A large format, hardcover coffee table edition of the book Secret Spaces, Martha’s Vineyard Beyond the Landmarks, has been featured this past week at the Wedding and Portrait Photographers International trade show in Las Vegas by the book’s manufacturer, GraphiStudios.

The book showcases a collection of Vineyard images by former Martha’s Vineyard resident and Gazette contributing photographer Michael Zide, with text by Island writers and artists.

The Menemsha Fisheries Development Fund presents the award-winning documentary film, Fisheries: Beyond the Crisis, followed by a discussion of sustainability and community-based fisheries management on Wednesday, March 26, at 5:30 p.m. at the Chilmark Public Library.

A four-part, hands-on digital photo restoration class begins next week at the high school.

Participants will learn how to digitally restore and reprint damaged, fading snapshots; scan and make enlargements from negatives and slides of all sizes and formats; learn how to use Adobe Photoshop CS3 to digitally retouch and restore images; master the use of film and flatbed scanners; and make detailed enlargements for print or for the Web.

In the summer, when there is an abundance of produce available from our 28 Island farms, it’s easy for Vineyarders to plan meals based on local, seasonal food. But even with the vernal equinox upon us, winter is still maintaining its hold on our gardens, so making a meal based on Island food can be a challenge. Rebecca Miller, farmer and co-owner (with her husband Matthew Dix) of North Tabor Farm in Chilmark, is up to the task.

The Vineyard Haven Library Lecture Series will present a free cooking demonstration, Cooking with Bella: Feijoada the American Way, on Wednesday, March 26, at 4 p.m.

This will be the first of a new series of lectures planned for the afternoons.

From a long line of excellent cooks, Bella Felipe will teach participants how to make feijoada. Her grandparents had a coffee shop in Brazil, and now she is the Mocha Mott’s baker and soup maker (she makes feijoada the American way there almost every week).

Food Safety Classes

Starting Tuesday, March 25, ServSafe food sanitation classes will be held for anyone who requires the certification to meet the rules to be a person in charge in a restaurant or other food service establishment.

Cynthia Barletta and Alice Robinson of Public Health Network Services will teach the classes, which are sponsored by the Oak Bluffs Association. The series of classes runs for three consecutive Tuesday and Wednesday nights from 5 to 9 p.m. at the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School.

Cupid and Psyche

The curtains go up next Friday night for a one-night-only performance of Cupid and Psyche, a 2,000-year-old love story. Spindrift Marionettes will present their most ambitious production yet, a full-length puppet show for adults as well as children over ten. It features marionettes, life-sized goddess puppets and shadow puppets re-imagining the ancient tale of love and loss, courage and despair, in a world where gods and mortals interact to both comic and tragic effect.

A Spring Palate

The arrival of spring promises a fresh new palate of colors, tastes and textures, and plates as pretty as pictures. Fading from the canvas are the earth-tone stews and roasted root vegetables. Tender crisp is now de rigueur, not fall-off-the-bone, fork tender.

Reflecting these seasonal tastes, Easter dinner heralds spring with a pastel spread of rosy ham, pink lamb, asparagus hollandaise, and lemon meringue pie. A festive side dish that will look much prettier on the plate than mashed potatoes is the following rice recipe.

Spirit of Place

Living with the Spirit of Place is the title of a slide show and talk set for Thursday, March 27, at 6 p.m. at the Oak Bluffs Public Library.

Dr. Patrick MacManaway, holistic therapist, author, and current president of the British Society of Dowsers, will present a slide show and talk about how the places we live and work affect our level of energy, mood and attitude.

There will be time for questions and discussion, and refreshments will be served.

Next week, I will put all of my eggs in one basket.