Grist for the Mill
Perspective. Traveling back home from a publishers’ conference at 35,000 feet, the land looks like a patchwork floor. Squares, rectangles, and circles of farmland stretch out toward the horizon with tree-lined river valleys meandering throughout like carpeted arteries supplying the necessary water to sustain life. Yet, large bodies of water are clouded with nutrient-rich topsoil running off from rivers and canals like billowing smoke rising out of chimneys. It’s a view easily overlooked when your boots are on the ground and your hands are working the soil. It takes a fresh viewpoint to see there are better regenerative farming practices that can repair the land and protect the waterways while still feeding us. After all, care and attention must be given to the land that provides our food so it will continue to do so.
The same can be said for those who prepare our food. Life working in a professional kitchen is not an easy one. Mental health struggles and substance abuse are all too common within the ranks of kitchen professionals. Andrea Pyenson talks with some local chefs about their perspectives on a changing attitude inside restaurants in “Open Kitchens”. Where kitchens were once ruled by iron fists and quick tempers, there are now outstretched hands offering support to those in need.
The financial pressures are intense for any new business, and the challenges of keeping a locally owned restaurant afloat are well known. On Cape Cod, potential owners have a new way of entering the food service industry without putting their life savings on the line. The Cape Cod Culinary Incubator is a shared, top-of-the-line kitchen space where members, those exploring their dreams and seasoned professionals alike, can experiment with their products and ideas, and receive vital education and assistance from one another. All of this without being under the yoke of overhead costs that come with opening a traditional brick-and-mortar location. “Too Many Cooks? Not Here.” looks at the refreshing new way the local food industry can only strengthen by this new venture.
There are a few local businesses that feature one food item in particular: tea. Tea is the perfect beverage for all occasions, and all are covered on the Cape. High tea calls for sharing charming settings with wonderful friends. On the other hand, you may be looking for a unique blend to enjoy while curled up with a good book under a cozy blanket as the snow falls prettily outside. Susan Fernald traveled the Cape to find out just where we should go to gather for those special times, and where you can fill those tea sachets to steep at home in “Teatime on Cape Cod”.
Have a wonderful holiday season and enjoy the traditions that make it such a delightful time of year. You may even want to start new traditions with some of John Carafoli’s recipes, found in this issue. Most importantly, look after yourself and those around you. Care and attention must be paid to ourselves, along with the world around us.
