Truly Outstanding

To celebrate 1 year of wedded bliss, we attended an Outstanding in the Field dinner this week. Thanks to Erik and Molly Lund for introducing us to such an incredible experience! For those of you who haven't heard of OITF - it is essentially a  "restaurant on wheels" the makes stops at farms throughout the country (and even Europe) to serve farm fresh food to 100+ people. Each stop is honored with a local chef that sets the menu and prepares the food.

Touring Bus

Rain Lily Farm Austin, TX

Chicken Coop

Beautiful table setting for 120 people

As true Kansas Citians, we were in awe with the grilled meats (here is Award Winning Rene Ortiz grilling). You'll note we were too engrossed in the food and the company to snap any pictures of the various prepared courses.

The tradition of bringing your own plates for dinner made a colorful tablescape.

Enjoying a mini glass of bubbly by the garden

Tee Pee behind the farm house

We were graced with the James Beard Award winning Rene Ortiz of La Condessa, one of our favorite restaurants in Austin. Our expectations were rather high, and let's just say that our minds were blown.

We started with a reception hour, complete with bubbly and...


Springdale Farm okra with chile tajin/eggplant/roasted garlic dip
Pure Luck goat chevre, arbole chile caramel, zuchini flowers
Dewberry Farm chicken liver pate, tomato jam, ancho chiles
Strube Ranch waygu ribeye, Rain Lily Farm serrano, persimmons


We then toured Rain Lily, the farm that hosted the event. Rain Lily if one of 4 urban farms on the East Side of Austin, just 15 minutes from our house.

We were seated amongst strangers who quickly became friends...
: Fellow Chicagoans
: Newleyweds from Atlanta celebrating the same 1 year anniversary as us
: A fascinating neighboring farmer who provided much of the produce for the meal and whose farm house was built by the same architect who built our home
:A women who works at Rain Lily who is due 3 weeks after us

Together, we devoured this mouth-watering lineup, paired with various delightful McPherson Cellars wines:

Rain Lily Farm turnip, butternut, goat feta, pea tendrils, creamer peas, mustard seed


Twin Oaks Heritage Pork, house tofu, Texas oyster sauce, broccoli rabe, chiles


Richardson Farm sirloin, braised kale, black bean mole, lemon verbana chimichurri


Gundermann Acres butternut squash break pudding, smoked Farwell gala apple, piloncillo toffee sauce
Pure Luck Farm chevre ice cream