Can we travel back in time through a crumb of chocolate cake? Let the tongue open up the imagination, then sit in wonder as a piece of history unfolds — as it did for Proust who conjured up the Belle Epoque while savoring a madeleine? This is a story about a recipe handed down through several generations and about the memories we can recover through the medium of taste.
My interest in R & R (restoring and repurposing) along with my prior experience as an executive coach, led me to volunteer at the Restoration Project, a Belmont, Massachusetts, non-profit. Founded by Eloise Newell, RP is a both a retail shop and vocational rehabilitation program for adolescents and adults with emotional and neurological challenges. “Our participants learn the trades of furniture restoration and retailing to build confidence and develop work skills that are transferable to any occupation,” Eloise says. “Furniture is part of our everyday lives. When we rev