Whenever I have an outdoor event at my home, I spend all day looking at the sky, searching for hints of gray in the clouds. I always think it’s going to rain.
One year, my brother-in-law followed me around with his cell phone while we were setting up for an outdoor wedding. He kept saying, “Ron Childers says it’s going to start raining at 2:00.” Which it did, by the way.
So I’m always amazed when Elizabeth and Travis Harville hold their outdoor dinners at their home, Harville Farms, in Byhalia, Mississippi.
This year, the recent sweltering weather broke a few days before the event, “An Evening of Gathering, Good Food, & Local Roots,” held September 24th. There were cool temperatures, a full moon, and no rain.
Sixty people sat at a U-shaped banquet table, which groaned with pork, beef, salads, and side items, in a field.
Welcoming guests, Elizabeth said, “gathering around the table” was “just something we like to do at Harville Farms.” Champagne and appetizers were served as guests arrived. Then everyone walked down to the tables.
Elizabeth didn’t consult the Farmers’ Almanac to see if there was going to be a full moon. The elements were just in her favor. “My mom said I’m the weather whisperer,” she says. And the full moon “just increased the magic of the evening.”
The event was organized by Elizabeth, who owns the floral business EH Blooms, and Madison McGhee of Reverie Wedding and Event Planning. “From the cocktails to the appetizers, the food, the table linens, the whole event needed to evoke an elevated feel, but we didn’t want it to be fussy,” Elizabeth said.
The event’s head chef, Mac Edwards, was, among other things, founder and owner of McEwen’s on Monroe and The Farmer in Memphis, as well as Brooks Pharm2Fork in Collierville, Tennessee.
Elizabeth made some suggestions, but she basically let Edwards use his own creativity. The appetizers — all made at the farm — included fig jam on honey rye bread with prosciutto and candied jalapeño, spicy pimento cheese on molasses wheat bread with spicy bread and butter pickle, and cheese and sausage bites made with local items, including Rendezvous dry rub seasoning. The bread was from The Ginger’s Bread & Co. in Memphis.
Dinner was done “commando style,” Edwards says. Some of the food had to be carried “the length of a football field” from the house to the banquet tables. The smoked and grilled meats, the salads, and side dishes were done at the house. Everything was plated behind a greenhouse near the tables, which was a challenge when the light began to fade closer to dinnertime.
Edwards used corn, herbs, and other produce from Harville Farms as well as tomatoes, okra, radishes, and other vegetables from local farms.
More than 20 pounds of tri-tip beef and a little more than 15 pounds of pork loin were served. All the meat came from Home Place Pastures in Como, Mississippi. Edwards was assisted by chef Jordan Beatty, who “ran the smoker and the grill. He did a great job. He nailed it.”
Bo Adams, a singer-songwriter with a culinary background, was involved in prep and plating. And Liz Ferguson tended bar and “helped in the kitchen.” The Harvilles’ children and their friends also assisted in the kitchen and were the servers. All wine and liquor were from Tennessee Crown Distributing Co.
The side dishes included a potato/okra salad made with 10 pounds of white potatoes, 10 pounds of sweet potatoes, and 10 pounds of okra; and a corn salad made with 20 ears of corn, six peppers, and four pints of cherry tomatoes.
When asked what they’d do if it rained during their event, Elizabeth replied, “That is my biggest fear: We’ve planned all of this and it rains. It can be hot. It can be cold. That’s fine. We can work with that. Rain would really put a kink in the plans.
“We have a backup plan idea and a rain date. But if we had to rent a tent, we would.”
