Backyard bounty: Aurora Inn spotlights local wine, food at Farm Dinner

AURORA | A perfect pairing of Finger Lakes food and wine is the basis for a bountiful Farm Dinner at the Inns of Aurora, and a look at what's new and fresh in the region this season.

For the second year in a row, the inn will host a six-part dinner series to encourage education of local food and wine in the backyard of the Finger Lakes. Local wineries and breweries are invited to speak on behalf of what they bring to the table, and menus were built based on the wines and beers used.

This year, the Aurora Inn and Executive Chef Patrick Higgins will come together to collaborate with wineries and brewers again with that same mentality in mind. Meryl Davis, director of training and service at the inn, said this year's first dinner is like a launching pad for the series to begin — or a sneak peek.

“Our first event is all about the Finger Lakes,” she said. “We're still in the midst of harvest and the season is winding down, so let's use as much as we can so we're still in the middle of it.”

The farm dinner will feature local farmer Rose Ryan, who also works closely with the inn. Ryan, owner of Harvest Home Organics in Moravia, is working with Higgins to choose a menu that best suits the wine and beer being served.

“Rose is kind of the main speaker at this event,” Davis added. “We want to talk about the grower and food. We want it to be more about the products.”

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Celery Root = Soup!

Pepper Curls

Sometimes it's the quality (and the quirkiness) and not the quantity.

Good as Garlic

Garlic is gold at Harvest Home. Rose grows the best and cleanest garlic around. Does anyone else thinks that at first glance, this looks like a pile of bones?

Thank goodness for flowers

...and bright blue skies!

A healthy trio of Robin's eggs in the magnolia tree.

Zucchini’s Flower Power - from the NY Times

The beautiful and delicate blossoms can be enjoyed without being cooked, as part of a salad or stuffed with cheese.

I tromped (walked delicately) through the zucchini rows today trying to find a submarine-sized zuke that Rose and crew might have left behind. No luck, of course. Everything left was perfectly under 6".

No season is complete without a sunflower photo. This one shows two things: it is terribly dry up there on the ridge and I'm not the only one who can't bear to pull up volunteer flowers.

And the kholrabi get all artsy-farsty on us. 

Local Color

Peonies

Lettuce

Killdeer eggs

Johnny Jump-Ups

New this summer: Sage Advice

• Expert on-site evaluations 
•  Detailed plans for success 
•  Lasting sustainable infrastructure 
•  Instruction on traditional and contemporary farming 
•  Home processing support 
•  Marketing and distribution strategie

About Rose Ryan:

• Successful certified organic farmer/grower since 2004
• Founding member, Skaneateles Farmers Market
• More info at www.localharvest.org/harvest-home-organics-M10575

 “Success comes with careful preparation, timely installations, and constant observation. Walk your fields every day.”