There were three courses, only because I had some vegetables (and one small basket of fruit) stacked up, waiting their turn at the table. The schnapps was, well, ..just because.

• the first course was a salad composed of arugula from John D, Madura Farms, sliced red-spring shallots from Lani’s Farm, and thick slices of Japanese Hinona Kabu turnips from Tamarack Hollow Farm, dressed with an olive oil from Campania, salt, pepper, and a drop or two of white balsamic vinegar, served with slices of a fantastic rustic 7-grain loaf of bread from Grandaisy, their ‘Sette Grani‘.

 

• the main course was a light pasta, 10 ounces of Afeltra spaghetti chitarra from Eataly, cooked al dente, served with a simple fresh sauce which began with 3 minced cloves of garlic from Whole Foods and at least 2 cups of tender garlic scapes from Lucky Dog Organic Farm, cut into 2-inch lengths, sautéed in olive oil for 3-4 minutes, then a little butter and most of the juice of one organic lemon from Whole Foods added to the pan, the drained pasta added once the butter had melted, along with the zest from that same lemon, the mix stirred over low heat, during which time some reserved cooking water was added to help emulsify it, then seasoned with salt and pepper, and scattered with purple micro radish sprouts from Windfall Farms
• the wine was an Italian (Veneto) white, Alpha Zeta S Soave 2014
• the music was the conclusion of our 4th of July Spotify playlist

 

• there was a dessert of a handful of blueberries from Kernan Farms, topped with a scoop of Madagascar Vanilla Ciao Bello gelato, with a sauce composed of some of the berries macerated a bit with Toschi Orzata Orgeat syrup, garnished with chopped wild mint from Berried Treasures

 

• Finally, and mostly because neither of us could wait to learn what it tasted like, a tiny sip of an Oregon Douglas Fir Eau de Vie, from Clear Creek Distillery (see the Chartreuse-like color inside the ancient glass in the picture above); it was fantastic!