I don’t know if I’ve mentioned it before, but l may be a food-centric person. I wake up in the morning wondering what to make for dinner. I scour websites looking for new and interesting recipes. The interweb is a wonderful place to find things. Sometimes I plug in staples that I have on hand – black beans, chicken, cheese. Bingo bongo, recipes appear. I was out shopping the other day and I realized something, I look forward to food items that aren’t available all year. I get excited when they finally appear.

January is a barren month food-wise. Fruit is available but only oranges and grapefruit taste like themselves. It’s the time of year for stews and soups and amazing, hearty bread. February brings cinnamon hearts and Hershey kisses, not really food but hey, they’re delicious. The Lunar New Year falls somewhere in here and we usually try to get out to a Chinese restaurant and eat something new. March brings hot cross buns and Cadbury creme eggs. April is when the first spring veggies arrive and I start heading to the local farm markets to check them out; asparagus, radishes, rhubarb and salad greens. I start to rely less and less on my pantry and I start shopping every other day to keep fresh food in the house. The local Farmers’ Market starts up just a block from where I live and I head there every Thursday with my trusty “Shop Local” reuseable bags. May brings peas and the first new potatoes. We eat fresh, raw peas in green salads, potato salads and coleslaws. We eat them until they disappear. June really explodes with food items – local strawberries, cherries, blueberries and if we’re lucky, tomatoes. I live for fresh, local tomatoes. While hothouse tomatoes are available all year, they often don’t taste like tomatoes. July brings nectarines, peaches, peppers, blueberries, blackberries and raspberries. I make a killer fresh fruit trifle and everyone loves my fruit-covered mini pavlovas. We gorge on each new item as it becomes available. Corn makes its appearance in July too. Our suppers consist of something barbecued and a big salad full of local veggies and fruit and corn. I love to make little hand pies with the fresh fruit, a regular pie is too big for just the two of us. We go to a local gelato place to get seasonal flavours to pair with the fruit. Heaven! And watermelon finally tastes like watermelon in July. Everything continues through August and September, although the berries trail off. But then the new crop apples arrive. When we were in Nova Scotia we discovered Cortland apples – big, juicy, crisp and not too sweet. They aren’t available here but we love Pink Lady (Kripp’s Pink) and Honeycrisp apples. The first Spartans and Macs are delicious too, but their crispness and tartness don’t last. October brings brussel sprouts and fresh, organic free-range turkey for Thanksgiving. November is Halloween candy, those mini chocolate bars are irresistible! December brings all the Christmas cookies and treats, as well as the best mandarin oranges. All year we try to buy local. Our bread, milk and eggs come from local organic companies. We frequent a couple of local butchers.

When travelling we try to eat local food in small restaurants. We avoid large national chains, although no trip to the southern US is complete without a breakfast at Cracker Barrel. In those small restaurants you get local food cooked with local flavour. You also get the chance to talk to people who live in the area. The best tips for outings come from them. But no matter where we are, if duck is on the menu I order it. I never cook it but I eat it whenever I can. Cooking, or baking, for family or friends is my favourite thing to do.  And when I cook for others, I only have to taste it to see that it’s good, I don’t have to eat it all.

I can’t buy into the premise that we should eat to live not live to eat. People who eat to live lack passion. They have no sense of community or exploration. I feel sorry for them. They might be thinner than me but I know damn well they aren’t happier than me.