This is my fifth year cooking for this retreat, and participants are both helpful and appreciative. I mull over what to make over the year, finding that sweet overlap between delicious and easy.
This year I made corn chowder on Labor Day (72 ears for that Thanksgiving, Christmas, and this event), and I made and froze my tuna burgers last March when I saw good tuna. I shopped at Costco, Trader Joes, and at my local fish monger here I ordered steel head trout from Scotland, which he flash-froze for me.
On the way to the retreat, I got bread in Portland at Standard Bakery (which since last week has gotten a James Beard Award), and picked up fresh swordfish off the dock at Harbor Fish.
Participants brought arugula and asparagus from their gardens, and I brought fresh lettuce from ours. Other participants brought appetizers (I only made the first night’s) and homemade baklava, made with honey from her own bees.
So in this post below you can see these meals and I’ll link to their recipes here:
First night:
Warm Black Bean Dip with Tortilla chips
Grilled Swordfish with Herbed Lemon Pepper Butter
Garden lettuce with roasted beets, fresh strawberries, homemade spiced pecans, and Rhubarb Salad Dressing
Second night:
(Hummus and homemade seeded crackers not made by me)
Moroccan Spiced Carrot Salad with lentils on arugula
Baked Steelhead Trout
Third Night:
(cheese platter)
Tomatoes and Avocado with Honey Lime Vinagrette
Watermelon
(Baklava)
Fourth Night
(charcuterie board)
fresh fruit and sweet potato chips
(leftover dessert)
We couldn’t all fit in one room to eat, and I apologize I did not get a photo of the group together in the other room.
This was fun and went pretty well; people seemed to like it, and many thought they’d try making some of this for themselves. Maybe you might want to as well?
And I’ve been asked to cook for them again next year! (Hummmm… I wonder what I will make?)
