I haven’t written a cooking-oriented post for weeks. I have been cooking, but it it has been of the “quickly-as-possible-so-we-can-get-back-outside-and-enjoy-the-fleeting-summer” sort. Fresh tomato salads, grilled sausages, hamburgers, etc. One quick tip: Try using rice vinegar and shallots in your next tomato salad. The milder acidity is a great compliment to the sweet, ripe fruit […]
new england
New England
A Year After Irene, a New Normal in New England
This week marks the one year anniversary of the landfall of Hurricane Irene, and subsequent devastation and disruption that the storm caused throughout our region. The storm was a tremendous reminder of the forces that shaped the land and landscape that we love, and that though we celebrate her beauty, Mother Nature’s power is not […]
New England
A Brief History
7000 B.C. The first maples appear on the New England landscape. New Jersey tourists soon follow. September 1818 Mass.’ Topsfield Fair, now one of the oldest existing agricultural fairs in the country, opens. September 7-8, 1846 Henry David Thoreau, with friends, makes his first ascent of Maine’s Mount Katahdin. His finding: “Nature was here something […]
New England
The Encyclopedia of Fall: F is for Fungi
Foraging–the fine art of scouring the countryside in search of edibles–predates the ubiquitous farm-to-table movement by at least two million years. Even today, it’s not a bad skill to master, and certainly in New England it’s hard to imagine anything more inherently Yankee: free-ranging off the land (or free anything, for that matter) plus tasty […]
New England
The Encyclopedia of Fall: E is For Big E
The Big E began in 1917, when Joshua L. Brooks opened an agricultural fair in West Springfield, Massachusetts, to the public. Farming in New England had diminished, and production costs were escalating. Brooks’s vision was to bring the six New England states together to improve agricultural techniques through demonstration and competition. For a dairy show […]
New England
A Sampling of Highlights from the Big E
Craz-E Burger There’s nothing like a good old-fashioned burger. There’s nothing like a good old-fashioned doughnut, either. Put them together and you get the Craz-E Burger, the Big E’s colossus of crispy bacon, gooey cheese, and juicy beef patty sandwiched between two halves of a glazed doughnut. At 1,500 calories (that’s maybe 75% of your […]
Visit an apple orchard this fall and you’re just as likely to see folks munching on golden-brown apple-cider doughnuts as you are actual apples. Beyond the standard cake doughnut, cider doughnuts have apple cider added right into the batter, lending a touch of sweetness and a subtle cider tang that most people find dangerously addictive. […]
What is acer saccharum? New England’s beloved sugar maple, of course.
Magazine
Minimal Ferry Meets Maximal Foley
In the interest of full disclosure, Portland gallerist Andres Verzosa is a close friend and my partner in a forthcoming publishing venture, but after 35 years of writing about art in Maine, if I refrained from writing about artists and art dealers I know personally, most of the best would be off limits. The current exhibition (September […]
New England
The Undue Fear of Missing Peak Foliage
This past weekend, a cold front came through New England, bringing some much needed rainfall and a wonderful break from the heat. When I awoke early Sunday morning to do some fly fishing in the mountains, temperatures were in the lower forties, and there was a crispness to the air. Heavy mist was coming off […]
New England
New England Fall Foliage Outlook For 2012
Perhaps you haven’t noticed yet, but there are signs of fall beginning to show up all around us. The sun is setting a little earlier, and rising a little later. The birdsongs of spring and summer have quieted now as the birds molt before migrating. The last of the wildflowers: the goldenrod, the JoePye weed, […]
Magazine
A Day at the SoWa Market
Every Sunday from May through October, the open-air SoWa Market in Boston’s South End entices with food, craft, and vintage market finds – plus food trucks!