Celebrating Milestones: A Farm-To-Table Experience

 

Jill celebrated a significant birthday in September. (I'll let you ask her which it was.) She chose a birthday meal at Saltwell Farm Kitchen, rural Overbrook. The route took us up and down hills and over dirt roads to a beautiful farm setting nestled among mature trees. 

This particular celebration was an adults-only gathering. She and Eric invited Randy and me, as well as Brent and Susan. They didn't figure the girls would appreciate the six-course tasting menu and the leisurely 3-hour supper.

But the rest of us certainly did.

Saltwell is named for the salty wells built on the original 1856 McKinzie Farmstead, Saltwell Farm Kitchen is 20 minutes west of Lawrence and 20 minutes east of Topeka, nestled in a grove of walnut trees and native Kansas prairie land, just around the bend from Clinton Lake Beach Park. Advance reservations are required.

 

They serve 50 guests per dinner seating each Friday and Saturday night. 

 

The tables are far enough away that you don't hear other diners' conversations. Each table is set with vintage linens and mix-and-match vintage china. 

 

During the months of May through early October, guests dine outdoors near the Potting Shed bar and culinary gardens. 

From mid October through the end of April, guests dine inside the old farmhouse around the antique wood-burning stove in a candle-lit dining room and bar.

 

Inside or outside, diners can add signature cocktails and mocktails to their evening for an additional charge.

The Saltwell Experience is a farm-to-table menu inspired by the seasons, local ingredients, neighboring farmers, and foraged foods.

 

We got there in plenty of time to walk around the grounds and enjoy the beautiful evening.

 

 

 

 

We entered through a vine-covered arch into the seating area.

  

 Waiters delivered each course with an explanation. 

Our first course was focaccia boule, flavored with aged cheddar and poblano, served with cream cheese Saltwell honeybee butter. Yum!

Course two was Crimson rosado gazpacho with coriander queso fresco and sumac tajin. The gazpacho included watermelon, cucumbers and tomatoes. It wasn't the favorite course for anyone at our table, but it was still fun to sample something we'd only heard about on Food Network. 

Third course was Goddess Roots - fresh herbs and tender greens with feral Green Goddess dressing and crispy cassava root. (It was definitely not like Green Goddess dressing from the bottle!)

 Fourth course was called Southside Southpaw - a Chicago-style hot beef arepa, a type of flatbread corn "pancake."

Beef was on the main course menu - a black pepper rosemary sirloin, served with smoked potato salad and garden succotash.

And the sixth and final course did not disappoint. It was Dubai Choco-Taco - a Dubai chocolate cannoli with dark chocolate whisked ricotta, pistachio phyllo stuffing and a pistachio whipped topping.

 (The photos probably don't do the food justice, but as it got darker, it was harder to capture good photographs.) 

 But the atmosphere was even better as the sun went down with the fire pit and the lights strung above the tables.

  

 

It's not every day that you eat food prepared by a James Beard-nominated chef - Rozz Petrozz. It is expensive, but it was a memorable experience to celebrate a special occasion. 

 

LIFE LATELY 

I've posted on Facebook, but the rest of this post is for me. We had a wonderful September, following Kinley's 8th grade tennis season. We definitely "kept the road hot" as I tell my friends, driving back and forth to Topeka to catch the action. And we wouldn't trade a minute of it.

 

Kinley had quite the fan club at some of her games. Our fellow grandparents - Alan and Christy - helped cheer her on. At another, Uncle Brent and Susan caught the action (though I missed a photo). 

The trip was a little shorter the day we went to Wichita Collegiate for tennis!  

 

At her season finale, she won 5-0 and took home the first-place medal in No. 1 singles!  

 

She started playing tennis at Genesis several years ago, and all her hard work certainly paid off. 

Her little sister has not yet made a total commitment to tennis. She's still playing the field - so to speak - with volleyball, basketball and softball. She says she's thinking about cross country when she gets to junior high competitions. So, time will tell.

But at one of our trips to Topeka for Kinley's tennis, we got to watch Brooke at her tennis lesson. So we'll see ...

However, she has totally committed to being a bookaholic, like her grandma. 

She did watch her sister play tennis. But she also read during others' matches.

I tell her - and her parents - that I'm happy to feed that habit. Jill asked if we could be to Topeka soon enough to take Brooke to Barnes and Noble so she could spend her birthday gift card. How fast could I type, "Sure!" (Pretty fast!)

I've supplemented the public library a couple of times in the last month. Once, the book Brooke wanted wasn't in their collection. The other time, she had been "waiting and waiting" for The Hunger Games. Grandma ended up buying it before she left town. (And Brooke finished it in a day!) 

 

We book addicts have to stick together.

It's always fun to have family with us at K-State football games.  

Kinley wasn't there, but Jill, Eric and Brooke joined us for the UCF game September 27.
 

We even got a win!

 Let's hope for a repeat this weekend. It's homecoming vs. TCU.

 

Life Lately

 

How many years is a generation? 

What's your favorite piece of equipment?

How much is it when you add your two ages together?

 

Inquiring minds want to know - at least, inquiring minds in Mrs. Kylie Meyer's second grade classroom wanted to know! 

 

(Mrs. Meyer - after politely asking if we minded sharing our ages - had the students do a little mathematics on their own to come up with the answer. Now that's a good teacher! (And ... mental math has never been my best skill.)

 

Randy and I spoke to the Stafford second graders Monday on Farming: Then and Now.  We have visited the second graders for several years now. As with any quality teacher, Mrs. Meyer gave us an assignment. She wanted us to compare the "then and now" of farming. The second graders are learning about comparison and contrast. Mrs. Meyer helps to illustrate the concept by inviting community members with different backgrounds to talk about their professions or interests and compare them, then and now.

 

Every year, I'm thankful to my mom for putting together family history books for all the grandchildren. She made my job creating the PowerPoint easy because of the old farm photos she compiled in a three-ring notebook. I added some old photos from Randy's side of the family, along with some from our farming days. (There are examples of the photos in this blog post.)

 

This reporter was thrilled to see a few of the students had actually jotted down a note so they could remember their question during the Q-and-A time.  

It's always a pleasure to see the current "crop" of second graders. This year's class is small, but they were polite and inquisitive. 

 

STAYCATION

 

 

Last Thursday, we went to Dodge City for a Kansas Wheat event at Boothill Distillery. Randy had reservations to play golf the next morning in Dodge. But a sprinkly, foggy day changed the plans. (We won't complain about rain. In fact, we'd like to order some more.)  

 

So, instead of golf, we took the round-about way home and drove to Greensburg's Big Well Museum. Anyone in Kansas will remember, but for others: The rural Kansas town of Greensburg was virtually destroyed by an F5 tornado on May 4, 2007. While most of the town's buildings were reduced to rubble, the town decided to build back using "green" construction - appropriate in a town called Greensburg, right? 

 

These are some of the signs collected and saved after the tornado.

 

Both Randy and I remember visiting the Big Well on school trips when we were students ourselves. The Big Well, an engineering feat, was completed in 1888, with its 109-foot depth and 32-foot diameter originally serving as the town's water supply.

 

During our school field trips, we also remember seeing that "1,000 space rock" advertised in the salvaged sign above.  Now, the world's largest pallasite meteorite has a place of honor in the new museum. The meteorite is a blend of olivine crystals and metal.

 

The current site is much more impressive than the original. Now, the museum tells the history of Greensburg, along with the story of the tornado and the rebuild. For an empath, it's hard to see and remember the destruction and the lives lost.  But it's an inspiring story and an inspiring museum - good for a day trip.

Looking up

Looking down

We also ate lunch in Greensburg and toured the museum (home to a soda fountain) and the library. (I didn't take any photos there.)

 

FAMILY TIME

 

I've posted to Facebook about some family events recently, but I wanted to have the record in my blog posts, too. We treated the whole family to supper at The Blind Tiger in Topeka to celebrate our 44th wedding anniversary. We were so glad everyone could be there. 

 

Bonus event: This was the same weekend the girls had regional 4-H Club Day. Both had qualified for presenting at the regional event after getting top blues at the county 4-H day.

 

 Kinley's multi-media presentation was on dog shows. She got a purple.

 

 

Brooke's was a demonstration on making crafts with air-dry clay. She also earned a purple ribbon. 

After lunch, Brooke and I had a side trip to Barnes and Noble. (I tell her parents I'm glad to accommodate Brooke's book habit. They also visit the library, but we have fun at the book store, for sure!)

 

 

BIG BIRTHDAY

After all that excitement on Saturday, we couldn't have a regular old day on Sunday. We helped my dad celebrate his 91st birthday with a pizza party, cake and ice cream.

 

 

Kent, my dad, me, Lisa and Mom. Darci was in Pratt County a couple of weeks ago.

After the dessert, my dad was looking for his cowboy hat that he used while on the 1953 Kansas State University Livestock Judging Team. 

 

 Success! 

 

A LITTLE BASEBALL

 

We met Randy's sister, Kathy, her husband Dave and daughter Emily and cheered on the K-State Bat Cats in their baseball game vs. the Wichita State University Shockers last week. It's always fun to see lots of scoring. We did. K-State was triumphant - 13-10. And popcorn for supper? Yes, please!