You’re Invited to an Evening in the Garden

August 12, 2015

The Food Bank of Delaware and the University of Delaware’s College of Agriculture and Natural Resources (CANR) will work together to raise money to alleviate hunger in the First State with their seventh annual Evening in the Garden event on Thursday, September 10 from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

The evening’s menu includes garden-fresh foods straight from the university’s Garden for the Community. Students and chefs from The Culinary School at the Food Bank of Delaware will serve stout braised local lamb, black garlic mashed potatoes with crispy shaved shallots, sweet corn and edamame succotash, pigtail shrimp, finished with an optional drizzle of chili oil and squash blossom goat cheese taco with jalapeño toasted almond pesto and pickled red onion and more in a food station set-up. The UDairy Creamery will scoop ice cream.

The evening will also feature wine and beer tastings from Dogfish Head Beer, Mispillion River Brewing, 3rd Wave Brewing Co., Twin Lakes Brewing Company, Painted Stave Distilling, 16 Mile and 2SP Brewing Company, live entertainment from The Ellen Lebowitz Quartet, a four-piece Jazz group with piano, drums, bass and voice and tours of the Garden of the Community.

“I am proud of our partnership with the University of Delaware College of Agriculture and Natural Resources,” said Food Bank of Delaware President and CEO Patricia Beebe. “This annual event gives our culinary students real-world experience working a catered fundraising event. In addition, we are able to celebrate the harvest of the Garden for the Community with the community, while showing off the newly-developed skills of our students. These skills ultimately help them acquire sustainable employment in the food service industry.”

“UD’s College of Agriculture and Natural Resources is very proud of its longstanding partnership with the Food Bank,” said Mark Rieger, dean, UD’s College of Agriculture and Natural Resources. “This is the seventh year that the greater Delaware community has been welcomed to campus to feast on the bounty grown by its students in UD’s Garden for the Community. I can’t think of a more rewarding event than one that helps raise money to provide food for those who need it most and, at the same time, provides our students with an experiential learning project that is connected directly to the everyday lives of people living in our own community.”

Tickets for the event are $40/person or $20/student (must show student ID). The price includes dinner, wine, beer and entertainment. Attendees must RSVP by August 31. If tickets are available after the RSVP deadline, price increases by $10.

To purchase tickets, please contact Kim Turner at (302) 444-8074 or kturner@fbd.org. Online registration is also available at http://www.fbd.org/an-evening-in-the-garden/. Attendees are also asked to bring a bag of canned goods for the food bank’s hunger-relief efforts. To learn more about the Garden for the Community, please visit http://ag.udel.edu/communitygarden/.

Check out some pictures from last year’s event!