In Our Winter 2019 Issue

Photography By | Last Updated November 30, 2019
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When we are preparing our slate of stories for a given issue, we act with intention. We endeavor to cover a broad range of food and sustainability topics and to select stories that offer coverage of as much of western Connecticut’s large geographic area as possible. When we have a unified theme for an issue, such as with fall’s brewery issue, we actively seek out experts in the field to ensure we’re offering the best take on that subject.

Therefore, it was an atypical experience for me to have this issue’s theme, highlighting the women of Connecticut’s sustainable food trade, come together somewhat unintentionally. As I considered our story options, I realized that we had a remarkable selection of articles both by and about women that were “ready to go,” and so the issue defined itself. This, I find indicative of a greater truth: throughout our state, women are both an industrial and creative force, the weight of which proceeds with or without the guidance or approval of anyone.

This issue features women from across the spectrum of Connecticut’s food industry. Farmers, like Patti Popp and Rachel Precious, tell their stories about doing the unexpected in a field traditionally dominated by men…and succeeding. Author Anna Gass collects the recipes of immigrant women, helping to preserve the cultural histories and identities that are intertwined with them, including her own. We explore New Haven’s Sanctuary Kitchen, which works to build enterprise, refuge, and community for and by immigrant women, through the ancestral cuisine that has emigrated with them. Lori Cochran-Dougall, executive director of the Westport Farmers’ Market, reveals how our state’s food community assisted her, and how she now endeavors to assist it. And we remember Margaret Rudkin, Fairfield resident and founder of Pepperidge Farm, who established a baked goods empire in a time when women were expected to keep their aspirations confined to their home kitchen.

This small group of women are representative of a much larger whole, and this issue’s stories scratch only the surface of the entrepreneurial and community-based efforts that women are engaging in across the state. We could dedicate all of our issues to Connecticut’s extraordinary and accomplished females, and well past my future retirement, there would be no scarcity of new tales to tell.

Dana Jackson, Editor & Publisher

 


 

Winter 2019 full digital edition flipbook

 


 

Ebb & Flow

Carting totes of oysters down the dock one rainy morning in the thick of my first winter season, the only other American crew member turned to me, as we paused to catch our breath. He told me how none...

Sanctuary Kitchen

Sanctuary Kitchen is a growing catering space and entrepreneurial hub for refugee women, all of whom are talented chefs eager to share the beauty and cuisine of their culture. They came here under...

Patti Popp and Sport Hill Farm

Established nearly two decades ago and on only a few acres, Popp started Sport Hill Farm, well, sort of on a whim, but also from a gut feeling and an insatiable curiosity. “When I first started, I...

Heirloom Kitchen

Born in Italy but raised in Rhode Island, Gass is familiar with that sense of duality with which immigrant families live. At school, she was American; at home, she was Italian. Honoring our ancestry...

Lori Cochran-Dougall

Lori Cochran-Dougall is the brains, as well as the brawn, behind the Westport Farmers’ Market. Having spent her formative years in Roanoke, VA, Cochran-Dougall arrived in Westport after a 17-year...

Distinctively Connecticut

Born in 1897, Margaret Fogarty was not a country girl. She grew up in New York and on Long Island, graduated at the top of her high school class, and worked in Manhattan as bookkeeper for a brokerage.

The Community Table

Growers, producers, and makers from across Connecticut contribute to this seasonal table spread. Putting the best of our state's local creators to work makes for an incredible holiday setting!

Safoi's Chicken Tagine

Safoi has many beautiful tagines in her home. A tagine is a cooking vessel used in Moroccan recipes that is made of earthenware and has a domed top that returns all condensation to the food, keeping...

Raisin-Cinnamon Swirl Bread

Our adaptation of Pepperidge Farms’ classic raisin-cinnamon bread brings to mind our childhood breakfast tables and the hardworking women who didn’t want us to face the day without a full belly.

Lucy's Hummus

Lucy’s hummus is a hot commodity. Her family requests it for all their gatherings, and if her daughter, Christine, goes to a dinner party, her friends won’t let her in the door without it. It’s...

Rosemary & Sage Butter-Seared Lamb

This recipe will please any hungry gathering of family and friends. Check out the photo essay, below, for great presentation and table setting ideas!

Fire Cider

The allure of fire cider is decades old and fomented by herbalists around the world who concocted what has been called the people’s medicine. Considered a homeopathic tonic that boosts the immune...
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