Most people celebrate spring by changing out closets, putting a fresh wreath on their door or just standing in the sunshine and taking a moment to be grateful for all the new sights and smells.

Serenbe Foods chef-in-residence Matt Adolfi celebrates spring by breaking down a 300-pound pig from Double T Farms with his brother, Paddy, and throwing a pop-up dinner for 35.

The plan was to host it in my backyard, but as the date got closer, the weather got colder. So we did cocktails and hors d’oeuvres at my house and dinner at the Daisy.

Michael Taylor, Garnie’s best friend from college who lives out his dream of owning a restaurant by planning these dinners, asked what we could do to make the Daisy look like less of a sandwich shop. So I did a little pruning at the Inn’s gardens the morning of the event and filled up the back of the Gator with tall viburnum branches and some very petite roses. Back at the Daisy, I worked some flower and candle magic — even though it’s not my forte — while Matt and Paddy worked their food magic in the kitchen.

A few hours later, guests had pate and chorizo plus fried pork belly with tomato jam and pickled okra served in metal Japanese soup spoons, which was my favorite bite of the night. After we’d picked the big, beautiful wooden serving boards clean, we walked across the street to the Daisy, which felt transformed into a bistro. Matt’s menu combined the best of our local farmers and artisans:

• Cured North Georgia trout
• Beet root, buttermilk, rye 

• Braised Many Fold Farm lamb shoulder
• Brebis agnolotti, oyster mushrooms, English peas, fennel lamb consommé

• Double T Farm slow-roasted porchetta
• Potatoes boulangere, roasted asparagus with Serenbe Farm egg emulsion, thyme onion rolls

• Many Fold Farm Garrett’s Ferry
• Kumquat marmalade, funnel sultana crisp

• Crepe cake with Georgia strawberry preserves
• Chevre & pine nuts

As if that wasn’t enough, Matt always sends guests off with a takeaway and this time he did chocolate meringues — chewy chocolate cookies with chunks of chocolate inside, packaged beautifully in cellophane with a tiny pin and Serenbe Foods tag. Even if he’d shoved them in a Ziplock bag, they would’ve flown out the door. They are oh-my-God good.

Chocolate Meringue Cookies

• Makes approximately 24 cookies
• 9 oz. egg whites (by weight) at room temperature
• Dash of cream of tartar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 3 cups granulated sugar
• 6 tablespoons dutch cocoa powder
• 18 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
• ¾ cup roughly chopped toasted walnuts

1. In a Kitchen-Aid mixing bowl, beat egg whites, vanilla and cream of tartar to soft peaks. Be careful not to over whip — it should be glossy with soft peaks.

2. Slowly add granulated sugar, 2 tablespoons at a time, until add is incorporated.

3. Remove mixer from stand and fold by hand the cocoa, chocolate and walnuts into the meringue.

4. Using a 70# scoop, place scoops of meringue onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

5. Bake at 275 degrees for approximately 20-25 minutes, rotating once after half of baking time. Cookies are done when they lift off the paper. Cook completely uncovered and store in an airtight container.