Every summer we would get all the neighbours together for a potluck dinner and corn roast. We would fill the front yard with borrowed tables and every one would bring their own chair. My sister and I would pick wildflowers and place them in glass jars for the tables. These gatherings were a celebration of summer and its wonderful bounty of fresh local food. It was in preparation for one of these parties that my mother taught me how to make peach pie- my favourite of all pies.

The three years we spent as a family living in the Bahamas were full of diverse and pleasurable food experiences. Banana and avocado trees grew in the yard of our first home in Freeport. Avocados grow so big they can feed a whole table of guests. My mother would pick them warm from the tree to make “pear sandwiches” - mashed avocado on toast with salt and pepper.