The December issue is out, and it is a remarkable issue. As you see from the cover, we are continuing to expand our use of photography. What an unusual image! Ula Pomian is using her camera to focus our attention closely on something we never give much though to—the inside of a light bulb. Inspired by Ula, why not use your camera to explore unexpected aspects of the world, to show others what visually interests you? Select the images you feel are most evocative and that most clearly say what you want to say and send them to us for consideration for an issue of Stone Soup.
The December issue is our second themed issue. The theme is food. Here is what our editor, Emma, has to say about it:
This is an ambitious and unusual issue for the magazine—the first half is made up of five stories, all touching on food in some way, though sometimes obliquely—and the second half is our first Stone Soup collection of recipes. But the division is not that neat. As I read for the issue, I found stories that seemed to beg for a recipe to go with them. And so two of the recipes (“Christmas Cookies” and “Disaster Raspberry Smoothie”) actually came from the fiction pile. Of the stories that come before the recipes, what unites them, in my mind, is their sense of morality. These are stories with lessons, both stated and unstated. What can you learn from them?
As you will see, the recipe section is extensive. My colleague, Jane Levi, is the recipe editor. Jane lives in London. I was fortunate enough to be visiting her while her kitchen had become the Stone Soup Test Kitchen, and she was still testing recipes. All I can say is that each of the dishes I tasted was absolutely worth making (and eating!). A thousand thanks to those of you who sent in recipes: we will definitely be publishing more in the future, with an eye on an eventual Stone Soup Cookbook. And, a thousand thousand thanks, too, to Jane. Jane both tested the recipes—she made many of them multiple times—and also photographed them. Here is Jane’s note about the recipes from the December issue:
For the last few weeks the Stone Soup test kitchen has been filled with delicious smells, from melting cheese and savoury tomato sauce, via sweet baking rich with fruit and chocolate, to refreshing smoothies and celebratory spiced punch. Every one of these smells and tastes evokes a memory or a feeling, and each one of the recipes in the Food Issue tells a story—of family, of inventiveness, of literary inspiration, of home, of friends, or what happened the last time our writers tasted or made this or that. We’ve loved reading the recipes’ stories as well as making—and eating—every one of them, and we hope you do, too. Write and let us know the new stories they inspire as they travel from our writers’ kitchens and into yours. Let the culinary adventures begin!
After you have seen what is here in this issue I hope many of you will be inspired to send in more recipes, along with the wonderful stories that go with them and make us all want to taste and experience new things and familiar favorites alike. And if you try making any of the recipes in this month's issue please visit the website and leave a comment or send us your photos. We'd all love to know what you think!
Until Next Week
William
Leave a Reply