I like to cook and I adore gardening.....But today I am writing about about food as it pertains to social pleasures and change. Being a member of a new communtiy and possibly the beginning of a different lifestyle brings, quite naturally, ----- new experiences. Not surprisingly I began to think of our residents--particularly those new to the area and starting to venture forth . I wondered if they will be keeping all of their traditions along with their move to Easton Village and the Eastern Shore --cooking the kinds of meals they have always cooked and eating in the manner and style of their former customs ; or perhaps they have met new neighbors and have shared meals or combined their recipes and their rituals and formed new substitutes for the ways things have always been done in their lives. Together quite possibly, they have discovered Eastern Shore church suppers, church pancake breakfasts, crab feasts, oysterfests and Talbot county fairs as well. . In other words those meals tht remind us we are part of larger groups as well as our intimate small groups. For myself, this means I can count on a delicious crabcake at the Oxford Fire Station cooked like my husband's Mother made them ---a small round shape as opposed to the more prevalent flat shape.....I don't have to make this crabcake. It is made FOR me by the Ladies of the Auxilliary. How about the myriad of holiday bake sales that mean you won't have to make that pineapple upsidedown cake yourself! Joy! Oh, and I can still taste the homemade fig jam on buttered hot biscuits sold at the Oxford yearly Book Sale in September. These are my examples along with the delicious homemade food at the wonderful Easton Farmers Market because this is my community. I hope you take advantage of all the chance opportunities to enjoy our many types of informal public eating on "The Shore." Bon Apetit!
cheerio,
ritze
