Last night, I was invited to the N.H. Grower’s Dinner at the Capitol Center for the Arts in Concord by Edible White Mountains Magazine. The dinner, which started with a cash bar and appetizers at 6 p.m., was a four course dinner of seasonally and locally produced foods prepared and served by the students of N.H. Food Bank’s Recipe for Success Culinary Program. Each ticket was $50, and went straight to benefiting the N.H. Food Bank. The sit-down dinner, which was also part of N.H. Eat Local Month, started promptly at 7, with a few speeches by prominent folks at the Food Bank, as well as Governor John Lynch and his wife, Susan Lynch. The dinner itself was a masterpiece, with ingredients for the four courses provided by local farms such as Apple Hill Farm in Concord and Sherman Farm in Conway. The soup, which started the four course meal, was a puree of beets with a swirl of spicy horseradish cream, followed by a salad of spring greens, summer squash, zucchini and caramelized onions. For the entree, the culinary students served the moistest braised pork shoulder I’ve ever had in my life, that came with a hint of coffee and spiced rum flavor. On the side was a spicy corn salad with peppers, as well as mashed potato marbled with pureed winter squash. For dessert, we had a homemade blueberry cornbread with lemon custard and whipped cream. Despite the fact that some of my table mates’ blueberry cornbread muffins were missing their tops, the taste was spot on, and the dish acted as the perfect ending to a seasonal, fresh-picked meal.

Peach bellinis, filet benedict, and griddle cakes served with Vermont maple syrup and locally-grown seasonal fruit. Salivating yet? Good - because this meal’s worth the drive to North Andover, Mass. Burton’s Grill, with additional locations in Boston and Hingham, is offering brunch every Sunday from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. The biggest reason to make the drive? Burton’s has partnered with Smolak Farms , also in N. Andover, in a “Farm to Table” program to treat their guests to locally-grown produce. The program, which started with the Sunday Brunch menu, features seasonal fruits such as peaches, raspberries and blueberries. In lieu of their new partnership with Smolak, Burton’s Culinary Director, Denise Baron, will also be presenting her peach dessert of stewed peaches over coconut gelato and shortbread cookies at Smolak Farms Peach Festival this Saturday. Smolak Farms offers their fresh seasonal fruit featuring 40 different varieties such as: yellow peaches, white peaches and nectarines. If my sister wasn’t getting married on Saturday, I’d be there - mainly because nothing tastes more like summer than biting into a juicy, fresh peach. Can’t make it Saturday, but want to hit up Burton’s for Sunday brunch? Call ahead, as reservations are recommended.