While the date may vary slightly from year to year, the summer solstice, also known as midsummer, officially marks the first day of the summer season. The summer solstice occurs when the orbit and axial tilt of the planet positions our hemisphere closer to the sun than at any other point during our yearly trek around the big ‘ole fusion-furnace we sometimes call Sol. As a result of this cosmic positioning, the summer solstice is the longest day of the year, and ancient cultures have long recognized this neat little piece of astronomical trivia. Traditionally, the solstice has been a time to celebrate the coming of the crops, light bonfires, and, until the Church ruined it, engage in merry-making.

One of the reasons ancient cultures, specifically the Gaelic ones, stayed up late, partied, and lit bonfires on Midsummer’s Eve was because they thought it was a time when Faerie folk wandered the countryside freely, and they hoped the big fires and revelry would scare them off. Those of us literary types will recall that this is exactly what happens in Shakespeare’s classic “A Midsummer’s Night Dream.”

Mmmm,spicy

It was in this rich tradition of celebrating nature and the verdant bounty she provides that, instead of the normal, sit-down affair that characterize most of The Homegrown Revival dinners, The HGR Team decided to hold its final event of the spring season as a picnic in Butler Park on Midsummer’s Eve.

When we arrived at the park, The HGR Team had already set up a serving table on top of a small, grassy hill, and several of the Revivalists had laid their picnic blankets on the ground. The HGR Team greeted us warmly, and then they set about mixing up our aperitifs, which they called “Spicy Greyhounds.” For the uninitiated, a “Greyhound” consists of vodka and grapefruit juice. A “Spicy Greyhound,” as The HGR Team jovially explained, contains a muddled slice of jalapeno, which definitely kicked the whole thing up a notch. The final product contained Texas grapefruit, Dripping Springs vodka, and slices of muddled jalapenos from Springdale Farm.

Muddle it up, Tink

Since a line of thirsty Revivialists had begun to form, Tink Pinkard decided to join in and help make the drinks. Noticing that the singular muddler was currently in use, Tink decided to improvise, just as any outdoorsman worth his salt would do. So he grabbed an unopened beer bottle, flipped it upside down, and proceeded to use the cap to muddle away like a madman.

You can’t repeat the past? Of course you can!

We took our drinks and sat on our blankets, and before too long, The HGR Team brought us our dinner in a beautiful picnic basket. The picnic baskets had come from Shuford Alexander, a vintage luggage restorer in East Austin. I have to say, those cases were magnificent. One of our friends said our basket made him feel like Gatsby, and I had to agree. Just having it on our blanket brimming with food upped my gentleman quotient by an order of magnitude. Just look at that thing. Isn’t it gorgeous?

Since this dinner didn’t have service, we got to choose the order in which we ate our dishes. We started with the potato salad that the chefs had made with potatoes from Springdale Farm and Urban Roots. Four egg halves rested on top of the salad, and we greedily spooned it onto our plates. Next we moved to the squash salad that had also been sourced from Urban Roots. The tangy crispiness of the squash dish did a nice job of complimenting the smooth taste of the potato salad. We also had a mason jar filled with a cool and crisp shredded cucumber salad that I simply couldn’t get enough of.

No Joking! These are serious business!

After exploring the veggies, we moved to the proteins. We each had an entire sausage to ourselves, and we were told they had been made with wild Texas boar and cold smoked by The HGR Team specially for the picnic. Sometimes I find the smokiness of smoked meats overwhelming, but it was perfectly balanced, and when combined with the homemade mustard sauce, the sausages almost made me think the meal couldn’t get any better.

Plate of Deliciousness

Then we opened the bag of fried chicken, and that thought quickly flew from my mind. The chicken, which was sourced locally, was absolutely delicious. It was full of flavor and perfectly juicy, and the breading was unlike any I’ve ever had. It was crispy with just a hint of sweetness.

For dessert we had mini angel food cakes topped with blackberry jam made from Springdale berries. By this point in the evening it was fairly dark out, and I couldn’t resist swiping a second cake.

Aos Sí

We reclined on our blankets, bellies full and hungers satiated, and basked in the cool night and the soft glow of the lights of downtown Austin. And since APD would have likely frowned on us lighting a huge bonfire in Butler Park, The HGR Team passed out glow sticks. We laughed and waved them manically in the air to usher in the solstice, to say good-bye to the spring, and to scare away any Faire Folk who may have been lurking in the bushes nearby.

EDIT: Just a quick update. The HGR Team kindly posted the recipes for several of the dishes. But there’s one caveat if you wanna successfully make these dishes: You have to eat them with friends.

Leigh and I have been attending The Homegrown Revival’s dinners for nearly two years now. We’ve only missed a couple during that time, and I start to get a little antsy if too many days tick by without seeing The Homegrown Revival Team and the Revivalists.

The friends. The food. The conversations. Breaking bread and sharing drinks with farmers, foragers, and foodies. Sharing a meal with the wonderful chefs who prepared it.

There’s just something special about attending The Homegrown Revival’s dinners.

Table’s ready to go. All we need are people.

The last dinner we attended took place way back in January, and that’s entirely too long.

The Homegrown Team members had planned to hold the dinner in the garden area at in.gredients, but because of the looming threat of thunderstorms, they had to abruptly move the dinner to the warehouse at Reclaimed Space. I love in.gredients, but the warehouse at Reclaimed Spaced provided a perfect location. When the thunderstorms finally rolled over Austin, the clattering rain on the tin roof provided our soundtrack, and the breeze brought in by the cold front helped cool us down.

Last night’s meal was a special one because The Homegrown Revival is currently in the process of creating a television show based on its mission statement, and during last night’s dinner the camera crew floated around and filmed the action.

Duck Season

The meal itself couldn’t have been more amazing. The menu came together as the result of a collaboration between Sonya Cote, Tink Pinkard, and Paige Hill. Tink provided the proteins, which were duck and yellow catfish. Paige foraged and sourced the produce, and Sonya created the dishes.

Look at that color. So Beautiful.

We started with duck confit, served with beets and onions. Chef Cote had poached the duck in its own fat, and the result was nothing short of amazing. After the duck confit, we had a bright red radicchio soup. Thinly sliced cucumber graced the middle of the bowl, and the soup had just a naughty little hint of spice that played well with the coolness of the cucumber. Along with the soup, we had a dish of potato salad made with several varieties of potatoes and beautiful hard boiled eggs. The fourth course was a huge mound of salad with fresh veggies from local Austin farms, and right on the top sat a pile of candied pecans.

Catfish Ceviche FTW

And the coup de grâce was a ceviche made with yellow catfish, mango, and jalapenos. Before last night, catfish would have been waaaaaay down on my list of fish I want as ceviche, but man oh man was that ceviche good. Really just sublime. I could have easily mistaken it for something like grouper. But nope. Good ol’ Texas catfish.

Mmmmmmmmmm

And for dessert? Fresh strawberries and chocolate ganache. The chocolate was just lovely–rich and creamy. I’m glad they didn’t give us a spoon. I would’ve eaten it right out of the bowl.

I mentioned earlier that a film crew was on hand, but what I didn’t mention at the beginning of this post was that I had the distinct honor of sitting in on a roundtable discussion about local food for the shoot. In fact, I sat at the head table with Tink Pinkard from The Homegrown Revival, Cameron Molberg from Coyote Creek Organic Feed Mill and Farm, Judith McGeary from Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance, Paige Hill from Urban Patchwork, Dorsey Barger from HausBar Farms, and Renee Rangel from RRR Farms.

I have to admit, I felt a little outta my league. Those wonderful ladies and gracious gentlemen were so knowledgeable and passionate about the Austin local food movement that I had to internally remind myself that I was there to talk and not listen.

TV stars in the making

One of the things that we kept coming back to during our discussion was the importance of community and the communal act of sharing information. Changing the way we view food in this country will take a real paradigm shift, and for that to happen, many people have to enter into this conversation. So talk to people about local foods. Go to farmer’s markets and actually talk to the vendors. Check out the web pages I linked above, and then visit those farms and try their produce and proteins.

Above all else, become involved with your food and the artistry that’s required to prepare it. The ability to create food that sustains us nutritionally is easy. Thousands of species of animals have figured out how to create or gather food for sustenance. But as far as I know, we’re one of the only species capable of creating delicious, transcendent meals that not only sustain us, but that bring us emotional and life-affirming pleasure. We should take pride in that aspect of our species and celebrate it.

It’s special.

It’s unique.

It’s what makes us human.