I fell in love with a goat, drank a pickle martini and had dinner with Nombomb

by lisa | 19 August 2012 18:47

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That pretty much covers the highlights of my evening at the Sustainable Feast! Don’t worry, I’ll explain…

The Absolute Highlight of the Whole Conference

I think everybody who was lucky enough to attend the Sustainable Feast at Clark Farm would agree with me in saying that it was the best part of the whole conference, hands down. The feast was hosted by farm owner Diana Rodgers of Radiance Nutrition and her husband Andrew. The ambiance was indescribable but here is a video that was taken by Bill and Hayley of Primal Palate (Make it Paleo) that may give you an idea of what it was like to be there –note the great music in the background by Qwill.  And here I am with the makers of the video:

The dinner was supposed to be preceded by a tour of the farm, but did I mention that there were torrential rains and tornado warnings?.. We didn’t end up getting the tour, but the rain didn’t dampen the spirits inside the barn. The barn was  decorated beautifully (yes, barns can be beautiful), was clean and didn’t even smell like a barn! It was like something right out of a Martha Stewart or Homes and Gardens magazine.

I fell in love with a goat and got kissed by a dog named Otis

It was a farm, so of course there were animals. The invitation had even said “Dress casual. This is a farm and some of you will be eating next to goats.” The goats were adorable. I’ve met a lot of goats in my day, but these ones seemed more like dogs. And they were polite goats (meaning they didn’t try to eat my clothes like most goats do). I fell in love with one named Tulip who came begging for attention and loved to be scratched behind the ears. Tulip was soft and wore a red collar. I wonder how my husband would feel about getting  a goat?

My other favorite animal of the night was Otis the dog (you’ll spot him and Tulip in the video link above). Otis just went from person to person getting pets and paying for them with kisses. I’m a sucker for dogs, but you knew that.

The Food: Pickle Martinis and Wild Boar Belly Hor d’oeurves

The cocktail list included things like ‘cucumber mint gin and tonics‘ and ‘spicy pickle vodka martinis‘. That’s right, pickle! And yes, this non-drinker had one and liked it.

The food at the event was not only delicious, it was beautifully presented.  The catering was done by the stunning women of Chive Sustainable Events.  We had passed hor d’oeurves followed by several courses of a sit down dinner that were seamlessly served.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 The People I Met

Yes, I met some people who are very famous in my virtual paleo world. But you know what? They were all approachable, down to earth, easy to talk to people just like you and me.

I met the man himself, Mr. Robb Wolf and we chatted  for about 20 minutes. I’m originally from Nevada where he is now living and doing his ground breaking work with the police and fire departments. What a nice guy. He talks just like he does on his podcasts. He’s funny and he’s real.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Huge highlight for me was meeting Michelle Tam of NomNomPaleo and her husband Henry Fong of Fitbomb. I’ve followed Michelle and Henry’s blogs almost since she first started blogging. It’s kind of weird feeling like you know somebody when really you don’t know them at all. Michelle and Henry were super nice and easy to talk to and their boys, the infamous ‘Big O and Little O’ were even cuter in person. We were fortunate enough to actually eat dinner with Michelle and Henry. Henry is pretty well known for taking pictures of everything (and I do mean everything) that the Nombomb clan eat and so it was a special treat to sit next to him while he took pictures of his dinner. Pretty sure I was mostly done eating before he even got started. The food was too good to take the chance of letting it get cold! You can read Michelle’s recap of the dinner here where you can see those beautiful pictures Henry took. I was honored to be mentioned in her post!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sitting across the table from us was Chris Kresser and Dan Pardi and the Paleo Parents Stacy and Matt were also there. I enjoyed chatting with Dan about drugs (no, not those kind of drugs!). At one point I met Diane Sanfilippo of Balanced Bites. I am eagerly awaiting a copy of her new book Practical Paleo which should be arriving in my mail box any day. Diane said “Please don’t say anything nice to me, I’m so emotional because people are being so nice and I’m going to start crying!”–too cute. She deserves all the niceness she’s been getting and I can’t wait to finally get my hands on her book.

 Read the recap from the Hostess herself

Diana put up a beautiful post about the event and you really need to stop by and give it a read. The professional photographer that was there took many stunning photos that are featured in Diana’s post. If you are ever in the Boston area, be sure to stop by Clark Farm and get yourself some good eats from their farm store.

Last, but certainly not least…

The night of the Sustainable Feast happened to coincide with my 22nd wedding anniversary. Eating good food on a farm full of love and good karma was the perfect way to celebrate. My husband has been a wonderful partner and has always loved me through thick and thin (and by thick I do mean fat). He has always supported me in my efforts to find optimal health and I couldn’t have gotten to where I am without him (and no, not just because he happens to do all of the cooking!).

Source URL: https://swisspaleo.ch/i-fell-in-love-with-a-goat-drank-a-pickle-martini-and-had-dinner-with-nombomb/

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