A little shot of home-steeped cherry vanilla infused vodka, ruby color, perfumy  scent, mellow flavor, followed by a smoldering heat lingering in your belly...   Bethany, the absolute go-to Cape Cod Cropper for all things edible that grow, swim, crawl, squawk, oink, peck or buzz, sent a note mentioning her recipe search for the traditional hunter's vodka, okhotnichya, that has all kinds of berries and spices, including ginger and clove. Please to the Table by Anya von Bremzen and John Welchman dedicates 5 pages to the art and culture of Russian Vodka and offers the following preparations:

Limonnaya (Lemon zest)

Zubrovka (Buffalo Grass)

Pertzovka (Pepper)

Korianddrovaya (Coriander)

Anisovaya (Anise)

Fruktovaya Vodka "Samovar" (Samovar Restaurant House Vodka) fruits,berries, mint and honey

Varenukha (Ukrainian Hot Spiced Vodka) This may be close to the Hunters' Vodka. It is boiled, baked and served warm. Infused with honey, dried pears, dried apples, dried prunes, cinnamon, ginger, white peppercorns. Vodka and honey are brought to a boil, the fruits and spices are added, the mixture is baked at 125* in a lidded ovenproof pot for about 5 hours, strained and bottled.

"Vashe zdorovie." 

Yep, it's the Elks' Club Friday Night Fish Fry, Eastham, MA. This one is all about community. Family-style seating, fresh local catch,crispy-coated, and an ice-cold bottle of beer; perfect ingredients for sharing stories with old neighbors and making new friends.

I'm hooked, just like all the stripers we used to catch off the sweet, salty Martha's Vineyard shores. I have to ferry back there, find a sweet little cottage and nest. We only had a couple of hours in Vineyard Haven, just enough time to get a bite to eat and stroll Main Street where we found Heather Kochin's shop, Rainy Day (www.rainydaymv.com), brimming with everything you wanted to take home but couldn't because it wouldn't all fit into your suitcase. I did, however, make room for Morning Glory Farm and the family that feeds an island by Tom Dunlop. You'll land some some pretty big flavors cooking up the lively farm-fresh recipes included in the book. (I ate 3 bowls of Chesca's Roasted Corn Chowder.)

i am supposed to be packing for my early morning departure, so I baked bread...

Let's have some jelly in our belly ... Freshly picked raspberries and huckleberries from yesterday's excursion to J & P Farm.

Pluot jam, sweet AND sassy, just the way we like things around here. Fooled around with the recipe from July's bon appetit, but don't tell anyone.

Sunset and earthly delights spill over my farmgirl girlfriend Carol's homegrown green goodness she graciously planted on my kitchen counter today. A thoughtful meal...I would eat this salad everyday...and contemplate generous friends and mushroom-hunting grandmas and forest fairytales and garden dreams.

Holy Flying Zucchini Pickles, Marketgirl! So many blimpy fruits and bumpy veggies overflowed the farmers' market's cargo boxes this morning... I'm taking off on a jet plane this week, but couldn't resist hauling home stuffed bags of garden-goods to pack away until my return. To reach this briny sea, go by way of the Zuni Cookbook.

Scenes to eat by...

Got back from the wild, wild west humbled by bottomless canyons, archangelic buttes and plateaus, double rainbows and lightning, white puffed clouds hung in liquid blue skies and blasts of exploding  iridescent wildflowers. Eat this food and you will get a hint of the textures and the spirit and the warmth and the purity of the local people who live their lives with strength and beauty. These are 2 recipes from the book, With A Measure of Grace, I picked up at the bookstore/hiking shop/coffee bar in Kanab, Utah.