META — The view from Tom Hurst’s farm was as inviting as the dinner served there on Saturday, Sept. 26. Guests at the third annual Osage County Agritourism Farm to Table Dinner shared a delicious meal under open-sided tents, with rolling pasture, cattle, and a lake beyond the tables.

The setting was beautiful, and the Hurst and his family were warm and welcoming hosts. Tom Hurst told guests about the farm before dinner, pointing out his father’s cattle and a tractor his son had brought out for the occasion. The tractor was the second one his father, Franklin Hurst, owned. Franklin used it with a five-foot brush hog to clear much of the property, Tom said.

The property combines two farms totaling about 440 acres. The portion where Tom’s mother grew up has been in the family since 1870, a fact the family is proud of. Franklin still tends cattle there, and Tom’s fiance Julie is responsible for the landscaping that helped make the hilltop such a lovely place to spend an evening.

The food was every bit as memorable as the surroundings. Before each course, Mary Ann Gelven told guests about the people who had grown or prepared its ingredients. Some had planned for the dinner months earlier: Bob Schaefer and Glenn and Lisa Hennicke harvested and froze asparagus in the spring for the opening course of cream of asparagus soup.

An apple salad followed, with cranberries, feta cheese, and toasted pecans served separately for guests with nut allergies. The main course was German beef rouladen with horseradish mashed potatoes, German red cabbage, and applesauce. Gelven described the preparation of the rouladen, made with beef from the Gelven farm, mustard prepared by Mary Zeilman, onions, bacon, and a pickle rolled inside.

The potatoes came from several local gardens and farms, and Gelven said she and her husband, Ken, had ground the horseradish just two days before the dinner. Dessert was a sweet potato parfait with candied pecans and a gingersnap. From the soup through dessert, the meal gave guests plenty to savor while showing the variety of food grown and made close to home. Several guests wondered aloud whether they could get the recipes.

Before the meal, three generations of the Hurst family took turns at the live auction. Franklin, who has been auctioneering for more than 65 years, opened the bidding on a hand-quilted Americana quilt. Tom and his son Hayden then took turns selling items that included a wooden doe carved by Joe Dudenhoeffer, a barn quilt made by Julie Hurst, and a basket holding a cherry pie made by Zeilman. Guests also bid on silent auction items throughout dinner.

The evening took many hands to put together. Gelven thanked Zeilman and Ginny Massmann for organizing the auctions, OK Catering for preparing the meal, and Linn FFA students for serving it. Volunteers set up tents and tables, prepared hors d’oeuvres, and arranged the china and flowers. Wine from Westphalia Vineyards and Chigger Mountain was served.

Gelven also thanked the council’s gold-level sponsors: Legends Bank, Heritage Community Bank, Three Rivers Electric Cooperative, the Osage County Historical Society, State Technical College of Missouri, and By Design Media.

The dinner is one of four events the Osage County Agritourism Council sponsors each year, Zeilman said. The others are the Christmas Church and Cookie Trail, a farm expo at the Loose Creek Community Center, and the “Be a Tourist in Your Own County” tour.

As daylight faded over the farm, guests remained laughing and talking at the tables beneath the tents. The generous meal, welcoming hosts, and wide-open view made this year’s dinner a delightful showcase for Osage County Agritourism.