Letter from the Editor
The (Re)connecting Issue
I haven’t had a dinner party since Friday, March 6th.
In the face of a pandemic; ongoing protests over racial and social injustice; deepening political divides as Election Day looms; extreme weather events wreaking havoc across the country; and economic uncertainty the likes of which we haven’t endured in decades, my desire to be the “Hostess with the Mostest” seems almost too trivial to express.
But I do so to make a point. The dinner party is my failsafe connection maker. As I moved from one mailing address to the next and one job to the next, inviting people to gather in my dining room to enjoy local food and drink has always planted seeds for new relationships and sparked conversations to make them grow. I sorely miss making those connections.
This issue centers on Mainers (re)connecting over food despite the circumstances that physically and socially distance us. We feature a co-housing development in Belfast, a budding vegan baker who doesn’t focus on what’s missing from her goods, a chef from “away” who moved to Kennebec County to homestead, and thru-hikers taking communion along the Appalachian Trail. We highlight fall cocktails from Maine distillers, New Mainers growing and processing food, fishing families harvesting seafood recipes to share, and a chef talking about hospitality in inhospitable times.
We invite you to connect with all of them.
Cheers,
No. 14 / Fall 2020
Editorial in this issue
Not Your Grandmother’s Commune
Sharing, Caring, and Co-Housing in Belfast
Making Chicken Equitable Again
Common Wealth Poultry Co. Raises the Bar for Meat Processing
From Away and Making Food Connections
A Homesteading Life in Kennebec County
New Roots, New Markets
Somali Bantu Farmers Prove Cooperative Farming Works
Boils, Bakes, Fries, and Feeds
Savoring the Community of Seafood
Communion on the Appalachian Trail
The Company Is More Sustainable Than the Food
The Secret to Home Vegan Baking for the Masses?
Don’t Mention the Vegan Part
Modern Country Cooking for a Crowd
Seasonal ingredients, simple skills, satisfied eaters
The Spirits of Fall
Maine Distilleries Create Cocktails to Reflect Local Harvest
Tying Up the Loose Ends
Suggestions on How to Use Up All the Edible Bits and Pieces
Ten Things You Didn’t Know About Maine Baked Beans
Cooking, Consistency and Connections, and Cooking
Northern Union’s Chef Romann Dumorne Discusses Comfort Zones in an Uncomfortable Time
Seafood as an Accessible Family Affair
New Book to Connect Cooks, Fish, and Coastal Communities
Fast and Local Fare Is Engrained in South Berwick
Fine Dining Fixture Turns Fast Casual
Edible Inn and Around: Squire Tarbox Inn, Wiscasset
