Jamie! Love this essay. It really rings true for me, too, from the processed food childhood to being sous chef to my hubby for most of our 16-year relationship. I joke that I came to enjoy cooking after I started watching Top Chef and realizing that cooking is merely learned technique and understanding what food combinations work best together.

But the truth is that I’ve come to enjoy cooking since becoming a mother. I want to give her memories of frittatas made with goat cheese, asparagus and new potatoes in the spring, or tomato and corn salads in the summer, or risotto with pancetta and greens in the fall. Hooray for the rediscovery of the home kitchen!

I should be putting up the last of my peaches as chutney or jam right now, but after making blueberry jam on Friday night and peaches on Sunday night, I’m wiped out. I know they’ll be lovely in winter--I too line them up to gaze at their loveliness and daydream of their futures--but I think I need a night off from the stove.

I’ve screwed up with store-bought pectin, too, refusing to use as much sugar as the box indicates, etc., but if you cook fruit long enough, it seems to set just enough to count for jam. Worked with strawberries, raspberries, peaches, and blueberries so far--some looser than others, but all delicious.

Really well put, Harriet. I love the part about growing old with your plants and wearing grooves in the floorboards. A big “yes” to investing in and nurturing your community and making the city a righteous place--count me in!

Good for you for finding a processor to take care of the boys (RIP). I’ve heard horror stories from friends who tried to do the deed themselves and they’re still reeling from it.

Hey, Caroline, I check in at Culinate every couple days to see the latest on your chicken adventure. This is like a great suspense novel: Will the chickens take to their new coop? What’s going to happen to Stevie? How will Caroline “divest” herself of three chickens?
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I’m also loving what you and Kim are doing with the rest of the website. It’s definitely become a go-to place for me. Thanks for the great work!