A Cold Place in My Heart for You

These are a few of my favorite things: snowshoeing in a vast white expanse, sledding at top speed into the unknown, toasty hearth fires, the perfect cup of hot chocolate, and delicious comforting foods straight from the oven that warm that spirit and stir the soul.

The food of cold-weather cultures has often been the pork butt of culinary jokes. But you have to give some credit to civilizations that have survived and thrived on what a short growing season and a cold earth delivers them. It’s easy to dish up an in-season meal when you’re surrounded by fields aplenty in the middle of November. It's easy to forget food does come in seasons and strawberries in January aren't a natural feature of most cuisines. But it takes creativity and stamina to be the consummate cold weather host and to pull it off with aplomb and a seasonal sensibility. This is my cold comfort for you, a cold place in my heart for you, my few frigid suggestions to convince the non-believer that the coldest times are the most delicious times.