Chef in My Garden

Last weekend  I attended one of Growing Gardens’ Chef in My Garden fundraiser dinners.   This unique fundraiser pairs  local chefs with  folks who have created beautiful (and bountiful) home gardens  to create an amazing dining experience.   This Sunday we traveled to Forest Grove  and were pleasantly surprised to see  a huge variety of  different plants and trees, flowers, ducks, chickens, an earthen wine cellar, and even a yurt(!)  on the hosts’ property.   Chef Adam Sappington of Country Cat created a menu that utilized as much produce from the property as possible.   One standout was the campfire polenta, made from corn grown and milled on site, then cooked over hot coals for over six hours!   Wine donated by Apolloni Vineyards, also in Forest Grove, paired nicely with the family-style dinner.    Portland Roasting’s Papua New Guinea coffee  was the delicious mate  to the wood oven baked shiro plum tart and honey lavender ice cream masterfully created by Adam’s wife Jackie.   I said a few words to everyone about how proud we are to support the great work that Growing Gardens does, and let them know about our Ready to Read book drive to create a library at the Madan Estate in Papua New Guinea.    The coffee, made in big french presses and prepared by the dedicated volunteers tasted sublime.   The table closest  to ours raised their coffee cups  to me in appreciation — they  loved it!   This is our second year donating coffee for the dinner series.   I find the work that Growing Gardens does so inspiring.   We are lucky to  have them in our community, and lucky to  call them our friends.