Who is Sixburnersue?
Well, that would be me, Susie Middleton. Cook, gardener, writer, editor. Sometime photographer, former (and future) small farmer. Author of four cookbooks, writer of essays, developer of many, many, many vegetable recipes. Year-round Martha's Vineyard resident since 2009. Celebrating 16 years of sobriety — to which nothing else can hold a candle.
Once upon a time, I was chief editor of Fine Cooking magazine. Now I work for the wonderful Vineyard Gazette Media Group as special projects editor, doing all the fun things, including editing a very cool cooking website called cookthevineyard.com. I also write about cooking, gardening, and life on Martha's Vineyard for both our 175-year old newspaper, the Vineyard Gazette, and our award-winning Martha's Vineyard magazine. Yay.
I am obsessed with flowers – really and truly gobsmacked by their beauty. I’m in love with vegetables – the flavors, the colors, the textures. I had a small farm and operated a daily farm stand here on the Island for nine years. While I currently tend a small home garden, I’m plotting my gradual return to farming, and this time I’ll be all-in on flowers.
What Do Flowers and Vegetables and Sobriety Have To Do With Each Other?
What I’m most interested in these days is the pursuit of serenity – how being outside in nature and tending my garden quiets the chatter in my head, calms my anxiety. How diving into a creative project – whether it’s arranging flowers or making a photo collage or designing a small garden – brings me so much joy and peace. How listening to my gut not only rewards me with good decisions (and there were so many bad ones over the years!), but also helps me stay aligned with the true Susie, the one who was hidden behind a curtain for so long.
What Can Sixburnersue the Newsletter Do for You?
I began my professional life as an editorial assistant at Seventeen magazine, where I learned the art of service journalism. It’s not very sexy, but it’s all about the reader (that means you!). I’ve never really been able to get past that – in the recipes and cookbooks I’ve written, in the essays and magazine articles I write, I’m always thinking, “What can I do to help you?”
My hope is that by sharing my experience — the tools that work for me, the beauty that inspires me, the frustrations that I grapple with, the books that rivet me, the wonders of the special place I live — I might help you find joy and peace, make a needed change, find a better solution, shuck the regrets and resentments, embrace gratitude. Yeah, that’s a tall order, but I can try, can’t I?
P.S. I’ve been writing a blog on and off (but mostly on) over at sixburnersue.com since 2010. I was thrilled to move over here to Substack in January of 2023, and in addition to welcoming all of my loyal long-time readers, have been so happy to welcome hundreds more who are hopping on board for the first time.
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