While winter may seem like the natural slowing of the year, with the days getting shorter and our gardens tucked away waiting for spring, it’s actually a really busy time for most families. You may not be sunning at the beach, but you can go skiing on one of the many mountains available to us in our corner of the world. You can’t work your garden, but you can shop at the many winters farmer’s markets still cropping up on weekends…

Some see fall as the season of endings—the end of summer warmth and longer days, the end of vacation time, the year turning toward its close. But in the food world, we see fall as a beginning—it is the start of the harvest—the season of canning, preserving, and capturing the bounty of fields and orchards. It is fresh new flavors brought to the table—apples and squash, pumpkins and beets, carrots and potatoes. We look forward to bringing out our casserole dishes, to braising and roasting, to the heavenly smell of tempting soups simmering on the stove. . .

After a long winter and a cold spring, it seemed summer would never arrive, but at last we can see the signs! Longer days, blessed warmth, and the welcome appearance of leaves and flowers herald summer’s return!

Our summer issue captures the wonderful tastes and sensory pleasures of the season, from lobster bakes on Maine’s historic windjammer fleet to dockside dining in picturesque Newport, Rhode Island. . .

As the old timers would say, it’s been a “three-dog winter’”—cold enough so you need three dogs to curl up with to keep warm at night, and snowy enough to have drifts practically up to the eaves!

With weather like this, we are probably all experiencing Cabin Fever, and we promise that our Cabin Fever issue, hitting newsstands soon, will offer some great ways to cope with this seasonal malady. . .

As Contributing Editor of Northeast FLAVOR, I want to thank all of our readers and advertisers for supporting this new undertaking. We are all excited about the venture and look forward to producing entertaining and informative issues in the years to come.

One of the things I am especially proud of is the magazine’s commitment to giving back—and particularly to aid in the fight against hunger. . .