10 Dec Winter Harvest Dinner Party

Living in Central Texas has its benefits – wildflowers in the spring, proximity to coastal and desert towns, good two-steppin' – but one thing that we at Edible Austin love to celebrate are the hard-work and beautiful bounty produced by the farmers and ranchers who live down the road. These neighbors work hard all year, even in winter, to provide beautiful vegetables, juicy fruits and succulent meats.

Tonight, we want to celebrate our seasonal, local food with friends at our Winter Harvest Supper Club, presented by Bread & Circus Supper Club. This 8-course dinner, curated by Pink Avocado Catering, will include classic holiday flavors with a Central Texas twist, like Maple Bacon Roasted Wild Board and Cranberry Lavender Tarts. The family-style affair helps us spread the idea that part of eating locally is sharing your food with friends and family. Tickets for the evening are $65, but, as a little secret from me to you, you can get $10 off by using the promo code EDLWFRIENDS. The dinner will take place at the Palm Door. Doors open at 6:30.

This dinner is only a small part of Eat Drink Local Week 2013, a week-long event in which we encourage everyone in Austin to think about where our food comes from. Eat out, dine in, and cook with the freshest ingredients from the area. If you can't make it out to our dinner tonight, invite loved ones to a dinner at a locally sourcing restaurant, cook your own meal made entirely from local ingredients and connect with winter foods at your neighborhood farmers' market.

Bread & Circus Supper Club hosts dinners monthly which highlight the season's best flavors and always sources from Austin area farms. Foods that are grown seasonally support the soil and taste better – and who can argue against better tasting meals? By buying for the season, we support urban and rural farms, which in turn help our local economy – more of your money stays in the area – and the environment – food travels less, and is truly farm-to-table.

To learn more about urban farms and locally-grown food, come to our free film screening of Farm-City, State Thursday night at the Blanton Museum of Arts. Although the RSVP list is already full, sign up for the waitlist for a chance to learn what a city would look like if it could feed itself entirely from urban farming. For more information on the weeks' events and mission and our beneficiaries, Urban Roots and Sustainable Food Center, visit edibleaustin.com.

If you make your own meals at home or are visiting one of the many restaurants which does locally source, take a photo, post it to Instagram and tag us (@EdibleAustin). We love to see what our neighbors are cooking. We hope you will join us either in person tonight or in spirit all week!