A Harvest Dinner

Posts aren't exactly tumbling out themselves from the cracks and crevices of my laptop and self-publishing, so until that happens (wait, that would be some strange content) we're just going to play catch up for a bit.

It’s no secret that I’ve been grasping at summer, not wanting to let it slip away, so last month we hauled our dining room table out onto the freshly mown grass, added the picnic table, plus a table I use for photography, and hosted a harvest dinner party under the trees.

I invited over 60 people (what was I thinking?), and in the end we were 44, kids and all.

Check out the full recap with pictures and tips over on Simple Bites, but for now here are a few Instagrams images I managed to snap.

These tomatoes were the inspiration for a simple tomato salad with buffalo mozzarella, fresh torn basil, and a sherry vinaigrette.

The gathering place of friends at it conception, with 23 indoor and outdoor chairs that we managed to round up.

There were simple place cards on apples for the guests, and jam jars for water glasses; wildflower bouquets and red wine for all.

 Kids corner: a self-serve snacking station complete with wraps, drinks, muffins, fruit & vegetables.

Dinner under the willow tree. There may have been a few babies present.

The only dish I managed to snap a photo of, and my favorite of the day: poached salmon, homemade tarragon aioli, dill, pickled ramps, and our own eggs.

In the middle of winter I'm going to gaze at this photo and remember the warm night air, the sweetness of the tomatoes, the rippling laughter...and then start planning the next event.

Friends brought desserts of all kinds - cherry clafouti, apple bundt cake, blueberry pie, peach crisp and much more. We ended the evening on a sweet note, to be sure.

Here is a one-minute recap of the event with Danny’s first attempt at timelapse photography. ..The end is a natural fade-to-black, as we lingered outside until it was nearly night...

Until next summer...