… those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit.
Galations 6:8
So often as Americans we easily forget the difference between “needs” and “wants”. I’ve fallen trap to this many times and it’s only through Christ that I regain focus on what is truly important in this world. Our family, our friends and Him. As part of challenge 3 for Project Food Blog, we were asked to create a luxury dinner. Luxury can mean so many things, but to me, luxury means being alive in Him. Being able to be a part of this living world and embrace the beauty that He has created and to share that with my family and friends. Here in Iowa we’ve had a dreadful summer full of wet rain. Family farmers and gardeners struggled all throughout our state. It was this week in September that we’ve had 7 dry days in a row since April. That my friends, is luxury.
With the dry weather and the warm fall temperatures that have finally fallen upon us, I decided to host a harvest supper outdoors at the Bauman Farm. A third generation farming family that I am so proud to be a part of. Indeed, it is the time of harvest. This quaint, quiet supper couldn’t have come at a better time. I’m in the midst of harvesting the last of my summer crops and at the same time, the abundance of Fall greens and root vegetables.
It’s also the time of harvest for our Fall chickens that I have diligently been raising in my backyard. For this event, I wanted to share in the luxury of homegrown, local and seasonal food with my family and friends.
For this meal, I didn’t mind that I had to borrow a white tablecloth from my mami or that I picked up mismatched dinner plates from my local thrift store for 35 cents a piece. The treasure or luxury that I was sharing was in real food that I have labored for to nourish my family and friends. I knew my friends wouldn’t mind that their cloth napkins were made by me or that there wasn’t an appetizer plate. Instead I would provide a place where time can stand still and the worry and anxiety of everyday life could be dismissed.
For supper, I decided to share in a traditional Andaluz outdoor meal. A paella topped with backyard fresh roasted chicken and red peppers. The chicken I would cull and cook on the same day. My Abuela Rora wouldn’t have had it any other way.
Whenever I plan a dinner party, I try keep it simple. After all, your guests are there to spend time with you. I try to plan 3/4 of my dishes to make the day before. On the day of, I intentionally plan my main dish to be something that I can prep and forget about. Casserole meals, braises, roasts or smoked meats. Something that can cook on it’s own and doesn’t need my constant supervision. This gives me the freedom to finish my appetizers, think about dessert and most importantly get me out of the kitchen to enjoy the festivities.
For my meal I decided on this seasonal menu.
For this special supper, I started planning and thrift shopping early in the week. Midweek, I fed and started building up my sourdough starter. On Friday I baked a homemade sourdough artisan bread. Whole wheat, sourdough, tomato and rosemary bread.
I also roasted my red peppers that I would use in the paella.
I finished up on Friday by making a Bauman garden fresh salad and the tortilla espanola con aceituna. The tortilla keeps well in the fridge and can be eaten at room temperature.
On Saturday, my husband and I woke up early to cull our fattest rooster. After cleaning and cutting the chicken up, I put it into the oven to roast for an hour.
I am so proud and feel so honored to have been able to share this with my friends and family. I have worked so hard to ensure that this rooster lived in the most sustainable way that I could provide for him. My chickens are fed the best grains free of GMO’s and soy. They get plenty of sunshine, grass, and bugs and although it was difficult to take a life, I value the luxury of life so much more because of this experience.
Along with the moral value of raising my own chickens I honestly couldn’t believe the taste and the rich, vibrant fat from a “real” chicken.
Don’t be scared. Real fat is nourishing to our body makeup. We need fat and the taste and flavors it gives to food is uncomparable. So, while my chicken was roasting I started soaking my wild little neck clams for almejas en Albarino.
A simple yet elegant appetizer rich in Iron.
Once we arrived at the farm, we had a fabulous time. Everyone enjoyed themselves especially in the midst of this serene setting.
The food was good to 😉
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| Tortilla Espanola Con Aceituna |
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| Almejas en Albarino |
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| Sourdough Whole Wheat, Tomato and Rosemary Bread |
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| Homemade Apple Concentrate with Sparkling Water for the Kiddos
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The Paella!
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| Roasted Chicken and Red Pepper Paella |
For Dessert, Simple Baked Apples
The kids had fun.
The adults had fun.
It was the luxury of His place, His food, great family and friends that made this evening so memorable.
If this is a dinner party that you would like to attend, please cast a vote for me for challenge #3 of Project Food Blog.
Wow! Absolutely beautiful post. Awesome job Dianna. The pictures were wonderful!
What a wonderful fall dinner. You remind us of how lucky we all are. -Tien
What a great outdoor dinner. I love that you knew exactly where your chicken is from. Lucky lucky.
Beautiful dinner Diana! Absolutely luxurious in every way! Brava xoxo
Lovely post Diana…your food looks fantastic and it's so wonderful to see you stay true to yourself with each challenge. Well done!
This is such an impressive dinner! The paella must have tasted amazing with your chicken. One day I want to be able to raise my own chicken so that I can taste the difference.
I dont even know what to say to express how in love with this I am right now. You can clearly see how much love, thought, and care you pour into everything from the prep to the pre-prep, to the sourcing of the ingredients that go into your ingredients. = )
I wish I could vote for you mor ethen once!
What a fabulous dinner, Diana! You did such a beautiful job. The dinner is simple and neat. I enjoy every dish you served on the table as well. ^_^ Wishing you all the best and good luck. You know, you have my vote. Enjoy your day.
Kristy
Great Post Diana.
You know, you have my vote. I wish one day we can cook together, at least some tamales. 🙂
Have a blessed week.
Mely
Looks like a delicious meal in a gorgeous place!
Gorgeous Diana!!! Simply amazing =)
Wonderfully done. I love it. You have my vote.
Couldn't you have invited ME?!
I love this Diana. Beautiful. Just voted for you!
I want to be in THIS setting! You made it look so inviting!!!
Good luck!
everything looks brilliant! i would have loved to be there – it looks so delicious and inviting. i love seeing everything made from scratch. best of luck – you have my vote!
wow this is the best meal ever and what a beautiful place to eat outside and eat just perfect on my way over to vote
That is real luxury my dear. The blessings we receive from Him – to have a healthy family, real friends, great home, having a sustainable resources of necessities like food from fresh produce, the fresh air, and everything that surrounds us is real luxury that we should always be thankful for. Often, we ignore these things, and still look and demand for more unecessary things. Very well-written entry. You've got a nice place, you've got the freshest produce, which for me is a luxury that not everyone has today. Love your spread of rustic and homey dishes! The simpler, the better, the more personal! You have my vote! And of course you got yourself a new follower! Good luck and hope to see you on the next round. I love your dedication, your spirituality, soulfulness, and your rationale, you deserve to be the next food blog star!!
I love the sentiment behind this post. The food looks fabulous, but it's only part of the equation that makes this great. Thanks for sharing your luxurious dinner with us.
I am absolutely jealous that you can have a dinner party in such beautiful outdoors! What a lovely dinner and you've reminded me that it's been too long since I've had myself some paella – yours look incredible. Good luck in PFB!
What a gorgeous setting for your dinner. Very nice entry. You've got my vote again.
Wow, just amazing Diana… and that paella *sigh* breathtaking. You've got my vote!
What a beautiful setting! I love how it was your food, your produce, your chicken. Everything about this post… I love! Good job and good luck!
You had me at paella – those red bell peppers are so vibrant! So delicious! I made my first paella (after four attempts) not too long ago and loved making! I'm Filipino so I grew up with so many Spanish deliciousness! Well done. Loved the outdoor setting, too! Best of luck in PFB!
…such a special treat you have here ..I love the that you used your own produce and that paella looks fantastic!
WOW… just WOW… you did an amazing job, I applaud you girl!! voted!
wonderful setting, lighting, menu! Voted.
(see my post here: http://www.foodbuzz.com/project_food_blog/challenges/3/view/1094)
LOVE the farm idea! I am always so impressed with your posts and this one is no exception. 🙂
RUSTIC CHIC! I want to come, that looks GORGEOUS!!!! you have my vote!
http://whitneysamusebouche.blogspot.com/
Whit
HOW FUN! Love this! Hope we both make it to the next round! 🙂 You have my vote!
As I've already said on another entry for PFB3, I may be in trouble… This looks like a really enjoyable event!
Just beautiful, and I especially love that you found your luxury in the blessing of rain and honored Christ. You have a vote from me!
My dinner party was designed to take the diner food from Gooch's Diner, where my parents first met over 40 years ago, and elevate it to luxury for their 39th wedding anniversary. Come see if you'd like 🙂
Awwww, Diana, what a lovely dinner you prepared! Everything looks great and I so enjoyed all the pictures and descriptions of what you did and ate.
I understand completely what you are saying about luxury. In our house, I have been noticing a lot of luxury despite the apparent lack of money that everyone around seems to have. Somehow, though, we are so blessed because we still are eating healthy food and have a place to live. Those are blessings. It's true that it's easy to forget how lucky we are and just how much we have when so many other people are doing with much less.
When you talked about the abundance of rain you've had this year and how it has caused issues in the growing realm of life, it reminded me of something similar we experienced this year in our own garden. I've been gravely disappointed at how little our garden has produced this year due to our late cold weather in the spring; indeed, our tomatoes didn't even start becoming ripe until early September! The rest of our plants that we started from seed languished this year and didn't grow. All in all, out of the 15 or so vegetables we planted earlier in March of this year, only 5 plants actually produced and gave us something to eat – tomatoes, peppers, carrots, lettuce, and a little celery. But you know what? We are now getting tomatoes like crazy because of our late warm, fall weather. We haven't had a frost yet (knock on wood!) and the tomatoes and peppers are still coming! I feel so blessed to have these beautiful heirloom tomatoes and peppers from our local organic farms. And even though we didn't get our bounty that I was expecting, we somehow had the money to be able to buy wonderful vegetables and fruits from local farms and the farmer's market this summer. Wow, I feel so blessed and spoiled by God's infinite love and blessings. I can't even describe it! I think this year, more than any year in my life so far, I feel fortunate and so guarded by The Savior that I almost feel unworthy. But I'm so thankful.
I hope you and your family are doing well and have enjoyed many meals together from the bounty of your growing efforts. Here's to next year – in hopes that the growing season is more fruitful than this year, even though we all survived it, are well fed and happy. Praise God! Thank you Diana for this post, I think about these things often, but it's good to read someone else who is also. 🙂 x0x0x0
Great post and great pics! You have my vote
I got you back, girl. Love the outdoor seating! If our day hadn't been so blustery, I would have loved to have done that!
Plus, so jealous that you managed to plant radishes and lettuce for fall. You've got it all together. May we both move on! 🙂
We just got some chickens that we're raising w/neighbors for eggs. I can certainly see eating one in stew when she gets older. Nothing better than really fresh, wholesome food.
Love your whole dinner; wish I'd been there. Paella was gorgeous! You certainly have one of my votes:)
Fabulous! So fresh and inviting. Your photos are terrific, the menu is awesome/ Best of luck, you are certainly deserving of the next challenge!
LL
Congratulations, Diana! You made it to the next round. yay…. Great job!
Best wishes, Kristy
Congrats Congrats going onto challenge #4!!! Must be exciting for you! Good luck and all the best. Happy Thanksgiving to you! You'll be getting the next vote from me 🙂 Your awesome!
Have a happy thanksgiving!
jen @ http://www.passion4food.ca
Excellent post – you got my vote for this! Good luck 🙂 Feel free to hop over to leave a comment 🙂
Have a wonderful day!
jen @ http://www.passion4food.ca