Dear Feastlings,
We’ve all been talking about it over here; it feels like by now, the worst of it should be over: the pandemic; the forest fires, earthquakes and floods; the scores of minor inconveniences; the political scores being settled. the prices creeping ever upward. And yet, for whatever reason, none of it’s over yet.
Truly, it never is. There’s always a reason for dismay if you choose to be dismayed, and speaking as a person who’s usually dismayed, it may be easier than usual now to find a reason to clutch one’s pearls, but you can always find something without looking too hard. Speaking as someone who deals with people who are dismayed over tepid soup or heavy salt all the time, I can attest to it from that perspective as well. I’m on a mission, though, more for myself than for anyone else, to rein myself in and stop poking around looking for those familiar little chips and shards of dissatisfaction that have worn tracks into my synapses, and to figure out a reason NOT to travel once again through those ruts in my neural pathways.
So here are some things that come to mind: first, the donation runs. Last Friday, when we went back to Sister Jose Women’s Center, we surpassed 8,000 donated meals, thanks mostly to your generosity, but also to our diligence, and it feels pretty good. This Friday, we’re headed to Casa Alitas,
https://www.casaalitas.org/
and some time thereafter to Youth on Their Own- we’re still working on dates and times for that one.
But until those details are squared away, we’ll be working on this Saturday’s wine tasting,
the September menu, and some other ways to have fun. We have a private group doing a wine dinner with us who’ve agreed to be our guinea pigs and let us try to cobble together our first event that’s both dine-in and via Zoom all at once- winemakers chiming in from Sonoita, Tucson and California to talk about what people will physically have in their glass alongside food we’ve prepared to match the wines, and if all goes smoothly, it may well be the segue from virtual to demi-virtual food and wine events here at Feast. Or at your home if you’re more comfortable there. But if you feel good dining here, you’ll have fewer dishes to do.
We’ll also be doing Primavera Cooks again this year, which last year was purely virtual, but which will take place in person, albeit with Pima County Health and CDC protocols followed. It’s a great event that raises money for a great cause.
https://www.primavera.org/how-to-help-more/cook.html
It’s all quite promising, so stop reading the news for a little bit, and maybe treat yourself to a brown-butter triple chocolate chip cookie this week. and feel like the world is okay.
That’s my plan, anyway.
Love,
Doug