Welcome at EatingWell Magazine July-August 2021 Issue

Last summer was a weird one when it came to getting together with folks. There were so many questions. Can we share food? Do we bring our own? What if we have to go inside? How many is too many people? I’ve just gotten my second Pfizer shot and along with that, I have a glimmer of hope that this summer is going to be a whole lot different.
There is, however, one tradition from summer 2020 that I’m planning to adopt for this year and beyond: the dock concert. From May to October I live on Lake Champlain in a cottage built in the 1890s as a fishing camp. As we were contemplating how to fight both boredom and isolation while also helping our friend, Lowell Thompson, whose work as a musician had dried up due to the pandemic, my husband, John, suggested that we should host concerts on our dock. (Sound travels over calm water like nothing else.) We would spread the invitation to anyone we knew who had a boat and tell them they were invited to come, but they had to arrive by water (no coming into our house!), it was 100% BYO and the price of admission was a contribution to Lowell’s Venmo tip jar.
That first night about 25 boats arrived. By the second time he played, word had gotten out, and as I stood on the porch listening to Lowell croon, I counted around 60 boats. Apparently, we weren’t the only ones longing to connect. There were canoes, kayaks, cabin cruisers, ski boats, fishing boats, you name it. People noshed on appetizers or
even full-blown picnic dinners. Cocktails, beer and wine flowed. Kids swam. I paddled out to say hello (from afar) to family and friends. I stopped to greet a boat full of people I didn’t recognize and was immediately offered a gin & tonic and a lobster roll. I was too worried about social distancing protocols to accept, but I loved the gesture nevertheless.
We’re planning our 2021 dock concerts now. But I have my fingers crossed that I’ll also get to have a packed table for a kamayan feast (page 90). I want to build a fi re in the Big Green Egg smoker to make paella (page 76) for a crowd. And I’m ready to design a menu around the freshest summer produce I can find using recipes from Stone Acres Farm (page 82).
Hopefully we’ll all be sitting down again soon to eat with those we love.

Download from:

NitroFlare

• ImagineFX – August 2021
• When Saturday Comes – England at the World Cup