Publisher's Note

It is now “The Other Season” on Nantucket, that time of year when the tourists are gone and we settle in for the winter. It is, in many ways, the best time of year for those of us who live here, as we have time to spend with friends and family, to reconnect with our beautiful natural world (which is why many of us chose to live here in the first place!) and to plan for the holidays.

Thanksgiving is a special time on Nantucket and one that centers on family. Kids are home from college, islanders enjoy the opportunity to cook up a feast using local bounty – scallops and cranberries – which they may have harvested themselves, and many summer residents return to the island for one last family gathering before closing up their homes for the winter. Thanksgiving is a time to spend in the kitchen, cooking and enjoying family and friends while the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade is on for background noise as the turkey is roasting. After a mid-day meal it’s time for a walk at Sanford Farm, or on the south shore. Then it’s back to the house for some football and round two of the feasting: a turkey sandwich with stuffing and cranberry sauce, and more pie.

For those who love to cook, this issue is heavily spiced with recipes using local ingredients.

I have thumbed through my own scallop and cranberry recipes, pulling out some of my favorites.

I have to say that the cranberry bread recipe, which I took from an Ocean Spray cranberry cookbook many moons ago, is the best, and I begin making it in the fall as soon as cranberries are available in the store. A loaf lasts less than two days in my house when all of the kids are home. The other favorite is the bacon-wrapped scallops. You can never make too many of these. They disappear almost as soon as they are out of the oven.

All Kovalencik, owner of Company of the Cauldron for the past 12 years with his wife Andrea, has developed a beautiful Thanksgiving menu for us that relies on local and seasonal flavors and features an innovative roast turkey, where the meat is injected with a lavender-honey-herb mixture several hours before it goes into the oven. Turn to page 28 for the recipes and to see what this fabulous meal looks like. If you’re not a cook, you’ll be pleased to know that the Cauldron does take reservations for Thanksgiving dinner, with one seating at 5:30 p.m.

The Friday after Thanksgiving, everyone gathers downtown for the lighting of the Christmas trees on Main Street and the carol-sing, one of the most fun events in town all year. The following weekend is Christmas Stroll and the opening of the Festival of Trees at the Whaling Museum on Broad Street. I am always amazed at the creativity displayed by our island neighbors and friends. Turn to page 36 for a look at trees from festivals past.

There’s plenty more to read in this issue. For the nature-lover, Vern Laux’s article on page 30 reveals special opportunities for birders in the winter. Josh Balling writes about stalking Nantucket’s blue-eyed scallop, with photographs by Jim Powers and Nicole Harnishfeger, and garden writer Hilary Newell, a grower at Bartlett’s Farm, tells of her trip to the flower fields of Holland.

Marianne R. Stanton

Editor and Publisher

Click here to subscribe