Of all the types of art exhibitions — group shows, career retrospectives, recent work, juried competitions, survey shows, exhibitions organized around periods and styles, etc. — the shows I find most satisfy are theme shows, those in which art and artifacts are assembled around a central idea. Art, after all, is a form of knowledge, […]
cake
New England
New England Diners: 20 Classics
Richard Gutman, curator of the Culinary Arts Museum at Johnson & Wales University in Providence, RI, chose these 20 New England diners in addition to his list of Best 5 New England Diners in the May/June 2008 issue of Yankee. Scan his list and, if you don’t see your favorite, add it in at the […]
This past weekend, I finally cross country skied on the Catamount Trail. I’ve seen the blue blazes with the Catamount foot print that mark the route during hiking season, but finally I spent a dedicated afternoon skiing it. The original plan was to head out on some logging trails in southern Vermont, but before my […]
Food
23. Crab Cakes
Riverside Café 151 Main St., Ellsworth, ME 207-667-7220 Plenty of fresh rock crabmeat is generously mixed with herbs, bread crumbs, and a bit of egg to form a sandwich-filling cake that stuns the palate with its layers of flavors. Maine’s crab cakes are a different animal (literally) from Maryland’s, and Riverside’s are a prime example.
Magazine
7. Boston Cream Pie
Omni Parker House 60 School St. Boston, MA 617-227-8600; omnihotels.com In addition to its famous Boston scrod and Parker House rolls, this hotel’s kitchen is said to have invented this custard-filled, chocolate-glazed sponge cake (see the recipe, right). Sometimes nothing but the original (in these elegant surroundings) will do. Massachusetts’ legislators agreed, making Boston cream […]
Massachusetts
Pittsfield, Massachusetts: 10 Reasons to Visit
By Patricia Harris and David Lyon We’ve been as guilty as anyone of barely slowing down as we’ve driven through Pittsfield on our way from Tanglewood in Lenox to Mass MoCA in North Adams. In years past, Pittsfield seemed to be merely a crossroads with shuttered retail shops and all the untidy business of Berkshire […]
When Matthew and Jenny Mead entertain, they like their guests to have a sense of awe when they walk into a room. Awesome is this woven gingerbread harvest basket dressing up an antique sideboard and filled with autumn’s bounty. This project is edible, or you may save it from year to year. Make this gingerbread […]
In another bowl centerpiece, Matthew attains easy elegance with what he calls “drop and layer” style. Using no florals, fruits, or water, he simply nestles white and silver ornaments in a compote among glistening silver cake dragées and glass stones. He tops it off with an antique bell ornament and rhinestone brooches — inexpensive flea […]
Sometime around Thanksgiving, Mary Bevilacqua starts thinking about the Exchange. She decides whom she’ll invite and sends out invitations. She makes up the menu for the meal, and then, most important, she wonders what the cookie will be this year: Lemon snowballs? Nutmeg logs? Chocolate-peppermint bars? The Wellesley Cookie Exchange has been part of Mary’s […]
For the past 55 years, Ed and Phyllis Baker, ages 77 and 76 — their three children now away with families of their own — have been living on their 108-acre farm, 105 acres of which are currently for sale (asking $495,000), in the small town of Goshen, New Hampshire. Never heard of Goshen? Well, […]
It takes a creative person to make a house a home. Artist Lisa Nelthropp did more than that when she purchased a property near New Hampshire’s Lake Winnipesaukee seven years ago. After evicting families of squirrels and bats who’d been in residence for years, Lisa realized maybe the former inhabitants didn’t really have it so […]
After a fire devastated a small New Hampshire farm, neighbors came together to keep the owners’ dream alive.