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As we hunker down and ready our hearth and homes for winter celebrations we are once again reminded of the importance of our own cherished family food traditions. Whether they are a culinary inheritance from another country, like sausage-making; or have been recently adopted, like a song about kale—they are crucial to our sense of comfort, family, and inter-connectedness.

In this issue we’re excited for you to meet Pete Rando and Pat Pregoni in Julia Powers’ Taste of Home. Pete and Pat reminisce about their memorable childhoods in Italy, and muse on the various ways they keep their beloved traditions alive today.

Langwater Farm sets the stage for new traditions for the Bradley family, as Jessica and her son Ben share their Winter Food Adventure. Beware; you’ll have the catchy Kale Song curling around in your head for hours.

While maintaining family traditions across the generations isn’t always easy, the inspiring Calderone family shows us that it is possible, even as traditions evolve. Through this traditional and delicious annual event the family respectfully embraces change, while instilling the importance of keeping their culinary inheritance alive.

In a true testament to the inter-connectedness of all things, we visit with Donna Blischke and her daughter Stephanie at their farm, aptly named Web of Life. Donna, a true pioneer in the local food movement, is an advocate of organic farming practices (long before most of us had ever heard of the movement).

Do you know any couples who have blended their Irish and Italian heritage? We bet you do! Join Barbara Anglin as she invites us to her family’s holiday table. Take a light-hearted peak at how the Anglins and Rizzos have married their food traditions.

Regardless of your own heritage, we hope this issue will inspire you to learn and document your own family’s treasured recipes this holiday season. Talk to your kinfolk. Is someone collecting recipes from the older generation? What jokes and stories does your family share about special recipes or dishes? Throughout 2015, edible South Shore & South Coast will be collecting your recipes, stories, and traditions, to begin our edible Recipe Box. Make sure your family’s traditions become a part of it! See page 17 to learn how you can contribute.

Eat thoughtfully,

Cheers!

Laurie Hepworth & Michael Hart