight// Photo by Ellie Tremble

These farm dinners are about focusing on the meaningful work my community tirelessly (and often thanklessly) does day in and day out. It is about engaging people to recognize where their food comes from, the people who worked so hard to produce it and to all come together in the most meaningful way possible, over a meal made from that very food. I could not have done it without my community and all the farmers PASA helps support. I look forward to the next chance I get to bring my community together for such a worthy cause.

Thank you to all of our supporting farmers, cheese makers and brewers!

North Mountain Pastures// Newport, PA
Conklin Farms// Newville, PA
Frecon Farms & Cider// Boyertown, PA
Blooming Glen Farm// Perkasie, PA
Great Road Farm// Skillman, NJ
Spiral Path Farm//Loysville, PA
Yellow Springs Farm// Chester Springs, PA
Bobolink Dairy & Bakehouse// Milford, NJ
Ajiri Tea// Upper Black Eddy, Pennsylvania
Birchrun Hills Farm// Chester Springs, PA
Victory Brewing Company// Downingtown, PA
New Jersey Cider Works// Pittstown, NJ
Homestead Coffee Roasters// Upper Black Eddy, Pennsylvania

Botany in the Limelight Recipe Round Up

February 26, 2015

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My head has finally stopped spinning after the decadent Friday evening that was Botany in the Limelight at Peace Tree Farm. I can't really put to words how much fun I had putting this dinner together. I simply love bringing passionate people from the farming collective together and showcasing their amazing products. Its a real dream for a cook. That being said I have been getting a lot of recipe requests from guests and since I believe that cooking is a lifeskill that everyone is entitled too, I want to share some of my recipes from the dinner. Within all of these recipes, I would like to point out the importance of freshness in the ingredients. My food is good because I use top quality local products for my dinners. It is vital that the ingredients you use be of sound practice. The finest quality beef, dairy and produce make all the difference.

One of my favorite features of the dinner was our live salad bar from the green house. Alex cultivated all of our greens for that evening in the green house and we did not harvest until we were about to plate. We used a mix of pea shoot and spring mix as well as baby herbs like thai basil. Most greens that we get this time of year have been shipped out of from California and are at least 5 day old. The freshness makes all the difference!

I have also been asked how I put this menu together in terms of coursing. I love the tradition of ending a meal with cheese. I was taught this by many french chefs and always find that I experience the cheese more fully after a well balanced meal. Here are a few of my favorite recipes from the dinner:

Recipe Round Up

Spicy Ginger Simple Syrup

2 cups water

1 cup sugar

4 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes

1 cup fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped

Combine sugar, red pepper flakes, ginger, and 2 cups water in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove pan from heat, cover, and steep for 30 minutes. Strain ginger syrup into a jar. Serve with seltzer or whisky, or both...

Alex's French Breakfast Radish with Fresh Butter

a dozen french breakfast radishes

1 pint good heavy cream (I used seven star farm)

salt to taste

In a mixer, mix cream on high, past the point of whipped cream, about 5 minutes. Roll radishes in salt and then spread a teaspoon of butter atop. Enjoy immediately!

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Scrappletizer

4 cups venison scraps

2 cups venison stock

1 cups corn meal

1/4 cup buckwheat flour

1/4 cup lard

1 tbsp herbes de provence

salt and pepper, to taste

In a medium sized pot, boil venison scraps in venison stock. If chunky puree with immersion blender or food processor. Add corn meal and cook until boiled. Add buckwheat flour, lard and seasonings. Scrap into loaf pan and freeze. Cut to serve.

Mushroom Puff

1 pound Puff Pastry

Chicken Liver Pate

Chopped Sautéed Mushroom

Cut 1/2 inch circles of the puff pastry with a cookie cutter. In a greased mini muffin pan, lay each puff pastry circle into pan creating a little dish. Poke with fork 2 times to allow air to escape. Lay a teaspoon of pate on base of puff pastry and then add a teaspoon of mushrooms. Repeat process till you run our of puff pastry! Bake at 350 for 10 minutes or until golden.

Bleu Cheese Pecan Spread

8 oz good cream cheese
2 cups blue cheese dressing
1 cup chopped pecans, toasted
4 oz crumbled blue cheese

Beat cream cheese in medium bowl until smooth. Add dressing. Stir in 1 cup pecans and crumbled blue cheese. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Spread on fresh pears or apples.

Crispy Shallots

16 shallots, cut lengthwise into rings

3 cups vegetable oil

In a cast iron skillet, place shallots. Add oil and bring to a simmer. Stir until shallots are golden. Remove and place on paper towel. Stay crispy for 3 days in airtight container.

Lavender Short Bread

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup honey

1 pound butter

6 teaspoon lavender, roughly chopped

4 large egg yolk

4 teaspoon vanilla extract

4 cup all purpose flour

1 teaspoon flakey sea salt

Cream the sugar, honey and butter. Add lavender, egg yolk and vanilla. Mix till combine. Slowly add the flour and the salt to the wet ingredients. Lay out a piece of plastic wrap and roll the dough into a log about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Freeze for about a half hour. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Remove dough from the freezer, slice, and bake for 7 to 8 minutes. The edges will turn slightly golden. Cool on rack and enjoy with tea or make an ice cream sandwich!

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Photos by JOI Photography & Lloyd Traven

Botany in the Limelight

January 30, 2015

Design Love- Jean Tran — Design Love- Jean Tran

We are pleased to present the First Annual Peace Tree Farm Dinner! Peace Tree Farm is the largest provider of plants to the Philadelphia Flower Show and in the dead of winter they produce a bounty of flowers. A lucky few will have the opportunity to preview this awe of botany the week before they ship out to Philadelphia.

Join us for a sit down dinner amongst the flowers featuring:

Bobolink Dairy & Bakehouse, Milford, NJ
Castle Valley Mill, Doylestown, PA
Owowcow, Kintnersville, PA
Ajiri Tea, Upper Black Eddy, PA
Homestead Coffee Roasters, Upper Black Eddy, PA
Blair Vineyard, Kutztown, PA

At this dinner we hope to put the spotlight on botany and local food! Chef Katie Briggs of Eclectik Domestic will be serving a menu of ingredients from farms within 50 miles of Peace Tree and telling the story behind the producers and their creations.