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Editor’s Note
edible
Orange County®
Published by
Eclipse Media Partners, LLC 108 Hermitage Blvd. Berryville, VA 22611
Editorial Sta
Gina Mullins-Cohen
Editor
gina@edibleoc.com 310-721-3093 | 949-315-6445
Bill Cohen
Editor: Arts and Culture 310-721-3093 | 949-315-6445 info@edibleoc.com
Robert D. Mullins Investigative Reporter
Editor
info@edibleoc.com 310-721-3093 | 949-315-6445
Vi Paynich
Editor: Fashion and Design Vi@edibleoc.com 714-504-1825
Kim Mabon
Creative By Design
Creative Director kmabon@creativebydesign.net 951-226-5617
Moe Goode
Web Master info@edibleoc.com
Digital Magazine Producer Creative By Design klewis@creativebydesign.net
Advertising
Gina Mullins-Cohen
Publisher
gina@edibleoc.com 310-721-3093 | 949-315-6445
No part of this publication may be used without written permission from the publisher ©2015. Every e ort
is made to avoid errors, misspellings and omissions. If, however, an error comes to your attention, please ac- cept our sincere apologies and notify us. ank you.
Finding Home
e last twelve months have been both challenging and exhilarating for the sta at Edible Orange County. First, our designer got married. ese days she is busy growing her design rm, Creative by Design, but also busy in love with her husband, Leo. Congratulations Kim and Leo!
Last year on June 8, 2016, my father, Robert Mullins, who was a regular
contributor to this magazine, as well as to the community of San Clemente,
passed away. He died from complications that arose from a viral infection
contracted while in a hospital in Virginia. Our family has traveled back
and forth between Southern California and the northwestern suburbs of
Washington DC for the last 5 years. Although my father was not born in Virginia - he was born and reared in Utah – his father, my paternal Grandfather, Frank Mullins, was born in Pearisburg, Virginia.
Pearisburg is located in the mountains high above Blacksburg, home to Virginia Tech, and only a short jump to the New River Gorge National River, a national recreation area in West Virginia. It is a stunningly beautiful region o ering the wilderness and all of the wonder that the state so proudly references in its tag line, West Virginia, Wild and Wonderful.
Although, my father had not visited his own father’s birthplace until July 4, 2014, once he was there, he said it felt like home. I understood this sentiment. is area bore a mysterious resem- blance to Carbon County, Utah, close to where my father was born and where he spent his child- hood. e rivers cutting through Carbon County’s coal mining and agricultural regions, such as the Price River and segments of the thundering Green River, could easily be recalled, there, in the coal mining areas of West Virginia.
As I think about that - how many of us move from one end of our world to another – only to seek that which is familiar and that which taps in to the safety net of our own psyche – I cannot help but think about my own safe places and what, where and who, I consider home.
Home to me is a place – any place in the world – where I can sit with friends and family and just talk. We can talk about the day, talk about the world, about religions, health, politics, the work we do or the work we love– nothing is taboo. ese times and great conversations are always inclusive of food. Whether it is a fancy dinner by the sea in Coastal Spain or a veggie burger in my own backyard, the best, most cherished moments start with food.
During the summer months when I was very young, my mother and I would travel throughout the state of Utah with my father as he worked his reporter’s beat. Mom and I would go see a matinee or to the local library waiting for dad to nish his interviews and call in his story. When he’d nd us, he’d always say with a huge, beaming grin, “Let’s go get a fudgicle” (intentionally leaving out the rst “c” in his pronunciation of the word).
I travel a lot and when I do, I often thing of these small, timeless moments. I remember the anticipation of my dad’s return, as my mom – my beautiful mom - and I waited for him. I remember the adventure of those short summer trips and my mother singing along with the radio to summer hits of the 60s. I remember my dad – my dear loving and magical dad listening to my mom sing and chatting with me about the day as we savored our fugicles. He’d turn towards my mother from time to time, between licks of cool chocolate, and say, “You’ve got a good voice, Donna. You should be on the radio and Mom would just smile and keep singing.”
I wish each of you a memorable summer and wherever you wander, remember - eat good food, laugh a lot and choose to be happy.
–Gina Mullins Cohen
edible Communities 2011 James Beard Foundation Publication of the Year
8 Endless Summer 2017 www.edibleorangecounty.com