My first real encounter with winter came in 1955 when our family moved to western Massachusetts. It was a world of summer tobacco barns, truck farms, and deep snows in the winter months measured by the height of drifts piled up against our clothesline.

As 2021 got underway, ice encased every tree branch and blade of prairie grass at Boomerang Creek. Housebound, Kit and I gathered in front of the Buck stove and reflected on times when self-reliance and family got us through hard times.

Well before the first hint of dawn, I listen to the sounds our house makes in the night.

It was also our wedding anniversary—a date chosen because my mother had always wanted one of her four daughters to have a winter wedding.

In pre-Covid years when travel during the holidays was possible, Suzanne and Don would now be experiencing Rome in its festive mood during the Christmas holidays.

In this year of pandemic self-isolation, those of us who love cooking and enjoy a bottle of fine wine with a meal have become ever more epicurious. Family recipes are being prepared again, especially during the holidays, along with new dishes from sources like The New York Times weekly food columns by Sam Sifton.

For Thanksgiving, Kit and I ordered a holiday takeout meal prepared in Sycamore’s kitchen.  While picking up the meal, we walked to the back of the restaurant to booth #12 where our Sycamore oil painting now lives.

The entire bottom of the trunk was filled with locally crafted fabrics from Cambodia, Thailand, Laos and Pakistan—reminders of the places I traveled to while living in Asia.

In everyone’s life, there should be at least one family road trip across America that shines in the collective memory of all who were along for the ride.

Early mornings, we gathered in the predawn hour on our covered porch—masks on and wool plaid blankets piled across our laps.

I am a huge fan of Sam Sifton’s NYTimes.com Cooking column. While reading his suggestions for what to cook while coping with the 2020 elections, I learned about an article by Samin Nosrat—author of “Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat” and star of a four-part Netflix documentary inspired by her travels and cookbook.

Following the November 2016 elections, I felt like I was drowning in a political nightmare and did the only thing I could think of to save myself. I joined a local fitness club with a saltwater pool and started swimming for my life.

In the months since then, life as we’ve known it has been drastically altered. For an increasing number of Americans and for millions around the world, food insecurity is a daily struggle.

Lately, I’ve had a craving for a meal from my mother Alice’s kitchen that is pure comfort food, as good today as it was when I was growing up—meatloaf and mashed potatoes.

All across the Midwest, farmers are busy making hay while the sun shines and the moon moves again toward full.

For decades, I’ve shared loaves of this banana bread with friends and family.

For decades, I’ve shared loaves of this banana bread with friends and family.

I first tasted Missouri persimmons in the form of an exquisite flan-like pudding.  It’s best to gather wild persimmons after autumn frosts have dulled the fruit’s natural shine.