All aboard the "Meal Train"!

Destination: Coffee jelly, Muffin's Mac, and dulce de frutas.

Welcome to a new world of food, art, and nourishment.

Issue #1 of “Meal Train” is now shipping. It’s chock full of exceptional writing. There’s a page of just-recipes that you can clip and save, tack to your fridge, or stuff into your friend’s tote when you meet at the farmer’s market next Saturday.

Ben’s already made Rae Friedman’s chimichurri twice to drape over grilled veggies. He was giddy to try Brian Voll’s dulce de frutas (we’ve got extra jars to share!) I’m excited to jump on Cari Skelton’s coffee jelly the minute Milwaukee warms up past 80°F. And don’t get me started about the Gartelmann household’s mac-and-cheese, sweetly named “Muffin’s Mac” after Alex’s mom, that’s a modern-day heirloom.

The mac is sharp, spiced with caraway seeds (!), and freezable. I’m preserving it in our personal family recipe book for the ages.

Issue #1 holds so much more, too: Memories of great restaurants that only remain extant in our minds. Bun talk, bagel talk, family stories, and a picture of Ben’s great-great-grandma, Anna, wearing glasses, with her hair swept back into a no-nonsense ponytail, balancing a whopping Northern pike from one finger, looking every bit the rockstar.

We received over 40 submissions and inquiries from the UK, China, India, Central America, and across the US.

We were glutted with options. 18 works made it into this first issue (due to space).

Thank you to everyone who submitted to this new risograph periodical: We want to continue to hear from you! And also from you who have yet to send something in :-)

If this round of submissions has taught us anything, it’s that you don’t have to be formally “into food” (e.g. you’re a chef! you’re a food critic! you grow heirloom grain!) to send something to us that’s truly special and worthwhile for others to enjoy.

We’re all “into food” which means we’re all aboard the meal train.

Welcome to our feast. Tuck in!