In 20th-century America where Adrienne Rich lived, the ordinary meal does not follow the starter-main-dessert grid. It is the New England supper: a soup or one-pot stew, bread, and a jar of late-season preserves set on the table. Added to this is the potluck, the shared meal of feminist circles where each person brings a dish, with no hierarchy or single hostess: the table becomes a collective, political as well as nourishing space.

Maple syrup, harvested at the end of winter in the forests of New England, is the sugar of the land. It anchors Rich's cooking in a local, seasonal territory, in line with her desire to live simply and as close as possible to what the place where one lives provides.