Dinning at Dogwood Hills

Making New Memories and New Friends

Restaurants, diners, and cafes are a big part of traveling, especially with a family. Finding the right place that is kid-friendly, has excellent food, and won’t break the bank can be difficult. It seems some places hit a few of these marks but rarely all. This was not the case while eating at Dogwood Hills Guest Farm. Not only was the food amazing, but it was also farm-to-table and cooked fresh daily. My kids, the biggest food critics, even asked for seconds multiple meals. And my oldest, who could eat Mac and cheese every meal, said the cooking was better than mine.

Breakfast was served with fresh fruit, homemade yogurt, pancakes, or waffles, a choice of eggs fresh from the chicken coop, hot coffee, and bacon. The pancakes and waffles are made with their homemade buttermilk. The buttermilk is made from the fresh milk from the cows on the farm. The pancakes have a topping of fresh strawberry sauce, which my kids loved! My favorite was the topping on the Belgian waffles. The apple topping was made with Arkansas black apples. They have the aroma of roses, the taste of an apple just picked from the tree, and the sweet taste of a candy apple; the perfect pairing to a savory Belgian waffle and campaign to a warm cup of coffee each morning. The breakfast is included with the purchase of the farm experience, and I promise you will work up an appetite while loving and feeding all the animals on the farm.

Another experience from our trip was the three-course dinner. Each evening about 5:00 pm, Ruthie and Grace greeted us above the barn with the most delicious aroma. Each night they displayed their cooking skills with a fresh salad, entry, and dessert. These meals were not only the comfort food you didn’t know you needed, but they were also so savory it was hard to stop eating. Lucky for us, Ruthie has to-go boxes so we could enjoy the rest the next for lunch.

Ruthie and Grace spoiled us with homemade Ricotta Gnocchi, homemade lasagna, and chicken with a beautiful honey-mustard sauce paired with the most amazing green beans I’m still craving. The gnocchi is made from scratch, just like the ricotta cheese made at the farm. Grace made the lasagna noodles the night before, and I was amazed at the patience to complete the whole meal. Had it not been rude, we would have licked our plates. Fortunately, we had homemade rolls to help soak up the last bit of flavor.

Dessert each night was the biggest treat for our family since I rarely bake at home. On our first night, we enjoyed the moistest carrot cake, which my son did like the icing from the plate. It was full of sweet flavor but was not overpowering. The second night, we enjoyed fresh lemon cookies, which were the perfect compliment to the lasagna. The lemon cookies were topped with a light icing that tasted like summer. Our last night, Ruthie treated us to her famous and most popular cannoli cookies. They were sweet, savory, and topped with powdered sugar. Other varieties are dipped in chocolate ganache; however, since these cookies were fresh out of the oven, the chocolate was just in the cookies. I’m happy to say, though, they ship the cannoli cookies, which would be the perfect pairing to evening coffee or tea.

I am pretty sure we all gained five pounds each night after dinner. Everything was delicious, made with love, and served with a smile. We enjoyed conversations, getting to know each other, and made so many beautiful memories at the dinner table. If you stay on the weekend, be sure to ask Ruthie about Friday night cooking in the kitchen. Ruthie cooks and serves meals for those who want to learn skills, techniques and meet new people while sharing a meal. Each dinner was an inspiration to try new flavor profiles at home and create new recipes of my own. Finger crossed, they are just as fabulous as those at Dogwood Hills Guest Farm.