Finger Lakes Fresh - a meal made with many hands

For a weekend last month (August 22-24), I was blessed to spend a few days at a beautiful Girl Scout Camp in the Finger Lakes of NY at CAMP CEO 2014. To say the Finger Lakes is not specific enough – the place, Camp Comstock, is on a gorgeous piece of land just North of Ithaca, on the West side of Cayuga Lake. 

The program, Camp CEO, is a leadership development weekend for high school girls organized by the NYPENN Girl Scout Council. The weekend brings together stellar women and girls from across Upstate NY. I was one of the women mentors, and I also had the chance to conceive and produce – together with an amazing energy from all – an amazing meal - which I called Finger Lakes Fresh.

The menu was designed to use as much local produce as possible. I sourced it from the farmer’s market in my hometown, Auburn, NY and transported a car full of corn, melons, herbs, tomatoes, zucchini, blueberries, onions and sunflowers. The bulk of it came from a farmer friend of mine, Bob, who owns Horsford Farms in Weedsport, NY.

The menu consisted of

Melon Mint and Watermelon Basil Aqua Frescas/Mocktails,

Appetizers: Local Cheese, hummus, crackers and crudité, almonds

Pasta Primavera with homemade Herbes de Provence, farm fresh zucchini, tomatoes and onions, a big chock full of veggies salad and blueberry crisp with fresh whipped cream for dessert.

The most amazing part of the meal was the prep. All the women and girls divided into teams and tackled the aspect of the meal they had either chosen or been assigned to. Women and girls alike had the chance to do things they had never done before – be it cut up huge watermelon, crush cardamom pods, zest a lemon or make a center piece.

It was awesome to be in that energy.

I shared a few words about my own locavore passion, why it is important to me and to our local economy, some tips on how I approach food and meal/menu planning in my daily life and more. And when I find my notes, written on index cards and delivered that day, I will share. I’d go on memory, but I am seven months pregnant, and my memory is at times taken away as my body needs the energy for other things.

I hope you can enjoy the excitement and feel the energy of planning and prepping a meal for 60 – and harnessing all of the collective hands, hearts and energy that we did to make a fabulous meal and an even more fabulous memory.

A special thanks to all who co-produced this meal with me.