Our Winter 2016 Issue
We’ve often wondered about that dilapidated little building close to the road just over the Yarmouth Port line on Route 6A. We speculated that it once might have been a gas station, and it turns out, we were partially right. As Mary Blair Petiet enlightens us in Remembering Usher’s Store, it was that and so much more: it was a neighborhood institution, a gathering place for elders, a destination for kids on a mission and, consequently, the source of many happy recollections. Most of us of a certain age grew up with a similar mom-and-pop operation within striking distance. I have fond memories of Saturday bike rides into town to check out the latest batch of comic books and to buy a fistful of penny candy. We may have lost Usher’s and its ilk with potbelly stoves in the corner, but we are fortunate on the Cape to still have many smaller general stores where you are sure to be warmly welcomed and can stock up on licorice sticks and bulls eye caramels. We’d like to write about other gone-but-not-forgotten Cape institutions in future issues, so if you have a story to share about a fish market, restaurant or specialty food shop, please send us an email at info@ediblecapecod.com.
Sometimes inspiration strikes from out of the blue. Other times human error gives birth to the creative spark. In our fall issue, I incorrectly credited some of the photos accompanying a story about surf clams to the author. She called me on this as soon as she got her copy of Edible and gave me the real photographer’s email and URL, which is how we found David Hills. Hills, a professional photographer, has some powerful images on his website that document the arduous workday of the fisherman. We were so captivated, we tasked regular contributor Larry Egan to select a representative handful and get the backstory on how someone who earns his livelihood shooting ad campaigns and corporate portraits in a studio found himself in the tight quarters of a working fishing vessel documenting the action. If you like what you see in Splendid Ocean Views, be sure to visit Hills’ website, fishypictures.com.
In this issue, we also take you into the beehive, the fly nursery and the shellfish hatchery; our resident polymath Veronica Worthington introduces us to her latest garden wonder, the Seminole Pumpkin; and we learn about a new initiative to map the fruit and nut trees on the Cape with the goal of diversifying our forests and increasing our food sources. Senior Contributing Editor Tom Dott got his hands on Edible Cape Cod contributor John Carafoli’s latest book and shares a few of its extremely tempting Italian American recipes. And Vanessa Stewart has a mouthwatering recollection of a wonderful meal we shared recently at Viera in Harwich, owned by a couple of Cape Cod natives. If you haven’t been, we strongly urge you to make a reservation before they close for the season on December 31.
Happy Holidays! See you in May!