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The Ramen Shop was near closing when a young man walked in. Though 20 minutes before the posted time, Grace had never had a problem kicking people out early, or opening late for that matter. If anyone ever asked her about whether she lost customers for her erratic hours, she’dContinue Reading

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While outside it’s raining, and sleeting and freezing,inside my crockpot is bubbling with fragrant stew,offering me generous comfort and companionship,embracing the entire house with its delicious aroma oftasty promise, a guarantee of sorts against thecold and hunger,hunger for food to comfort my body,hunger for food to feed my soul withculinaryContinue Reading

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The stew splashedas the wind stirredthe lightning-warmedbroth…such a sight to seeat the beginning. The new cook in the kitchentook a sip and grinned…This is good. Lynette G. Esposito, MA Rutgers, has been published in Poetry Quarterly, North of Oxford, Twin Decades, Remembered Arts, Reader’s Digest, US1, and others. She wasContinue Reading

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You’ll have to start in the spring. Don’t ask me why, ask the green onions why they shoot up with the sun streaming through my bedroom window. Ask the chickens my mother raises why they rest in their coop all winter, meat growing tender with each passing month. Ask theContinue Reading

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At last, more space to spread out and organize,clear shelves and drawers to show what’s inside.Although I’ve resisted this extravagance, I’vegiven in so that I have space to freeze packagedhomemade soups, banana bread, and challah. I’m not questioning this urge to have morecooked food at hand, even if the newContinue Reading

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Gliding open that storied steel doorwith foraging eyes I meet the usual suspectssitting listless in cracked tupperware sleeping in creased beeswaxwraps stacked like rubble and I sigh deeplythen turn away and regroup–mustering the courageto look once more to tread the dreaded boundarybetween routine and imagination to fight or to fleesuspendedContinue Reading

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Roger Camp is the author of three photography books including the award winning Butterflies in Flight, Thames & Hudson, 2002. His documentary photography has been awarded the prestigious Leica Medal of Excellence. His work has appeared in numerous journals including The New England Review, North American Review and the NewContinue Reading

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So much more than chicken and vegetables,your kitchen, your chopping,watching, stirring.What about your life experience?It all goes in the pot you bring meto heal my illness and cheer my spirits. You bring me love-made soup with alllife’s ingredients, covering all bases.And body and soul respond!It’s all in the intention.The recipeContinue Reading

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I pick up the purple turnip and slice off the scraggly-rooted bottom so it is stable when I cut it in half. I haven’t bought a rutabaga since the first heatwave in June. But the autumn chill compels me to buy this hybrid cabbage-turnip that I use only for soup.Continue Reading

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I sat at the kitchen counterof my dad’s gasstationwhile he cookedlima bean and ham soup.I hated it. What makes a poor childso arrogant she could hateher own dad’s soupthen sit and eat as ifit were chocolatebecause he made it for her. Lynette G. Esposito, MA Rutgers, has been published inContinue Reading