Leisha At our Gratitude Café, we are bringing life back to the table, from the soil to the plate. Each week we prepare something special from our gardens and kitchens. Some weekends it will be a full celebration meal like roast beef or turkey, and other weekends we will feature hearty favorites such as chili con carne, braised brisket, or slow cooked chicken.
This weekend, I want to share a little about our Gratitude Meal Offering, a meal prepared with intention, patience, and the energy of our living soil.
Everything begins in the gardens, where plants, microbes, and people work together in harmony. We grow our food with care, make our own ferments, vinegars, and tonics, and craft meals that truly nourish rather than simply feed.
Our café is more than a place to eat. It is a living classroom, a gathering space, and a reminder of what real food tastes like when it comes from healthy soil and caring hands. Each plate we serve supports our greater vision of self reliance, education, and reconnection with the living earth beneath our feet.
Sunday, October 19th, we will be serving (or served for those who read this later) a special dinner at Living Ground, and it feels like something special is unfolding. The response has been overwhelming. More than fifty five people have already reserved, and we have stretched our kitchen, our tables, and our hearts to meet this moment. This is a good challenge..one I am sure we will meet.
Our weekend dinners are not just a meals. They are offerings. It is our way of weaving together food, community, and the living soil beneath us. Every ingredient tells a story of patience, care, and connection.
So, this weekend, we serve a tradition English Sunday Dinner. Been making this dinner for most of my life and honestly is it an easy one for me…but, at 55 reservations, it is a challenge.
We begin this meal with our Virgin Caesar Drink, a Canadian favorite that I’ve reimagined with our own garden-grown ingredients. It is smooth, savory, blend and balance with lemon, parsley, tomato, celery, fish sauce, other herbs and just a hint of spice. It’s a drink that wakes the senses and reminds us that nourishment can be both simple and elegant. We are even rimming our glasses with our own parsley seed salt.
Before the meal, we will also serve a shot of our Fire Cider, a Living Ground creation made with local roots, herbs, vinegar, and honey. It is bright, fiery, and alive. It stirs the digestive fire and prepares the body for real food. Fire Cider has been a staple in my own life/diet and one thing I recommend to almost all my clients.
Our roast beef is the centerpiece, slow cooked for hours until tender. This was a challenge. In Ecuador, anyone who has worked with local beef knows the challenge. The animals here are strong and muscular from roaming on open grass in the mountains. To create something soft and flavorful takes time, care and a lot of knowledge gained form experience. This roast has been cured, braised, and slow cooked over several days.
The gravy is its own story. It is made from the beef brine and our own vegetable stock, enriched with loads of our own herbs and garden vegetables. Again, it takes three days to render perfectly and carries the essence of everything we grow.
Then the Yorkshires. Well, Yorkshire puddings carry one of my favorite memories from childhood. My dad taught me how to make them the old-fashioned way. He would pour the hot roast drippings into muffin pans and make sure the oven was as hot as it could get. Here in Ecuador, that part is tricky since the ovens never seem quite hot enough, but I still try.
When we made them at home, we all had to be very, very quiet in the house. Dad said the puddings would deflate if we made noise. I am not sure that was true, but I think he enjoyed the peace and calm it brought to his kitchen. I have always practiced this rule for the just in case. Those golden, puffy puddings were worth every whispered moment.
The potatoes are roasted with fresh rosemary from our gardens until golden and crisp. The cauliflower is baked beneath a creamy cheese sauce that has been handed down from my grandmothers, a taste of family and comfort. The Brussels sprouts, my personal favorite, are first boiled and then baked in our sunflower, garlic, and lemon dressing, which gives them a bright and lively flavor.
Our salad completes the plate with greens that tell their own story. What looks like dandelion leaves is actually our dandelion romaine, a unique green we are growing here. It is dark, full of chlorophyll, and medicine for the liver and blood.
To compliment will offer our own horseradish sauce and English hot mustard to use as you please. And, dessert… a apple and strawberry crumble topped with homemade custard. It is simple and satisfying, the kind of dessert that carries love in every spoonful.
We hope that after the meal, everyone feels full, satiated, and nourished not only by the food, but by the experience itself.
Cooking for large gatherings has been part of my life for decades. It is a joy to bring that same spirit to Living Ground, where each dinner helps us move forward with our vision of self reliance and education. Often I have laboured this meal just because I can and I love to feed people great food.
The profits from these meals go directly into building the next phase of our project the accommodations so that we can host apprentices, eco travelers, workshops, and retreats and spread the education and inspiration.
These Sunday dinners will continue each weekend, each one different.
We plan to welcome guest cooks and chefs, explore new ideas, and even take requests. Maybe one week it will be good old fish and chips, another week chili con carne, or something you suggest.
This is how community grows…this is how self reliance is passed on…..through shared tables, shared stories, and the taste of something real and nourishing.
