There's a chance I'll be cooking for company sometime in early February, so
I'm idly musing about the menu possibilities. This is just the first draft
(and the whole thing is still in the hazy planning stages in any case):

Amuse-Bouche: The PlacerGrown harvest calendar says that rhubarb is
supposed to be coming into season here in February. If that's the case, I'm
thinking about making stewed rhubarb with butternut squash as the
amuse-bouche. Otherwise it would be some other sweet-sour squash dish. This
is just a single-bite course, so it has to pack a bit of a punch.

Salad: I want to use black radishes, but the application would depend on how
woody they are. (Some are much more dry and woody than others. They're
generally more like turnips than like red radishes.) If they're woody, then
I'd make a salad with grated radish, grated carrot, chopped scallions,
chopped cucumber, and sour cream. If they're not woody, I'd make a salad
with sliced (peeled) black radish, apples, and escarole, dressed with cider
vinegar, salt, and walnut oil.

Main Dish: Chicken and dumplings sound good to me, especially if it's cold
and damp. I posted the Cook's Illustrated recipe here in 2005[1]; that's the
one I would follow. Besides the chicken and dumplings themselves, the recipe
contains celery, onions, carrots, and peas. (It's also got sherry and cream
in there, which in my estimation elevate it to the status of "company"
food.)

Side Dish: Last spring, I bought some broccoli leaves at a farmer's market,
and pickled them. Something like that would be great as a side dish, but I
haven't seen broccoli leaves for at least four months. However, I think that
kale would work equally well, so I'm tentatively planning on making
pickled/marinated kale. The pickle is made by combining cider vinegar,
sugar, salt, and water, bringing that to a boil and then pouring it (still
boiling hot) into a jar over packed kale leaves. It has to sit for a few
days before it's ready. The chicken & dumpling recipe is quite creamy and
rich, so bites of something sharp like this would probably be welcome during
the meal.

Dessert: What better time for a trifle? I'm thinking either a
butterscotch-banana trifle[2] or a caramelized orange trifle[3]. Might as
well get SOME use out of that trifle dish!

Beverages: I think that our local ciders are very good[4]; that's what I'd
serve with everything but dessert. (The vinegary kale would probably make
wine taste pretty bad.) If dessert is the caramelized orange trifle I'd
serve an orange muscat (like Essensia), or I'd get a bottle of Hungarian
Tokay to accompany the butterscotch-banana trifle.

It was surprisingly difficult to come up with dishes to fit into a menu with
chicken & dumplings! Any suggested menu changes?

Bob

[1] <http://groups.google.com/group/rec.food.cooking/msg/b579244cb8cbce17>
[2]
<http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/type-of-dish/desserts/quickly-does-it/butterscotch-and-banana-trifle-with-madeira.html>
[3]
<http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/cuisine/european/english/caramelised-orange-trifle.html>
[4] <http://www.foxbarrel.com>