In Northern Michigan this past week with family and friends, a neighbor sent me a note: “Do you like smoked salmon and can I come over in the morning?” I said, “Sure, I’ll have coffee and bagels and cream cheese.” When she arrived with a gorgeous piece of salmon, she filled me in that she’d caught the salmon a few days earlier, right in Lake Michigan – she pointed out the window at the spot - and her husband smoked it. It was wildly delicious, especially with eggs from the farm down the street and homemade bread.
As we re-air a favorite episode this week, “In Search of Real Food,” I think about the local farm tomatoes, kale, cucumbers, and cherries we lived on last week, on dune hikes and swimming breaks, and at the end of the day staring into the wildfire-tinged reddish gold sunset. This is a place where self-serve farm stands dot the winding roads. You put a few dollars in a box for ingredients that were on the vine, or a tree a few hours before.
For dinner, I made lake trout with garden tarragon and leeks and chicken cacciatore with fresh tomatoes, basil and zucchini. My daughter and I did our annual blueberry picking and making pie day. When my book club visited, breakfast was yogurt with raspberries and locally-made granola, accompanied by lots of coffee and talking for hours. Food, of course, is a necessity we all have in common. But maybe as we search out foods – real foods - with meaning – memories, history, health, and beauty – we create a bountiful and joyful celebration to share with each other.
– Shannon