As the summer clouds lit by the setting sun are simply gorgeous this time of year, the view inspires us to reflect on the last year which seems to have lasted for three.

Moms (and Dads) have been feeding us for generations. Good or bad, what they put on the table was filled with as much love as they could muster. Even after a long day, they still worked to put a meal together.

When I was in high school, we traveled in packs, at first transported by our moms, then by bike, and eventually, the moment 16 arrived, by borrowed car. And wherever we landed, no matter how many of us were there, that is where we would eat dinner.

The food itself didn’t matter so much; it was always good because we were hungry, and you could taste the love that was put into it.

At the bicycle stage, we would sometimes choose to go Dairy Joy for hamburgers, fries and a cone of raspberry sherbet. When we got to the car stage, we skipped stopping at our homes and went for New London Style Pizza in Concord.

All of it was good, for the company you keep makes food taste great!

I can still get pizza and raspberry sherbet. The moms, though, have mostly all passed away. Even if the meals they made were old-fashioned and out of style, I still miss them and the love that was cooked in.

Some of the most memorable meals are not the ones that are amazing, but the opposite – meals that were made from an old family recipe handed down from grandmother to mother. Or, when no recipe was used – not sure if that would have helped – but often it was just a memory, a little of this and a lot of that.

And that was the exciting part. We were a rambunctious group and more than once someone’s mother offered to hit me on the back of the head with a spoon saying, “You’re not too old for me to paddle you!”. All because I dared to ask what it was we were eating.

With all family dishes, if we are lucky enough, we get a box of recipes passed on to us. Within the box there are a few winners of course, yet realistically what was good 50 years or more ago might not be so good anymore.

Ingredients themselves have changed. The flour my mom used had a short shelf life; today with all the desiccants, flour lasts forever. Milk and butter taste different, we have access to better and more varieties of chocolate, seasonings, even fresh fruits and vegetables. And now the end result of our cooking is different.

We modify ingredients and recipes to match our taste buds of today, all the while paying homage to our moms. What is passed on from these recipes is the love and caring our parents shared through food brought to the table.

It is not the flavor of the food that I miss, it is the memory of being at the table together and the love we were fed.

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Not my Mom’s meatloaf.

This Meatloaf with Oatmeal recipe calls for adding pinhead oats to a blend of beef and Italian Sausage. The flavor is brightened by Worcestershire Sauce, Hawkshead Black Garlic Ketchup and the pinhead oats provide good texture without being gummy – a satisfying and really delicious combination.

Oatmeal and breadcrumbs have long been used in meatloaf as extenders and to keep the meat moist. Using breadcrumbs will yield a soft, tender texture, while the pinhead oats produce a firmer, more interesting loaf.

See the Meatloaf with Oatmeal Recipe here!

When you open the original marinara, to the nose it smells like a crushed tomato. To the mouth, the first thing you notice is how smooth it is. It’s smooth with just a little bit of tickle and then it disappears in a wonderful fade of flavor.

On the first bite a memory comes back, it tastes like a V-8 juice, just way, way better. It’s delicious!

On the subsequent spoonfuls the taste is very delicious, like a liquid tomato. With just 2 ingredients, tomato and Trapani sea salt, it is pure.

The best thing about the taste is that it finishes sweetly, tomatoey and super clean.

So many tomato products end with some unknown flavor of bitter, sharp, tang, and never in a good way.

I never imagined I would say a tomato sauce would taste this good! It’s good enough to eat with a spoon

This Marinara is made from an indigenous heirloom ancient variety of tomato called Corleonese, a variety grown for over 350 years in the Palermo Province area of Sicily. These hand picked tomatoes are a round tomato with multiple ribs.

Bona Furtuna is the only commercial producer of this tomato in the world and it is pretty gosh darn tasty!

This native plant naturally grows in the long, hot summer months in Sicily, giving the tomato a wonderful fresh flavor and perfect acidity. It is this tang of flavor that makes these tomatoes special and different than all others.

Shop now for Bona Furtuna Organic Tomato Marinara Sauce!

One year in Aspen, Charlotte and the other two of the triplets, created this mind-blowing dish. They created it on the spot, using the ChefShop ingredients the chefs had requested we bring to the stage, and the protein left over from the demos.

The recipe calls for chicken and fish, and any firm, light-colored fish will work.

There are lots of adjustments you can make to the recipe to fit the day and your preferences, and you can always make it spicier!

See the Chicken and Hamachi Curry Recipe Here!

With its long history of culinary uses, this little berry has been overlooked for far too long.

The barberry, with a sharp-ish, sometimes sour, almost citrus flavor, is best known and most used in West Asia, particularly in Iran, where the berry is known as Zereshk. In that part of the world, barberries are often used in pilafs, and in a chicken and rice dish called Zereshk Polo.

And in Eastern Europe and Russia, barberries are used as an integral ingredient in making jam; they are naturally high in pectin and will firm up a jam very nicely, all the while adding their own flavor.

Plus - this little berry packs some serious healthy goodness: fiber, vitamin C, iron, zinc and copper! Several studies indicate that a compound called berberine found in barberries can lower blood sugar, improve cholesterol and triglyceride levels and contribute to gut health.

Unlike some barberries, which can be quite sour-tart eaten on their own, these berries from Washington State are super-fresh and truly edible right out of the package (this is subjective of course!) and very suitable for recipes calling for raisins, currants or dried cranberries.

The recipe below is just one of many that makes excellent use of the barberry.

Shop now for Dried Barberries grown in Washington!

This ancient grain, khorasan wheat, has a branded name of KAMUT. This wheat, when under the name KAMUT cannot be genetically modified or hybridized. And it is always grown organically.

Khorasan wheat is known for its sweet, nutty-buttery taste and has a good firm bite. It is also easy to digest, with excellent protein, fiber, vitamins, and minerals including selenium.

KAMUT Khorasan wheat today is very close to what this wheat was when it was placed in the Egyptian tombs. In Turkey, the farmers call the grain "Camel's Tooth" because of its shape, and it is also known as "Prophet's Wheat" because legend says Noah brought the grain on the ark.

This wheat, though not gluten free, is tolerable for some gluten-intolerant people. Let us know if that is the case for you.

Try KAMUT pasta from Sgambaro. No matter the shape, it is a wonderful pasta!

Shop now for Sgambaro Organic Kamut Penne Rigate Pasta!

Vinagre de Jerez, by Sanchez Romate, is a genuine sherry vinegar made in the traditional way in Jerez de la Frontera, Spain. It is sweet and delicately acidic with distinct almond notes. Spanish sherry vinegar is notoriously delicious with tomatoes: tomato salad, tomato gazpacho, and more.

Sanchez Romate sherry vinegar, or more properly "Vinagre de Jerez," is considered by some to be the finest vinegar in the world. It's wine vinegar made from sherry, the famous Spanish fortified wine. "Fortified" means that when the grapes ferment into wine, neutral spirits are added, contributing flavor and character (and alcohol content).

Real Spanish sherry vinegar is produced in the province of Cádiz on the Atlantic coast, inside an area known as the "Sherry Triangle."

Vinagre de Jerez owes its pedigree to the unique, viticultural region where it's made - the area's location near the ocean, the chalky soil - as well as to its maturing process, called the solera system. As it matures over years, the sherry passes through a series of many oak barrels, all the while being mixed with wines of various ages.

Unlike wine, vinegar does not have an exact vintage due to this mixing, which imparts unique character. The result is vinegar that strikes the perfect balance between acid and sweet, delivering layered flavors reminiscent of wood, leather, and earth.

This particular Sanchez Romate sherry vinegar is made from 100% palomino grapes, and since it is a "reserva", it is aged in oak for at least three years.

Sanchez Romate sherry vinegar can stand with the best balsamic and presents a wonderful all-around resource for your kitchen. Think outside of the box!

Use this vinegar for added depth, richness and flavor in salads, in marinades, drizzled to bring out the flavor of soups and stews. Sherry vinegar is delicious on roasted peppers, and sensational in a braised chicken recipe.

The production and quality of Spanish sherry vinegar is monitored and controlled by the Consejo Regulador and has its own Denominación de Origen, which is protected by Spanish and EU law. Sanchez Romate is one of our favorite producers of sherry vinegar; the firm was founded in 1781 and has been going strong ever since.

Shop now for Sherry Vinegar - Sanchez Romate Reserva!

Finding the right mix is harder to do than you think. And that’s where Fastachi’s Cranberry Nut Mix, which has been with us for virtually forever, comes into play.

This is our go-to, always have in hand staple, the best bag of nuts you can find.

This mix, the nuts themselves, hand-salted with sea salt to perfection, double-sifted to ensure whole nuts in your hand, with just the right combination of soft, hard, harder, crunchie, salty; doesn’t get much better than this.

A handful of the right nuts is a good mouthful for creating joy for life!

This cranberry nut mix is simply roasted in small batches with sea salt for clarity, perfection, and a clean, distinctive flavor. We have enjoyed these assorted roasted nuts for years, and are perfect for an office snack or a party mix, these are good!

Shop now for Fastachi Cranberry Nut Mix