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.