A Very Verrill Farm BBQ and 25 Days 'Til 25

My record as a “mostly vegetarian” perished yesterday. I came across Verrill Farm’s Thursday BBQ tweet on Twitter. I had been meaning to check this place out for a while, but it is a bit of a drive after work. So, I hopped in my car and headed to Concord with my Nana. We were so excited to get there that we ended up in the Verrill Farm Stables by accident. Whoops!

Tim met us there, and after a bit of directional mix-up, we ordered three BBQ dinners consisting of:

• 1 hunkin’ pulled pork sandwich
  
• homemade cole slaw
  
• baked beans

The reason I opted to indulge in a bit of carnivory was because I knew the meat had been raised on the farm in a humane way. And, it was for research purposes. I am on a quest to discover and enjoy many of Massachusetts local products, even if this does mean taste-testing meat every once and again.

The meat was moist, tender, and slathered in sweet barbecue sauce. The cole slaw was a perfect contrast to the warm pork sandwich. The baked beans, swimming in a seasoned bath of dissolved sugar and specks of bacon, were the ultimate complement to the sandwich. I also ordered three sodas. I’m not really a soda drinker, but these “local” Verrill Farm sodas seemed like a good idea at the time. To my demise, they were still soda (water + high fructose corn syrup + carbonation + ________ (enter artificial flavor here)) and I was fooled by the cute little labels. I’ll be more cautious when I choose to buy artisanal-looking beverages from now on.

We all dug in to our down-home country BBQ meals out on picnic tables covered with green- & white-checkered tablecloths. When we came up for air, we had greasy fingers and full bellies. We headed back in for something sweet, and a few items of produce to take home.

I ended up with shallots, cipollini onions (love these!), a pint of beautiful blueberries, rhubarb, and some amazingly colorful beans.
I would definitely recommend a trip to Verrill Farm. Its picturesque landscape on acres of farmland is in itself worth the drive. Be sure to get there between 4-6 p.m. on Thursdays for the BBQ. They have fresh-looking produce and sell many products from local producers (honey, baked goods, sauces, jams, etc.). You can even pick your own flower bouquet for 25 cents per stem!

A Fete For Food blog updates:

• Janel of the Dine Dish Delish blog won the "Cooking For Mr. Latte" from this week's giveaway. Enjoy, Janel!



• The Mass. Dietetic Association's Socials For Success, in combo with some great Boston foodies will be getting together for Julie & Julia on August 13. If you're interested in joining, comment here or email foodiemovie@gmail.com for more details.



• I participated in my first Twitter event last evening. It felt like Twitter foodie speed dating, in which Twitterers posted to a continuous thread of question, answers, and thoughts about food blogging. It was a fundraiser for Share Our Strength, a wonderful organization working to end childhood hunger. I even won a giveaway prize during the event from A Simple Walk!
  
• More news to come, regarding an off-the-press cookbook review and possible contest winner in a pedometer contest! Stay tuned blog friends!

Lastly, there are 25 days until I turn 25 on the 25th. So, instead of Foodbuzz's 24, 24, 24 I'm using the next 25 days to recap 25 important lessons I've learned about life, complete with food anecdotes: my version will be called "25, 25, 25".

Today's 25, 25, 25

Day 25 - August 1 - Things don't always turn out the way you'd like them to.

For example, I made a black bean soup tonight. I EXPECTED a thick, beany soup. Instead, I ended up with a pureed mixture too spicy to eat because I added one too many chipotle peppers. Instead, Tim declared it would be a great sauce for tamales or burritos or quesadillas. Yum! BOTTOM LINE: Keep your mind open, because one so-thought "failure" could lead to something more innovative, bigger, or better.

Question: What would be a life lesson you'd like to offer up to A Fete For Food readers?