Farm Dinner

On Saturday evening, we went to dinner at a local goat cheese farm. We've enjoyed their delicious goat cheese, sold at our local Farmer's Market and food co-op, for the past year. Last summer they started featuring weekend dinners with different themes; our neighbors attended and raved about the experience, so we decided to tag along this year.

The theme for Saturday's dinner was "Celebrate Spring." The first event is iced tea and hors d'oeuvres.

It's BYOB, so we had already stopped by our local wine shop for a couple of bottles to go with dinner. We brought Beronia Rioja 2004 and Lirac Red Rhöne Wine 2006, knowing that lamb was the main course. Luckily, our neighbors remembered to bring cool white wine to start!



Here's the custom-built smoker/grill:



Before dinner we were given a tour of the farm. The goats were very happy to see us:



And these baby kids--unweaned--couldn't keep still, so excited were they. So adorable! Until one tried to eat my handbag...





The menu. All was incredible, but the cheese course was eye-wateringly amazing. All cheese is created on site, and made from the milk of the Farm's goats, with the exception of the Krotovina, which is a mix of sheep and goat milk. The Farm purchases its sheep milk from a nearby Amish sheep farmer. There was also a slice of honeycomb accompanying the cheese, which came from Farm beehives. All other produce and the lamb came from local farms.



Typically, the meals are served outside at long tables in a nearby field, but because the forecast threatened rain, we ate in the Farm's new barn:



It did start raining, but only after the dinner was nearly finished. As we were leaving, we glanced up at the rainy Prairie sky, and this beautiful break in the clouds.