Summer Solstice Supper 2023

When Ashley Ziemer from Back to Basil and I met in March, we bonded over the crossroads we were both facing. Both looking to venture into new industries: her flowers, and me food. After a few coffee dates, we decided to collaborate on a summer dinner.

We built on each other's creative vision by incorporating seasonal ingredients, summer flowers, and an activity that would open guests up for deep discussions.

This dinner needed to be more than just a meal. We wanted our guests to feel inspired by the decorative setup, and feel better connected to themselves and the people they were going to meet.

Six Course Meal

Because summer was just beginning, we wanted to focus on the season's bountiful produce sourced from various farmer's market. Keeping nutrition in mind, I made sure to cook with healthy fats such olive oil and grass fed butter.

• The first course was an array of appetizers: dinner rolls with a lemon basil butter, a platter of farmer's market crudités accompanied by a pistachio feta dip with confit tomatoes, and a romesco dip with roasted eggplant and spicy honey.

• The second course was a Kinilaw, which is a Filipino marinated fish appetizer. The sashimi grade tuna was marinated with ginger, coconut cream, Thai chilies, and red onion. My non traditional version was topped with orange and basil oil. You can find my Kinilaw recipe here.

• The third course was a homemade green garlic pesto agnolotti with a nutmeg ricotta and parmesan filling. I wanted to take advantage of the late spring green garlic for this pesto for a sharp flavor. This dish was also topped with breadcrumbs for crunch.

• The fourth course was seared scallops on top of a carrot ginger puree with a scallion dill oil. I loved accompanying the sweetness of the scallop with the sweetness of the carrot and balancing it with the spice of the ginger in the puree.

• The fifth course was an Earl Grey panna cotta with farmers market strawberries. This was a fun one to make. I steeped caffeine free earl grey tea bags into the cream to extract all that flavor.

• The sixth course was a special one for me because it was my mom's Valrhona chocolate cake recipe. I topped it with a chocolate ganache, and raspberry whipped cream. The raspberry whipped cream was made using the dry freeze raspberry powder from SOS Chefs mixed into whipped cream.

Supper Setup

Ashley took on the creative direction and facilitated the discussion at the table while I was cooking in the kitchen.

• The flowers and tablescape: Ashley created beautiful arrangements of dahlias, alliums, amaryanth, laurels, and smokebush flowers. On the dinner table were sunflowers and heirloom tomatoes, which we gave away to our guests.

• The menu: Ashley designed the menu, incorporating her handwritten calligraphy.
• The discussion: At each seat was a notebook with each person’s name used as a place card. Inside, was an envelope with a handwritten quote and a self reflective prompt. Each guest read theirs out loud to discuss among themselves. At the end of the dinner, everyone had a moment to write down their summer intentions.

Supper Experience

We made sure everyone left feeling nourished from the meal and nourished from the new connections and the discussions that took place. We concluded the night with everyone writing an intention for the season while sipping on tea.