Shelburne, Vermont, like nearby Burlington and many Vermont towns, is a very food-conscious place. We who live here have small local markets, restaurants, farmer’s markets, farm stands and food shares which give access to locally grown food and a connection to the source of some of our ingredients.

I’m not just talking seasonal vegetables, which are available year-round, but also meat and dairy products, legumes, grains, cranberries, fermented foods, condiments, and candies. Even during the long lulls between picking peaches at the orchard in August and drinking warm syrup at the sugarhouse in March, you can feel a sense of place in your food.

Some of my personal favorites are the Cherry Pit Infused Peach Jam made by The Green Jam Man (cherries are related to almonds and the pits add a nutty flavor), the new lacto-fermented Ginger Kimchi made by Sobremesa (I like to add it to vegetable ramen right before serving), and the thick-cut bacon from Jericho Settler’s Farm (this needs no explanation).

I can usually pick all those things up at the Burlington Farmer’s Market on Saturday mornings. I also love the raw milk that I drive just out of town to pick up at The Family Cow farm stand. Yes, it has that musty edge that smells like the farm (let’s call it hay), and it also has all the natural sugars and fats and health benefits that some pasteurized milk can lack. Also, sometimes I take quick portraits of the cows grazing at sunset.

We are rather spoiled by abundance, in fact, and that sometimes makes it more painful to lower our standards when we are too tired, too busy, or too ill to cook I could list the improvements to mental, physical, and family health that conscious eating and reduced stress can provide, but most people are already educated in these matters, and anyway they can feel it in their bones.

Taking something hot, inviting and delicious out of the oven is the best way to start a relaxing meal, and planning your meals for weeks to come while still choosing all the ingredients yourself lets you control both your health and your happiness – even on the busiest days.