There are a few reasons I subscribe to Cook’s Illustrated Magazine…One of the main ones is to read Christopher Kimball‘s Editorial first thing when each issue comes in. More than the recipes, more than the test kitchen results, more than the illustrations on the covers…back and front…It was the editorial that made me send in that first check. And it’s the editorials that keep me re-subscribing each year.

The latest issue starts with “Getting Used To It”. Between the stories of neighbors, and deer hunting you come across gems like this…

Growing up in Vermont, I am used to hard work, to days that started before dawn, Saturdays being just another workday and Sundays for church and then hours fixing sanders on pickups, creosoting fence posts, changing oil, stacking wood, cleaning furnaces, or, once in a while, running off to the mall to buy a tree stand on sale or canning supplies…We grew up in brave little towns where trucks didn’t start, tractors got bogged down, and death was everyday, and so was a lucky shot, a potluck dinner, a warm stove, a story retold, and a reliable neighbor attracted our passions.

But the way he ended this editorial, this homage to his neighbors, his town…This is the quote I take to heart…

That is what I am used to most, a place where people are not forgotten even after they are gone. That is the secret of small towns, never letting go. Once you get used to a thing, you stick with it. We know better than to trust in the future, never expecting that something better will be coming soon round the blind curve in the dirt road.

And so Mr. Kimball paints another picture of small town Vermont. His word pictures are a mix of love and admiration, of longing for what was and joy for what is, of memories of youth and the promises of place. Every issue reminds me of what it was that brought me to this magazine to begin with…And it really wasn’t the cooking. Though, I must admit, Cook’s Illustrated has made me a better cook.