Town Comes To Country

More visitors today at Elm Street Gardens.  We had a nice group of folks, mostly from Atlanta, who have dubbed themselves “Just Friends.” They gather on a regular basis to share news and experiences over lunch and we were pleased that they chose our place in Sparta for the location of their April meeting.

We had a great time showing them the house and the gardens.  A highlight was the lovely lunch prepared by visiting chef, Mark Thrower from Winston Salem, NC.  Mark should have been exhausted after cooking for crowds of folks at the Masters in Augusta, but he rose early this morning to walk through the gardens with basket in hand and select an interesting variety of vegetables and herbs to feature at a luncheon for our visitors.  It turned out to be a wonderful meal - a quiche made from our fresh eggs incorporating Swiss Chard and fresh onions, cornmeal muffins that were sparked by the unusual flavors of finely chopped horseradish leaves and oregano, a simple salad of raw sugar snap peas and asparagus and a tossed salad of garden lettuces garnished with carrots, strawberries and pecans. Mark was most creative with his use of the garden offerings, even using the flowers from bolting broccoli heads as garnish! It was especially pleasing to note that Mark relied on the fresh flavors of the just picked food to stand on their own with just a bit of embellishment.  It was an excellent example of letting the food and its freshness shine.

So I think we can look forward to the planned “Elm Street Gardens Day” in our Currey & Company showroom at the April market in High Point, NC.  With fresh produce from Elm Street Gardens and Mark’s deft touch at letting the wonderful natural flavors of the food take a leading role, it should be a market meal to remember!

Suzy