Foraging and Feasting

There are only a few weeks left to photograph the rest of the plants I need for the field guide I’m working on.

Most of them will go dormant for the winter soon. With that in mind, this past weekend I headed out to Shohola, PA to visit Ellen.

We set out in search of silverberry,

black walnuts,

watercress and more.

A foray with a foraging buddy is always fun, especially when it’s someone as knowledgeable as Ellen. Just as good, maybe even better, is getting creative in the kitchen afterward. We came up with Sassy Royale aperitif cocktails (champagne and sassafras twig syrup),

a main meal of goat marinaded in beet wine with a blanket of Japanese knotweed and Greek yogurt, roasted potatoes, and wild watercress salad with goat cheese, preserved lemons, and blackberry vinaigrette.

Dessert was a pear and California bay nut crumble spiced with ground magnolia buds, wild ginger, and spicebush berries with dulce de leche ice cream on the side.

I rolled into bed feeling as full as I do after a Thanksgiving celebration, and not regretting a single forkful.

My next foraging tour includes a wild edibles-inspired dinner afterward at The Farm on Adderley.

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