For more than 25 years, Tim Matson of Strafford, Vermont, has designed ponds for clients around northern New England. Tim Matson got his start designing ponds by building one for himself. That was 33 years ago. Since then, it has served him well. “It’s done just about everything,” says Matson, who’s authored four books (the […]
Ian Aldrich
Magazine
Message In a Box
It’s been said many times that Yankee stories are different than other kinds of magazine stories. We hear that a lot from our readers, but it also resonates with the people who work at Yankee, too. We don’t do exposes, take down pieces, or big celebrity interviews, let alone Best Docs packages. Our stories have […]
Magazine
Message In a Box: Pen Pals
Pen Pals It’s been said many times that Yankee stories are different than other kinds of magazine stories. We hear that a lot from our readers, but it also resonates with the people who work at Yankee, too. We don’t do exposes, take down pieces, or big celebrity interviews, let alone Best Docs packages. Our […]
Homes
The Detail
In 2009, after years of shooting Terry John Woods’ home in Shrewsbury, Vermont, for a variety of shelter magazines, photographer Kindra Clineff teamed up with Terry and writer Dale West for New Farmhouse Style (Stewart, Tabori & Chang, 2009), a coffee-table book that takes readers on an expansive tour of the home and the interior […]
Terry John Woods and Dale West extended their Vermont farmhouse sensibility to Down East Maine to create what they consider “the perfect summer home.” The familiar things have their place here: a well-used table; an old cupboard, scraped and painted, awaiting a new round of memories; a scattering of reclaimed boards, smoothed and finished into […]
A collection of fun facts about the Mt. Washington Auto Road.
By the time Joe Decker lumbered to the finish line at last year’s PEAK Death Race, an ultra-endurance competition in Pittsfield, Vermont, he was clearly ready to stop moving. Over the course of 28 hours, Decker, a 40-year-old Californian whom Guinness World Records had once labeled “The World’s Fittest Man,” had jumped, run, and lifted […]
Magazine
Finding Some Yankee Love
The dentist chair probably seems like an odd place to discover a little magazine enlightenment, but that’s exactly where this story begins. You see, a few weeks ago I found myself in the unfortunate position of being at my dentist’s office in Peterborough, New Hampshire, at the crack of dawn for not one, but two […]
Magazine
Insider’s Touch
Syrup reaches the right sugar concentration when it’s boiling at 7° above its initial boiling point, which in most areas is 212° F. For small batches, Morse advises, head indoors to finish it off. Pour it into a large pot and crank up your kitchen stove, making sure the syrup’s at least an inch deep […]
Magazine
Closing In
To decipher whether your syrup is almost done boiling, stick a clean straightedge into your pan–a wide knife, say–then lift it out. If the liquid doesn’t drip but instead rolls off in a sheet, you’re ready for the final stage.
Magazine
‘Quality Boredom’
Keep a good book nearby; learn to whittle; turn on the radio. Why? Sugaring introduces a lot of downtime. “My dad would start smoking, and I’d find gum wrappers all over the sugarhouse,” says Morse. “One time I accused him of being bored. He didn’t want to admit it. Finally, he just said, ‘Well, it’s […]
Magazine
Hot & Heavy
The hotter the fire, the better, says Morse, who recommends soft-wood slabs to feed the flames. “Simmering is not a friend of maple syrup,” he notes. When the sap threatens to boil over, throw in a pat of butter to calm the froth.