September 9th is creeping up on us and it's time to start preparing for the big day. As you might know by now, Ashlawn is the host farm this year for Connecticut Farmland Trust's big farm to table event. I call it a dinner, but it's more of a four hour Sunday farm brunch. A four-hour Sunday farm brunch like you've never seen before.
I think we've all been to a few brunches. Carol and I usually go to brunch if it's some sort of special occasion. It could be a baptism or Mothers Day or Easter or something where I have to wear shiny shoes. There's a lot of things I like about CFT's special occasion celebration and not having to wear shiny shoes is one of them.
Another thing I like is that instead of going to one restaurant for one brunch, this is like 25 chefs all coming to us. Throw in some great local cheese, bread, food trucks and adult beverages (including moonshine) and we've got the makings of a food orgy. It's probably been awhile since you've been to any kind of orgy. I know it's been awhile for me. It's not like I can say that last Tuesday I was at a great orgy and I'm pretty orgied out from all the orgies I've been to this summer. This summer I've been to Carol's grandmother's 94th birthday party, a wedding, and the Hamburg Fair. None of them qualified as an orgy although the birthday party nearly got out of hand when Carol's brother Dave threw a bocci ball through a beanbag toss hole.
There won't be a bean bag toss on September 9th, but there will be Faith Middleton, the award winning talk show host. I've never met Faith but I listen to her on the radio all the time. I love "Food Schmooze" almost as much as "Car Talk" and "Prairie Home Companion". Faith Middleton can make haggis sound good like Garrison Keillor can make powder milk biscuits sound edible. I think that Garrison should appear on Faith's show and they could talk about Garrison's recipe for powder milk biscuits. At some point the Tappet Brothers could call in and suggest that they would fix it (even though the recipe isn't broken) and make it better. As we all know, their advice would be wrong. It would be one big NPR cluster whatever.
So besides no shiny shoes, a food orgy, and Faith Middleton, a great band is playing. My friend Steve Liesman is sitting in with the band. I was watching Steve on CNBC's Squawk Box the other morning when he really got into it with Neil Barosky. Neil just wrote this book "Bailout" about TARP money and things got a little testy. I don't think Neil is coming on the 9th. I've heard he's taping the "Jimmy Kimmel Show" that day.
You know of course that the food served on the 9th is being sourced from Connecticut Farms. That would kinda make sense since this is a "Celebration of Connecticut Farms". Nunzie Corsino of Four Mile River Farm told me that he alone is showing up with 150 lbs of brisket. By last count over 50 Connecticut farms were bringing something. I think I've mentioned this is a food orgy.
Ok here's some inside information on the event. To bring you the best of local food a couple of chefs will be here overnight on Saturday getting the barbeque ready. This is real dedication. The last time I was up all night was either waiting for one of my children to be born or waiting for the sun to come up over the coast of Maine. Childbirth, barbeque, sunrise—I think that would be the order of importance unless the barbeque was really good and then it might be a tie for first place.
Let's count it out. No Shiny Shoes, 25 Chef Food Orgy, Faith Middleton, Food Trucks, Moonshine, Live Music (with Liesman), 50 Connecticut Farms, Paintings, and a Silent Auction. I think I've covered everything except to say that all this is for Connecticut Farmland Trust the only private statewide conservation organization dedicated solely to permanently protecting Connecticut farmland. Jim Gooch, the guy who runs the place, tells me they've saved close to 30 farms and 3,000 farmland acres. That's a lot of land saved from tract housing and Burger Kings, but there's more to be done. You can do your part by coming up with a few bucks and buy tickets. Go to http://www.ctfarmland.org/celebration-tickets.htmland have your credit card ready.
Even if you are Burger King's biggest fan, you still won't want to miss this. See you on September 9th, and please, no shiny shoes.
Dizzy River Band This Saturday
Ok back to the farmers market. This Saturday Dizzy River Band is playing. A lot of you thought this was one of the best bands all season. When they opened up with Neil Young's "Harvest Moon" I knew we were in for a treat. Treat yourself well and come see them this weekend.
Guest Vendors
The one, the only, Melissa Punzalan is here with her jewelry. I miss Melissa when she's not here. I wish she'd move in. We could fix up a nice place in the barn for her.
The recycled craft lady, Laurie-Annya Linfoot is coming with her whimsy. I of course mean that she works in recycled materials and she is not literally recycled. However, if she drops dead at the market, please dispose of her properly.
Nate Price, the granola man, is coming with, you guessed it- granola. You are really getting good at this.
Pam Fuller and her wind chimes are here. Last week I mentioned how she collected sea glass with a good buzz on. Pam tells me that she's now suddenly popular with all her friends.
Slammin', Rammin', Jammin' Shannon Carnese is spreading out her jams for you. These are great munchie food. Hear that, Pam?
Don Paczowski is making his market debut. Don's a woodcarver. Come see three fingered Don on Saturday.
Sandra Chemelovski is also making her market debut. She's into decoupage. If you are into decoupage then pay her a visit. You can decoupage or whatever together.
Farmers Markets Around the World
Translate this to sharpen your language skills and make this world a little bit smaller: The language comes from Indonesia and think "Travel Channel".
Jika Anthony Bourdain punya, lalu membungkusnya. Jika Andrew Zimmern menyukainya, jika kemudian menempatkan kembali. Jika Samantha Brown memerintahkan, berikanlah semua gambar yang Anda ambil dengan Iphone Anda.
Translation last week from Thai: Ignore the fire coming from my mouth. Just pass me the larb and pour me another beer.
