Amanda Palma

April is our in-between month. We're not sure if we should wear a coat over our sweatshirt or finally ditch the boots for socks and sandals. Personally, I'm a socks-and-sandals-all-year-round kind of person, typical of many young adults in Maine. It's practical, but not always pretty. And honestly, that's kind of the theme of life and cooking this time of year.

Every time March comes around, I think about what I might do for St. Patrick's Day. Typically that's nothing — no big celebrations, no elaborate get-togethers. Maybe I'll wear green. Maybe I'll make a matcha latte instead of coffee, just because it fits the mood. But most years, the day sneaks up and then passes just as quickly. What always stands out to me isn't the holiday itself, it's how much green we start seeing before there's any outside

During a recent trip to Las Vegas to visit family, one thing stood out to me: convenience. Food is available at all hours of the day: coffee, snacks, full meals — all ready for your consumption and rarely more than a short walk or drive away.

In the past few years, it has become tradition to build a vision board with my friends. Together, we cut out pictures from magazines, organize them in a meaningful way, then glue them to poster board. This creation represents how we want our lives to look for the upcoming year.

When you mention that the holidays are around the corner, people tend to fall into one of two categories. There's the bright-eyed bunch who exclaim, "Yes! I'm so excited for the snow and seeing family!" Then there are those who sigh, "I can't believe it's here already. I just want it to be over."

October in Harpswell brings a noticeable shift in pace. Fishing boats return to shore earlier in the day. The coastal landscape transitions into muted golds, reds and browns. Kitchens become spaces for more thoughtful preparation as the weather cools. It's a great time to focus on recipes that are a bit more involved, recipes that highlight local ingredients and reward the time you spend on them — like maple pecan sticky buns.

I often try to categorize my cooking style. At first I think about my love for Middle Eastern food and decide that must be my style, but then I remember my love for seafood, which doesn't exactly fit. So I shift to calling my style Mediterranean, but then I think about how much I enjoy cooking venison and beef, and they don't belong in that category. I could say my style reflects my Italian and Chinese heritage, but then I look at my pastry work and realize that doesn't fit neatly into those boxes.