Real books. New books, the kind with covers that feel slightly grainy and have freshly cut pages. In an era when thriving independent bookstores seem just slightly more plausible than a cow jumping over the moon, The Galaxy Bookshop in Hardwick, VT is celebrating its 25th year. A quarter century ago, Linda Ramsdell opened […]
vermont
New Hampshire
Madame Sherri | New Hampshire’s Most Eccentric Resident?
Take a drive down the Gulf Road in West Chesterfield, New Hampshire, some time. It’s an enchanting landscape — horses running through sun-drenched fields, steep green hills dotted with small white houses. Further down the road, you’re enveloped by woods and wetlands. The driving here is somewhat questionable, and you have every right to be […]
A small selection of favorite maritime books and resources on New England’s rich seafaring history, ordered by publication date … New England and the Sea Robert G. Albion, William A. Baker, Benjamin W. Labaree Mystic Seaport Museum, 1970 America and the Sea: A Maritime History Benjamin W. Labaree et al. Mystic Seaport Museum, 1998 Black […]
Yankee
Book Review | Seen the Glory
Men going off to fight the Civil War sometimes declared they were going to “see the elephant.” It was a metaphor: The elephant stood for the whole wide world outside their little towns, and for the mystery and glory of war. Those who survived often came home shot to pieces in wagons bearing the ironic […]
Starved for colors, I found myself marveling at the platinum-hued potato chip bag by the side of the road as if it were a marsh marigold or goldfinch. Right now I find even the jewel tones of a green plastic bottle and cobalt Bud Lite can beautiful, basking next to mud. Our spiffy tubs of […]
Atop the chilly expanse of Joe’s Pond in West Danville, Vermont, a pallet awaits the moment when the ice starts breaking up, heralding the much-anticipated spring thaw. Credit: Corey Hendrickson When the pallet sinks, the connection to the clock on the dock breaks, stopping the clock at the official “ice out” time.Credit: Corey Hendrickson Credit: […]
Today’s weather is such an improvement over the past, oh, five months, that I want to fire up the grill and eat corn on the cob. But rather than get ahead of myself, I’m opting to share a terrific maple-pecan cake recipe that I discovered in a 1975 cookbook called Treasured Recipes from Early New […]
Desserts
Vermont Chocolate Potato Cake
Potatoes may seem like an unlikely ingredient for a cake, but stick with me, here. You’re going to love this moist cake, packed with spices and a light chocolate flavor. When I spotted this recipe in the pages of Yankee’s 1981 The Yankee Magazine Cookbook, my curiosity was piqued and I knew I wanted to […]
I skied Stowe Mountain Resort, in Stowe, Vermont, for the first time when I was in fifth grade. It was memorable for a few reasons, but probably the most exciting part wasn’t skiing, but riding a chairlift. I started skiing almost before I could walk, but from that time until my trip to Stowe, I […]
I love winter. I follow the storms, arriving in recently-snowed-upon towns before they’re properly plowed, shooting winter villages through a lace of fresh fluff on branches, picturing woodlands and villages with a thick frosting of ice. Other photographers are showing us the first sprouts of spring, but my bags are still packed for the next […]
Jimmy and Sara Ackermann are trying to do what many feel is nearly impossible in the 21st century: begin a new life working off the land.
Tender and sweet with a light crunch, squares of Northern-style cornbread are a special treat.