What do you eat for breakfast? In the wintertime I always have oatmeal with a banana and maple syrup. In the summertime I don't usually eat before I serve breakfast. I usually eat the fruit that's leftover. Today I had strawberries, blueberries, and a popover I made this morning. I always eat breakfast and I do drink coffee. I'm not one of those types that skips breakfast but I do skip lunch.

Is there anything you eat every day? Aside from oatmeal in the winter, no. My eating habits have changed a lot. My husband was a real meat and potatoes guy. I am a tomato freak. I love tomato soup, salsa, fresh tomatoes—any tomatoes.

Every week? Tomatoes.

What’s the most delicious thing in here? I think maybe this jar of savory mango sauce I made for salmon; it was a little different. That or the strawberry soufflé.

The most disgusting? Oh god. I have lots of disgusting things. Probably all the stuff at the back. You know, I have a local friend who's 92 years old and every week he brings me a bunch of parley. I guess it's the old parsley or the beginning-to-mold cantaloupe.

Where do you do most of your food shopping? In the summertime I like to get most of my produce from Gail MacArthur’s farm stand. In winter I get veggies from Dutton's. The supermarket I most support is Dutton’s. Although I'm mad at them because they no longer carry shiitakes in bulk, only in packages. I'd rather have them dried. I probably should say I go to Price Chopper for the shiitakes because they are so expensive elsewhere.

How much do you spend on groceries each week? That's a hard question because I'm buying some for the business and some for myself. I ought to be able to say it off the top of my head but I couldn't.

Jean is the owner and keeper of the Whetstone Inn in Marlboro, Vermont. Her kitchen, where she cooks up meals for guests, houses two refrigerators side by side—only one is seen here. She’s holding yesterday’s strawberries, which she was advised upon purchase “to serve right up because of the rain.”