There is nothing better than the gift of extra time at home, brought to us these past weeks by Mother Nature in the form of incessant snow. It turns out that the women I know are delighted to be home and most of us are relishing the luxury of delving into our pantries in search of creative expression and gastronomic release.

I made my first trip to Bissons Meat Market with a pork loin in mind. I found one at 4:02 pm, 2 minutes after closing. Thank you for letting me in! I wanted desperately to replicate the pork roast that my father cooked for my family when I was growing up, and watching him like a hawk in the kitchen.

I browned the roast in his large Creuset pot, now 40 years old, then loaded the pot with organic onions, carrots, sweet potatoes, red potatoes and some big wedges of cabbage. Into the oven it when for an hour and a half. Everything came out and I deglazed the pan with some Chardonnay and vegetable stock and added a bit of corn starch to thicken the sauce.

I stood tasting that sauce, not satisfied, and although the flavors were rich and complex I could not reach the same lively flavor that my father had.

Then his spirit possessed me and I knew what to seek out in my fridge: Apricot jam. You see, there is nothing that brings out the best in a pork roast like sugar. But to simply add sugar is almost an insult to the process and the farm. To find the desired sweetness in a jam, apricot or blackberry, compliments the savory flavors of onion and pork fat in a way that brings tears to the eyes.

Thanks, Dad, and Bissons, and Le Creuset, and Mother Nature.

Susan Bauer
Bath