A Farm to Table Invitation

Today I took Mom to her Dr. appointment for her 12 week checkup.  Thankfully, her arm is now about 75% healed, surgery will not be necessary, and she now has clearance to drive.  Translation: I am going to be able to reclaim a little part of my life back.  Starting Monday, I am going to start by taking two hours off from Mom & Dad every day to get some of my own work done. I know I am going to have to assert myself as my parents have both gotten very dependent, but we are moving in the right direction.

High on my list are two Farm to Table events that I am involved in presenting.  On Saturday December 1st, I am styling tables for a sit down dinner for 75 and stand-up dessert for 400 more.  The venue will be a theatre in San Diego and benefit a local animal rescue.  A band that most Gen-X and Y listeners know well will perform after dinner, and possibly a few other surprise musicians.  That’s all I can divulge at this point….

And on Saturday December 8th, I am helping to organize a Farm to Table brunch strictly limited to 100 guests at $150 per person.  Two well-known local chefs are involved; I am going to make the squash soup starter served from fresh white pumpkin tureens with silver ladles into pretty vintage cups, and all of the desserts.  I have not made dessert for 100 before, but with planning, I am convinced this is do-able~

This event will be held at the estate of a woman who is easily recognizable to anyone who paid attention to the culture of the late 70’s and early 80’s.  Not only is she beautiful, she is extremely gracious.   She has a farm on her estate, that I will draw on for the displays.

The event is a benefit for Neighborhood House (I will tell you more about this wonderful organization before the event) and Sage Mountain Farm, one of my favorite farms in Southern California.  About 40 of the tickets have already been sold, at last week’s market, before tickets have been printed.

In addition to the soup and dessert, I am styling the entry and all the tables (service, dinner and silent auction).

I’m probably going neutral linens and white for the tables; tomorrow I’m going to downtown LA to look for fabrics for table runners….

The various paper whites I planted are making progress; the bushel baskets will be ready first, probably because the roots have more to hold on to and more matter to feed on.  All of these will be used in the décor….

I will also assemble about 18 silent auction baskets the day before the event.  This basket is from the dinner I did last year at Sea Breeze Farm with Jason Mraz.  This was the basket Jason won representing a dinner for 20 of his best friends (and that we keep postponing due to schedules).  I will draw heavily again from our Hostess’ farm for our silent auction presentation, and we are actively soliciting some great auction items!

I definitely have my work cut out for me, and I can’t do it alone. And, so, here is the invitation part of this post.  Would you like to help me pull off either of these events?  I need some helpers for staging, transport and, if you’d like, to come to help me prepare the desserts.  I need a few ladies who are stylish and can follow some direction from me and help finish a few sentences.  Are you up to the task?  I have a few local followers in mind and I will contact you this week.  You will join our guests at the dinner table ($150 value in addition to some great networking) and I’ll generously supply you with some baskets for your holiday gift giving.  In case you are interested and I have not met you yet at the markets or by email or comments, feel free to comment or contact me.  And of course there is a large group of friends & followers I wish could be here for this event.  Diana in Texas, trying to figure out how to get you here…. meanwhile I’ll try to blog and photograph as much of this process as I can. 

I also plan to leave for Beaune the day after the brunch on the 8th.  It’s going to be a busy month!

So, if you are interested in tagging along with me as we present these events, please comment here, stop by one of the markets, or otherwise contact me.  Wishing you a wonderful weekend~