Recollecting 2023
message from Ouita Michel & photography by Talitha Schroeder
Time has nearly ceased to hold any true meaning for me, at least as far as the calendar goes. Days melt away, time races by, and suddenly 2023 is almost over and I’m reflecting on the past 12 months. More than any other year in recent memory, I feel so lucky to live here, in a place of peace, surrounded by the green paddocks of the Bluegrass.
2023 was a year of personal growth, travel, new horizons and new beginnings, for me and for Holly Hill & Co. We opened the Holly Hill Cooking Studio and set off on a whole new way of sharing our food philosophy and story – person to person, gathered around a big kitchen island.
Subscriptions to our newsletter grew by leaps and bounds and exceeded our wildest dreams. We began a video project with new friends to celebrate Kentucky’s foodways and food culture. Our restaurant group continues to thrive under the direction of Tyler McNabb, Leslee Macpherson and Ethan Bowling; we’re learning to work smarter, with new operating systems and expanded staff training; and create even better menus and experiences for our guests.
We celebrated two milestone birthdays — ten years for Smithtown Seafood and twenty at Wallace Station!
Our gardens are expanding; we’ve welcomed new chefs with new perspectives, new managers with new ideas, and new storytellers with amazing visions for social media. Looking out at the horizon of 2024, I am filled with optimism for a new year of personal and professional growth.
Every year has its challenges, and its sorrows. The folks we lose, the illnesses we confront, global environmental challenges, violence and war, the food insecurity of millions of people all around the world. The news cycles can be overwhelming, even paralyzing.
But small steps each day give me hope and make me feel less powerless. Composting and gardening; recipes to make use of carrot tops and radish greens; drying our own herbs; making home-cooked meals; baking cookies with Weisenberger Mill flour; working on behalf of organizations like FoodChain. And living each moment with as much mindfulness as I can muster, and a full and grateful heart.
My hope for you in the New Year is that your life will be full of peace, love, good health and joyful moments with friends and family. My hope for our world is that we can come together to make those same dreams possible for all people on Earth.
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Food has the power to bring us together. It works its magic in all kinds of ways and through all kinds of people. Kentucky's story belongs to all of us and we're glad you're here for the telling.
