{"id":1435,"date":"2007-08-20T21:52:00","date_gmt":"2007-08-20T21:52:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/elitemporaryblog.wordpress.com\/2007\/08\/20\/so-we-feasted"},"modified":"2007-08-20T21:52:00","modified_gmt":"2007-08-20T21:52:00","slug":"so-we-feasted","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/orangette.net\/2007\/08\/so-we-feasted\/","title":{"rendered":"So we feasted."},"content":{"rendered":"

When you care about food, and when you\u2019re marrying someone who also cares about food, and when you met this someone because of a particular food, and when both of you spend your days \u2013 or the better part of them, anyway \u2013 cooking, scheming, and daydreaming about food, well, let\u2019s just say this: there\u2019s a lot<\/span> of pressure to feed people well at your wedding. Which, quite honestly, is no easy feat.<\/p>\n

In most circles, the word \u201cwedding\u201d isn\u2019t exactly synonymous with \u201cdelicious.\u201d Usually, it\u2019s just the opposite. Many venues equipped to host weddings \u2013 hotels, gardens, museums, and so on \u2013 require that you use their (often iffy) in-house caterer, or at least limit your choice to a few companies. That\u2019s part of the reason why Brandon and I felt so picky about our wedding site<\/a>. We didn\u2019t want to choose a caterer \u2013 and, by extension, the food we would eat on our wedding day \u2013 just because some stodgy administrator told us to. In fact, the more we looked around, the more we more we found ourselves thinking about the caterer<\/span>, not just the site where we\u2019d be eating said caterer\u2019s food. In the end, when we chose Bellingham, we chose it not only because it was pretty and on the water and blah blah blah<\/span>, but also because of Cia\u00f2 Thyme<\/a>. We even changed our wedding date \u2013 from July 28 to July 29 \u2013 to match their availability. We meant business. We just knew they were right.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
I mean, I don\u2019t know about you, but my<\/span> kind of caterer is the type that claps his hands and gets giddy when you ask him to make fingerling potato chips. I like the kind who, when you tell him \u2013 somewhat sheepishly, almost apologizing \u2013 that you want deviled eggs during the cocktail hour, grins, rubs his hands together, and starts gushing excitedly about cr\u00e8me fra\u00eeche and herbed aioli and capers and caviar and the little, tiny chicken eggs he can get from a farmer nearby. I also like the kind of caterer who calls to ask whether you\u2019d like the mirepoix for your farro salad kept crunchy, or more caramelized. It\u2019s also quite terrific when he calls to tell you, giddily, that he\u2019s been out meeting with his usual farmers, and that your beets have just been picked, and that your potatoes are being harvested on Lummi Island<\/a> right this minute, and that, you know, he\u2019s been thinking about the blue cheese for the beets, and if it\u2019s alright, he\u2019s feeling kind of excited about a particular Spanish type, rather than one from Oregon. I also like the kind of caterer who dances with you at your wedding, and who hugs you and kisses you and<\/span> your new husband on the cheeks. I really like that kind. Which, luckily, is just what we got.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a> <\/span><\/p>\n

I can\u2019t say enough about Cia\u00f2 Thyme. It\u2019s owned and run by Jessica and Mataio Gillis, she being the coordinator and keeper of all details, he being the chef and chief forager. They call their operation a \u201crestaurant without walls,\u201d featuring local produce and doing all cooking on-site. Because they deal only in seasonal foods and every menu they make is different, they don\u2019t do tastings, so until our rehearsal dinner \u2013 which they prepared, along with the wedding \u2013 we hadn\u2019t tasted a crumb of their food. But given what we\u2019d heard from our friend Ashley<\/a>, who tipped us off to them in the first place, not to mention all the promising meetings and phone calls, I have to say, we weren\u2019t worried in the least. In fact, it kind of made it more fun.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Our rehearsal dinner was held at Hovander Homestead Park<\/a> in Ferndale, about 15 minutes north of Bellingham. We reserved a clearing between a big, red barn and the Nooksack River, with a dozen picnic tables. Brandon\u2019s dad strung tiny globe lights<\/a> around the two white tents we rented, and Jessica and Mataio covered the tables with ivory cloths and kraft paper<\/a> runners, kraft-colored napkins and Bambu veneerware<\/a>. Each table was topped with a bundle of flowers in a Mason jar – blue cornflowers, nigella, lavender, and thistle – and a carafe of fresh raspberry lemonade, and three jars of our pickles<\/a>: finger-size carrots with garlic and thyme, grapes with cinnamon and mustard seed<\/a>, and cornichons with pearl onions. (Okay, yeah, we didn\u2019t make<\/span> the cornichons, but we did hunt down our favorite brand, Roland<\/a>, and repackage them into half-pint jars. That\u2019s got to count for something.)<\/p>\n

We were aiming for an upscale picnic of sorts, the kind of thing where the bride can wear jeans and a messy ponytail and her favorite yellow flats, and where the buffet is spread with all sorts of summery things in their finest incarnation. The kind of thing that goes nicely with a bottle of hefeweizen and a game of Frisbee. The kind of thing, let\u2019s say, where my uncle Arnold can sport a ponytail and my niece Mia can sleep in her stroller, parked under a tree.<\/p>\n

So this is what we ate:<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Pulled chicken served with salted rosemary buns from Breadfarm<\/a>, red leaf lettuce, Dijon mustard, basil pesto, tapenade, and sun-dried tomato pesto (and Brandon\u2019s red onion pickles, a big jar full)<\/p>\n

A platter of roasted vegetables, including Roma tomatoes, eggplant, zucchini, yellow squash, peppers, shallots, shiitake mushrooms, and cherry tomatoes still on the vine<\/p>\n

Sliced tomatoes, basil, and fresh buffalo-milk mozzarella<\/p>\n

Fingerling potato salad with sweet marinated onions, haricots verts, and whole grain mustard vinaigrette<\/p>\n

Fresh berry tartlets with honey mascarpone<\/p>\n

and oatmeal-chocolate chip cookies with coconut<\/div>\n

Now, you know I\u2019m not much of an exaggerator<\/a> – not compared to my new husband, anyway – but I don\u2019t think I\u2019ve ever eaten a sweeter, juicier piece of chicken. My aunt Tina, too, swooned into her roasted Roma tomato. And my brother David told me later that he nearly ate two sandwiches, just so he could have another roll. They were tender, like brioche, with shiny brown tops and flecks of fresh rosemary. Mataio told me that night, as he nestled a gooseberry into the top of a tartlet, that he worked closely with Breadfarm to get the buns just right, size and texture and taste. (You know you\u2019re working with the right people when you want to plunk down by their set-up table and hang out all night, rather than mingle with your guests. Nothing against our guests, of course, but you know.)<\/p>\n

And though this is getting a little<\/span> bit long here – <\/span>pause if you need to, of course, and grab a sandwich or something – I want to tell you about about our wedding menu too. It just made us so proud.<\/p>\n

Before the ceremony, at the park:<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Housemade fingerling potato chips with rosemary lemonade<\/div>\n

During cocktail hour, as passed hors d<\/span>\u2019oeuvres \u2013<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Deviled eggs two ways, with cr\u00e8me fra\u00eeche and domestic caviar and a chive garnish,<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
and with herbed aioli and capers<\/p>\n

\n

\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n

Quartered apricots wrapped in prosciutto and grilled, served on thin toasts with herbed chevre<\/p>\n

\n

\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n

Little corn cakes with basil aioli, bacon, avocado, and roasted grape tomatoes<\/p>\n

And sweet butter on toasts with assorted thinly sliced radishes and salt<\/p><\/div>\n

The buffet dinner<\/span> \u2013<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Alderwood-smoked sockeye salmon with nectarine-serrano salsa or fresh herbs<\/div>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Thinly sliced fennel with shaved Parmigiano-Reggiano, tossed with lemon, olive oil, and sea salt<\/p>\n
\n

\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n

Baby roasted beets with roasted shallot-blue cheese vinaigrette and crushed local hazelnuts<\/p>\n


<\/a><\/div>\n

Blanched green beans with olive oil and salt<\/p>\n

Farro salad with caramelized onions, carrots, and celery, with feta and a red-wine vinaigrette<\/div>\n

and for dessert<\/span> \u2013<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
My \u201cwinning hearts and minds\u201d cake<\/a> – 20 of them, transported in pizza boxes from our freezer to Bellingham by Ashley and Chris – with unsweetened whipped cream and a choice of three flavors from Mallard Ice Cream<\/a>: chocolate malt, super vanilla, or raspberry sorbet.<\/p>\n

We served the same wines and beers at both events, selected with the help of our friend Renee Erickson of Boat Street Caf\u00e9. They were 2006 Domaine du Salvard Cheverny, 2005 Domaine Joel Rochette R\u00e9gni\u00e9 Cuv\u00e9e des Braves Vieille Vignes, Dogfish Head Raison d\u2019\u00catre<\/a>, and Hacker-Pschorr Weisse<\/a>. We were spoiled, for sure.<\/p>\n

And so we feasted. Brandon, my budding fish-eater(!), ate his largest piece of salmon to date. My eyes nearly popped clean out of my head. Our friend Sam declared himself \u201cdestroyed\u201d by the fennel salad, and two friends have called me to beg for the farro recipe. One reports, too, that she has already tried to replicate the beets at home, with blue cheese and hazelnuts. (Mataio, are you reading this?)<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know when I\u2019ve ever felt more proud – of the two of us, of the people around us, of what we come from, of what we love. I also don\u2019t know when I\u2019ve ever felt more sorry for not eating enough deviled eggs. I\u2019m telling you – and I learned the hard way, people – don\u2019t let socializing get between you and your deviled eggs. Just feast<\/span>. That\u2019s all I\u2019m saying. And then take the dance floor with your new husband, preferably to Ella Fitzgerald singing Cole Porter\u2019s \u201cNight and Day,\u201d and when he dips you at the very end, when the horns are blaring, close your eyes tight and thank heavens – but heavens<\/span>! – that the planning is through, and the beer is cold, <\/span>and you can dance, dance, dance.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Thank you to the Cia\u00f2 Thyme and their website for the first photo posted above, and to Mich\u00e8le Waite<\/a> for all the others featured here. (And on her blog<\/a>!) She<\/span>\u2019s the most fun, most wildly talented wedding photographer we could have ever hoped to find. And yes, she found<\/span> that red velvet couch on the beach. Bellingham, I love you.
<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When you care about food, and when you\u2019re marrying someone who also cares about food, and when you met this someone because of a particular food, and when both of you spend your days \u2013 or the better part of them, anyway \u2013 cooking, scheming, and daydreaming about food, well, let\u2019s just say this: there\u2019s a lot of pressure to feed people well at your wedding. Which, quite honestly, is no easy feat. In most circles, the word \u201cwedding\u201d isn\u2019t exactly synonymous with \u201cdelicious.\u201d Usually, it\u2019s just the opposite. Many venues equipped to host weddings \u2013 hotels, gardens, museums, and so on \u2013 require that you use their (often iffy) in-house caterer, or at least limit your choice to a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nSo we feasted. | Orangette<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/orangette.net\/2007\/08\/so-we-feasted\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"So we feasted. | Orangette\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"When you care about food, and when you\u2019re marrying someone who also cares about food, and when you met this someone because of a particular food, and when both of you spend your days \u2013 or the better part of them, anyway \u2013 cooking, scheming, and daydreaming about food, well, let\u2019s just say this: there\u2019s a lot of pressure to feed people well at your wedding. 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