Early Summer 2009
The Growing Season
By Ali Berlow, EDITOR

The growing season spills across the Vineyard like Technicolor ignites the screen when Dorothy wakes up in the Land of Oz. Just as disorienting, it’s like emerging from a dark movie theater on a sunny afternoon. Squinting until we can open our eyes and fully take in the dawning of the summer…
In late spring, it begins with green and purple asparagus, full and tight-tipped, gracing farm stands, grocers, and menus. Now from the local fields, first harvests bring tender green and yellow squashes of all shapes and sizes and sweet, delicate berries. Overwhelmingly juicy and fragrant, Island fruit makes you wonder how out-of-season, traveled-for-how-long imposters even bother to compare.
As the waters around our shores warm, the fishes flow—and where fishes flow, the fishermen follow. In this issue’s “My Vineyard,” Janet Messineo writes about surfcasting season to season, sunrise to moonset. With experience and respect, she passes the edible fish (the legal ones) she catches on to others.
Geraldine Brooks, Pulitzer Prize winning author, contributes “Community by Fire” to Edible Vineyard. She finds Juli Vanderhoop’s wood-fired oven at Orange Peel Bakery in Aquinnah, where the owner/baker goes beyond the fundamentals of flour, salt, water, and yest into the alchemy of place and community. All are encouraged to break bread at Orange Peel; simply follow the scent during the day or Wednesday’s sunset for pizza night.
Forty-year New York Times contributor and author Nelson Bryant writs about the harvesting and pit storing of shellfish in “Oysters in Your Backyard’. Residing in his familial home in West Tisbury with Ruth Kirchmeier along with a few good sets of neoprene waders, lots of books, a garden, artwork, and at least one well-honed oyster knife, Nelson is a true Vineyard texture.
For us, summer marks days at home, enjoying family and friends. The carousel slows as school breaks for vacation and our boys live for jumping off 2nd bridge. They burn whatever old homework remains, and over its ashes they roast their dinner, evoking the low-impact camaraderie that this season of freedom and fun embodies. This is the essencs of summer; sandy and salt-dried, smelling of the sea and wood smoke, all drifting on beach roads, laughter and the clinking of glasses be they a DIY Pirate’s Passion, milk from your goat, or a Koi Pond martini (read on…).
Thanks for your support. From our table to yours—here’s to bounties of another vineyard summer.
Features: Early Summer 2009
Community by Fire
By burning wood and breading dough, Juli Vanderhoop bakes more than bread
Oysters In Your Backyard
A writer and avid outdoorsman muses on his oystering ways
Constellation of Goat Lovers
All around the Island, people keep goats for milk and laughter, too
Departments: Early Summer 2009
Recipes: Early Summer 2009
Chocolate Zucchini Bundt Cake
Breads, Desserts
Zucchini Ribbons
Sides
Secret Finishing Sauce
Sauces and Jams, Spices
Chocolate Drizzling Sauce
Desserts, Sauces and Jams
Puff Pastry Shells
Breads, Desserts
Fresh Strawberry Tart
Desserts
Parfaits with Yogurt, Berry…
Appetizers and Snacks, Breakfast and Brunch, Desserts
A Baked Oyster Concoction
Appetizers and Snacks
Finds: Early Summer 2009
Hot, Sour, Salty, Sweet
Take one flavor, add another, and the equation turns everything from popcorn to vodka into a world apart. Kind of like the Island.

Hold the Heat
Hot pink buckets make barn & boat chores brighter, hotter, lighter. As long as you’ve…

Mother’s Little Helper
Here’s the perfect coverage for a mid-week meal: Chesca’s Kitchen Sweet & Snappy…

Pepper, Poets & Pirates
Pirate Passion, EV’s hot-sour-coldsweet drink of the summer: Take one straight-up packet…

Shake It
José Can You Sea Salt—so the label warns—“could be addictive.” Yo, José, you…

Chocolate Chipped
Chocolate tortilla chips–are they snack or dessert? We vote either, or, and both. These…

Under Wraps
EV’s office looked like Willy Wonka’s suitcase exploded after a world tour. Crumpled…

Junior League Locavore
Kitchen Tip of the Day: Smear a little-to-a-lot of New Lane Sundries Jalapeño Hot Pepper…

A Culinary Journey
Meander the pages of Hot Sour Salty Sweet through the villages and markets of the Mekong…