Cooking With the Garden’s Colors
A meal inspired by Sisterhood Gardens at ten
When I was invited to cook for Sisterhood Gardens’ tenth-anniversary celebration, I wanted the food to feel like it belonged there.
Before planning the menu, I spent several hours sitting in the garden and paying attention. Deep burgundy and plum suggested tri-tip and balsamic. Bright oranges and yellows became mango and habanero. Pale greens found their way into scallions, herbs, lettuce, cabbage, and garden vegetables. Apples, rhubarb, and plums carried the garden through dessert.
Flavor still made the final decisions, but the garden opened the first door.
This was my first time catering an event of this size, and the day offered plenty of lessons—including one particularly useful accident.
I had planned to mix each sauce directly into its intended protein. Instead, the proteins went out seasoned with Grandpa Bill’s blends and the sauces were served separately. Guests built their own combinations, controlled the heat, tried several sauces, or skipped them entirely.
For a busy serving line, that many choices created some complications. For a home kitchen, though, the idea works beautifully. One protein can take several different directions, and sauce becomes an invitation rather than an instruction.
So that event-day adjustment became part of the recipe guide.
The guide adapts the anniversary menu for four to six people, with proteins, sauces, garden sides, dessert, and plenty of encouragement to taste, adjust, and cook by paying attention.
Thank you to Jamie, Nichole, and the Sisterhood Gardens community for trusting me with this anniversary meal—and to everyone who has tended the garden through its first decade.
It was an honor to cook for the celebration.
The garden offered the palette. The table followed.
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