Livingston Manor Open Fire Wedding (2022)

It was a glorious summer weekend in June. We packed up our kitchen and drove up to Livingston Manor, a lovely pocket town in Sullivan County. We're no strangers to the area and got to know it even better in the planning of a DIY-style open-fire wedding for Juli and David at their home.

We set up a cooking pit and worked out of an old barn for most of the day. Above our heads, a set of newborn birds kept us company. We were very lucky to have a guide and partner in Michelle Eaton, who is half of Forthright Cyder & Mead. Michelle connected us with so many vital vendors in the Sullivan County area to source every ingredient locally.

The Open-Fire Wedding Menu

La Salumina is a whole-pig salumi producer in Hurleyville, NY. We used their coppa, pate rustico, and finocchietta for individual charcuterie platters. We added a few fresh crudites from Wild Russet Farm as well as stone fruit jam.

We drove out to a remote part of Callicoon, to pick up wedges of Tonjes Farm Dairy cheese straight from the dairy. We chose their version of Caerphilly, Mooda and Beechwood blue, all made with milk from Holstein cows.

Beaverkill Trout Hatchery is a 5-generation fish farm where you can pre-order (with 48-hours notice) or catch your own trout on select days. We cured a few fillets and made trout dip for cocktail hour. Later on, we stuffed trout fillets with Wild Russet bunching onions and grilled them over the fire.

Our coolest dishes were a collaboration with Forthright. They gave us cyder to marinate our meats from Hilly Acres Farm. We marinated whole pork loins with Helen cyder, grilled them over the fire, and finished them with sumac and garlic oil. The chicken was marinated in yogurt and berbere. After it was grilled, we finished it with pink peppercorn.

Tools for Open-Fire Cooking

To cook this ambitious menu, we had to upgrade some of our equipment. If you're looking to cook outside, check out our Grilling Essentials Etsy collection.

• When handling large logs of wood, you need campfire tongs. They're also helpful if you need to rearrange burning logs to adjust the heat.
• For delicate fish that can't be moved around too much, we suggest using a stainless steel grill basket.
• Regular sized tongs and spatulas will burn your hands over open fire, opt for longer tools made of steel to work safer and smarter.
• We love this Argentine-style flat top grill that fits over campfires. If you want grill marks, get this grid-iron style.
• It may feel silly to use an oven mitt ouside, but these suede gloves are great for moving hot cast iron pans around.

A Party Tip

When cooking outside, always pay attention to the fire. Create hot zones to sear foods and cool zones to cook foods slowly. Always have a safe, stable surface and new platters to put finished food to avoid cross contamination with uncooked meats. We like simmer our marinades, strain them, and rest meats in them after grilling so we don't loose any moisture.

Disclosure: When you buy through our affiliate links, we may earn a commission. We have not been compensated otherwise for our recommendations.