Portland Culinary Alliance

About 40 members and guests showed up at Dan and Susie Wilson’s Canby farm for our annual summer potluck picnic on July 27. An accident on I-5 delayed many guests but almost everyone was present (and hungry) when the lamb was ready to be served.

Dan and Susie, who raise sheep for wool and for meat at their SuDan Farm, had a hand in every step of the lamb’s way to our fully laden picnic table. Dan and his friend Nick, a Portland surgeon, performed the operation to convert the beautifully roasted beast into bite-size pieces. For those unusual folk who don’t appreciate the taste of lamb, Dan also roasted a couple of chickens, following the time-tested recipe for beer-can chicken.

Early arrivals also enjoyed the appetizers cooked on the barbecue next to the large lamb spit. There were dates, dried prunes, goat cheese, slices of bacon and skewers for do-it-yourself roasted bacon-wrapped dates. Members’ contributions to the picnic table of appetizers, salads, casseroles and desserts (including home-made ice cream) rounded out our summer Sunday feast. A generous supply of beer was compliments of BridgePort Brewery.

After eating, we were all ready for a constitutional around the farm and Dan obliged by leading us on a tour. We visited the baby chicks and turkeys in the barn before traipsing across the field to meet adult chickens (roasters, as we called them behind their backs), heritage turkeys and ducks, as well as the pampered and lovely layers.

We found the fowl to be quite sociable and when we visited the sheep in the field and the feeding shelters we were greeted by a chorus of friendly bleats. We didn’t tell them that we had just consumed No. 1220. (Dan said only the wool-bearing sheep have names, which was a relief for the sentimental lamb noshers.)

Many heartfelt thanks to Dan and Susie for hosting a perfectly lovely picnic on a perfect summer day!