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The diverse organisms found underground work together harmoniously to sustain life. Tiffany Bess at work turning a pile of compost. Photo by Natalie Theis. “As above, so below," the ancient concept of correspondence, suggests that the microcosm reflects the macrocosm and vice versa. When talking about soil life, this aphorism speaks to a parallel world beneath our feet that mimics our lives above the 0-horizon. The act of composting, alchemizing scraps into black gold, is my meditation practice. Every toss of my pitchfork grounds me in the present moment, fostering a sense of mindfulness that extends beyond the garden and into every aspect of my life. It's in the soil that I find a sanctuary for introspection. It has taught me that growth is a gradual and deliberate process. In a society that often demands instant results, this lesson helps me trust in the organic unfolding of my journey. My compost piles remind me that the most profound transformations take time. Through the soil, I grasp the importance of fostering connections with others, understanding that our individual growth is intricately linked to the community's overall health. Simultaneously, each organism assumes a unique role; their collaborative efforts synergize to shape a thriving ecosystem or vibrant community. The diverse organisms found underground work together harmoniously to sustain life, mirroring the collaborative efforts of organizations in Jacksonville. Much like the mycorrhizal networks that facilitate nutrient exchange between plants, these organizations belong to a complex network of interactions, shared resources and collective effort. The secrets of the soil ecosystem unveil a profound philosophy for living a positive and fulfilling life.The lessons of patience, resilience, interconnectedness and diversity converge to form my guiding ethos. As you continue to explore the wonders beneath the surface, I hope you are reminded that, like the soil, life's beauty lies in its intricacies, ability to nurture growth and capacity to sustain a rich tapestry of existence.

Create a little cluster of things you cherish, a visual reminder of your intentions for the season. A kitchen altar can be a place of meditation, nourishment and spiritual reflection in the heart of your home. Photo by Amanda Rosenblatt I think of kitchen altars as paying homage to everyday magic. The daily rituals we perform to care for ourselves and our loved ones, like writing grocery lists, preparing meals, washing dishes – there’s magic and ceremony in the routine. My kitchen altar is a little cluster of things I cherish, a visual reminder of my intentions for the season and relics from people I love. I tinker with it all year long, swapping pieces in and out, though certain elements will always have a place, including salt, candles, plants and an animal talisman. For these chilly, shorter days, I’ve incorporated pieces that evoke rest, remembrances and the coziness of theseason. The bear candle offers warmth while representing hibernation, renewal and a return to the light. A ceramic magnet depicts the village in England where I lived as a teenager with my mother and first tasted its namesake, Stilton cheese. The otter is my whole spirit, a little part of me on the plate. I made the felted acorns years ago for my wedding and they fill me with joy and gratitude for the life my partner, Bill, and I have cultivated together. The acorns too remind me that it’s okay to slow down and to use what I’ve squirreled away for winter – homemade stock, frozen summer berries, dried tea blends. Salt is traditional on kitchen altars as a symbol of purification, protection and grounding. Incense cones are a spiritual offering of gratitude in fragrant smoke. On the circular tag, my name is written in my uncle Jack’s looping handwriting and is topped with coins from his collection. He had thousands of pennies, picked up on his daily walks. He passed away earlier this year and now I find a little of his magic in pennies everywhere I go. My grandmother is a big kitchen inspiration, so I included her pie crust recipe with detailed instructions written out in her elegant penmanship. The nut grinder belonged to my great-grandmother Rose, a legendary cook known for handmade noodles and strawberry shortcake. The clipped citrus leaves from the tree in my yard, arranged in an antique milk bottle from a Southwest Michigan dairy, and a billion year old Great Lakes basalt rock are a duality representing my roots here in Florida and in my home state. My kitchen altar is a place of meditation, nourishment and spiritual reflection in the heart of my home. It embodies past pleasures, present joys and future goals. Those who came before me – my ancestors and the people who’ve nurtured me – I carry into my everyday rituals.

Bringing Northeast Florida's signature pepper to the wider world Ripe datil peppers at Mayhem Datil Pepper Farms in Putnam County, Florida. Photography by Jesse Brantman. Small, sweet and incredibly hot, datil peppers are among the most iconic foods in the history of First Coast cooking. Grown commercially in and around St. Augustine for well over a century, the delectable datil and the potent hot sauces and jellies made from it have become ubiquitous local staples, and today, interest from people and businesses all over the country is spreading like a drop of capsaicin on a ready tongue. But can a crop whose commercial range is largely confined to the greater Jacksonville metropolitan area meet the demands of a pepper-hungry nation? This is the conundrum facing Northeast Florida’s datil farmers. “It's a hard thing to grow on a large scale,” says Sebastien Gros, managing director at CSX Agricultural, a farming and processing company in Elkton and one of the larger datil suppliers. “It’s very labor intensive. That’s why there’s not a huge cadre of commercial datil pepper farmers around here.” Troy Main and Scott Murray, founders of Mayhem Datil Pepper Farms in Pomona Park, agree. “There's not many growers that are crazy enough to do this,” says Main. “You can grow a couple of plants wonderfully, because you can put time and effort into those few plants. But when you multiply that by a few thousand plants, it changes everything.” It’s not coincidental that traditionally, datil peppers have been grown on a small scale, sometimes just a few plants in the cook’s own garden. A cultivar of Capsicum chinense , the habanero-type pepper, datils are especially associated with the Minorcan community of St. Augustine. Minorcans are descendants of Mediterranean islanders, most notably people from the Spanish island of Minorca but also including Italians and Greeks, who came to Florida in 1768 to settle Andrew Turnbull’s ill-fated New Smyrna colony. When the colony collapsed, surviving Minorcans fled northward to St. Augustine, and today their descendants number 26,000 in St. Johns County. Though one common origin myth says datils came over with the Minorcans on Turnbull’s ships, like all chile pepper plants, it hails from the New World. The earliest evidence of the peppers speaks to the way they have historically been grown, and the struggles modern farmers face in bringing them to a national scale. Around 1880, a local jelly maker named Esteban B. Valls brought in seeds from Santiago, Cuba and planted them in the garden of his house on St. George Street for use in his jellies and jams. The peppers thrived in local soils and quickly spread as a common small-scale crop. The Minorcans are largely responsible for maintaining the datil pepper through the years, and it features widely in the community’s traditional dishes such as Minorcan chowder, a spicy tomato-based soup – for the uninitiated, think a high-octane Manhattan chowder. Still today, Minorcans remain major purveyors of datils and all the powerful hot sauces, jellies and marinades that can be made from them. Murray is Minorcan, and for him, datils are a family tradition. He grew up making sauces and other dishes from family recipes, using peppers provided by his relatives. “I grew up eating this stuff,” he says. About 15 years ago, he introduced Main to the wonders of the datil through a homemade batch of hot sauce. “I had to coerce him,” says Murray, “but from that point on he was hooked.” “It lit a fire in more ways than one,” says Main. Main wanted to make more hot sauce, but he and Murray quickly felt the supply pressures that now affect datil-seekers nationwide. “We couldn’t find enough datil peppers,” says Main. “We called every mom and pop grower, and nobody really had a source to give us 10 or 15 pounds.” Meanwhile, Murray realized that older relatives who’d always had peppers at the ready were no longer there to pass them on. “In my family, everybody, aunts and uncles and grandparents and all that, had always been a ready source, and they were starting not to be around anymore,” he says. “That gave us the idea that this might be something that is in danger of being lost.” The friends decided to take matters into their own hands. They bought eight heirloom datil plants from a sale at First Coast Technical College and started cultivating, first at Main’s house in Orlando, and then on his family’s farm in Pomona Park. Before long they had more than enough peppers to bottle sauce for their family and friends. The next thing they knew, Tex-Mex chain Tijuana Flats approached them about providing peppers commercially. At that point, they knew there may be a far greater demand for datils than the limited supply would suggest. “We wanted to keep spreading the word and get new people who've never tried this pepper before to experiment with it,” says Murray. Embracing a mission to “Save the Datil,” Mayhem has continued to expand its business, and they now supply several restaurants and sauce makers, produce their own sauces and ship seeds and peppers nationally for aspiring cooks and growers. Gros came into datil farming after a long career as a food supplier. As managing director for the Chilean Seafood Exchange in southern Chile, he sold farmed salmon before diversifying into everything from strawberries to sustainable fibers. When he moved to Northeast Florida 10 years ago, he was itching to try something new. “I really was interested in focusing on a local product and specialty niches,” says Gros. “The datil pepper was definitely one of those things that grabbed my attention. I appreciated it came from this region, and that people have made some really creative things out of them.” CSX Agricultural’s foray into datil farming paid off when they were approached by the makers of Zab’s, a hot sauce producer from California. “They were young and energetic and former chefs,” says Gros. “And they weren’t looking for an enormous volume. So we started supplying them.” Gros understood that building a national brand would require a sufficient long-term supply. A s no such supply existed for datil peppers, he determined to create one. “Since then, we've implemented a pretty disciplined seed selection and breeding program to really enhance our yields," he says. To ease the difficulty of growing and harvesting datils, CSX Agricultural uses greenhouses and shade houses to control the environment. This has allowed the business to expand, but the inherent challenges of the plant remain. “Man, there's just no two ways about it," says Gros. "We're manually picking. There’s no datil pepper harvester.” Regardless of the challenges, both the Mayhem team and Gros are optimistic about the future of commercial datil farming. The demand is there, and it’s growing. When Zab’s first approached Gros, he questioned the feasibility, but he was quickly convinced. “I was like, are these guys from California really going to be successful in launching this on a national basis?” he says. “The truth is, they've been very successful, because everybody's intrigued by that pepper.” Main and Murray are encouraged by the strong reception they’ve gotten from people across the country who are now able to access datil peppers and grow their own. “Every year it continues to expand and expand out,” says Main. “People from all over send us wonderful notes and reviews telling us how much they appreciate we're still doing this. It really all goes back to this: saving the datil pepper. That's what we’re going to do."

How one man's obsession with heat and flavor turned into culinary experimentation. Hot sauces need certain things: a base, a balance of sweet to salty, texture, heat and some complexity, to touch on each portion of the palate. Illustration by Cat Kahnle. My parents used to drink Maxwell House and Folgers. They alternated what we would smell in the mornings based on which tub of grounds was on sale at Winn Dixie the week they ran out. They wanted effects and familiarity, not flavor. That was thirty years ago. Since then, coffee, wine, beer, cocktails and chocolate have all experienced their grown-up moment. The changing tastes of the public demanded more than the basics for their meals. Eventually, as palates became more sophisticated, one spicy condiment that can turn the potentially bland into delicious – hot sauce – was due to be elevated. Hot sauce can get a bad rap, given product labels featuring a man bent over with flames firing or a woman with a burn mark handprint on her behind. It’s an industry that has felt stuck in an early ‘90s beer commercial. This extends beyond just the marketing, as these sauces have often relied on heat to mask a lack of complexity or salt to hide a lack of flavor. My love of hot sauce started early. I grew up on Louisiana Brand Hot Sauce. My grandfather’s biscuits and gravy recipe demanded it. He grew up in Louisiana during the Depression. They lived in a scrap yard they ran, and I imagine hot sauce was a saving grace for many meals. One Christmas, he gave me a small pocket-sized bottle to carry around. I carried it to school every day of fifth grade and used it on my meals in my South Georgia Catholic school to dress lunches up a bit. One day, I was hit in the nose with the overwhelming smell of rotten eggs and sulfur. I looked everywhere for the source, then confirmed by the red streak down my leg that it was my own pants — my bottle was broken. My leg burned, but I was more broken up about my now limited ability to help my school food taste better. My obsession with heat and flavor didn’t end in grade school. Years later, I was in culinary school making a barbeque sauce. I kept having my chef instructor try the sauce. I whisked way too much, kept adding and adding in an attempt to build. Finally, Chef told me to slow down. Let the flavors bloom — it takes time for good things to develop, for experimentation to deliver nuance. After living in coastal Georgia, a twist of fate brought us back to Florida. Our friends Josh and Claire came to visit, and we acted on an idea that we’d kicked around for a while: to develop our own hot sauce. We wanted to make sauces with all-natural ingredients, to make them accessible to nearly anyone who wanted to try them. We had already done so much research on sauces. Our refrigerator was filled with them. We examined ingredients lists and broke down ratios of their construction. Sauces need certain things: a base, a balance of sweet to salty, texture, heat and some complexity. They should touch on each portion of the palate — tiny micro-bursts of sensation — even if the diner doesn’t realize it. We went to the local nursery and bought two datil pepper plants. One went back with our friends to coastal Georgia, and we planted one at our home in St. Augustine. The plants grew. And we cooked. I could taste the complexities of the datil pepper. The natural sweetness was unlike any other. Believe me, I began trying (and growing) them all. When we started cooking sauces, we used what we grew. We used all our datil peppers experimenting with sauces, so we bought a Scotch bonnet plant. We named her “Bonnie,” and she produced. I found that the sauces I admired didn’t start with a ketchup base. Older, established sauces like Pickapeppa use all-natural ingredients to build their sauces from scratch. We took our time, experimented with flavors — fruit, vinegars, curries, rum and spices. When a neighbor brought over a bushel of bananas from their trees, I remembered one of my favorite hot sauces, Key West Gone Bananas. I loved their use of banana as a base. It had a mild sweetness and balanced out naturally salty foods. We realized banana worked to thicken our sauce without using xanthan gum. Our kitchen began to resemble a mad scientist’s lab. We had scales of different sizes, heat guns, blenders, grinders, hydrometer, test tubes, measuring cups and spoons, straws and pots. All our windows and doors stayed open. We were living as if pepper spray had exploded in our house. From all the chaos and experimentation came a new world of flavor. It felt like something “other,” like we were making potions in our kitchen. Thus Pepper Potion was born, along with Sea Witch Pepper Potions No. 3, No. 4 and No. 5. Sea Witch was different than a traditional hot sauce. We felt that it enhanced the flavors of nearly any food we tried it on. I often get the question, “What’s the hottest you got?” And I get it. Capsaicin can elicit an euphoric effect. Some sadists love the spanking their tongue can get from Lucifer’s Last Blast, but that’s never been our goal. I often tell those folks that there are other sauces for them. They’re welcome to give ours a go, but I want you to enjoy your drink, not down it in a gulp. I want you to be able to taste the oyster and enjoy the subtlety. Sauce has a job — to improve the taste of a food that arguably should already taste good by itself; to elevate, not overpower. We need to taste our food and enjoy it, because a good meal with the right sauce can be magic.

Wine pairs with most if not all football-related fare, and it doesn’t weigh you down like a six pack of cold ones. Elevate your tailgating parties with this curated selection of wines. Photo by Amanda Rosenblatt. One of the best traditions of football season is gathering to watch the big game, whether it’s tailgating in a parking lot or packing into a living room with too many wannabe couch coaches yelling at the television. Regardless of the location, watching the game offers an opportunity of conviviality in which people indulge in platters of chicken wings, bratwurst, barbecue, casseroles, buffalo chicken dip and of course, alcohol. When most people think about football and imbibing, wine isn’t necessarily the first choice; for many, it’s called upon about as much as the third string quarterback, but it should get more credit for its versatility. Wine pairs with most if not all football-related fare, and it doesn’t weigh you down like a six pack of cold ones. Football wine should be quite quaffable, highlighting its best qualities so that you don’t need food with each glass to enjoy it. You also don’t need to overspend as there are plenty of affordable options worth sharing with others that hit the right notes. Aim for bright and fresh flavors with lower tannins and alcohol in most situations, but as the season progresses and temperatures start to drop, deeper, juicier red wines paired with barbecued meats become a touch more appetizing. Football is about as American as it gets, and in that spirit, this list features domestic vintners that produce world-class bottlings, all of which can be found in local shops throughout Northeast Florida. These wines are made by smaller-production, family-owned wineries who focus on thoughtful farming and a light use of the hand in the cellar, resulting in end products full of personality that truly showcase the authenticity of vintage and vineyard. I suggest putting a slight chill on the reds (pop in the refrigerator or dunkin ice for 20 minutes) for maximum drinkability and enjoyment. Cruse Wine Co. Cruse Tradition Sparkling Wine, California NV Sparkling wine should not be designated only for special occasions. The best part about sparkling wine is that it pairs with virtually every single cuisine out there – think fried chicken to burgers, 7-layer dip to classic Lays potato chips – and there are many options available that won’t break the bank. This blend of chardonnay and pinot noir is an affordable price, but it drinks like a champagne and is formulated using the same process. Forge Cellars Classique Dry Riesling, Seneca Lake, New York 2021 Forge is a very small producer on the southeastern side of Seneca Lake in Upstate New York. On a crisp fall day there is no wine I yearn for more than a Forge dry riesling. It pairs well with grilled veggies and raw oysters, but is also quite delectable on its own. Look for notes of white peaches, grapefruit and honeysuckle with a racy freshness that makes this wine chuggable. Pax Trousseau Gris Fanucchi-Wood Road Vineyard, Russian River Valley, California 2022 Pax Mahle sources fruit for this bottling from the Fanucchi-Wood Road Vineyard, which is home to the last Trousseau Gris plantings (a French grape variety) in the United States. This wine sings with notes of peaches and orange peel mixed with juicy red berries and white flowers. Drink this by itself or with grilled chicken and portobello mushrooms. A cool novelty, the “Pax” on the label turns pink when it's at the perfect temperature. Ovum Big Salt Orange Rose, Oregon 2023 This blend from Ovum in Oregon is composed of equal parts riesling and pinot gris, and the latter gives off a light pink hue from the grape skins (hence “Rose” in the name, but it’s actually an orange wine made in the Italian ramato style). Orange wine just seems to taste better in the fall. Try pairing this with jalapeño poppers or anything that has a spicy kick. On the palate, it screams citrus fruit and melon with a really pretty salted-honey note. Swick Wines Only Zuul, Oregon 2022 Labeled as an American red wine, this bottling from Joe Swick is actually made from two white varieties, but the resulting color is a light strawberry red. The wine is textural and vibrant with really nice structure for a wine made from two white grapes. With notes of blood orange, grapefruit and rose petals, this wine drinks just as well out of a Solo cup as it does a wine glass, and it pairs perfectly with grilled pork chops, chicken wings and watermelon. Jolie Laide Gamay Noir, Rancho Coda Vineyard, Sonoma County, California 2022 Gamay is often enjoyed in wines from Beaujolais located in the southern tip of Burgundy, but California is offering up some pretty on-par examples, including this single vineyard bottling by Jolie Laide from Rancho Coda Vineyard in Sonoma County. This gamay pairs perfectly with everything from chicken kabobs to hotdogs to what I really crave with it: a nice, juicy cheeseburger. Lioco Carignan sativa, Mendocino County, California 2022 Produced from 70-year-old dry-farmed vines, this bottling from Lioco is textural and fruit forward while finishing completely dry on the back end. This red is a step up in body with notes of Morello cherries, boysenberry and lavender, and is quite enjoyable on its own without food. That being said, this wine would accompany a tray of pigs in a blanket, smash burgers or stuffed peppers nicely. Extradimensional Wine Co. Yeah! (EWCY!) Marvelous Mourvedre, Contra Costa County, California 2022 Co-owner Hardy Wallace of EWCY! makes a variety of cuvées (first juice pressing) every year, but in super small quantities. He also specializes in Mourvedre, a full-bodied red or rosé wine produced from the grape of the same name, and this old vine bottling has some serious personality with a structure for long-term aging. I first tried this wine with Hardy while eating barbeque at The Bearded Pig in the San Marco neighborhood in Jacksonville, so I can personally attest to how wonderful it is with burnt ends and a pulled pork sandwich. Arnot Roberts Syrah, California 2020 Duncun Arnot Meyers and Nathan Lee Roberts started making wine in 2001 under the Arnot Roberts name, and their winery continues to be held in the highest regard by industry pros. Their 2020 syrah is sourced from cool-climate vineyards and the resulting wine is restrained and nuanced with aromas of red fruits, white pepper, green olive and cured meats. When I think of syrah, there is one grilled meat that comes to mind, and it reigns supreme: a saucy, glossy, sticky rack of barbecue ribs. Ridge 3 Valleys, Sonoma County, California 2021 Ridge has been a stalwart producer of extraordinary single vineyard wines since 1962. A true icon in the wine world, their wines demand your attention. This zinfandel-dominant blend is rich but balanced with notes of blackberry, anise, espresso, dark chocolate and warming spices. When I drink this wine, I want one thing: a grilled ribeye, or even a fun cut like picanha with a nice fat cap, would be absolutely delightful.

Look for seasonal Seminole pumpkins at local farmers' markets to use in these savory sandwiches. Photo by Amanda Rosenblatt. Serves 4-6 Ingredients For chipotle pumpkin barbecue sauce 2 teaspoons salt 1 tablespoon paprika 1 teaspoon black pepper 2 teaspoons ground cumin 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper 1 teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed 1 teaspoon mustard seed 1 cup light brown sugar, packed 1/2 cup molasses 2 cups tomato sauce 1 cup Seminole pumpkin purée 1 cup pumpkin beer (or chocolate stout) 1 tablespoon your favorite taco seasoning For shredded chicken 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon black pepper 1 teaspoon paprika 1 teaspoon cumin 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional, for extra heat) 1 teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed 4 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs 1 large onion, thinly sliced 4 cloves garlic, minced 1 cup chicken broth 1 cup pumpkin beer (or chocolate stout) 1 tablespoon brown sugar 1 (4-ounce) can chipotle chiles, chopped 12 slider rolls Sandwich pickles (optional) Butter (optional) Coleslaw (optional) Instructions To make barbecue sauce: In a small bowl, combine salt, paprika, black pepper, ground cumin, cayenne pepper, rosemary and mustard seed. Mix well and set aside. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine brown sugar, molasses and tomato sauce. Stir until brown sugar has dissolved completely. Add pumpkin purée and pumpkinbeer (or chocolate stout) to the saucepan. Stir well to incorporate all ingredients. Gradually add prepared spice mix and taco seasoning to the saucepan, stirring constantly to ensure even distribution. Reduce heat to low and let the sauce simmer for about 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally. This allows the flavors to meld together and the sauce to thicken. Taste sauce and adjust the seasoning as needed. If you prefer a sweeter sauce,add a bit more brown sugar or molasses. For more heat, add additional cayenne pepper. To make chicken: In a small bowl, mix salt, black pepper, paprika, cumin, cayenne pepper (if using), and dried rosemary. Rub this seasoning mixture evenly over the chickenbreasts or thighs. Place onions and garlic at the bottom of the slow cooker. Place seasoned chicken on top of onions and garlic. Pour chicken broth and pumpkin beer (or chocolate stout) aroundthe chicken. Add brown sugar and chipotle chiles to slow cooker. Stir gently to combine. Add just enough water to cover the chicken, about 2 cups. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours, or on high for 3-4 hours, until the chicken is tender and easily shredded with a fork. Once cooked, remove the chicken from the slow cookerand allow to cool. Shred it using two forks. Discard any excess liquid from the slow cooker if desired, leaving just enough to keep the chicken moist. Smother the chicken with the chipotle pumpkin barbecue sauce. Toast and butter sweet rolls and top with pickles and coleslaw.

Packed with vegetables, these savory snacks are seasoned with cumin, turmeric and coriander. Photography by Amanda Rosenblatt. SERVES 16 Ingredients 4 tablespoons olive oil 1 small onion, finely chopped 2 cloves garlic, minced 2 tablespoons fresh ginger, grated 3 tablespoons curry powder 2 teaspoons ground cumin 2 teaspoons ground coriander 2 teaspoons ground turmeric 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional, for extra heat) 4 large sweet potatoes, peeled and grated 2 large carrots, peeled and grated Salt and pepper, to taste 16 spring roll wrappers 2 tablespoons cornstarch mixed with 4 tablespoons water Oil for frying For dipping sauce 1/2 cup soy sauce 2 tablespoons rice vinegar 2 tablespoons honey or maple syrup 2 teaspoons sesame oil 2 teaspoons chile flakes (optional) 2 tablespoons sesame seeds 4 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro Instructions To make filling: In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onion and sauté until translucent, about 3-4 minutes. Add garlic and ginger and sauté for anotherminute until fragrant. Carefully add a tablespoon or so of water to loosen the spices and create a paste. Stir in curry powder, cumin, coriander, turmeric and cayenne pepper (ifusing). Cook for 1-2 minutes until the spices are well-toasted and aromatic. Add the grated sweet potatoes and carrots. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are tender, about 5-7 minutes. Lightly season with salt and pepper. Remove from heatand let the mixture cool slightly. Taste the mixture and add more salt and pepper if needed. To assemble the spring rolls: Take one spring roll wrapper and dip it into warm water (if your papers provide different instructions, use those). Place the paper on a cleansurface with one corner pointing towards you. Place about 2-3 tablespoons of the sweet potato filling near the bottom corner of the wrapper. Fold the bottom corner over the filling, then fold in the sides, and roll up tightly. Brush the top corner with the cornstarch mixture to seal the roll. Repeat with the remainingwrappers and filling. Place them several inches apart from each other to prevent sticking. To cook spring rolls: Heat oil in a large frying pan or deep fryer to 350°. Fry the spring rolls in batches, turning occasionally, until they are golden brown and crispy, about 3-4minutes per batch. Remove from the oil and drain on a paper towel-lined plate. To make dipping sauce: Combine all ingredients in a small bowl and mix well.

Garnishing the top with seasonal vegetables or herbs adds both decoration and subtle flavors to this rustic bread. Photo by Justin Snavely. Ingredients For dough 5 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon instant dry yeast 1-3/4 cups warm water 1 tablespoon salt 2 tablespoons olive oil For toppings 1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced 2 sprigs rosemary 1 small bunch fresh chives 1 small bunch curly parsley 3 grape tomatoes, halved 2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced Instructions To make dough: In a large mixing bowl, combine all ingredients until a sticky ball forms. Knead for 5 minutes. 2. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1-1⁄2 to 2 hours. Grease a 12x17-inch sheet pan with olive oil. Roll out dough until it reaches a size big enough to fill the sheet pan. Place dough in sheet pan. Brush top with olive oil. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, 1-2 hours. To bake: Press dimples into dough about 2 inches apart. Apply toppings in a decorative pattern. Brush top with olive oil. Bake at 425° for 15 minutes or until crust is a deep golden brown. Let sit for 10 minutes before eating.

If you’re planning to stay up to ring in the new year, add this espresso-infused cocktail to the menu. Photography by Cole LoCurto. Ingredients For vanilla demerara syrup 2 cups water 3-1/4 cups demerara sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste for cold brew espresso 1 cup coarse ground espresso 4 cups filtered or distilled water For cocktail 1 ounce reposado tequila 3/4 ounce Borghetti Caffe Espresso liqueur 1/4 ounce Licor 43 1 ounce cold brew espresso 1/2 ounce vanilla demerara syrup 1/4 ounce lemon juice Champagne Edible gold luster dust or edible glitter Instructions To make vanilla demerara syrup : Heat water in medium saucepan over high heat. Add sugar and vanilla bean paste. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Allow to cool, then store in a sealed container in the refrigerator. The syrup will last for 2 weeks. To make cold brew espresso : Mix together ground espresso and water in a large container. Let sit at least 12 hours or overnight. Strain through mixture through a coffee filter and store in the refrigerator. Alternatively, an unsweetened, unflavored store-bought cold brew espresso will work. To make cocktail : Combine all ingredients except for champagne in a cocktail shaker tin and shake with ice. Strain into either a champagne flute or coupe and top with champagne. Sprinkle top with dust or glitter.

Rituals offer a way to reclaim presence in a fast-paced world. A gathering of the Femme Feast Book Club features dishes cooked from the selected book. Photo by Shannon Rose Greene. In today’s instant gratification and relentless productivity culture, slowing down can feel impossible. Fittingly, for some, finding presence is a profoundly personal and intentional act. From savoring a morning pour-over to gathering with friends around a potluck table, small rituals can become powerful acts of resistance against life’s rush. Here, we talk to a few of our friends about how they find a way to press pause. Brewing Stillness: Wade Austin Ellis and the Art of Coffee For Wade Austin Ellis, founder of the digital coffee subscription and newsletter The Filter, coffee is more than just a drink. “It’s a ritual, a way to hit the brakes on a world hell-bent on speed,” he says. Ellis starts his day at his coffee bar, deliberating over which bag to open. The sensory experience of brewing — a bloom of grounds, the rise of steam — forces him to pause and focus. “A cup of coffee doesn’t happen by accident,” Ellis says. “Producers and roasters bring it to life long before it reaches your lips. The least you can do is pay attention.” For Ellis, pour-overs are his mindful ritual. “For you, maybe it’s a pod machine. It doesn’t matter — just slow down and make it yours.” Breath and Balance: Kurt Rogers’s Journey Kurt Rogers, a longtime hospitality professional turned breathwork facilitator, found his path to mindfulness through adversity. After decades of bartending, he discovered breathwork as a tool for grounding and transformation. Now, he teaches free breathwork classes in Jacksonville, helping others reconnect with themselves and the earth. “Just take your shoes off, stand in the grass and breathe,” Rogers says. “It’s a simple return to humanity.” He describes breathwork as a practice that quiets the mind and creates space for gratitude and joy. “Slowing down isn’t just a luxury — it’s a necessity,” he says. “When we relax and let go, we allow opportunities, creativity and connection to flow.” Pages, Pots and Plates: Vanessa Nicolle and Mara Strobel-Lanka’s Cookbook Club At Femme Fire Books, Vanessa Nicolle blends her passion for reading and community. A Navy veteran who found solace in books during deployments, Nicolle now runs a bookstore that celebrates underrepresented voices. Her book club, Femme Feast Book Club, co-led by artist and writer Mara Strobel-Lanka, brings people together quarterly to share meals inspired by selected cookbooks. For Strobel-Lanka, cookbooks bridge her artistic practice and her love of food. “Cooking from a cookbook slows me down,” she says. “It’s more intentional than pulling up a recipe online. You plan your grocery trip, focus on the steps and immerse yourself in the process.” The club’s potluck-style gatherings feel like Thanksgiving, she says, with elaborate, homemade dishes shared over hours of conversation. “It’s intentional. It’s joyful. It’s connection.” Nicolle sees the club as an extension of Femme Fire’s mission to foster inclusivity. Hosting a Palestinian cookbook introduced her to unfamiliar ingredients while providing space for Palestinian members to share their culinary heritage. “Food brings us closer,” says Nicolle. “It’s an act of caring, a way to share pieces of ourselves.” Conscious Cooking: Amy Cardin, Southern Horticulture Taking time to get focused and grounded in the kitchen helps horticulturalist Amy Cardin find energy and balance during some of the most challenging parts of her day, especially after long work hours. “I head straight to my matchbox to light the beeswax candles — one taper candle that sits upon our dining table and the other that sits near my inherited cutting board in the kitchen,” she says. “I prefer our house lights to stay low this time of year. Both candles stay lit until our dinner dishes are done, and the kitchen is “closed.” She’s an intuitive kitchen herbalist and incorporates garlic into her meals, especially during the winter season. Smushing garlic on her kitchen knife, peeling it and then chopping, all take more of a conscious effort than simply dashing dried garlic powder into a dish. Adding fresh home-grown herbs is another must for every meal she prepares. “Walking outside to my garden bed and planting my bare feet in my backyard earth reminds me that I am doing the best I can,” says Cardin. “Our meals are prepared slow and steady after a busy workday. Our well-being depends on the choices we make every day. Leftover scents of garlic and blown out beeswax candles give me closure and a fresh beginning to a new day.” Whether brewing coffee, breathing deeply or cooking with intention, rituals offer a way to reclaim presence in a fast-paced world. By dedicating time to small, mindful acts, we create space for connection — with ourselves and others. In a world that rewards speed, slowing down becomes an act of defiance. But it’s also a gift, turning ordinary moments — like sipping coffee, kneading dough or sharing soup — into extraordinary celebrations of life.

An ancient food preservation technique that harnesses the power of bacteria and yeasts Sauerkraut and other fermented foods are made by Olive My Pickle in Jacksonville. Photography by Cole LoCurto. In our fast-paced world, convenience takes precedence. We rush to complete tasks quickly, often in a state of constant urgency. This feeling can be exhausting and rob us of the opportunity to fully appreciate life's precious moments. Thankfully, the concept of slow living invites us to appreciate simple pleasures and reconnect with the natural world around us. One such pleasure is the mindful appreciation of food, particularly the flavors and health benefits of fermented foods. Fermentation is an ancient food preservation technique that harnesses the power of bacteria and yeasts in our environment to transform ingredients, creating multidimensional flavors and numerous health benefits. This practice has woven its way through the tapestry of human history. From the ancient Egyptians mastering the art of leavened bread to the traditional Korean process of creating flavorful kimchi, every corner of the globe has embraced some form of fermentation. The process is simple and converts carbohydrates (found in ingredients such as milk, cabbage or cucumbers) into alcohols and acids through the natural actions of microorganisms such as yeast and bacteria. Adding fermented foods to your diet offers many health advantages. They're rich in probiotics, which have been shown to support gut health, digestion and immunity thanks to two power players that occur as the byproduct of fermentation: lactic acid and acetic acid. Lactic acid promotes healthy gut bacteria which increases nutrient absorption, while acetic acid has been shown to help control blood sugar levels by slowing down the digestion of carbohydrates. Research continues on the gut-brain axis, as more and more evidence reveals the powerful connection between gut health and overall well-being. While we may prepare much of our food from scratch, the process to create certain ingredients such as fermented items like sauerkraut, kimchi and olives may be too prolonged and best left to those who have mastered the art of fermentation. Enter Shai and Charlotte Tzabari, the passionate duo behind Olive My Pickle and The Pickle Factory, who have adopted a family tradition and turned it into a thriving business featuring a variety of fermented foods. Shai brings to life the time-honored traditions of his family in Israel. He started Olive My Pickle to honor his mother's pickle-making traditions. As he dove deeper into fermentation, he discovered the importance of balancing four essential elements: time, temperature, salinity and an oxygen-free anaerobic environment. This journey led Shai to explore the gut-brain axis and its connection to overall well-being. His fascination with microbial health and the human genome inspired him to create fermented foods that benefit the microbiome –an aspect of health often overlooked in our fast-paced world. Olive My Pickle's products are produced using lacto-fermentation, a method that uses salt to transform fresh vegetables into preserved foods. Compared to pickled vegetables that rely on vinegar, sugar and/or heat-canning preservation, lacto-fermented vegetables take on specific taste components and nutritional and health characteristics. In a meticulously controlled process, vegetables are submerged in a saltwater brine, creating an anaerobic environment where harmful bacteria are eliminated and beneficial bacteria thrive. Nurtured by generations of Tzabari’s family knowledge, this delicate balance results in health-boosting properties that make Olive My Pickle's creations are popular not just in Jacksonville but across the country. "We believe in the power of delicious, fermented foods to bring people together and nourish our community from the inside out," says Charlotte. Olive My Pickle's unique approach to fermentation highlights the importance of enzymes in fermented foods, which are often under-recognized for their health benefits. They've built a community that recognizes healthy living as a lifestyle, not a passing fad. The Tzabaris are devoted to spreading the incredible benefits of fermented foods to a wide audience. As Olive My Pickle continues to expand, they captivate both loyal fans and newcomers alike with innovative flavors and a steadfast commitment to quality. Their mission goes beyond just creating delicious products; they strive to make fermented foods accessible and enjoyable for everyone. Although the process of fermentation requires patience, the widespread availability of fermented foods makes incorporating them into our diets effortless and enjoyable. “You don’t need to eat a lot inorder to reap the benefits,” says Charlotte. In fact, it’s better if you start slow. By simply adding one to two tablespoons of your favorite fermented food to your daily menu, you are already on your way to better gut balance and health. Fermented foods are not just nutrient-rich and gut-friendly; they also serve as a gentle reminder that good things take time. Incorporate fermented foods easily with these ideas: • Add plain yogurt to tacos • Mix kimchi into rice, soup or noodles • Swap a soda with a refreshing kombucha • Try baking sourdough • Pick up some locally made pickles from Olive My Pickle

Here are a few basic strategies to tip the scales toward successful growing. Many herbs and vegetables thrive with less space, and container gardening is great for tight spaces. Illustration by Sara Lear Walker Winter’s a fantastic time to grow food in Northeast Florida. What can you add to your garden this season? Root vegetables like beets, carrots, potatoes and turnips; the luscious leaves of kale, lettuce and mustards; and brassicas such as broccoli, cauliflower and Brussels sprouts. Sugar snap peas thrive in the cooler air as do herbs like cilantro, dill and fennel. These are but a few easy edibles for this season. Most herbs and vegetables need one square foot to grow. However, many thrive with less space, and container gardening is great for tight spaces. When it comes to ideal spacing, don’t be afraid to bend the rules a bit and pack those edibles tighter. Most of our winter crops don’t mind getting up close and personal with each other. With time and practice you’ll find combinations of edibles that can grow together quite nicely. For instance, plant spreading herbs and vegetables toward the edge of containers so they can cascade out and over the sides, leaving more room in the center for vertically oriented plants A 4’ x 8’ x 12” raised bed is a good size for beginners. Pick a spot in the yard that gets at least four to six hours of sun. Once constructed, the bed is ready for some rich soil; about ¾ of a cubic yard will fill the bed. If you need more, you can find bulk soils at locally owned garden centers. Leave a two- or three-inch lip to mix in compost and Espoma Bio-tone to supercharge the bed with nutrients, beneficial bacteria and mycorrhizal fungi. Your plants will thank you. Once the soil is prepped, planting can commence. Here are a few basic strategies to tip the scales toward successful growing: Keep your soil/plants fed. Find plant food that you like and use as directed. The plants will exhaust the nutrients in the soil each season. Consider using both an organic slow-release and a liquid nutrient like fish emulsion. Mulch beds with pine straw. This protects tender roots, helps stabilize moisture levels and breaksdown over time to create compost which adds important nutrients and Ph balance to keep plants happy. Water your beds only when needed. Watering on autopilot is a sure way to drown plants that might still be moist. Get your fingers a little dirty and feel the soil before watering. Timing is (almost) everything. This can be a trick, and an art. Getting seeds and plant starts at the right time plays a huge role in the plant’s life cycle. Perfecting this comes with time and experience. Jump right in. More is learned from doing than researching. Get a few basics down but avoid the rabbit hole of information overload. Dirty hands and tools are the best teachers. Experiment. Try new methods, varieties of edibles and soil amendments. Every season is different. Be prepared to pivot and take notes along the journey. It’s all worth it. Very few things are as rewarding as planting, tending to your crops and then sharing them at the dinner table with friends and loved ones.