The Herculean challenge Emily Newman & Jeremy Stanton set for themselves would have been difficult enough to pull off in perfect weather. But Saturday, August 22, was another one of those days when torrential rains appeared out of nowhere, which complicated every aspect of serving a five-course dinner to sixty people in a tent behind their farmhouse on Main Street in Southfield, MA. The Stantons thoughtfully curated the meal so it would be a locavore feast intended to showcase their talents and raise seed money for The Meat Market, the butcher shop specializing in locally-raised meat, which they plan to open in Great Barrington in the spring of 2010. The party decor was designed as painstakingly as for any Martha Stewart Living shoot, so it was no surprise that photograper Kit Latham, a Martha Stewart veteran, and his girlfriend, Michelle Quigley, volunteered to record the event for the Stantons. They shot hundreds of pictures of the party and its preparations beginning at noon and continuing until midnight. Latham and Quigley offered to share their photographic bounty with Rural Intelligence, and you can see more of their work if you Click Here. And if you ever get an invitation to dinner at the Stantons, be sure to say "yes" without hesitating. They are not only extraordinary cooks, but they are gracious and unflappable hosts.
Jeremy purchased the 85 pound leg of organic Murray Grey beef from Jerry Peele at Herondale Farm in Ancramdale. He designed and fabricated the rotisserie contraption at Balgen Machine in West Stockbridge.
Though they were soaking wet from the rain, Emily and Jeremy never stopped smiling and made guests feel as if they were dining at a five-star restaurant, which included valet parking.
Much of the dinner, including corn-off-the-cob with polbano chiles, was cooked over a hardwood fire.
The Stanton's in-town farm has a vegetable-and-flower garden, 29 hens and one rooster.
Rubarb cocktails and rosé were served in the living room, which had been cleared of its furniture.
A buffet table for the cocktail hour featured the types of salamis that Jeremy plans to make for The Meat Market and liver pate he commissioned from Erhard Wendt of The Williamsville Inn in West Stockbridge.
Jeremy, who runs the Fire Roasted Catering Company, fabricated his grill at Balgen Machine in West Stockbridge
Jim Newman, Emily's younger brother, was one of the volunteers who hand-cranked the rotisserie for seven hours; Emily picked peaches from the tree in their yard,which were served with basil crème anglaise for dessert.
The Stantons huddle with their team before guest arrived in the tent for the next four courses.
The Stantons paid as much attention to the table settings as to the food itself.
Greens from Laura Meister's Farm Girl Farm in Egremont were the pillow for ravioli stuffed with rooster from North Plain Farm in Great Barrington.
The ravioli arrives in the tent.
The guests were a mix of full-time and weekend residents from Connecticut, Masschusetts, and New York.
Master chef Gerhard Schmidt helped prepare the dinner and carve the leg of beef; umbrellas protect platters of sausage with pickled beets and braised cabbage as they are brought to the tent to be served family style.
The kitchen staff's view of the party.
Every course was accompanied by a different beverage; small glasses of apple eau de vie, which Jeremy aged in American oak barrels, was served with dessert.
Jeremy toasted the farmers who made the meal possible, who in turn raised their glasses to him.
