Yankee Magazine Nov/Dec 2023

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HAPPY

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Sides & Desserts

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CONTENTS NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2023

Handmade bonbons from Thorncrest Farm & Milk House Chocolates in Goshen, Connecticut, are the picture of holiday panache. Story, p. 60

features 60 /// The Great Connecticut Farm Hop Discovering the Nutmeg State’s bounty of homegrown food, gifts, and holiday fun. By Kim Knox Beckius 72 /// From Forest to Table

When a food writer joins a forager for a walk in the Maine woods, it opens up a world of delicious possibilities. By Kathy Gunst

78 /// Finding Their Way Home

For thousands of rescued dogs, journeys of endless miles and hardship come to a happy end at Rhode Island’s Always Adopt. By Mel Allen

82 /// The Silence of Soldiers

A long-hidden World War II diary reveals to a son what his father never told. By Howard Mansfield

Yankee (ISSN 0044-0191). Bimonthly, Vol. 87 No. 6. Publication Office, Dublin, NH 03444-0520. Periodicals postage paid at Dublin, NH, and additional offices. Copyright 2023 by Yankee Publishing Incorporated; all rights reserved. Postmaster: Send address changes to Yankee, P.O. Box 37128, Boone, IA 50037-0128.

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departments

MORE CONTENTS

10 CONTRIBUTORS & LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

home

12 INSIDE YANKEE In a snowy season, occasional Christmastime miracles help light the way. By Mel Allen

22 /// Hearth of the Matter

Children know it’s magic. For the rest of us, here’s a brief history of Santa’s fireplace escapades. By Bruce Irving

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30 /// Open Studio

food

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20 UP CLOSE What would Thanksgiving be without wiggly, jiggly cranberry sauce? By Joe Bills

36 /// Bring It!

Equal parts tasty and totable, these side dishes and desserts are just the thing to complement your host’s seasonal spread. By Amy Traverso and Sarah Hearn Morrison

120 LIFE IN THE KINGDOM Lessons learned as another once-in-a-century flood hits home. By Ben Hewitt

42 /// Feast Tracking

No matter the occasion—Christmas, Hanukkah, Thanksgiving, or Kwanzaa— it’s worth seeking out these holiday food staples from expert cooks and bakers across our region. By Amy Traverso

travel

36

ADVERTISING RESOURCES Holiday Gift Guide.......... 94 Retirement Living.......... 106 Marketplace....................... 114 ON THE COVER

46 /// Weekend Away

Make tracks this winter to Biddeford, Maine, where you can savor the gifts of a mill-town revival—one delicious bite at a time. By Amy Traverso

57 /// The Best 5

Decked out for the holidays, these five coastal lighthouses become even more picture-perfect. By Kim Knox Beckius

58 /// From New England with Love Gift-giving inspiration from every state, to delight everyone on your shopping list. Compiled by Bill Scheller

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Photographed by Mark Fleming and Korey Seney at Allen Hill Farm, a sixth-generation Christmas tree farm in Brooklyn, Connecticut. For more about Allen Hill Farm and other cut-yourown-tree destinations in New England, go to newengland.com/tree-farms.

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This New England–made pottery deserves a place at the holiday table. By Annie Graves

FIRST LIGHT It’s been 250 years since Boston Harbor famously churned with angry colonists. But at this spirited museum, the tea party never ends. By Justin Shatwell

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EDITORIAL Editor Mel Allen Managing Editor Jenn Johnson Senior Features Editor Ian Aldrich Senior Food Editor Amy Traverso Senior Digital/Home Editor Aimee Tucker Travel Editor Kim Knox Beckius Associate Editor Joe Bills Associate Digital Editor Katherine Keenan Contributing Editors Sara Anne Donnelly, Annie Graves, Ben Hewitt, Rowan Jacobsen, Nina MacLaughlin, Julia Shipley ART Art Director Katharine Van Itallie Photo Editor Heather Marcus Contributing Photographers Adam DeTour, Megan Haley, Corey Hendrickson, Michael Piazza, Greta Rybus PRODUCTION Director David Ziarnowski Manager Brian Johnson Senior Artists Jennifer Freeman, Rachel Kipka DIGITAL Vice President Paul Belliveau Jr. Senior Designer Amy O’Brien Ecommerce Director Alan Henning Marketing Specialists Holly Sanderson, Jessica Garcia Email Marketing Specialist Eric Bailey — YANKEE PUBLISHING INC. ESTABLISHED 1935 | AN EMPLOYEE-OWNED COMPANY

President Jamie Trowbridge Vice Presidents Paul Belliveau Jr., Ernesto Burden, Judson D. Hale Jr., Brook Holmberg, Jennie Meister, Sherin Pierce Editor Emeritus Judson D. Hale Sr. CORPORATE STAFF

Vice President, Finance & Administration Jennie Meister Human Resources Manager Beth Parenteau Accounts Receivable/IT Coordinator Gail Bleakley Assistant Controller Nancy Pfuntner Accounting Associate Meg Hart-Smith Accounting Coordinator Jessica Clark Executive Assistant Christine Tourgee Maintenance Supervisor Mike Caron Facilities Attendant Ken Durand BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Publisher Brook Holmberg ADVERTISING Vice President Judson D. Hale Jr. Media Account Managers Kelly Moores, Dean DeLuca, Steven Hall Canada Account Manager Cynthia Fleming Senior Production Coordinator Janet Selle For advertising rates and information, call 800-736-1100, ext. 204, or go to NewEngland.com/adinfo. MARKETING ADVERTISING

Director Kate Hathaway Weeks Senior Manager Valerie Lithgow Specialist Holly Sloane PUBLIC RELATIONS

Roslan & Associates Public Relations LLC 212-966-4600 NEWSSTAND Vice President Sherin Pierce NEWSSTAND CONSULTING

Linda Ruth, PSCS Consulting 603-924-4407 SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES To subscribe, give a gift, or change your mailing address, or for any other questions, please contact our customer service department: Mail Yankee Magazine Customer Service P.O. Box 37900 Boone, IA 50037-0900 Online NewEngland.com/contact-us Email customerservice@yankeemagazine.com Toll-free 800-288-4284 — Yankee occasionally shares its mailing list with approved advertisers to promote products or services we think our readers will enjoy. If you do not wish to receive these offers, please contact us.

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Yankee | B E H I N D T H E S C E N E S CONTRIBUTORS

MICHAEL PIAZZA

H O WA R D M A N S F I E L D Having found vivid Yankee stories to tell across topics as diverse as antique furniture, Shaker life, and sea-level rise, Mansfield discovered one of his most poignant in the pages of his own father’s war diary [“The Silence of Soldiers,” p. 82]. The New Hampshire resident is the author of a dozen books, including In the Memory House, The Bones of the Earth, Dwelling in Possibility: Searching for the Soul of Shelter, and The Same Ax, Twice. K AT H Y G U N S T Looking at the landscape around her Maine home through the lens of foraging [“From Forest to Table,” p. 72] was an “eye-opening” culinary experience for Gunst—and that’s saying something. A noted food writer for the likes of The Washington Post, The New York Times, and Bon Appétit, she attended the London Cordon Bleu School of Cookery and is the author of 16 cookbooks, most recently Rage Baking: The Transformative Power of Flour, Fury and Women’s Voices. J U S T I N S H AT W E L L A lover of both history and tea, Shatwell felt very much at home exploring the Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum [“Rebels with a Cause,” p. 16]. “New Englanders have a proud legacy of being rebellious,” he says. “The museum celebrates our pugnacious forebears and shows how the right mob in the right place at the right time changed history.” A longtime Yankee contributor, Shatwell now lives in the hill-town country of western Massachusetts. MAAIKE BERNSTROM In helping to tell the story of the abandoned dogs saved by Louise Anderson’s Always Adopt [“Finding Their Way Home,” p. 78], photographer Bernstrom ended up becoming part of it: Last spring she adopted a rescued dog from Mississippi, named Mazie (they’re shown together here). “I’m so grateful to have met Louise,” she says, “and to witness firsthand how one person with passion the size of Texas can make a positive impact in this world.” C AT R I N E K E LT Y As a stylist, Kelty is used to the pitfalls of doing holiday food shoots in July and August (“Baking casseroles in 90-degree weather! And meringues are not happy!”). But on the plus side, she gets early inspiration for her own holiday feasts. Among senior food editor Amy Traverso’s collection of side dishes and desserts [“Bring It!” p. 36], Kelty has bookmarked the pandowdy, the mushroom tart, the mocha Bundt cake, and, oh yes, the meringue.

Place Value I just wanted to drop a line to acknowledge Wayne Curtis for his rare and insightful article “Find Your Way Down East” [ July/August]. I was born and raised in Eastport, Maine, class of 2004 at Shead High School in the Moose Island fishing village. My father was a janitor and bus driver for the schools in the ’80s, and my mother ran a day care on County Road. My grandparents lobstered, clammed, and shucked with the best of them in Machias and Cutler. And I can say with certainty that Wayne captured the essence of our unique regional culture better than any outsider (and most insiders) I’ve ever read or spoken with. Jesse Call Bangor, Maine

Turning Points I was taken with Mel Allen’s fall essay “So Beautiful, So Short” [September/ October], and found it to be a moving metaphor for the precious few moments we as parents have with our children before they leave us for distant parts. In Mel’s case, Hawaii and Colorado; in my case, Florida and New Jersey. It was a touching reminder of the short but oh-so-beautiful season that raising our children truly is, much like the burst of color and magic that is a New England fall, leaving wonderful memories in its wake.... The way the article connected the two ideas made me smile, and want to go outside and await the arrival of the vibrant colors of fall. I will be sure to look at the leaves while they hold on, and await their return next time. John Hennigan Cooperstown, New York

A N N I E C A R D ( M A N S F I E L D); G R E TA R Y B U S (G U N S T ); W I N K Y L E W I S ( K E LT Y )

Mother Nature played photographer’s assistant for “The Great Connecticut Farm Hop” [p. 60], which required showing the Nutmeg State at its winter best. “I swear, the few days we shot were about the only days that it snowed last year—literally fresh snow every morning, like a little present,” says Piazza, whose photos regularly appear in Edible Boston, Food + Wine, and others, and who is now working on a “very secret” farm-to-table cookbook.

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Inside Yankee | M E L A L L E N

Christmastime Miracles

A village of lights in the December snow.

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a hum of a furnace kicking on, a refrigerator coming to life. And we felt the joy of turning a switch on a lamp and a light appearing. A miracle indeed, courtesy of hundreds of powerline workers who had labored day and night with little rest. T H E SE C ON D: Early December 2020, that first pandemic year. There is a pretty park in our town that backs up to a river with a waterfall tumbling beneath a small stone bridge. One night we walked past it and found there a wonderland of lanterns and luminarias and twinkling lights. Trees and bushes were draped with lighted stars, and there were miniature buildings—houses, a church, a town hall—each shining against the dark. The hill on the far edge of the park was dotted with tiny stars, and if you’ve ever been in a valley town and looked at the distant shine of mountain houses, that is what it looked like. Even with the first Covid vaccines bringing hope, this miniature village of lights carried a message that magic stirs all around us if we know where to look. In this little park, a small group of creative people showed how beauty may emerge even in hard times. It was their gift to everyone who walked or drove by in the dark and found a glowing hillside that seemed to have sprung from a wand. I hope that this holiday issue, with its pages filled with cheery farms and decorated lighthouses to visit and food to enjoy, will let you settle in and pause for a while amid the seasonal bustle. May the lights stay on and the snow fall softly, wherever you are. Mel Allen editor@yankeepub.com

A N N I E G R AV ES

T H E F I R S T: We moved into our little Cape early in December 2008. A week later, an ice storm stopped our lives in their tracks. Ice clung to tree branches and snapped limbs and power lines, filling the air with sharp cracks as they fell. Our small New Hampshire town, like so many others, went dark for days—in some places, two weeks. The thick ice bent trees almost to the ground. Roads became impassable. But creating exquisite beauty even while wreaking destruction is the irony of an ice storm. Everyone walked through town with phones and cameras, wearing their frozen robes to photograph ice-glazed trees and bushes. The woodstove became both warmth and provider of rice, soup, pasta. Candles glowed all through the short days of early December. We talked in their soft light, while the darkness outside was broken only by people walking by with flashlights. Just a week before Christmas, we heard sounds we had all but forgotten:

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B

y the time the year’s first flakes of snow appear in the Bay State, typically in late November, the unmistakable sparkle of the holidays has already arrived. From the North Shore to the Cape, and Boston to the Berkshires, the calendar fills up with a bona fide flurry of festive events. Historic homes dressed in holly and mistletoe throw open their doors. Nights are brightened by both the homey glow of candlelight tours and the Technicolor wonder of light shows. And friends and family head downtown to join in parades, fill their shopping bags with local gifts, and feel the holiday spirit rise on a tide of music, food, and fun. Across faiths and generations, merry memories are waiting to be made in Massachusetts. Here are a dozen delightful ideas for making the most of the season; for more, go to newengland.com/massachusetts-holidays.

1

Peek inside decked-out homes. With its annual Christmas in Salem home tour, the Witch City casts a different kind of enchantment as visitors step into the fascinating histories and fanciful decor of some of Salem’s most storied private homes. Dec. 2–3; historicsalem.org

2

Go on a merry downtown stroll. The streets of Nantucket fill with decorated trees and excited shoppers alike during the Nantucket Christmas Stroll, a nearly half-century tradition that turns the island into a beacon of seasonal joy. Dec. 1–3; nantucketchamber.org

3

Shop for one-of-a-kind gifts. Reward yourself with holiday-inspired snacks and

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libations after crossing off all the impossible-toshop-for people on your list at Boston’s SoWa Winter Festival, laden with giftable creations from over 100 regional artists and artisans. Thursdays– Sundays, Nov. 24–Dec. 17; sowaboston.com

4

Taste a Hanukkah tradition. Fried in oil to symbolize the miracle of Hanukkah, crispy-crunchy, golden-brown latkes are a staple at Mamaleh’s Deli in Brookline, Cambridge, and Boston, which offers them to-go or as a fry-athome mix for your holiday table. mamalehs.com

5

Be dazzled by light displays. Continuing a cherished Attleboro tradition since 1953, the National Shrine of Our Lady of La Salette offers a stunning display of more than 400,000 lights to brighten visitors’ spirits at its Christmas Festival of Lights. Nov. 23–Jan. 1; lasaletteattleboroshrine.org

6

Explore holidays of yesteryear. If you haven’t yet visited Gloucester’s majestic Hammond Castle Museum, there’s no better time than during its Deck the Halls celebration, which sees the 1920s-era estate filled with Christmas decor, music, and candlelight. Deck the Halls begins Nov. 18; see website for details on special tours and events; hammondcastle.org

7

Marvel at gingerbread artistry. The only thing sweeter than the stars of the Springfield Museums’ annual gingerbread exhibition— themed this year around Springfield’s own Dr. Seuss—is the childhood memories they evoke. Nov. 24–Dec. 31; springfieldmuseums.org

8

Stock up on festive treats. Forget those drugstore candy canes: Hand-pulling them each November in its Gardner store, Priscilla Candy Shop has been turning these seasonal sweets into giftable creations since 1936. priscillacandy.com

9

Catch a timeless Yuletide tale. As stirring today as it was in Charles Dickens’s Victorian England, A Christmas Carol is an annual heart-warming highlight of the Berkshire Theatre Group performance season in Stockbridge. Dec. 7–23; berkshiretheatregroup.org

10

Sit down to a holiday feast. For many Italian-Americans, it wouldn’t be Christmas without the epic seafood banquet known as the Feast of the Seven Fishes. Join in this tradition by nabbing a ticket to one of Water Street Kitchen’s celebratory dinners in Woods Hole. Dec. 21, 22 & 23; waterstreetkitchen.com

11

Take a magical train ride. At the Cape Cod Central Railroad in Buzzards Bay—the state’s only location for official The Polar Express tours—a vintage locomotive takes passengers to a realm of holiday imagination. Nov. 24–Dec. 23; see website for dates and tickets; capetrain.com

12

Enjoy the sounds of the season. Historic Mechanics Hall in Worcester provides an appropriately grand setting for the soaring music of Handel’s “Messiah,” performed by the Worcester Chorus in what has become a beloved local tradition. Dec. 2; musicworcester.org

9/22/23 11:39 AM


f irst

LIGHT

A pair of 18th-century firebrands show they’re ready to throw off the yoke of colonial rule during the annual reenactment of the Boston Tea Party, which marks its 250th anniversary in December.

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Rebels with a Cause It’s been 250 years since Boston Harbor churned with angry colonists. But at this spirited museum, the tea party never ends. BY JUSTIN SHATWELL

T

he unruly mob boos and stamps its feet as Sam Adams ticks through a list of recent British outrages. His long curls jump as he pounds the lectern with every point. When he reaches the tax on glass, he calls James Brewer from the crowd to tell how he managed to pay to replace his home’s windows. A girl, no more than 8 years old, rises and shouts, “I did not pay! I was forced to choose bet ween new windows and putting food in my family’s mouth!” The crowd erupts. “Outrageous,” Adams cries. Then, smiling at the girl, he adds, “Especially for a father as young as yourself!” W hen the Boston Tea Part y Ships & Museum opened in 2012, Evan O’Brien, the museum’s creative director, set out to build a historical experience like no other. After 11 years of refinement, the tour is now a tight onehour whirlwind of historical artifacts, multimedia exhibits, and live-action performance that mixes solid history with Barnumesque flair. Getting visitors into the action is key to O’Brien’s philosophy. “They want to play and get involved,” he says. “And through that play, they retain that information more and have a great deal of fun while they’re learning.”

NOVEMBER | DECEMBER 2023

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First Light | R E B E L S W I T H A C A U S E

At the meetinghouse, that play includes being coached in the proper ways to hiss, boo, and huzzah. A witness to the real-life meeting that preceded the Tea Party in 1773 described the ruckus there as sounding “like the Beast from the infernal regions had broken loose.” With every tour, the museum’s guides try to reach that bar. When Sam Adams announces the tea in the ships would be unloaded, they whip the tour group into a fury of foot stamping and shouts of “Fie! Fie!” Then the doors are thrown open and they march the mob toward the docks to do what must be done. It’s been 250 years since December 16, 1773, the date of the real Boston Tea Party. This year, the museum is working with two dozen other organizations to stage events across the state, culminating in a full reenactment in Boston Harbor. O’Brien’s goal is for everyone to see themselves represented in the his18 |

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tory. “The story of the Boston Tea Party belongs to the greater country and to the rest of the world,” he says. The wide mix of ages and accents on our tour suggests O’Brien may be onto something. In our small group are representatives from every corner of the U.S. and several foreign countries, each drawn here to walk in the footsteps of unruly Boston patriots. One by one they climb aboard a re-created merchant vessel docked at the museum. The group gathers around a row of tea chests. Three children are selected to do the honors. They raise the boxes above their heads, and with a mighty huzzah send them tumbling overboard. While the Boston Tea Party was sparked by a disagreement over tea imports, the event was about so much more. The colonies were growing larger and more prosperous. Their people were increasingly native-born and democratic. Why then were they

ruled by a king that seemed more distant than a mere ocean away? On the side of the museum is a sign listing all known participants of the Tea Party. Few would recognize any of the names. No future presidents or famous generals were there that night. These were normal folk. Perhaps that’s what makes the story so easy to see yourself in. Who hasn’t seen their share of injustice? Who hasn’t ever wanted to rebel? An interpreter in a long dress hoists the chests back up by the ropes tethering them to the railing and encourages visitors to take a turn. Like tossing coins into a wishing well, each visitor hurls the chests in their own personal act of treason. The box is cold and damp from its many previous journeys into the harbor. The weight is satisfying. Raising it high, we’re all invited to take matters into our own hands, then send them crashing into the waves. Huzzah, indeed.

P R E V I O U S S P R E A D : C A R O L I N E TA L B O T/ B O S T O N T E A PA R T Y S H I P S & M U S E U M T H I S PA G E : M I C H A E L B L A N C H A R D P H O T O G R A P H Y/ B O S T O N T E A PA R T Y S H I P S & M U S E U M

For this year’s big semiquincentennial party, tea sent in by citizens from around the globe will be thrown into Boston’s historic harbor.

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Plop Star What would Thanksgiving be without wiggly, jiggly cranberry sauce?

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evotees of homemade cranberr y sauce, please don’t take offense. We all appreciate the deliciousness of your choice. But for those of us who prefer ours can-shaped and jiggly (a full 73 percent of respondents in one Ocean Spray poll), a moment of thanks is due to Marcus Urann. Cranberries were a staple of Native American life in New England—providing dyes and medicines as well as food—long before Europeans arrived. The most basic cranberry sauce is made by boiling berries in sugar water until they pop, releasing their natural pectin. And although cranberry sauce probably wasn’t served at the first Thanksgiving, the berries may have been an ingredient in some “puddings in the belly,” as stuffings were then called. The popularity of cranberry sauce as a turkey side dish dates back at least to 1796, when Amelia Simmons included it in the first U.S. cookbook, American Cookery. Har vested from mid-September until mid-November, cranberries were first marketed and sold in the 1700s, but always as a seasonal fruit. Then in 1906, Urann, a lawyer, bought a cranberry bog and set up cooking facilities in Hanson, Massachusetts. Looking to extend the short selling season, he started canning cranberries in 1912. In 1930, he joined two other growers to form a cooperative that would later become Ocean Spray. By 1941, their cranberry sauce was distributed nationally. Today, Ocean Spray represents about 700 growers, and produces 70 percent of the world’s canned cranberry sauce. Placed end to end, the number of cans of Ocean Spray cranberry sauce that are consumed each year would stretch from Boston to Salt Lake City. During the holiday season alone, Americans gobble up 5 million gallons’ worth—enough to fill seven and a half Olympic-size swimming pools. And if you’ve ever wondered why those ubiquitous cans seem to be labeled upside down: In the early 2000s, someone at Ocean Spray realized that by putting the more rounded edge of the can on the top rather than the bottom, they could create an air bubble that would facilitate the sauce sliding out in that satisfying plop—a sound of the season that homemade can’t ever duplicate. —Joe Bills

PHOTO BY ADAM DETOUR

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HEARTH of the MATTER k Children know it’s magic. For the rest of us, here’s a brief history of Santa’s fireplace escapades. BY B R U C E I RV I N G

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efore we get to Santa, let’s set the stage for his arrival in the New World. North America was full of surprises for Europeans, and perhaps none was so perplexing as the climate. Colonial settlers knew about latitude and made a commonsense assumption that things would be pretty much the same at similar latitudes wherever one went. London was 51 degrees north, so New England—in the low 40s and “neerer the Sunne”—was expected to be a lot like Spain or southern France. What settlers found instead were wicked-hot summers and “sharp” winters. William Wood’s 1634 New England’s Prospect, a kind of travel guide, admitted the problem and prescribed a solution: “But it may be objected that it is too cold a country for our English men, who have been accustomed to a warmer climate. To which it may be answered … there is wood good store and better cheap to build warm houses and make good fires, which makes the winter less tedious.” And so the colonists put up warm houses, equipping them with what was, in the early 17th century, a fairly new feature of domestic architecture: the chimney. Where they’d come from in England, the usual heating and cooking arrangement in a simple home had been a hearth in the main room with a hole in the roof or gable end to let out the smoke. Here, with plenty of wood around and an urgent need to ignite it, they built New World centralheating plants, starting with wattle-and-daub (aka stick-and-mud) chimneys but switching to ignitionproof brick as soon as they could. Some of the fireplaces were truly awesome, full of cooking hardware (andirons, pokers, tongs, shovels, spits, kettles, cooking cranes, ladles, trivets, frying pans, Dutch ovens, and built-in baking ovens) and up to 10 feet wide, with massive timber lintels that could have been hung with an epic number of stockings. They were ready for Santa … but it would be another century until he was ready for them. He f irst appeared in American print on December 23, 1773, in a New York City newspaper, which announced that “St. Nicholas, otherwise called St. a Claus” had been honored by a fraternal order in town. “St. a Claus” was an Anglicization of the

Built c. 1740 as part of a Georgian upgrade to a First Period saltbox home in Topsfield, Massachusetts, this expansive hearth (with original beehive oven, top right) would make an inviting landing pad for Old Saint Nick. P H O TO B Y K I N D R A C L I N E F F; I L L U S T R AT I O N B Y N I D AY P I C T U R E L I B R A R Y/A L A M Y S T O C K P H O T O

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In his 1856 short story “I and My Chimney,” Herman Melville drolly recounts his battle to preserve his old home’s central chimney from his wife’s modernizing crusade to replace it with end units. He prevailed, but there were even bigger threats to Santa afoot. The development of the American coal and iron industries gave rise to the cast-iron stove, manufactured in parts and easily shipped, often decoratively designed, and vastly more efficient than open hearths. Inserted into fireplaces, they sometimes used the existing f lue but drafted best when served by a narrow metal pipe. They gained popularity in the 1830s and ’40s, at the same time Greek Revival architecture was coming into fashion. Part of signaling the style’s up-to-date-ness was its decided lack of smoky old fireplaces and bulky chimneys: Slender was in, made possible by stoves and their more modest venting needs. Interestingly, folks still framed their stoves with decorative mantels—good for stockings, but how

No fewer than six chimneys adorn the Eustis Estate, an 1878 Queen Anne Revival stone mansion in Milton, Massachusetts. Now a house museum operated by Historic New England, this grand dame gets lavishly decorated for the holidays each year.

the heck was Santa to deal with that newly narrowed entry point? It was a question on many young people’s minds, with published letters to Santa at the time inquiring, “Do you crawl down stovepipes?” O ye of little faith! The more obstacles, the more magic—obviously. Ralph Bates Silloway surely spoke for many of his believing contemporaries in his 1903 letter to Santa, in which, after asking for “that thing that nods its head, and a big train, freight and passenger and a coal car and an engine, and that is all,” he confidently signed off, “So good-bye, Santa. I watch for you every night in the stove.” Santa-related obstacles continued to pile up, as homes modernized with

MARK FLEMING

Dutch Sinterklass, a gift-bearing patron saint of children in the Netherlands. In 1809, writer Washington Irving published his satirical Knickerbocker’s History of New York (1809), describing “good St. Nicholas … riding over the tops of the trees, in that self-same wagon wherein he brings his yearly presents to children”; in an expanded 1812 version he has the saint “rattl[ing] down the chimney,” the f irst-known reference to our fur-trimmed hero’s traditional method of home access. A few years later, Irving’s acquaintance Clement Clark Moore sealed this image with his blockbuster account of “the night before Christmas.” Santa had plenty of big chimneys to rattle down in the early 1800s, from the by-then old-fashioned central versions—their huge mass of bricks serving multiple f ireplaces, f irmly planted in the middle of the house—to smaller, more stylish gable-end ones that freed up floor plans.

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central furnaces, also vented through hard-to-crawl-down pipes or tall, narrow chimneys. What f ireplaces remained were now for mostly aesthetic enjoyment, so at least they were free of hazardous cooking paraphernalia. New Victorian-era architectural styles featured elaborate chimneys to complement their other exuberant details, but even then there were curveballs. Mark Twain’s 1874 Stick St yle mansion in Hartford, Connecticut, featured a dining room fireplace with a window over it—it’s said he enjoyed watching the snow seem-

How to get a bag of presents through the woodstove in this 18th-century Cape in Leyden, Massachusetts? Magic, of course.

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ingly fall into the blaze below—made possible by splitting the f lue into two narrow passages f lanking the fenestration. Great at soirees, no doubt, but a real trick to navigate on Christmas Eve. (There’s no record of the Clemens children’s take on the matter.) The year 1876 brought good news for Santa, as the country’s centennial triggered a wave of nostalgia for the early days of America, and the Colonial Revival architecture that emerged marked a ret urn to the broad chimneys of yore. Still, there were worries. In 1893, a concerned

writer contributed a lengthy opinion piece to Harper’s Weekly, lamenting Santa’s inability to stay current: “We know of no contemporary personage who is suffering more from allowing himself to drop behind the times than our friend Santa Claus.… The notion of Santa Claus coming down a steam-pipe or up through a register was even more absurd than the idea of his braving the dimensions of a stovepipe.… W hen the air-tight stove was introduced, a mode of ingress other than the chimney should have been provided.” Clearly the writer was not consulting enough children, if any. Like Ralph Bates Silloway, kids are not interested in letting silly things like “air-tight stoves” or “gravity hot-air heat” or even “heat pumps” or “highrise condominiums” stand between their guy and a satisfying Christmas morning. Inter viewed earlier this year, and asking that her full name not be used, Elaina A., a 6-year-old from Vermont, reports that Santa has no issues with her home’s woodstove. “He’s not as big as people are, so he can fit down the pipe. We usually have a fire going, but his clothes protect him. He’s magic anyway, so he can fit through the little holes in the bottom of the stove and then comes out through the ash box.” Levi K., a 6-year-old in Maine, has considered the fact that his house has a chimney, but its fireplace is now hidden behind a plaster wall. “If he went down our chimney, he’d get trapped inside. So he’s watched us and knows where we keep the spare key outside. He uses that to unlock the door, comes in, locks the door from inside, leaves the presents, then goes back out and locks the door behind him.” (Note Santa’s attention to security, something Levi appreciates.) So yes, Virginia, no matter what we come up with to keep our New England houses warm, no matter how tight we build them or how many stories tall, Santa will always find a way in.

RIKKI SNYDER

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Home | A R C H I T E C T U R E NEW ENGLAND ARCHITECTURE 101

STICK STYLE ROOF: Gabled and steeply pitched, with overhanging eaves and exposed rafter ends EXTERIOR: Narrow boards (stickwork) arranged in decorative horizontal, vertical, and diagonal patterns

Arriving after the gingerbread Gothic Revival and before the ornate Queen Anne, Stick Style homes are wooden-clad with a multigabled roof, but their most distinctive feature is an exterior that features raised wooden strips (aka “stickwork”) that vaguely reflects the home’s structural framework. Time Period: 1860–1890 Defining Characteristic: Decorative stickwork detailing Famous Example: John N.A. Griswold House in Newport, Rhode Island Where to Find Stick Style Homes: Throughout the Northeast, including in the Wilder Street Historic District of Lowell, Massachusetts

PORCH: Featuring decorative diagonal braces

COLONIAL REVIVAL STRUCTURE: A second-story overhang is typical of a variation called Garrison Colonial, shown here with a one-story side-wing addition

WINDOWS: Traditional shuttered upper windows with simpler paired lower windows are commonly seen

Spanning three-quarters of a century, the Colonial Revival era is not so much about a specific style as it is a specific vibe: namely, a nostalgic revival of the English- and Dutchinspired styles of America’s early home-building days. Colonial Revivals come with a variety of layouts and rooflines, but common elements include symmetry, fanciful accents, and a prominent front entrance. Time Period: 1880–1955

Famous Example: Your childhood home (or your grandparents’) ENTRANCE: Varies widely among Colonial Revival houses but is typically prominent, such as this door with sidelights (but no fanlight)

Where to Find Colonial Revival Homes: Throughout the Northeast, including the Old Post Road Historic District of Fairfield, Connecticut

MORE ONLINE! While this issue marks the conclusion of Yankee’s “New England Architecture 101” series, you can catch up on all the previous installments of this feature on our website, at newengland.com/architecture-101.

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Defining Characteristic: Historicmeets-homey feel

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Fragrant pine and balsam fir forests. Glittering snowfall and holiday lights. The jovial jingle of a shopkeeper’s bell. Winter moments feel magical in Maine. Experience the joy of a snow day, whether soaring down ski runs or cozying up fireside. Let all the distractions fade away.

Lonesome Pine Trails

Scratch to release the scent of Maine.

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Dishing It Out New England–made pottery that deserves a place at the holiday table. BY A N N I E G R AV E S PORTR AIT BY LINDA CAMPOS

In her Eliot, Maine, studio, potter Elizabeth Benotti (opposite) turns out elegantly simple ceramics such as these colorful “pinch” platters.

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aced with a row of garage doors in an innocuouslooking business park in Eliot, Maine, it’s easy to riff on the classic Monty Hall question: What’s behind door number 20? Frank ly, given its anony mous nature, it could be anything. But on this particular day, the door is flung up to the blue sky, and birdsong accompanies my entrance into a cavernous studio overhung with an air of expectation. Rows of wooden shelves sit heavy with unadorned ceramics: bowls, serving platters, planters. Blank canvases, waiting for Elizabeth Benotti to continue her experiments in clay. The pale, almost ghostly forms are a hint of things to come. Benotti’s eye for shapes—whether she is hand-building, casting in molds, or throwing clay on the potter’s wheel— is cleanly aesthetic. Her feel for color seems equally surefooted, relying on a palette of glazes she creates from scratch in signature shades of bluishgray, green, yellow, and pink that complement food to dramatic effect. Simple and strong. And the reaction was positive right from the start, Benotti says. Lifest yle behemoth Remodelista took note. And Anthropologie. And Erin French, at the Lost Kitchen, Maine’s restaurant equivalent of a unicorn, where you can find Benotti’s ceramic hand-pinched baskets (think updated bread baskets) in deep ocean blue, or a herringbone butter dish. “Once I began building more work and posting more, my Etsy Benotti builds most of her pottery —such as this in-progress mug (top) and finished tableware (left)— by manipulating the clay with her fingers, aka pinching. The result is “very tactile,” she says, “and the desire to touch the object is heightened and encouraged.”

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P R E V I O U S S P R E A D : E L I Z A B E T H B E N O T T I ( P L AT T E R S). T H I S PA G E : L I N D A C A M P O S (POT TERY WHEEL); ELIZABETH BENOT TI (POT TERY STILL LIFE)

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IDEAL SETTINGS In studios, barns, and basements, potters dig deep into the earth itself, and work that clay into dishes that enliven seasonal feasts.

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1. Jane Herold Pottery The list of restaurants using Herold’s pottery just keeps scrolling, all with identities as diverse as her dinnerware. But no matter the style, these sleek stoneware plates, platters, and bowls dress up a table as surely as a Michelin star confers honor. “It is the spirit of the maker, and of the materials, still visible in the fired clay, that gives each pot its character,” Herold says. It certainly adds fuller flavor to our food. West Cornwall, CT; janeherold.com 2. Gabrielle Schaffner Ceramics As a college student, Schaffner spent a year in Florence studying ceramics, art, and language, and she is still inspired by Italian culture—it shows in the colorful, intricate images that adorn her pots. Also, she says, “My studio work is very much influenced by my love of cooking: I like a plate that looks good with food, a large cup to hold plenty of caffè latte, and a pitcher that doesn’t drip.” Boston, MA; gabrielleschaffnerceramics.com 3. James Guggina Ceramics Who doesn’t love the idea of a dedicated ice cream bowl? Or carved patterns, wood firings, and earthy glazes that translate into handmade dinnerware, coffee filters, whiskey cups, and the random tagine pot? Guggina has been a full-time potter since the early 1990s, and says he’s still learning about pottery making every day. Northampton, MA; coolpots.com 4. Three Wheel Studio Dwo Wen Chen describes his work as “fun, eclectic, and functional,” with a range of patterns that encompasses cheery birds, intricate flowers, and the elegant River Rock collection, looking very much like a table setting that just washed ashore. Providence, RI; threewheelstudio.com

COURTESY PHOTOS

shop started getting noticed, too,” Benotti says. Chalk it all up to her particular world of stripes and those classic herringbones. Great colors. With a few grids, and some oval smudges for good effect. These vulnerable, hand-drawn elements feel like direct outreach— proof of the artisan’s hand. “Me and words don’t really make good friends,” she says. “Which is probably why I communicate through my hands, you know?” She then confesses, “I don’t sketch a lot—it’s all in my head. Then I just have to make it. It goes back to not being a good twodimensional artist. I’m not somebody who wants to sit down and draw.” She pauses, hearing herself. “Even though I draw on all my work!” Those wavy surface textures reach out and communicate, too—they’re Benotti’s actual finger marks. They look like ripples. Which brings us to Maine. Once Benotti and her husband moved to Eliot, she took up surfing. When she names her ceramic colors, it’s with an eye to the sea. She tells me about a line of work she calls Ebb and Flow— “I was thinking about the push-pull of water, and the shapes coming in and going out.” When surfing, she says, “you literally forget about everything else that’s going on in your life. You’re in the ocean, you don’t have to care about anything else. You’re just looking for waves.” And when she talks about pottery, she observes, “There’s a lot of holding your breath. I just made a bunch of work that’s black and white—black stripes—and I have to hold my breath every time I’m pulling the brush down the piece.” Benotti grins. Maybe the same focus hones both endeavors. “I don’t have a grand story for where my inspiration comes from,” she admits. “It’s just seeing colors and color stories that I like, and trying different things.” That, and surfing, makes her happy. elizabethbenotti.com

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Mocha Bundt Cake with Coffee Drizzle, recipe p. 90

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Tasty and totable, these side dishes and desserts will make your host’s holiday feast complete. By Amy Traverso and Sarah Hearn Morrison

P H OTOS BY A DA M D E TO U R

ST Y L I N G BY CAT R I N E K E LT Y

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Show us someone who makes a soup-to-nuts holiday meal all by themselves, and we’d wager they are either a very confident and experienced cook or someone with, let’s say, control issues. What we mean is: Many hands make light work, and there’s a special joy (and sanity) to be found in asking others to produce a dish or two when you’re the host. And when you are assigned a dish, it’s usually either a side dish or a dessert. So we set out to create 10 delicious options along those lines. For the savories, there’s a classic creamed spinach dressed up with a crunchy almond topping, the crispest and most flavorful roasted potatoes you’ll ever make, a classic herby sausage dressing, a sweet potato casserole topped with mapleglazed pecans, and a mushroom tart that can be served as a side or as a vegetarian centerpiece. As for sweets, we have some beautiful (and gluten-free) cranberry-spiced meringue cookies, an ultra-moist mocha Bundt cake, raspberry-almond bars inspired by Linzer cookies, and an old-fashioned applepear-cranberry pandowdy. Finally, we included a hot toddy made with Earl Grey tea, as the perfect cozy finish to a holiday meal. >>

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Ultra-Crisp Parmesan Roasted Potatoes, recipe p. 41

Herbed Sausage Dressing, recipe p. 86

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Mushroom Tart, recipe p. 88 below: Raspberry-Almond

Linzer Bars, recipe p. 92

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Spiced Cranberry Swirl Meringues, recipe p. 90

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�e Sides

ULTR A- CRISP PARMESAN ROASTED POTATOES

The trick to getting really crisp roasted potatoes is to a) add a bit of baking soda to the cooking water and b) bat the cooked spuds around the pot to break down their exteriors. Once in the oven, that layer of mash forms the most delicious crust. A shower of Parmesan is the perfect finish. 3 quarts water ¼ cup kosher salt ¾ teaspoon baking soda 5 pounds Yukon Gold or other yellow potatoes, peeled and cut into 2-inch chunks ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil 3 tablespoons salted butter 2 sprigs thyme 5 large cloves garlic, smashed Freshly ground black pepper Freshly grated Parmesan cheese and minced fresh parsley leaves, for garnish

Pear-AppleCranberry Pandowdy, recipe p. 92

Preheat your oven to 400°F and set a rack to the middle position. In a large pot (between 5 and 7 quarts) over high heat, bring the water and salt to a boil. Add the baking soda and stir (it will fizz for a moment), then use a strainer to carefully add the potatoes to the pot without splashing. Return to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook until the potatoes feel tender when poked with a sharp knife, 10 to 12 minutes. Meanwhile, bring the olive oil, butter, thyme sprigs, and garlic cloves to a gentle simmer in a small pot over medium-low heat. Reduce heat to low and cook for 10 minutes, then strain out the solids and reserve the liquid. When potatoes are cooked, turn off the heat and drain the water. Return the pot to the (unlit) burner and let it sit until any remaining liquid evaporates. (Continued on p. 86)

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Earl Grey Hot Toddy, recipe p. 93

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Feast Tracking Where to seek out celebratory staples from expert cooks and bakers across our region. BY A M Y T R AV E R S O ILLUSTR ATIONS BY JULIA EMILIANI

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is the season for festive foods: pecan pie for Thanksgiving, Christmas stollen and gingerbread, Hanukkah latkes and rugelach, soul food for Kwanzaa, and tamales for Three Kings Day. All over New England, cooks and bakers are turning out stellar holiday classics that are worth seeking out. (Good news: Several are available for mail order, too.)

Beef Wellington Mooo | Boston and Burlington, MA Mooo’s classic beef Wellington—a pastry-wrapped dome of filet mignon topped with foie gras, spinach, and a mixture of finely chopped mushrooms with herbs and shallots—is a year-round favorite at this luxe steakhouse. In our minds, such richness and decadence seems uniquely suited to the holidays. For the most potent Christmas vibes, visit the original location in Boston’s XV Beacon hotel, then take a stroll around Beacon Hill to admire the holiday trimmings and (slightly) offset the meal. mooorestaurant.com 42 |

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Bûche de Noël Hen & Heifer | Guilford, CT Chef-owner Whang Suh makes edible art in this petite pastry atelier and designs a bespoke bûche de Noël each year. As of press time, this year’s flavor was yet to be decided, but previous years’ creations have included such combinations as chocolate-orange-hazelnut and chestnut-cranberry-chocolate, with alternating layers of praline, ganache, sponge, mousse, and custard. henandheifer.com

Christmas Stollen* L.A. Burdick | Walpole, NH; Cambridge and Boston, MA Our first craving upon entering an L.A. Burdick café is always *Foods marked with an asterisk can be ordered online and shipped.

chocolate, whether in candy form, pastry, or pudding-thick hot chocolate. But at Christmastime, we lineup for their stollen, a briochelike bread studded with almonds, rum-soaked raisins, candied citrus, cardamom, and nutmeg. Dusted with sugar and packed in a muslin bag, it also makes a lovely gift. burdickchocolate.com

Rugelach Oak Bake Shop | Providence, RI This self-described “Jew-ish” bakery in Providence’s Mount Hope neighborhood serves flaky, tender chocolate rugelach—with an irresistible cream cheese–enriched dough—at Hanukkah and all year round. While there, try the seasonal biscotti-like hamantaschen, a Hanukkah specialty. Afterward, head over to sister bakery PVDonuts for Israeli-style filled doughnuts called sufganiyot. oakbakeshop.com

Tamales Mi Lupita Bakery & Restaurant | Waterbury, CT Tamales are an ancient food, with deep roots in Aztec, Mayan, NEWENGLAND.COM

9/21/23 1:57 PM


photo: Holly Perry

HE T N r I e d n o W ay ON

I d i G l E o R H N Find H OF BOSTO NORT

Dreaming of a Winter Getaway?

Experience twinkling lights, a warm fire, hearty fare, snow-covered slopes, fun & games, fine arts & culture, unique shopping, and a relaxing winter holiday — all within Massachusetts! No need to venture far north. We have what you are looking for just North of Boston.

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and other Mesoamerican cultures. As Mexico became Christianized, tamales began to be associated with three winter religious holidays: Christmas, the Three Kings celebration on January 6, and Candlemas on February 2. The tamales from Connecticut’s Mi Lupita are always on offer, but they’re extra meaningful around the holidays. Choose from porkfilled tamales in a green tomatillo-based sauce, chicken tamales doused in a red guajillo chili sauce, and rajas con pollo tamales filled with jalapeno, tomato, onion, and chicken. milupitabakeryandrestaurant.com

Soul Food Grace by Nia | Boston, MA Kwanzaa is a celebration of much more than food, but the dishes that are served during this sevenday holiday are diverse, rich in symbolism, and drawn from the African diaspora. That can mean jollof rice one night and catfish and mac ’n’ cheese another. On the final day of Kwanzaa (also New Year’s Day), Nia Grace of the Seaport restaurant and music venue Grace by Nia will serve a brunch menu of soul food classics that includes collard greens (symbolizing good luck), black-eyed peas (wealth), pork (prosperity), and cornbread (gold). And on the side: a helping of live tunes. gracebynia.com 44 |

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year. You may have a new collectible on your hands. arethusafarm.com

Latkes Lehrhaus | Somerville, MA Lehrhaus is a unique concept: a tavern serving modern takes on Jewish foods from across the diaspora, where you can also attend classes on everything from the secret history of Jews in punk music to the philosophy of keeping kosher. For Hanukkah, everyone is welcome to try the excellent potato and onion latkes topped with herbed labneh or mango-tahini sauce (amba tehina). lehr.haus

Eggnog Arethusa Farm Dairy Shops | Multiple locations, CT This eggnog is the real deal: a mixture of milk, cream, eggs, sugar, vanilla, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Much of the milk and cream comes from Litchfield’s Arethusa farm, lending just the right amount of richness (the rest is sourced from a local co-op). We also love the festive glass bottles, which feature a different calf or farm scene every

Gingerbread* Bohemian Bakery | Montpelier, VT Rich with ginger, cinnamon, cloves, cocoa, and black pepper, Bohemian’s soft, glazed gingerbread is molded in a bas-relief floral pattern that makes it almost too pretty to eat. Almost. While you’re there, salute owners Annie Bakst and Robert Hunt, who endured this summer’s catastrophic flooding of Montpelier and rallied to reopen, to the delight of locals and visitors alike. bohemianbakeryvt.com

Bourbon Pecan Pie* Two Fat Cats | Portland, ME There are two reasons why we’ll gobble up any pie from this American-style bakery: the flaky, all-butter crust and the high-quality filling, whether that’s local wild blueberries and apples in season or the toasted pecans that flavor this bourbon-scented delight. This pie is so good it’s on the menu year-round. twofatcatsbakery.com NEWENGLAND.COM

9/21/23 1:58 PM


The Residence at Back Bay WOLFEBORO, NEW HAMPSHIRE

Discover the Future OF ASSISTED LIVING TODAY

Finding a home at Taylor means more than access to a stunning new apartment – it means receiving the keys to present and future peace of mind. Coming soon to picturesque Wolfeboro, NH, The Residence at Back Bay features beautifully appointed private apartments, assisted living with a purposefully designed memory care neighborhood, and private nursing care. Here is a sampling of what living at The Residence at Back Bay offers... • spacious common areas • libraries and a salon

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One of the biggest benefits to becoming a resident of Taylor is our continuum of care, as it ensures that you never need to worry about finding another place to call home down the road – come join us!

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Contact us to learn more, and to schedule your personalized tour.

(603) 366-1400 taylorcommunity.org

9/19/23 4:31 PM


Travel | W E E K E N D A W A Y

BIDDEFORD, MAINE SAVORING THE GIFTS OF A MILL-TOWN REVIVAL, ONE DELICIOUS BITE AT A TIME.

PHOTO CREDITS

B Y A M Y T R AV E R S O | P H O T O S B Y M I C H A E L D . W I L S O N

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opposite, clockwise from top left: Smoked

PHOTO CREDITS

oyster topped with salted currants and horseradish oil at Elda; espresso meets fresh ice cream for Sweetcream Dairy’s affogato; a smørrebrød (open-faced sandwich) at Jackrabbit Café; gluten-free brews from Lucky Pigeon. this page: An aerial view of Biddeford, dressed in its winter white.

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Travel | W E E K E N D A W A Y

Somewhere between the scented hot towel presented at check-in and the serving of “forest tea” made with foraged aromatics from the Maine woods, it becomes clear that dining at Elda, a Scandi-minimalist restaurant in a converted mill building, is going to be a transporting experience. I’m here during a quick, pre-holiday visit to Biddeford, and as I settle in to nibble on a prix fixe menu of local oysters, venison, and duck with morels, time slows down. Owners Bowman and Anna Brown have created a kind of atelier for refined, place-based cuisine, and by the time I get to the final course I’m nearly hypnotized with pleasure. This is a good thing, because tomorrow will be busy. The goal is to check some items off my gift list in a compact city center where it’s possible to duck out of the cold and into restaurants and cafés that have been earning raves in the national press. Biddeford’s recent revitalization has been so dramatic that it won a Great American Main Streets award from Main Street America, a subsidiary of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. In the morning, I throw the curtains open to a blast of daylight. The windows in the Lincoln Hotel are large by design: The building debuted as a water-powered textile mill 40 years before electricity came to Maine, so maximizing daylight was essential—an architectural element that proved a boon to the developers who took over the property in 2019. Downstairs, the lobby is bedecked with twinkling Christmas trees and soft velvet seating. The relationship bet ween Biddeford and its textile industry is as tightly woven as the sheets and blankets that were produced by a workforce 48 |

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of 10,000 mostly Franco-American immigrants. Now, these mill buildings are powered by a new kind of engine: the energy of great restaurants, bookstores, vintage shops, naturalwine bars, breweries, diners, and ice cream parlors to attract visitors to a once-neglected corner of America’s Vacationland. To that end, there are three prime spots to begin any day. Time & Tide Coffee roasts its own beans, and its pistachio cream latte is my first, favorite f lavor of the morning. Jackrabbit Café is a Scandinavian-inspired café from Bowman and Anna Brown that’s beloved for its cardamom buns and savor y open-faced smørrebrød sandwiches with seasonal toppings. Alternatively, Palace Diner is a local legend, a tiny revived 1927 Pollard Dining Car commandeered by Greg Mitchell and Chad Conley, two veterans of Portland’s fine dining scene; the f luffy buttermilk f lapjacks here are irresistible with a side of homemade corned-beef hash. Mitchell and Conley have always credited the team at Elements, a local

bookstore/café/bar, with helping to encourage their foray into Biddeford, and co-owner Michael Macomber has witnessed the town’s transformation. “Ten years ago you could do a day trip to Biddeford and shop and eat at a few places, but now, you can make a weekend of it,” he says. “The biggest difference is the sheer volume of people visiting and walking around downtown. And that has coincided with an enormous growth of businesses, particularly within hospitality and food and beverage industries.” Speaking of business, it’s time to shop. Clothing and gift ideas abound at two representatives of Biddeford’s 21st-century textile industry, Suger and Wooven. The former is a combination boutique/café where owner Roxi Suger sells her soft, sustainable, opposite, clockwise from top left: Scandinavian

influence meets New England flavor in chef Bowman Brown’s upscale Biddeford restaurant, Elda; a vintage diner car houses another foodie favorite, Palace Diner; Lucky Pigeon’s distribution and tasting-room guru, Ian Anderson, works the bar; Sweetcream Dairy owners Jonathan Denton and Jacqui DeFranca enjoy the fruits of their labor.

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Travel | W E E K E N D A W A Y modular clothing that’s great for travel and made right in the old mill. Around the corner, Thanh “Albert” Nhan of Wooven sells beautiful linens, bags, and clothing made with recycled textiles sourced from Southeast Asia, as well as custom silk pieces crafted onsite. Meanwhile, the Maine woodsy vibe at Hills & Trails comes through in its pine-scented candles, arty bandanas, and custom silk-screened tees and sweatshirts. Let me pause here, raise my metaphorical shopping bags, and declare that all this walking and scouting is, indeed, hard work. Time for a break at Fish & Whistle, another restaurant opened by a couple who earned their fine-dining stripes in Portland. Fish and chips is the star here, but chef Jason Eckerson also makes a mean fish chowder that’s perfect for a winter warm-up.

Biddeford’s food scene also extends into retail: Nibblesford specializes in Maine-made cheeses and charcuterie boards, and the staff can walk you through the finer points of pairing their nibbles with local craft beers. And Lorne Wine is a bar/wine store where you can snack and sip an array of natural wines, ciders, and beers, or just grab a bottle for home. Walk a bit farther up Main Street and pause at the corner of York to take in a massive mural of a young boy in a red baseball cap holding a phone to his ear. In Slemani, Iraq, 5,000 miles away, a matching mural depicts a young girl at the other end of the line, holding her own phone. Called “One Blue Sky,” the murals were commissioned by Boston’s Good Works Foundation and painted by artist Pat Perry with input from students at Biddeford Intermediate School and

Slemani ’s International School of Choueifat. Lovely. From here, you’re close to a trio of tasty spots. Sweetcream Dairy makes truly homemade ice cream (they even pasteurize their own milk), and ’tis the season for a roasted chestnut flavor produced with nuts from a University of New England program that is reviving the American chestnut. And, as we’re in one of the country’s epicenters of craft beer, Lucky Pigeon Brewing and Banded Brewing are both reasons to stop into the Pepperell Mill complex. My list was long, but the day has grown short. Time for dinner. Magnus on Water serves small plates and seriously delicious cocktails. I savor the duck confit with lentil puree, a bitter greens salad, and one perfect French 75—light enough for the drive home and elegant enough to end the day with style. A happy holiday, indeed.

E XPLORING BIDDEFORD, MAINE E AT & D R I N K n Banded Brewery: Biddeford’s first brewery (c. 2013) is best known for juicy sours and IPAs. bandedbrewing.com n Elda: From hot “forest tea” made with spruce tips, sweet fern, and birch to venison tartare with ramp powder, Elda’s refined farmto-table offerings helped put Biddeford on the national map. eldamaine.com n Fish & Whistle: Maine has lots of great seafood, but Fish & Whistle finally delivers on perfect fish and chips. fishandwhistlemaine.com n Jackrabbit Café: A sleek but cozy brunch-only café created by the owners of Elda. jackrabbitmaine.com n Lorne Wine: With natural wine, local ciders, and craft beers by the glass or the bottle, Lorne is both a lively bar and a retail shop. lornewine.com

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n Lucky Pigeon Brewing Co.: You won’t meet an ale (pale, light, dark, red, or Scottishstyle) that you don’t like at this gluten-free brewery. luckypigeonbrewing.com n Magnus on Water: Small plates, craft cocktails, and a fun, young crowd make this neighborhood eatery feel like a nightly celebration. magnusonwater.com n Nibblesford: Maine-made cheeses and charcuterie boards that deliver a true taste of place. nibblesford.com n Palace Diner: Classic diner fare—buttermilk flapjacks, tuna salad sandwiches— done to the chef-owners’ exacting standards and worthy of national acclaim. palacedinerme.com n Sweetcream Dairy: Two of the many standout flavors of this made-from-scratch ice cream: sweet cream and roasted chestnut. sweetcreamdairy.com

n Time & Tide Coffee: Can’t decide what to order? The staff is committed to demystifying every aspect of coffee culture. timeandtidecoffee.com

STAY n The Lincoln Hotel: Outside of large chain hotels, The Lincoln is the only (and best) game in town. Rooms are airy and luxurious, with high-quality linens and plush mattresses, and the lobby is as chic as any in New York, especially when decked out for the holidays. lincolnhotelmaine.com PLAY n Biddeford Mills Museum: Biddeford’s manufacturing past comes to life with guided tours (often run by former mill workers), a communitysourced collection of artifacts, and a peek at the underground canals that once powered a vibrant industry. biddefordmills museum.org

n Hills & Trails: Browse this family-owned shop for tees, hoodies, prints, and accessories that capture the beauty of Maine’s woods and waters. hillsandtrails.co n Old Orchard Beach: A seven-mile stretch of sand waits only five miles north of town. One of Maine’s premier summer attractions beckons walkers throughout the year. oldorchardbeachmaine.com n Suger: Part lifestyle boutique, part healthy café, Suger has well-curated Mainemade gifts, decor, and apparel, including super-soft bamboofiber tops, dresses, and leggings. angelrox.com n Wooven: These gorgeous linens, pillows, dresses, bags, and scarves are made with repurposed fabrics from Thailand, Vietnam, and Laos. Owner Albert Nhan also makes bespoke pieces in the shop— watch the master at work as you shop. woovensales.com

NEWENGLAND.COM

9/22/23 9:28 AM


nly y m o is awa s.co e r stoondsweler r Ou sec ssJe 45 Cro w. w w

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Returning Tide

There is something so compelling about the rising tide…the certainty, the predictability, its strength, the moon is pushing pulling the water to shore and although I can’t see the invisible force its power is obvious. I love to watch this surge of water that returns to ood the land twice a day. Water as it ows in and particularly around the edges of docks, creates ow lines. I see the ow lines in this ring, which we call the Returning Tide. Small (6x4mm)…......X4010…..$950 Medium (7x5mm)…..X3898…..$1,450 Large (8x6mm)…......X4012…..$2,150

From Sea to Shining Sea

In some part of my romantic imagination, I can see myself 150 years ago as crew on an American Clipper Ship. The work is hard, the days are long, the food is interesting. After passing the tip of South America, as our ship heads into the Pacic, I see this ring with the sun sparkling like diamonds on blue waves all the way to China.

Fair Winds & Following Seas

Our ring called “Fair Winds and Following Seas” is about a day of blue sky and full sun. The thing that is common between my rst day alone in a small sailboat and the name of this ring is the wind and that pure pivot point of pressure on the sail and a strong gust and how that feels and how the wind moves the boat.

The Gull

Gull’s nest on the sheer cliffs of Whitehead on Monhegan Island. Standing at the top with an expanse of endless blue ocean beyond, where gulls glide on updrafts, it’s a rare view on the coast of Maine…to be standing above ying gulls. This ring feels as free as the gulls soaring above the cliffs.

Cross Jewelers

From Sea to Shining Sea Blue Sapphire & Diamond Ring CMT2250...$2,512

Fair Winds & Following Seas Blue Sapphire & Diamond Ring CMT2270...$4,160

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THE BEST 5

| Travel

Decked-Out Lighthouses These New England beacons become even more picture-perfect at the holidays. BY KIM KNOX BECKIUS

t’s the time of year when we repel darkness by tying red ribbons and stringing up extra lights—even on lighthouses. These best-dressed lighthouses are, thus, doubly sure to captivate photographers and lift every heart.

DENYS WORTMAN

Beavertail Lighthouse Jamestown, RI Don’t tell the kids that Santa hails from the ranks of the local fire department. They’ve never seen anything like his ladder-truck ascent to adorn Jamestown’s granite tower with a lighted wreath. Neither, likely, have you. So be there December 3, and visit the candlelit museum and shop that weekend or the next, too. Purchases help preserve this lighthouse, stationed at one of the most treacherous spots on the New England coast. beavertaillight.org Brant Point Lighthouse Nantucket, MA You can walk right up to this bedecked lighthouse, but seeing Brant Point from the water—greeting you or bidding you farewell—is NOVEMBER | DECEMBER 2023

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particularly poignant as one year yields to the next. The first wreath was hung in 1997, and for the third year, Nantucket-based f loral designer Hafsa Lewis is collaborating with the Coast Guard to give this enormous grapevine construction some extra pizzazz. She met her husband, Coast Guard BM1 Charlie Smith, “through this wreath.” Hallmark couldn’t have scripted it better. nps.gov/nr/travel/ maritime/brn.htm Cape Neddick “Nubble” Light York, ME No lighthouse is more thoroughly illuminated. LED ropes outline the tower, Victorian house, fuel shed, and keeper’s workshop. The offshore spectacle is visible from dusk ’til midnight November 26 through mid-February. New sparkle is in the works: a fireworks display on November 28 that, like the Nubble, will be visible from Long Sands Beach. nubblelight.org Edgartown Harbor Light Edgartown, MA Caroling and a countdown precede this cast-iron lighthouse’s North Pole–

On Martha’s Vineyard, the beacon of the c. 1881 Edgartown Harbor Light does double duty as it becomes part of a sparkling holiday display.

style transformation. This year’s lighting takes place December 8, in the midst of Christmas in Edgartown, a 42-year-old celebration. With colorful lights encircling the lantern room, festooning the railing, and twinkling through a curious little window, it’s a sight that stirs imagination. Coolest of all: You can rent the lighthouse for a private moment. mvmuseum.org/ edgartown-lighthouses Newport Harbor Lighthouse on Goat Island Newport, RI Starting Thanksgiving week, the lighthouse at Newport Harbor Island Resort is a holiday dreamscape. Green garland and red bows grace the granite tower and white fencing. A baubled wreath strikes a merry note. Lanternto-base strands of white bulbs gleam. And the Newport Bridge’s necklace lights make a dazzling backdrop. newportharborisland.com | 57

9/21/23 11:26 AM


Travel | R E S O U R C E S

From New England with Love

Gift-giving inspiration from every state, to delight everyone on your shopping list. COMPILED BY BILL SCHELLER

Handcrafted bowls and boards at Spencer Peterman in Gill, MA

ERICKSON SILVER SHOP, Gardner. Heir to

a family tradition of craftsmanship, master silversmith Peter Erickson creates flatware entirely by hand, tempering and hammering his elegantly simple place settings and serving utensils without dies or machinery. Timeless, uncluttered designs are the shop’s trademark, and his pierced serving pieces are exceptional works of art. Erickson also crafts jewelry for men and women, including wedding rings that are a worthy alternative to gold. ericksonsilver.com JUST SOAP, Ashfield. Frederick Breeden 58 |

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launched his own industrial revolution when he harnessed a bicycle to power the mixing paddles in his soap vats. Pedal power blends olive, palm, and coconut oils, along with herbs, spices, and essential oils for scent and soothing qualities. Breeden’s soaps and rosemary shampoo bars are pressed and cut by hand, and are available individually or in five-bar sets. Just the thing for lathering up … after a bike ride. justsoap.com MRS. NELSON’S CANDY HOUSE, Chelmsford. Now in its seventh decade, Mrs. Nelson’s continues to craft handmade candies from the finest chocolate, butter, cream, honey, nuts, and fruits. Treats like chocolate-

covered cherries or pretzels and novelty chocolate shapes are offered by the pound, and bonbon lovers can skip the “wonder what this one is” mystery by choosing “Hard-N-Chewy” or all soft-center boxes. There’s even a sugar-free milk chocolate assortment. mrsnelsonscandyhouse.com

NEW ENGLAND SHIRT COMPANY,

Fall River. Carrying on a New England garment-making tradition that’s now all but lost to foreign production, cutters and tailors working in a historic Fall River mill transform fine linen and cotton fabrics into

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JESIK A THEOS

MASSACHUSETTS

NEWENGLAND.COM

9/25/23 12:38 PM


discover WINTER IN CENTRAL MA

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Authentic, handmade chalkware at Vaillancourt Folk Art Music Worcester presents Handels Mesiah at Mechanics Hall

visitor tip Christmas by Candlelight at Old Sturbridge Village

Check out our itineraries:

plan your next adventure at DISCOVERCENTRALMA.ORG and on social media

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9/22/23 2:25 PM


The Great Connecticut

FARM HOP

Discover the Nutmeg State’s bounty of homegrown food, gifts, and holiday fun. By Kim Knox Beckius P H O T OS BY M I C H A E L P I A Z Z A

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NEWENGLAND.COM

9/28/23 12:13 PM


Sadie, a 3-year-old Nigerian dwarf goat, is all dressed in her jolly best at Bradley Mountain Farm in Southington. opposite: A sampling of handmade confections from Thorncrest Farm & Milk House Chocolates in Goshen.

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Anneliese Dadras realized customers didn’t covet just her glittery goat-milk soaps (sold at farm events and online at bradleymountainfarm.com). They also craved time with these affectionate creatures. Since the first Goat Walk, Dadras has added year-round programs like Goats N’ Pajamas and Goat Cuddle Therapy. During Covid shutdown, she learned how much her growing herd—now 50 strong—was enriched by the interactions, too. “They would line up at the fence,” she says, “and watch the road” as if wondering, When are they coming? You can bet Dadras’s f lock is anticipating this holiday season with the giddiness of, well … kids. On the farm’s Holiday Nights, visitors sing seasonal songs to the goats in the barn, sip cocoa with Santa in the Bradley House, and select colors and fragrances for their own goat-milk soaps. Reindeer Goat Photo sessions are popular, too, luring families from beyond Connecticut’s borders. Each goat has a personality that determines its “job.” Kalimba, for example, is treat-motivated to stare right at the camera for winning holiday-card photos. She wants nothing to do with Goat

I L L U S T R AT I O N B Y M I C H A E L M U L L A N

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he night we dressed goats in pajammies is crystal clear in my memory, even though my cellphone photos are blurred. It’s tough to capture sharp shots when goats in fleece hoodies, frilly nighties, sparkly headbands, and tutus are super interested in the bag of feed in your pocket. It was my daughter Lara’s 16th birthday, a late-October night five years ago, and she had no clue what was in store when we turned through the stone-pillared entryway to Bradley Mountain Farm in Southington, Connecticut. Her best friend, Hannah, met us there—another surprise. And the two of them rolled on the floor and laughed themselves silly as they came nose-to-nose with these rambunctious playmates. With a dozen-ish other families, we finally corralled the four-leggers for a bedtime story, but our circle collapsed into squeals and giggles when one of the littlest goats took a bite out of Goodnight Moon. Moments of immersive joy and mildly controlled chaos like this have been part of farm life here ever since owner

NEWENGLAND.COM

9/28/23 12:24 PM


I L L U S T R AT I O N B Y N AT E PA D AV I C K

Bridgewater’s Sunny Meadow Farm invites visitors to load up on ingredients for their winter table at its homey on-site market, open 24 hours a day on the honor system.

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Yoga. But she recently filmed an auto commercial. Dadras had been farm shopping for 10 years when this 200-year-old-plus lakeside former dairy on the National Register of Historic Places became available in 2015. Three doors down from where she lived, it was a place she’d biked past as a child, always wishing she could get a closer look, never imagining she’d one day call the Robert Adam–style farmhouse home. More than anything, she wanted to preserve the property from development and open it to the community. “I just intuitively knew that if I hoarded this place, it wouldn’t work,” she says. “The house, the icehouse, the goats—they all needed to be shared. That was the magic of it.” She’s one of a group of farmers throughout this small state who are cultivating delight as a contemporary means of sustaining agricultural lands. Instead of hibernating during the final months of the year, their efforts ramp up. Cruise from farm to farm, and you’ll find Connecticut-grown and -made gifts, fresh Christmas trees, spirited beverages, and foods and f lowers you’ll be proud to set on your holiday table. At a time of year that can feel frantic, you’ll also find the sort of peace and contentment that can’t be bought: You have to harvest it yourself. Maple Row Farm | Easton Bundle up your family (your leashed dog, too). Load up the cooler and grill. Download the app. In the town that brands itself the Christmas Tree Capital of Connecticut, Maple Row Farm makes the annual choose-and-cut outing feel as momentous as game day. If you’re a football fan, you know what to expect when you pull into one of two designated tailgating areas. Revelers go all out with festive spreads, music, matching attire, decorations. But don’t lose sight of why you’re really here: the quest for the perfect tree and for family memories your children will one day pass on to theirs. Brothers Scott and David Edwards run the family’s 1769 farm. Their grandfather planted the first trees as a 4-H project. Their dad made the call to go all in on this eightyears-to-reap-profits crop, which now carpets nearly half of the farm’s 260 acres. Douglas fir, Canaan fir, blue spruce, and orange-y smelling concolor. Visit during the week to quietly stroll this pine-scented wonderland. Weekends, starting right before Thanksgiving, are a different story, though. David Edwards laughs when asked about the tailgating tradition that’s been part of the scene for the past three decades. “It is what it is.” mrfarm.com Glendale Farms | Milford Poinsettias are almost as synonymous with the holiday as Christmas trees. Here you find a greenhouse filled with 12,000 of these potted red and pink beauties. Even popular white varieties seem to glow with color. 64 |

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NEWENGLAND.COM

9/28/23 12:31 PM


clockwise from above: A visit to Bradley Mountain Farm offers the chance to soak

up a serene view of Crescent Lake and Sunset Rock State Park; handmade soap for sale at Bradley Mountain Farm, which also offers soap-making workshops; the Fox Farm Brewery tasting room in Salem; a peek inside the brewery’s Barrel Barn; poinsettias ready to spread some holiday joy at Glendale Farms in Milford.

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Tim Astriab’s family has owned Glendale Farms since 1917. That makes poinsettias, cultivated here for more than 40 years, a relatively recent addition to the flower nursery’s offerings. Purchasing them—with cash or check—directly from the farm is still a best-kept secret unless you’re a church decorator or interior designer. Get there on a weekday or Saturday morning in late November or early December for the most eye-popping photos and the best selection of plants in five sizes, all with a vitality that comes from loving care. “When they’re gone, they’re gone,” says Astriab, then adds, “I’m glad.” glendalefarms.com Woodstock Creamery at Valleyside Farm | Woodstock Picture this: You plop down on a bale of hay with a container of maple skyr, made with real syrup and whole milk from the cows in the barn over yonder. Then, Santa and Mrs. Claus saunter by, shooting the breeze, because it’s not quite time for the surge of kiddos to arrive. It could happen to you when

you visit Woodstock Creamery on the second Saturday in December during the town’s annual Winter Festival. Angela Young’s family has been tending this land for 11 generations, but the on-farm creamery dates back only five years. There are echoes of the past in its warm-spirited community focus, however: There was a co-op creamery here that served locals from the late 1800s until a century ago. Bring a cooler. Claus encounters may be rare, but seven days a week you can load up on skyr—an Icelandic-style yogurt that is über-creamy and dense—in seasonal f lavors including pumpkin. Holiday guests will love a dollop on pie, paired with farm-fresh eggnog or coffee milk. Bring home spreadable labneh cheese and skyr dips in sweet and savory flavors, too, and you’ll be company-ready with conversation-starting appetizers. woodstockcreamery.com Watercure Farm Distillery | Pomfret Center You don’t have to be a spirits drinker to appreciate the coziness and convivial vibe inside the tasting room at Connecticut’s first farm distillery. Daniel and Aubrie Nagy brought this post-and-beam vision to life on the grounds of the former Gwyn Careg estate, where the heiress to the Murray bicycle fortune once kept an elephant and giraffes. You can hike, snowshoe, or bike from here across town-owned farmland to the Airline Trail. When the Nagys began selling their handcrafted spirits in 2019, they grew about 70 percent of what went into the distilling operation visitors observe through large glass windows. But demand for their whiskeys, gin, flavored vodkas, and brandies has soared, so while they still grow ingredients for infusing signature products like shiitake mushroom vodka, they source from other Connecticut farms now, too. Pristine water, an essential component of fine spirits, comes right from the property’s deep well. Tastings are an educational experience. “Sometimes we’re making a mash. Sometimes we’re distilling. Sometimes we’re just up front talking about what’s in your glass,” says Daniel Nagy. But it’s cool if you’d rather sit at the bar sipping cocktails and playing cards. Or if you’re just stopping to purchase gifts such as apple spice rum, a holiday favorite available in 200 ml bottles perfect for stocking stuffing. watercurefarm.com Indian River Shellfish | Madison “Long Island Sound is a historically rich natural habitat for oysters,” says Mike Gilman, who co-owns Indian River Shellfish with lifelong friend George Harris. For native peoples, the bivalves were a food staple. By the early 1700s, commercial shellfishing was under way, and by the late 1800s Connecticut had been crowned oyster capital of the world. Still, it took the duo—a biologist and a lobsterman—years of trial and error to perfect their Hammonasset Point Oysters.

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NEWENGLAND.COM

9/22/23 9:59 AM


At Maple Row Farm in Easton, a 3-year-old named Skyler—who lives with her family not far from Maple Row’s fields—shows off her trophy tannenbaum. opposite: Sunny Meadow Farm touts its pasture-raised flock.

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clockwise from above: Within the cheese cave at Colchester’s Cato Corner

Farm are ripening rounds of rind-washed Hooligan (lower shelves) and Drunken Hooligan, a variation washed in grape skins and mash leftover from neighboring Priam Vineyards; some inquisitive members of the Cato Corner dairy herd; edible holiday centerpieces from Thorncrest Farm & Milk House Chocolates; Thorncrest founders Clint and Kimberly Thorn, center, with sons Garret, left, and Lyndon; Aquila’s Nest Vineyards in Newtown offers an ideal spot to cap off a day of farm-hopping.

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9/22/23 10:20 AM


“We grow in the Hammonasset River, which is more fresh than salt,” Gilman says. That gives these oysters— suspended in cages, never touching the bottom—a sweet taste: far less briny than those harvested off Cape Cod, for example. Connecticut has oyster outfits with outputs in the millions. Gilman and Harris raise only about 150,000 of these babied beauties each year, and you can buy them right from the farmers at their dock, a stone’s throw from Hammonasset Beach State Park. Gilman likes them best during the last few months of the year, when they’re bulking up for winter, and colder waters keep them naturally refrigerated. Your window for observing the landing and sorting, and for scoring some of the freshest oysters you’ve ever slurped, is Friday afternoon and Saturday morning. Reserve online, especially if you have a big order, but know that a dozen or two can usually be purchased on a whim. indianrivershellfish.com Fox Farm Brewery | Salem Zack Adams and his wife, Laura, saw potential in an abandoned, overgrown 30-acre farm down the road from her family’s small vineyard. With their confidence bolstered after Zack’s 2012 victory in the national Samuel Adams Longshot American Homebrew Competition, they scooped up the property in 2013. “It needed a new lease on life,” he says. “From the moment we moved here, a brewery was the highest possible use and our greatest hope” for the siloed barn, which had sat vacant for 30 years. Their dream came true in 2017. With seating on two f loors and an open view into the brewing operation, the tasting room in the red barn is a clubby place for beer enthusiasts to sample European traditional styles and spontaneous “wild” ales that ref lect this locale. The stone-facade Barrel Barn is the sort of iconic holiday backdrop that would draw New England shutterbugs even if there weren’t, in those oak casks, beers like Avalonia Red, made with farm-grown cherries and raspberries. Or the blendings of wine-like Consonance and Dissonance: Spontaneously fermented with super-ripe, Connecticut-grown Aromella grapes, it boasts notes of peach, citrus, and clove that make it an ideal companion for turkey. Bring home bottles to gift wrap, too. foxfarmbeer.com Cato Corner Farm | Colchester If cheese is your favorite holiday snack, or if you want to wow someone with a Cheese of the Month Club membership, it’s comforting to know Cato Corner Farm’s online shop never closes. You’ll appreciate every morsel more, though, when you drive past stone wall–lined fields and pull up a brief hill to the unassuming farm shop, stocked with cheeses and all their tasty accompaniments. Open Friday through Sunday, it’s a destination where you can taste, converse, learn, and truly appreciate the origins of these handcrafted farmstead NOVEMBER | DECEMBER 2023

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cheeses. From young, bloomy-rind Celeste to sharp and complex Aged Bloomsday, each reflects the specific terroir of these lovingly tended 75 acres, where cows’ health and happiness is paramount. Visit on a Saturday and, if weather permits, you can walk uphill and peer through an observation window as owner and head cheesemaker Mark Gillman and his team transform raw milk into young cheese … still at least 60 days and as much as a year away from being ready to eat. Gillman returned to the family farm a few years after his mom, Liz MacAlister, started making cheese seriously in 1997. These days, she milks less and manages more. She’s proudest, Gillman says, of the care that her 45 Jersey cows receive, and the sweet milk that results. “Good cheese starts with good milk,” he says. To chat with Gillman is to understand what makes his cheeses so irresistible. There’s a playful drive to create, whether it’s a variation on a staple like the nationally lauded Hooligan, which he sometimes washes in beer from Fox Farm Brewery, or his first native culture cheese, Cornerstone. This year’s batch is aging in the cave. Come back as winter yields to spring for a taste. catocornerfarm.com Thorncrest Farm & Milk House Chocolates | Goshen Yes, chocolates grow on farms. At least the finest ones in Connecticut do. They’re delicately dispensed from a shop that seems so small beside the grand barn. The contrast makes sense once you understand what drives this farming family. It’s not Kimberly Thorn’s chocolate making nor her husband Clint’s wood furniture making. Working with sons Garret and Lyndon, and daughters-in-law Keri and Hope, their energy is concentrated foremost on providing a home for cows from birth until the end of an extraordinarily long life. Thursday through Sunday, you can drift inside the stable, where there are always adorable calves to coo over this time of year. Clint Thorn designed the barn with airf low and natural light in mind: It’s oriented polar north-south. You sense the love here in the scent of top-grade hay. Each “lady” has a large mattress for comfort. If you want to knock Santa’s boots off this Christmas, bring a cooler so you can bring back the tastiest milk he’ll swig all night. But you’ve made the back-roads drive here for chocolates (order them online if you can’t visit). Perhaps a centerpiece-size solid pumpkin, turkey, or Santa. More likely the truff les and caramels that are as distinct as the cows you met in the barn. “We’re the only people I know of in the world who make single-cow-origin chocolates,” Kimberly Thorn explains. Handcrafted in small batches with fresh-that-morning milk from a specific cow, these all-natural creations have a flavor that can be traced to one cow’s individual feed, her inherent genetics, and the atmosphere in which she thrives. 70 |

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For example, caramels all begin with a Jersey cow named Daydream. “Her milk is just so luscious,” Kimberly Thorn says. “It literally is buttery soft. It has nutty, complex flavor. It rolls off your tongue in a way you just want to lift your shoulders and say, ‘Ooh, that’s so good.’ And that’s why she makes the best caramels.” milkhousechocolates.net Sunny Meadow Farm | Bridgewater Pull up to this glorious farm just before sunset, and you are in for a show of color-streaked skies and backlit rolling hills. Opening the view, which had been blocked by hedges for some 20 years, was priority one for owner Steve Shabet. After some prodding from town officials, he purchased this neglected neighboring farm a decade ago to save it from development, becoming only about the fifth owner since the late 1700s. If you miss the sunset, no worries. One of the coolest things about this producer of honey, maple syrup, pastureraised chicken and eggs, orchard fruits, and 220 different vegetables grown using organic, sustainable methods is its honor-system farm market, open 24/7. If you have cash, a credit card, Venmo, PayPal, Apple Pay, or Zelle, some of the delicious makings of holiday meals and treats can be acquired here at any hour of the day or night. And wow, is it peaceful in the lead-up to Christmas compared with supermarkets or even Shabet’s enchanting Smithy Market in New Preston, where his own products commingle with others grown and made in Connecticut in a mid-19th-century blacksmith shop. sunnymeadow.farm Aquila’s Nest Vineyards | Newtown Walk through a winery wonderland where the moment darkness falls each night, rows of vines become the scene of a holiday light show set to music. Sip a glass of sparkling rosé or warm mulled wine made with the vineyard’s merlot, raw cacao for a hint of chocolate, and cinnamon and other spices. Neviana Zhgaba and her husband and winemaker, Ardian Llomi, have poured creative energy into the property they fell for in 2016 and opened to the public in the fall of 2020. From a single firepit, they’ve “expanded more and more,” Zhgaba says. Reserve a tasting room table, a heated igloo or pergola, or the ultimate spot: the Forbidden Fireplace, where you can feel the warmth of the stone hearth. Or check the calendar for a nonstop lineup of events, live music, and create-your-own-holiday-gift workshops. There’s an underlying theme in the vineyard’s art and attitude: women’s empowerment. For Zhgaba, success beyond their wildest expectations isn’t measured just in the statewide accolades that Aquila’s Nest has received. It’s in the dozens of other women-owned enterprises she’s been able to support. In the vineyard’s achievement of climateneutral certification. And in the joy she sees on the faces of wintertime visitors. aquilasnestvineyards.com NEWENGLAND.COM

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Frosted in new-fallen snow, the chocolate shop beckons at Thorncrest Farm.

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9/22/23 10:23 AM


From Forest

Forager, educator, and writer Jenna Rozelle on the hunt for wild food. opposite, left to right: The cornucopia of ingredients that Rozelle foraged with food writer Kathy Gunst includes (top row) shagbark hickory bark, crab apples, and bolete mushrooms; (second row) acorns, wild bayberry, and wild grapes; (third row) autumn olives, black walnuts, and wild pear; (bottom row) shagbark hickory nuts, quince, and wild hazelnuts.

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to Table

When a food writer joins a forager for a walk in the woods, it opens up a world of delicious possibilities.

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J

enna Rozelle walks quietly in a field, along the edge of the woods. Leaves crunch underfoot as she peers up into the trees, and then down to examine the roots. She follows piles of acorns and takes note of dug-out patches of earth. “Deer were feeding here last night,” she tells me. “There must be something good around.” It’s late September and we are hiking in the field across the street from my house in southern Maine. Rozelle has discovered clusters of wild Concord grapes, autumn olives, deep-maroon sumac bushes, wild hazelnuts, hickory nuts, black walnuts, shagbark hickory trees, and a wild pear tree. As we make our way down a trail into the woods, she lists off possibilities like a chef at a farmers’ market: Steep the sumac in cold water for a few days for sumac lemonade. The hickory bark can be peeled off and steeped in a sugar solution to make “unreal” hickory syrup. The grapes can be eaten or smashed into jelly, and the pears, while ugly, prove to be “juicy, sweet, and full of possibility.” The woods are damp from recent rains. Rozelle leans her head down into a pile of leaves, sifts through them, and sniffs. She reminds me of a hound searching for truffles. We are moving along the path when suddenly she stops dead in her tracks. “Whoa!” she yells. When I look down I see a massive chicken of the woods mushroom, the size of a giant watermelon, clinging to a dilapidated oak tree. “Oh boy,” Rozelle says, laughing. “This is a good one.” She pulls a sharp knife from the pack basket she carries on her back, carefully cuts the mushroom loose from the tree base, and hands it to me. If this were a perfume it would be called New England Woods, Late September. It’s earthy, rich. Wildly seductive. I have lived in an old farmhouse on this piece of land for close to 40 years. I have written 16 cookbooks in this house and developed thousands of recipes for radio shows and newspaper and magazine articles, and yet I have never discovered many of the wild foods that grow just outside my kitchen door. Walking around the property with Rozelle reminds me of that moment in The Wizard of Oz when everything goes from black and white to color. The outside world comes alive. It’s as if I’m seeing it all for the first time. Rozelle, 38, calls herself “a wild food educator and writer.” Being outdoors, exploring the woods, is where she is most comfortable. Most at peace. Growing up in South Berwick, Maine, she spent her childhood roaming through fields and the surrounding woods. “I had a group of imaginary friends I called ‘Thranka Bears,’” she tells me, laughing at the memory. “We hung out in the thicket under a shagbark hickory tree. My mother let me and my siblings wander by ourselves and taught us to be comfortable outdoors. I learned at a very early age to never be bored in the outdoors.” Rozelle’s mother, Beth Power, is an herbalist. “She was always going into the yard and collecting wild herbs and 74 |

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plants to make medicine,” explains Rozelle. “That’s how health care was dealt with in our house. The plant and outdoor world were seamlessly integrated into our lives.” One of her earliest memories is of being injured while throwing a stick for their dog. “I didn’t know the dog was tied up and I was standing on the rope. It wrapped around my leg and I fell off the porch with really bad rope burns.” Her mother went into the yard, grabbed some common plantain leaves, chewed them, spit them out, and made a poultice. The relief, says Rozelle, “was instantaneous and very memorable.” Although she watched her mother preparing tinctures for years, she was never formally trained as an herbalist. Rozelle watched, learned, absorbed. Self-education is a theme in her life. She dropped out of high school and “home-schooled myself ” for a year and a half. “I wanted to learn, but it wasn’t working in school. I had a sense that there had to be a different way.” After graduating early in 2002, she moved to New York City and worked as an audio engineer. “New York,” she says, “was definitely not a place for me.” She returned to Maine, worked construction with her father, found jobs in restaurants, and eventually ran a small bookstore and coffee shop. It was in 2008, when she moved to Down East Maine and lived with her then-boyfriend on a few acres on the coast, that her path became clear. “There was lots of room to roam up there,” she recalls. “I am always curious about where I am. A large part of learning about a place is food. And there is nothing more enjoyable than free food. The seashore is full of food.” The couple had no electricity or cell phones, so Rozelle found herself spending hours reading, educating herself on wild foods. Her life as a forager began out of curiosity and necessity. Since the couple was financially stretched, “whatever we didn’t have to buy we foraged for,” she says. “We fished, hunted for shellfish, fruit, berries.” Rozelle tried being a vegetarian, but her body “didn’t feel good.” That’s when she began hunting small game: squirrel, rabbit, duck, grouse. “It was a moral, ethical necessity. We couldn’t afford to buy meat that was raised in a way I felt good about eating.” Eventually she moved to southern Maine, where she met and married Shaughn Darcy, and worked as a forager selling mushrooms and plants to high-end restaurants across the country. These days she splits time between teaching wild foods classes, taking clients on walks around their property or at local farms, and writing about outdoor life. Her Substack blog, Appetites, is a combination of writings on wild foods, seasonal foraging, recipes, poetry, recorded spoken word, and photography. Writing has become an increasingly important part of Rozelle’s life, and one of her goals is communicating about the pleasures of the foraging world in a way that inspires people to spend more time outdoors. “Foraging gets painted in an antiquated light,” she says. NEWENGLAND.COM

9/21/23 12:18 PM


clockwise from left: Gunst and Rozelle reach for some tasty wild grapes; close-up of a chicken of the woods mushroom; foraged pears poached in wine; fireroasted chicken of the woods.

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“It has an association with poverty and being old-fashioned. But really 99 percent of our time as humans on earth has been spent on these landscapes eating these plants. It wasn’t all that long ago that this was how we all lived. When we choose to engage with our landscape and the outside world, it’s the culmination of everything a human body and mind needs. There’s your body moving, your eyes looking at shapes and colors, texture and movement.” A large part of the guided foraging walks Rozelle leads is to dispel fear and get people—people who generally spend their days indoors—to trust the outdoor world more. “Fear comes from a good root,” Rozelle concedes. “If you look at a plant and don’t know what it is, don’t eat it. But I will teach you to know what it is. Think about the poisons we willingly eat all day. The chronic illness, the disease that massMORE ONLINE produced food is causing. Fear is For recipes inspired almost a phobia of everything outby Kathy Gunst and Jenna Rozelle’s side the garden fence.” foraging trip, go to On a hike around my woods last newengland.com/ spring, Rozelle led me to a marsh wild_food. full of young cattails. “These look delicious!” she said, her eyes lighting up. I laughed, thinking it was a joke. Cattails? She explained that in the spring, before their signature brown fuzzy heads form, you can pick off the spikes (technically the male f lower), boil them in salted water, and eat them like corn on the cob. She held one up for me to examine. I swear they smelled like cucumbers. We harvested a dozen or so, headed back to my kitchen, and boiled up a pot of water. Minutes later, having slathered the “cobs” in salted butter, we were sucking on them like kids eating lollipops. They were sweet, wild-tasting, and vegetal. “I always like to end my hikes with cooking,” Rozelle says, “preparing whatever we’ve found, just to prove the point that wild foods can be delicious and so full of nutrients.” The giant chicken of the woods that Rozelle discovered in the woods offered many possibilities. “Should we roast it?” she asks. “Or make risotto? Or sauté it with garlic and herbs?” We decide to light a fire in my pizza oven, coarsely chop the mushrooms, toss them with herbs and garlic from the garden, and then finish with a glug of olive oil. Fifteen minutes later we devour the mushrooms and dunk some crusty bread into the pan juices so we don’t miss a morsel. “Free wild food at its finest!” Rozelle says with a huge smile. “The outdoors,” she repeats, looking sated and happy, “are never boring!” Kathy Gunst is a James Beard Award–winning food journalist and resident chef for NPR’s “Here and Now.” For more about Jenna Rozelle, go to jennarozelle.substack.com; to learn about Rozelle’s wild foods nursery, Thickery Pricket Farm, go to thickerypricketfarm.com. 76 |

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Gunst (left) and Rozelle return with handfuls of freshly picked wild pears, discovered in a field behind Gunst’s barn in southern Maine.

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9/28/23 3:38 PM


Home FI N DI NG T H E I R WAY

For thousands of rescued dogs, journeys of endless miles and hardship come to a happy end with the help of Rhode Island’s Always Adopt. BY MEL ALLEN | PHOTOS BY MA AIKE BERNSTROM

RI M , 3 MOS. OLD, W HAT A FA CE ! PI LG IS SI SS IPPI TR AV ELED FROM M

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LUPIN , 5 MOS. OLD, LAB/T ER RIE R FROM LIT TE R OF 8 (ALL AD OP TE D)

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e

HAPPY- GO -LUCKY

ODIN , 3–5 YR S. OLD

BETH, 3 YRS. OLD, BEAGLE MIX, NOW LIVING BEST LIFE IN PVD

DANNY, 3 YRS. OLD, SOUTHERN RESCUE, TAKEN HOME TO MASSACHUSET TS

ICE ICE BABY, 3 YRS. OLD, LIT TLE GUY, BIG PERSONALITY

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When Rhode Island resident Louise Anderson launched Always Adopt in 2013, it was with the vision of a world with “no more homeless pets.” In the decade since, the twice-yearly supersize adoption events she organizes in the Ocean State have helped give 7,000-plus dogs (like those shown here, from the event at Clark Farms in Matunuck last fall) a family to call their own.

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DOG” LOUI SE ALWAY S ADOP T “TOP EY, 1 YR . OLD AN DE RSON W/ GR AC

TIRELESS TEXAN CARLOS DAVIS, ANIMAL RESCUE KINGDOM

One day early last fall, a passerby found a young stray huddled on a road with three of her puppies. This was in Beaumont, Texas, 85 miles east of Houston, and—like many places in the South, where far fewer pets are spayed or neutered compared with the rest of the nation—the population of homeless dogs and cats overwhelms the city’s ability to care for them. Each day thousands of dogs lose their lives in the so-called “kill shelters” of the South, even though those who work there may wish they had other options. When a stray or owner-surrendered animal lands in an overcrowded shelter, their life-span rarely exceeds a week. More animals will soon arrive to take their place. The good Samaritan who found the mother and her pups knew whom to call: Carlos Davis and his Animal Rescue Kingdom (A.R.K.), located west of Houston. Davis Although Always Adopt partners mainly with New England shelters, the Texas-based Animal Rescue Kingdom takes the lead in saving dogs from overcrowded Southern “kill shelters” and bringing them almost 2,000 miles to the Always Adopt events. “People say [the South has] a dog problem,” says A.R.K. founder Carlos Davis (ABOVE RIGHT). “But no, dogs are just doing what dogs do. It’s a people problem. It’s those neighbors, friends, and maybe even family members who don’t spay or neuter their dogs, so the chain is never broken.”

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is a soft-spoken, lean man of 49 whose life revolves around finding homes for as many dogs as he can. He lives on a 10-acre rural ranch, where 60 to 70 dogs at a time can rest and heal while awaiting a journey to a new life. On Saturday and Sunday mornings for nearly the past two decades, Davis has brought his dogs to a local vet for medical care and spaying or neutering. When it comes to weekends, he says, “I don’t go the lake, I don’t hang out with friends—I go to the vet.” Each year he transports more than 1,300 rescued dogs to the Northwest and New England, driving thousands of miles to give them a chance at a new life. He compares what he does to “trying to empty the sea with a spoon,” and then admits, “Sometimes I just cry. The hardest part is that for every dog I save, I know I leave so many others behind.” He says he has no choice but to try. “These dogs deserve so much more. They show us so much love when they are with us. That’s why I dedicate my life to them.” As soon as the Beaumont call came in, Davis fetched the mother and puppies. When he examined them back at the ranch, they were—like nearly all the animals he takes (Continued on p. 108)

P R E V I O U S S P R E A D : U M E S H C H A N D R A / I S TO C K .C O M ( D O G TA G) O PP OSITE PAG E: C O U RTESY PHOTO (AN NIE)

Sometimes a story with a happy ending will begin in a place where that would seem all but impossible. This is one of those stories.

NEWENGLAND.COM

9/28/23 12:42 PM


P R E V I O U S S P R E A D : U M E S H C H A N D R A / I S TO C K .C O M ( D O G TA G) O PP OSITE PAG E: C O U RTESY PHOTO (AN NIE)

LU LU, 5 MOS. OLD, BEAG LE MIX , GOING HOM E W/ JE NNIF ER FONT ES

HECTOR , 3 YRS. OLD, W/ HIS NEW “ SI BLINGS” FROM JOHNSTON, RI

At the Clark Farms event, volunteers handle the dogs one-onone amid the crowd of prospective adopters, all of whom are thoroughly vetted in the application process. “We call your vet. We do personal references. We interview you. We ask what you’ll do with the dog when you go on vacation,” Anderson says, and adds, ”We want to set people up for success.”

ANNIE, 2 YRS. OLD, MOM OF 3, FOUND ON TEXAS ROADSIDE JR . FOSTER PARENT “VIVI” FILIPINI W/ ESPRESSO, 3 MOS. OLD

NOVEMBER | DECEMBER 2023

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| 81

9/28/23 12:43 PM


The Silence of Soldiers All the author knew was that his father had been in the Air Force during WWII. Then he found a diary.

T

By Howard Mansfield

he old men stand in young men’s uniforms. They stand at attention. There’s Ray in Nav y white, Jarvis in Marine khaki, and Howard in Air Force blue. We have gathered on our small New Hampshire town common to dedicate a memorial to the veterans of three wars: World War II, Korea, and Vietnam—the last, surprisingly, 50 years gone. It is a simple monument, a large, handsome granite boulder with a smooth face for a bronze plaque of names. The stone is unveiled. A mother who lost her son in World War II—oh, so long ago—is steadied to come forward. We applaud; it’s a meager tribute. This poor old woman seems to be knocked apart by grief, her mourning renewed. A lone trumpet starts to play taps. I look at the old soldiers, the men I know. They are far, far away. We can’t follow them. It’s what we can’t see that matters most: the reed-thin boys they were at 19 going to war, and all those who never came home, their friends and comrades who were killed. Taps echoes, mournful, low. We scatter. Moments later the stone stands alone.

W

hen I grew up, “the war”—World War II—was everywhere—in movies and books, on TV, and yet most of it was hidden, untold. What the men up and down my street—home from the Navy, Marines, Army—what they had seen was left unsaid. What my father had done in the Air Force was never mentioned. It 82 |

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9/21/23 4:25 PM


Having recently arrived in England, an American B-24 bomber crew poses for a photo in the summer of 1944. The author’s father, Pincus Mansfield, is in the first row, far left.

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that had sat in a drawer for 65 years. It was a short journal of the bombing missions he had flown. I had no idea he’d kept this record. Airmen were forbidden to keep diaries. And when I turned the last page, there was a lengthy typed note in that stilted military lingo from the base censor. They were seizing his diary, but—once he signed the censor’s note—they’d return it to him, after the war, to 1639 Monroe Ave. in the Bronx. I quickly read through it, drank it down in a gulp. Some of the missions he f lew were harrowing, marked by attacking fighter planes, big anti-aircraft cannon firing from the ground, blowing holes in his bomber, and wounding crewmen. They had limped back to England f lying on three of the four engines with another engine threatening to quit. He’d seen bombers blown out of the sky, exploding into nothing—10 men, 18 tons of aluminum with tons more of high explosives and fuel: Just gone. And they had to fly on. He had seen war as all the flyers saw it. He had seen flak from the anti-aircraft guns hitting the big bombers in a rain of steel pellets. It sounded like hail on a tin roof, like BBs rolling around, said the airmen. It could tear into the bomber’s aluminum skin with a “shriek” or a “hissing.” It could hit the head of your pilot or miss by an inch. Loose, hot steel rattling around, as if your anxieties had taken shape. It was lethal with a randomness that was cruel. They could smell the flak through their oxygen masks. The stories of f lak are a literature of near misses, of geometry, chance, and luck. It was a universe in which an inch or two separated life and death or injury. Minutes. Inches. Banal changes that meant living or dying. Back in

PRE VIOUS SPRE AD: COURTESY OF HOWARD MANSFIELD. THIS SPRE AD: LIBR ARY OF CONGRESS PRINTS & PHOTOGR APHS DIVISION (PL ANES); COURTESY OF HOWARD MANSFIELD (PORTR AIT & DIARY)

was like growing up on an iceberg. We were af loat on a hidden history. The real war was missing. Once, and just once, my older brother and I were watching a war show on TV—12 O’Clock High. This was my father’s war, but in different bombers, fighting just before he got there. This should have been his story. But he wouldn’t let us watch it—and this in an era when most parents would let you watch just about anything. Why? He wouldn’t say. But why? we persisted. All he said was that the pilots and crew on the TV show were too old. And he was right. His pilot had just turned 22. The navigator was an old man; he was 25. My father was a 19-year-old kid from New York City, from the Bronx. A 19-year-old with a bad left hand, malformed from a birth defect. Pincus Mansfield. He was turned down at first, 4F. But he went back—many times, we think—and convinced the Air Force that they couldn’t fly without him. This was in 1943. The Army Air Forces, as it was then known, had boasted that they accepted only the finest, fittest men, but in 1943, in the skies over Europe, they were losing 75 percent of their men. They needed a one-handed Bronx kid who’d never been in an airplane, of course, and had fired a gun just once—a BB gun. He became a gunner, standing behind a machine gun at an open window of a B-24 bomber, at 20,000 feet, 25,000 feet, in poorly heated overalls and gloves. Frostbite was rampant—the Air Force’s most common injury. He got frostbite—his first Purple Heart. That frostbite would send him to doctors for the rest of his life. (“It’s nothing,” he’d say. “An inconvenience.”) By the time he got to England in 1944, the war was going better for the Air Force. They were losing only 35 percent of their crews, on average. Each time he flew across the Channel, he had a one-third chance of not returning. On his 19th mission, he was hit by f lak over Kassel, Germany, and was carried off the plane on a stretcher. He passed through a series of hospitals that sent him stateside months later. Do I know all of this because we’d talk about it around the dinner table? Do I know this because he gave us those When-I-was-your-age speeches? No. He never talked about the war and we learned not to ask. “I’m not gonna tell any war stories,” he’d say. In choosing silence he was like most men of his generation. It was a rule with him and millions of other men. But the memories of that war were hiding out in our house. I knew he’d been in the Air Force—there was an old uniform under the stairs in the basement, and he did talk just a little bit about how welcoming the English were—but nothing ever about being in the air, in battle. Not a word. After my father died four years ago, we were cleaning out the old family home. I found a small, folded set of pages

NEWENGLAND.COM

9/28/23 3:47 PM


COURTESY OF HOWARD MANSFIELD;; LIBR ARY OF CONGRESS PRINTS & PHOTOGR APHS DIVISION (WAR PL ANES)

He never talked about the war and we learned not to ask. “I’m not gonna tell any war stories,” he’d say. FROM FAR LEFT: The Boeing B-24 Liberator

(FOREGROUND) flies in formation with other World War II–era “titans of the sky”; a portrait of Pincus Mansfield, taken while home in New York in December 1944; the young B-24 gunner’s notes on his first mission.

the peacetime world—working nine-to-five, taking children to get shoes—how could the veterans explain that they were only in this life by a few inches? It was as though they’d realized, years before the physicists’ theories, that many universes exist side by side: the world with them and the world without them. They saw it and they had no words for it.

H

e served in the 453rd Bombardment Group of the 8th Air Force. Just before he got there, the unit was run by Ramsay Potts, age 27. Potts had been a f light leader in the daring and costly raid on the Nazi oil refineries in Ploesti, Romania, a raid in which 178 B-24s took off, and 54 never returned. More than 600 airmen were killed, wounded, or taken prisoner. Potts came home and put the war away. Long after the war, Brigadier General Potts told a historian: “It was decades after the war before I felt like I wanted to talk about it. I think the experience was so profound and the danger so great that you’d feel when talking to people who hadn’t experienced it that maybe they’ll think I’m exaggerating, maybe they’ll think I’m bragging, maybe they’ll think I’m trying to make this out to be more than it really was. But the fact of the matter is that it was an extremely dangerous, hazardous task every damned day you went on one of these missions. You could even say that to some extent you were exposed to danger on the ground at your base because the Germans would try to launch some kind of attack on the bases in England.” Even with the memorials, and the big movies and books, each war is private. “War happens inside a man,” said Eric Sevareid, a CBS radio correspondent who covNOVEMBER | DECEMBER 2023

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ered World War II. “It happens to one man alone. It can never be communicated. That’s the tragedy—and perhaps the blessing…. And, I am sorry to say, that is also why in a certain sense you and your sons from the war will be forever strangers.” Each war is many wars. It was a world war: It happened in thousands of places to millions of men, women, and children. The soldier, the airman, is only one guy landing on the beach, in a tank, in the air, in his tent or barracks. One guy sent here and there. One war happening millions of times. The veterans who were welcomed home in victory would remain, just a bit, “forever strangers.” Behind their silence was an experience too intense and too personal to be expressed. For some veterans there was trauma; there was what came to be known as PTSD. And there was remorse. My father regretted having to kill, he told one of his grandsons who got him to talk, only for a few moments, about the war. It’s what had to be done, but this was a remorse he carried to his last days. When another grandson was leaving to go live in Germany, he said, “Don’t tell them what your grandfather did to their beautiful country.” But above all, not telling was a code of honor. This was an unspoken code about what is said and what is not. This mattered greatly to my father and the men of his generation. The ugly things you had seen in the war, and what you felt about that, all that was left unsaid. They carried that burden. By their silence they said, I give you peace. Take it. Take it and don’t ask me for more. I will tell no war stories. Adapted from I Will Tell No War Stories, to be published April 2024 by Lyons Press. | 85

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Bring It! (Continued from p. 41) Now, holding the lid firmly on the pot, shake it vigorously for about 15 seconds so that the potatoes begin to mash a bit on the outside but still remain intact. This loose starch is what will make the delicious crust. Pour the potatoes into a large bowl (scrape any bits from the pot into the bowl) and drizzle with the f lavored oil. Sprinkle with pepper to taste, then stir with a spatula to coat the potatoes. Taste a potato. If it doesn’t seem salty enough, sprinkle with a bit more kosher salt. Spread the potatoes out on a large rimmed baking sheet, leaving a bit of space between them. Roast for 20 minutes, then turn the potatoes with a spatula and roast 15 minutes more. Remove the pan, give it a nice shake to turn the potatoes once more, and roast until beautifully browned and crisp, about 15 to 20 minutes more. Transfer the potatoes to a serving dish and sprinkle generously with Parmesan and parsley. Yields 8 servings. CREAMED SPINACH WITH ALMOND BREAD CRUMB TOPPING

We’re not straying too far from the classics here, but the crunchy topping of toasted almonds and bread crumbs proves that you can mess with perfection. FOR THE SPINACH

1 stick (½ cup) salted butter, plus more for the baking dish 3 12-ounce packages frozen spinach, thawed and drained ½ cup all-purpose flour 4 large cloves garlic, finely minced 3 cups warm milk ¾ cup grated Parmesan cheese 3 tablespoons sour cream (optional) ¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg 1 teaspoon kosher salt FOR THE TOPPING

2 tablespoons salted butter, softened 86 |

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Creamed Spinach with Almond Bread Crumb Topping

¾ cup panko bread crumbs ¾ cup slivered almonds 2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese ½ teaspoon kosher salt

bubbling, 20 to 25 minutes. If you want the topping even browner, run it briefly under a broiler on the lowest setting. Yields 8 to 10 servings.

Preheat your oven to 400°F and set a rack to the middle position. Butter a 9-by-13-inch baking dish (or any other pan that can hold 12 to 14 cups) and set aside. Remove most of the water from the spinach by squeezing it with clean hands or with a clean dish towel. It doesn’t have to be bone-dry, but you want to get most of the liquid out. Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the flour and garlic, and whisk until the mixture is smooth and glossy. Now add the warm milk, 1 cup at a time, whisking as you go. Keep whisking until thickened and smooth. Add the Parmesan cheese, sour cream, nutmeg, and salt. Stir, then add the spinach and stir until evenly combined. Pour into the prepared pan. To make the topping, stir together the butter, panko, almonds, cheese, and salt in a small bowl, then sprinkle over the spinach. Transfer to the oven and bake until the topping is nicely browned and the spinach mixture is

HERBED SAUSAGE DRESSING

A classic, savory dressing that we return to year after year, this dish can easily be prepped a day ahead of time. Just cover the uncooked dressing tightly with foil and refrigerate overnight. When ready to bake, take the dish out of the refrigerator 45 minutes before baking and then follow the baking directions. Note: Do not skip the step of toasting/ drying out the bread cubes, or you will end up with soggy/mushy dressing. The bread cubes may be dried several days in advance and stored in a sealed container. 1 loaf (about 1 pound) soft French or Italian bread, cut into 1-inch cubes (roughly 8 cups) 1 stick (½ cup) salted butter, plus more for the baking dish 2 cups finely chopped yellow onions (about 2 large onions) 1 cup finely chopped celery (about 4 stalks) 3 cloves garlic, minced NEWENGLAND.COM

9/22/23 9:18 AM


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1 teaspoon kosher salt ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper ¼ cup chopped flat-leaf parsley 3 tablespoons chopped fresh sage 1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme 1 pound sweet Italian sausage, casings removed 2 large eggs 2½ cups reduced-sodium chicken stock

Preheat your oven to 275°F. Arrange the bread cubes in a single layer on two baking sheets and bake until they are completely crisp and dried, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and place the bread cubes into a large mixing bowl. Increase the oven temperature to 350°F and butter a 9-by13-inch (or 3-quart) baking dish. In a large skillet, melt the butter over medium-high heat. Add the onions, celery, garlic, salt, and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 8 minutes. Remove from heat, stir in the herbs, then transfer to the bowl with the bread cubes. In the same skillet, cook the sausage over medium-high heat, breaking it up into small pieces using two forks, until just cooked through and starting to brown, 6 to 8 minutes. Add this to the bread cubes. In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs and chicken stock. Pour over the bread cubes and mix until the ingredients are thoroughly combined and the bread is soft. Transfer the dressing to the prepared baking dish, cover tightly with foil, and bake for 40 minutes. Remove the foil and continue baking until the top has browned and the internal temperature has reached 165°F, about 30 minutes more. Yields 8 servings. MAPLE-PECAN SWEET POTATO CASSEROLE

Marshmallow-topped sweet potato casseroles may be a classic, but we like the crunch of a pecan topping that is buttery and salty-sweet and contrasts with the 88 |

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Maple-Pecan Sweet Potato Casserole

super-silky sweet potato puree. Blending the sweet potatoes in a food processor instead of mashing yields an airy, velvety puree that bakes up light and smooth. 4 tablespoons salted butter, melted, plus more for the baking dish 3 pounds sweet potatoes 1 cup chopped pecans ¾ cup firmly packed light brown sugar 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, divided ½ teaspoon kosher salt 6 tablespoons salted butter, softened and cut into 1-inch pieces 2 large eggs ½ cup pure maple syrup ¼ teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Preheat your oven to 425°F and butter a 9-by-13-inch (or 3-quart) baking dish. Scrub the sweet potatoes, place on a foil-lined baking sheet, and pierce all over with a fork. Bake until very tender, about one hour. Remove from the

oven, reduce the oven temperature to 350°F, and allow the sweet potatoes to cool slightly. Meanwhile, make the pecan topping: In a bowl, use a fork to stir together the pecans, brown sugar, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, and kosher salt. Add the melted butter, stir until combined, and set aside. When the sweet potatoes are just cool enough to handle, scoop them out and place the f lesh into a food processor. Add the softened butter, eggs, maple syrup, nutmeg, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, and black pepper and blend until silky smooth. Taste a small amount and add salt if needed. Pour into the prepared baking dish, sprinkle the pecan topping evenly over the top, and bake until lightly browned and puffed around the edges, about 40 minutes. Yields 8 servings. MUSHROOM TART

Ideal as a side or even as a vegetarian main dish, this easy savory tart uses store-bought puff pastry to simplify the preparation. The mushroom mixture may be prepared up to 2 days in advance and refrigerated until it’s time to assemble the NEWENGLAND.COM

9/22/23 9:18 AM


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tart. You can also prep the entire tart up to 6 hours in advance, then cover it and refrigerate until you’re ready to bake. Note: You can substitute sour cream for the crème fraîche, but the latter definitely tastes best. 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil 2 tablespoons salted butter 1 medium yellow onion, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced (roughly 1½ cups) 1½ pounds sliced mushrooms (preferably a mix of cremini, shiitake, and white button) 2 garlic cloves, minced Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste 2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme 1 sheet puff pastry (preferably all-butter), defrosted and kept cold ¾ cup crème fraîche (or sour cream) 1 cup freshly shredded sharp cheddar cheese Chopped fresh parsley, for garnish

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. In a large sauté pan over mediumhigh heat, add olive oil and butter. Once the butter has melted, cook the onions until softened, about 6 minutes. Add the mushrooms and garlic and stir carefully. It may seem the pan is too full, but the mushrooms will cook down. Season to taste with salt and pepper and sauté until the mushrooms have cooked off most of their liquid, then increase the heat to high and sauté just until the cooking liquid has mostly evaporated, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove the pan from heat, stir in the thyme, and cool to room temperature. When you are ready to assemble the tart, preheat your oven to 400°F. Unroll the defrosted puff pastry on a lightly floured surface and roll the dough out to a 13-by-11-inch rectangle. Transfer the dough to the baking sheet. Using a sharp paring knife, lightly score a ½-inch border around the tart, being careful not to cut through the 90 |

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dough. Spread crème fraîche evenly across the dough within the border, sprinkle with cheese, and cover with the mushroom mixture. Bake until the puff pastry is golden and the mushroom mixture is bubbling, 22 to 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool for at least 15 minutes. Sprinkle with fresh parsley and serve warm or at room temperature. Yields 8 servings.

�e Sweets SPICED CR ANBERRY SWIRL MERINGUES

These fluffy meringue cookies swirled with spiced cranberry sauce look like Christmas itself. We love how the tartness of the sauce balances the sweet meringue. And with no flour in the mix, they are perfect for folks with gluten sensitivities. FOR THE CR ANBERRY PUREE

1 cup cranberries ¼ cup sugar ¾ cup water ¹⁄8 teaspoon ground nutmeg ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon FOR THE MERINGUES

4 egg whites, at room temperature ¾ teaspoon cream of tartar Pinch table salt ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract ¾ cup granulated sugar

First, make the cranberry puree: In a medium saucepan, combine the berries, sugar, water, and spices. Stir over medium-high heat until the sugar dissolves. Bring to a boil, decrease heat to medium-low, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the cranberries burst and the sauce has slightly thickened, 10 to 12 minutes. Carefully transfer to a blender and puree until smooth. Pour into a container and let cool completely. The puree may be made in advance and refrigerated for up to 5 days. Next, make the meringues: Preheat your oven to 225°F and line a pair of baking sheets with parchment paper. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted

with a whisk attachment, combine the egg whites, cream of tartar, salt, and vanilla and beat at medium-high speed until soft peaks form. Carefully add the sugar in a very slow stream and continue to beat until the meringue is thick and glossy and forms stiff peaks. S coop ½-c up mou nds of t he meringue onto the prepared baking sheets, leaving about ½ inch of space between them. Use a small offset spatula or the back of a spoon to shape the mounds into circles. Using the back of a teaspoon, make a slight impression in the meringue, then fill it with the puree. Use two chopsticks held together (or the tip of a knife) to swirl the puree through the meringue: Stick the chopsticks just under the puree at an angle, then gently lift them up and around the circumference, dragging the puree with them. Repeat, swirling clockwise, then counterclockwise, until you have pretty swirls. Be as gentle as possible so the meringue doesn’t deflate. Place the baking sheets in the oven and bake until meringues are dry to the touch, about 1½ hours, rotating the pans halfway through. Turn the oven off and allow them to cool completely inside the oven for at least 3 hours and up to overnight. Store meringues in a sealed container at room temperature for up to a week. Yields about 12 meringues. MOCHA BUNDT CAKE WITH COFFEE DRIZZLE

This cake uses the old-fashioned technique of adding hot liquid (a mixture of butter, cocoa, and coffee) to the dry ingredients, which gives it an incredibly moist crumb and rich chocolate flavor. The method was popularized in the 1950s with Texas Sheet Cake, and now that we’ve discovered it, we’re hooked. Note: To make very easy chocolate curls, take a chunky bar of semisweet chocolate and rub the palm of your hand briskly against the flat side to warm it up just a bit. Use a sharp vegetable peeler to peel off that top layer of warmed chocolate. It will naturally curl as you pull the peeler down the bar. Repeat this process until you have as many curls as you’d like. NEWENGLAND.COM

9/27/23 1:50 PM


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FOR THE CAKE

Nonstick baking spray, such as Bakery’s Joy brand 2½ cups (300 grams) all-purpose flour 2 cups granulated sugar 1 teaspoon baking soda ½ teaspoon table salt 2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, cut into small chunks 1½ cups fresh hot coffee ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder ¼ cup buttermilk 2 large eggs, lightly beaten 1 teaspoon vanilla extract FOR THE COFFEE DRIZZLE

2–3 tablespoons strong coffee or espresso, cooled 1 cup powdered sugar Pinch salt Chocolate curls, for garnish (see Note)

Preheat your oven to 350°F and set a rack to the middle position. Spray the Bundt pan with baking spray. Set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt. I n a me d iu m s auc e p a n ov e r medium heat, combine the 2 sticks butter, coffee, and cocoa powder. Whisk constantly until the mixture is smooth and bubbling at the edges, then remove from heat. Pour the still-hot cocoa mixture into the dry ingredients and use a spatula to fold it in until just combined. Add the buttermilk, eggs, and vanilla and stir until smooth. Pour the batter into the Bundt pan and bake until the cake is pulling away from the sides and a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean, 45 to 55 minutes. Remove from the oven and let sit in the pan for several minutes. Holding a cooling rack over the top of the pan, turn the cake over onto the rack, and lift the pan off the cake. Set the rack over a rimmed baking sheet to cool completely. When the cake is cool, make the coffee drizzle: In a medium bowl, pour 2 tablespoons coffee over the powdered sugar and salt, then stir until smooth. The drizzle should be loose 92 |

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enough to pour but thick enough to cling (you can test it by drizzling a bit over the top of the cake). If the mixture is too thick, add more coffee, one teaspoon at a time; if it’s too thin, add more sugar. Pour the drizzle over the cake so that it drips down the sides and any excess collects on the baking sheet. Let the frosting set for 5 minutes, then decorate with chocolate curls. Let the frosting completely set before serving. Yields 8 to 10 servings.

the remaining dough into grape-size pieces and sprinkle it over the jam layer. Transfer to the oven and bake until the jam is bubbling and the crust is light golden brown, 30 to 35 minutes. Let the bars sit in the pan until they have cooled enough to set up and hold together when you try to lift them out, about 20 minutes. Set on a wire rack to cool completely. When cool, dust with powdered sugar, then cut into squares. Yields 12 bars.

R ASPBERRY-ALMOND LINZER BARS

PEAR-APPLE- CR ANBERRY PANDOWDY

The combination of almonds and raspberries in traditional Austrian Linzer cookies is unbeatable, but rolling and cutting dough to create little cookie sandwiches takes time. Our solution? Linzer bars— just as delicious, in half the time. Note: Almond f lour can be expensive. If you’ d rather make your own, put blanched almonds in a blender and blitz until the texture is powdery but before it turns to almond butter.

A pandowdy is a deep-dish pie made in a skillet or casserole without the bottom crust. The top crust is cut into squares and shingled around the top. About halfway through baking, you gently press the squares down into the juices (or “ dowdy” them) so they become glazed with syrup.

2 cups all-purpose flour 1 cup almond flour ²⁄3 cup powdered sugar, plus more for sprinkling 1 teaspoon almond extract ½ teaspoon table salt 2½ sticks (1¼ cups) unsalted butter, cut into medium chunks ¾ cup raspberry jam

Preheat your oven to 350°F and set a rack to the middle position. Line a 9-by-13-inch pan with parchment paper, leaving extra parchment to hang over all the sides. This will help you lift the bars out of the pan later. Put the all-purpose f lour, almond flour, powdered sugar, almond extract, and salt in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse a few times to combine. Sprinkle the butter over the dry ingredients and process until the mixture comes together in a dough. Using your f ingers, press threequarters of the dough into the bottom of the prepared pan. It should be even in thickness, but doesn’t need to be perfectly smooth. Spread the raspberry jam over the bottom layer. Break

FOR THE CRUST

1¼ cups all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface 1 tablespoon granulated sugar ¾ teaspoon table salt 1 stick (½ cup) chilled unsalted butter, cut into small cubes 4–6 tablespoons ice water Milk, for brushing crust FOR THE FILLING

6 pears, peeled and cut into 1½-inch chunks 4 apples, peeled and cut into 1½-inch chunks ¹⁄3 cup granulated sugar 3 tablespoons cornstarch Juice and zest of ½ orange 1½ cups cranberries (thawed if frozen)

In a medium-size bowl, whisk together the f lour, sugar, and salt until well combined. Sprinkle the butter cubes over the f lour mixture, and use your fingers to smear them in. Stop when the mixture looks like cornmeal with some pea-size bits of butter remaining. Sprinkle 4 tablespoons ice water on top, and stir with a fork until the dough begins to come together. If needed, add another 1 to 2 tablespoons ice water. NEWENGLAND.COM

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Turn the dough out onto a lightly f loured surface and knead three times, or just enough to make it cohesive. Gather the dough into a ball; then press into a disc and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate 30 minutes. Preheat your oven to 425°F and set a rack to the middle position. Arrange the apple and pear chunks in a 12-inch ovenproof skillet with sides at least 2 inches high. Sprinkle with the sugar, cornstarch and orange juice and zest, then use a spatula to mix gently. Sprinkle the cranberries over the fruit mixture. On a lightly f loured surface, roll out the chilled dough into a rectangle about 9 inches wide, 11 inches long, and ¼ inch thick. Using a knife or pizza cutter, cut into squares roughly 3 inches across. Arrange the squares over the fruit, laying them slightly over each other to create a shingled effect. Brush with the milk. Bake the pandowdy until juices are bubbling and the pastry is golden brown, about 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and use a spatula to gently press the pastry down into the juices so it’s partly submerged. Return the pan to the oven to bake for an additional 10 to 15 minutes, until the pastry is nicely glazed and the sauce has thickened. Yields 8 servings.

Reflections of the Past Sustainability for the Future

EARL GREY HOT TODDY

A toddy made with hot water and whiskey is delicious, but adding Earl Grey tea provides an extra layer of citrusy, floral aromas. 1 Earl Grey tea bag 1 cup simmering water 1½ ounces (3 tablespoons) whiskey 1 tablespoon lemon juice 1 tablespoon honey Lemon slice and cinnamon stick, for garnish

Steep the tea bag in the simmering water until tea is aromatic but not bitter, about 30 seconds. Add the whiskey, lemon juice, and honey. Garnish with the lemon slice and cinnamon stick and serve hot. Yields 1 serving. NOVEMBER | DECEMBER 2023

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Travel | R E S O U R C E S

(Continued from p. 58) classic, long-wearing dress and casual shirts in solids, stripes, checks, and plaids. Denim and chambray lines feature the deep blue that only natural indigo dyes can provide. newenglandshirtco.com QUEEN ADELINE, Lowell. The vibrant colors and bold patterns of wax print fabrics are characteristic of Queen Allotey-Pappoe’s native Ghana. Queen’s collection of dresses in flowing, comfortable, and strikingly original designs are crafted from fibers sustainably sourced in Africa, on principles of fair trade with small-scale artisans. Shop online or check the website for pop-up retail and open studio events. queenadelinecollection.com SANDWICH LANTERN, Sandwich. Handcrafted of brass or copper in a variety of finishes, Sandwich’s signature “onion” lanterns—so called because of their plump glass globes—provide a warm front-door welcome, or lighting compatible with traditional interior design. Also available are anchor lights, with cylindrical globes in clear or “red on port, green on starboard” colors, as well as wall sconces and an extensive collection of chandeliers. sandwichlantern.com SPENCER PETERMAN, Gill. Castoffs from locally harvested hardwoods—cherry, black walnut, and the “Ambrosia maple” given its tiger-stripe patterns by the Ambrosia beetle—are fashioned into bowls and cutting/serving boards in a variety of silky oil and wax finishes. Oval or round bowls are offered in smooth or “live edge” rims that reflect the outer edge of the logs 100 |

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they were turned from; boards are available with or without handles. spencerpeterman.com

VERMONT BERGAMOT & AMOR, Williamstown.

Premium American-sourced cowhides— many from New England tanners—are cut and stitched into durable tote bags, laptop bags, and more, all copper-riveted and available in waxed or oiled finishes. Next door to Bergamot’s workroom is a gallery featuring work by local crafters, alongside bags in a variety of sizes. Special orders, including belts made to fit, are always welcome. bergamotamor.com D. LASSER CERAMICS, Londonderry. Daniel Lasser is a potter with a passion for color. Driving past his studio, it’s hard not to stop at the sight of his outdoor displays, and his dozens of online offerings are just as eyecatching. Lasser’s vivid dinnerware, goblets, serving pieces, vases, and even sculptures for the garden feature bold abstract designs and a color palette that banishes earth tones back to the ’70s. lasserceramics.com FARMHOUSE POTTERY, Woodstock. The name says a lot about the simple, cleanlined stoneware crafted by the potters at Farmhouse: These are just the kinds of elegantly utilitarian crocks, mugs, plates, bowls, and pitchers, in shades of beige and cream, that might be found in a tidy, old-fashioned farmhouse. There’s also an extensive line of woodenware, glass, and enamelware, which you can peruse in person at the Woodstock store. farmhousepottery.com JK ADAMS, Dorset. If it’s made of wood and meant for the kitchen, chances are it’s made

NEW HAMPSHIRE BUUE, Wilmot. “B-yoo” was the way a certain

toddler said “blue,” and her mother, Melissa McKeagney, started making clothing for her when she couldn’t find just what she wanted. Melissa now sews colorful block-printed cotton fabrics into an adorable line of skirts, pants, and flouncy little dresses in sizes from toddler up to 6. buuestudio.com FRYE’S MEASURE MILL, Wilton. The waters of the Souhegan River have powered the Frye’s mill since 1858, turning the beltdriven machinery that artisans still use to create classic trays and round or oval boxes true to Shaker design. The “measure” in the company name refers to early containers sized for specific amounts, but these simple wooden boxes look lovely holding fruit, dried flowers, or nothing at all. fryesmill.com HAMPSHIRE PEWTER, Somersworth. “Every special occasion deserves a little pewter,” say the Hampshire folks, and for these

COURTESY OF BERGAMOT + AMOR

Bergamot & Amor, Williamstown, VT

by the artisans at JK Adams. Select Vermont hardwoods go into an extensive line of longlasting, professional-grade cutting boards, cheese boards, serving bowls, wine racks, and utensils. Cookware, gourmet treats, Vermont maple syrup, and all things kitchen round out the offerings. jkadams.com MAD RIVER GLASS GALLERY, Waitsfield. For over 30 years, Melanie and David Leppla have fashioned and displayed their gorgeously imaginative glass creations at their Waitsfield workshop and gallery. Their vases and bowls venture far from utility into art, drawing on a luminous color palette and motifs ranging from flowers to undersea life. Their purely decorative pieces—especially a series of delicately balanced glass cairns— are truly museum quality. No surprise the Lepplas’ work graces several museum collections. madriverglassgallery.com MAPLE LANDMARK, Middlebury. Plastic simply isn’t part of the Vermont brand, especially for toys. For more than 40 years, Maple Landmark has been crafting hardwoods into toys for kids of all ages—from teething rings to building blocks, and trucks to trains, including the company’s signature “name trains” that spell out a child’s name as little hands guide them down their wooden tracks. maplelandmark.com SIMON PEARCE, Quechee. In the years since Irish native Simon Pearce brought his pottery and glassmaking skills to Vermont, his eponymous glassblowing studio and retail store has set the state standard for artisanship. Classic, uncluttered design and impeccable execution mark bowls, vases, carafes, and drinkware that makes a martini look invisibly clear. Pottery, woodenware, and special holiday items are among Pearce’s offerings, and many items are available as boxed gift sets. simonpearce.com

NEWENGLAND.COM

9/25/23 12:57 PM


“NOBSKA IN THE MORNING”

On a Sunny Summer Day Forrest Pirovano’s painting “Nobska in the Morning” shows A famous Cape Cod Lighthouse Nobska Point Lighthouse, a classic New Englandstyle lighthouse, situated at the entrance to Woods Hole Harbor, Massachusetts welcomes tens of thousands of visitors each year to the northerly side of Vineyard Sound. Established in 1828, this lighthouse serves to protect boats and ships in Vineyard Sound and Buzzards Bay. Today, most People view this lighthouse from a passing ferry boat as they travel between Martha’s Vineyard and Woods Hole. Nobska Light is now a museum and open to the public. This beautiful limited-edition print of an original oil painting, individually numbered and signed by the artist captures the majestic appearance of this world-famous lighthouse.

This exquisite print is bordered by a museum-quality white-on-white double mat, measuring 11x14 inches. Framed in either a black or white 1½-inch deep wood frame, this limited-edition print measures 12¼ X 15¼ inches and is priced at only $149. Matted but unframed the price for this print is $109. Prices include shipping and packaging Forrest Pirovano is a Cape Cod artist. His paintings capture the picturesque landscape and seascapes of the Cape which have a universal appeal. His paintings often include the many antique wooden sailboats and picturesque lighthouses that are home to Cape Cod.

FORREST PIROVANO, artist P.O. Box 1011 • Mashpee, MA 02649 Visit our studio in Mashpee Commons, Cape Cod All major credit cards are welcome. Please send card name, card number, expiration date, code number & billing ZIP code. Checks are also accepted.…Or you can call Forrest at 781-858-3691.…Or you can pay through our website www.forrestcapecodpaintings.com

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Travel | R E S O U R C E S pewterers, special occasions abound. They offer pewter Christmas ornaments, spoons and porringers for the new baby, and goblets for wedding and anniversary toasts; they’ll even work from clients’ custom designs. To make any dinner a special occasion, select from bowls, plates, mugs, and serving pieces in traditional designs. hampshirepewter.com HANDWEAVING BY NANCY, Ashuelot. Weaver Nancy O’Connor’s cotton rugs, placemats, tea towels, pillows, and table runners—all fashioned on her handoperated floor looms—add a bright, textured note to home decor. O’Connor also weaves colorful shawls using soft, breathable bamboo fibers, and scarves woven in a combination of bamboo and alpaca. Find online or at six retail outlets in New Hampshire and Vermont. handweavingbynancy.com

L.A. BURDICK HANDMADE CHOCOLATES,

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Walpole. Swiss-trained chocolatier Larry Burdick started with a simple idea, to elevate American chocolate craftsmanship to an art form based entirely on fresh ingredients in their natural state: cocoa from the finest beans, cream, butter, vanilla beans, whole fruits, and never extracts or artificial flavorings. Taste the results in six shops, including Burdick’s Walpole café, or in a mouthwatering array of bonbons for order online. burdickchocolate.com NEW ENGLAND BELLS, Bradford. “He gives his harness bells a shake,” wrote Robert Frost, and they were probably bells like the ones this outfit makes in New Hampshire. Here are strap bells, dog collar bells, bear bells for hikers, and door hanger bells that sound a lot nicer than a buzzer, all fashioned from brass (some available in nickel plate) with high-quality leather on strap models. newenglandbells.com SHANWARE POTTERY, Rumney. Richard Wetterer’s 50-plus years of experience as a potter stands behind a line of stoneware and porcelain useful and extensive enough to entirely outfit a kitchen. Bowls, lidded casseroles, dinnerware, mugs, and goblets are all oven-, microwave-, and dishwashersafe, and their deep, rich glazes are leadfree. Beyond the kitchen and dining room, Shanware vases, baskets, planters, and even clocks might find a place throughout the house. shanware.com

MAINE CROSS JEWELERS, Portland. Cross has

96 Lyme Street, Old Lyme, CT • 860.434.5542 FlorenceGriswoldMuseum.org

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worked with tourmaline, Maine’s state gemstone, for more than a century. The firm’s artisans employ a full array of precious and semiprecious stones, but tourmaline—mined in the mountains of southwestern Maine—has a special place here. Rings, pendants, earrings, NEWENGLAND.COM

9/25/23 12:58 PM


bracelets, and more appear in the gem’s color palette of greens, blues, and the distinctive pink variety that couple with a naturally occurring rim of green in Cross’s “Watermelon Patch” line. crossjewelers.com GREYFEATHER WOODCRAFT, Isleboro. Staffs are great for hiking—but what about walking? Get into the right rhythm, and a walking stick can actually help propel you along. Greyfeather’s Steve Miller fashions both staffs (no handles) and walking sticks (capped with handles). They’re made from wood sourced on Isleboro, and no two are alike. Choose from the inventory, or have a custom model made to a specified length, with brass, rubber, or pointed tip. greyfeatherwoodcraft.com LITTLE SALTY ROPE, Deer Isle. The problem with doormats is that they get treated like doormats. Most last just a couple of seasons—but not rope doormats, a clever by-product of the Down East lobster fishery. Woven from the tough polypropylene rope that tethers lobster traps, they’re all but indestructible. Little Salty’s father-daughter team make their mats in Maine, offering them, along with matching woven-rope baskets, in an array of cheerful color combinations. littlesaltyrope.com NORTH COUNTRY WIND BELLS, Round Pond. North Country’s Maine-made bells are inspired by the sounds of the seacoast, and their collection of buoy bells reproduces the distinctive tones— each one different from the others— heard in harbors from Down East to Charleston, and even along the Pacific. An extensive selection of “windcatchers” brings the bells to life with a touch of breeze, summoning memories of foggy mornings and sharp salt air. northcountrywindbells.com SEA BAGS, Portland. There’s recycling and then there’s “upcycling,” which is what this Maine company does with the tough textiles that have propelled sailing vessels Down East and beyond. Sails that have finished their useful life, many still bearing nautical insignia, are fashioned into totes, pillows, and home accessories ranging from wine bags to deck chairs in workrooms on a historic Portland wharf. Shop online or at one of 50 locations throughout the Northeast. seabags.com SEACOLORS YARNERY, Washington. Seacolors’ blankets aren’t just made in Washington, Maine—they’re grown there. The sheep at Meadowcroft Farm yield wool that’s dyed in seawater using natural colors, and woven on antique looms just a few miles from the meadows where the animals graze. Distinctively striped blankets in a lush twill weave come in king, queen, and “napper” sizes, all soft, lustrous, and sure to become family NOVEMBER | DECEMBER 2023

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The only full-service luxury Inn in Freeport, ME

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The Harraseeket Inn is a family-owned, 94-room luxury inn located in the heart of Freeport, Maine. The hotel features two great restaurants, an indoor heated pool, a variety of accommodations including twenty-three rooms with fireplaces, the L.L. Bean Guest House, two- and three-bedroom townhouses, and select pet-friendly rooms — all just a few minutes’ walk from the best shopping on the Maine Coast, and the Amtrak Downeaster train station. Our professional staff welcomes the opportunity to assist you with every detail of your overnight stay, conference, social gathering, or wedding. We look forward to welcoming you for a stay with us soon.

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Travel | R E S O U R C E S heirlooms. Sweaters, yarn, and unspun fleece are also available. getwool.com

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from the soapery’s goats combine with olive, palm, and coconut oils, and vitamin-rich shea butter to create soaps mild enough for the most sensitive skin. Choose from 30-plus scents, ranging from patchouli to “Manly Man,” in 5-ounce bars, 11-bar “logs,” and bargain, end-cut “Scrapples.” Available online and at select shops in Connecticut and Rhode Island. goatboy.us KINSHIP GLASSWORKS, Milford. Vivid colors, textured surfaces, and custom artistry are hallmarks of Kinship’s line of functional and decorative glassware. All orders are custom—vases, drinking glasses, paperweights, ornaments, votive candle holders, and more—and are crafted at the studio and gallery by master glassblower Christopher Demott and his team. Enrollment in a class, with a finished product to take home, is a great gift idea for anyone who has always wanted to try glassblowing. kinshipglassworks.com MEB’S KITCHENWARES, Woodstock. In their solar-powered workshop in Connecticut’s “Quiet Corner,” Meb and her husband, Tom, fashion free-form kitchenware out of locally sourced hardwoods including cherry, curly maple, beech, apple, and black walnut. Their bowls, cutting and serving boards, knives and spreaders, and even table utensils are sanded to a lustrous smoothness and finished with linseed oil. As seen on Weekends with Yankee. mebskitchenwares.com M ICHELE’S PIES, New Canaan. Here’s the headquarters for a life of pie: fruit pies, nut pies, cream pies, savory pot pies, and even quiche. They’re handcrafted by Michele Stuart and her dedicated baking team with fresh, locally sourced, and seasonal ingredients. Yes, there are National Pie Championships, and Michele’s has won 33 first-place awards. Shipping is via Goldbelly, and “Pie of the Month” gift cards are available. michelespies.com MYSTIC KNOTWORK, Mystic. Old-time sailors with time on their hands elevated the knack of creative knotting to an art form, which survives today in Mystic’s line of wearables, household goods, and more. Look for bracelets and anklets, necklaces and barrettes, trivets and napkin rings, woven bowls and wreaths, and even tightly woven balls to toss to the dog. Lanyards? Of course—just like what you made at summer camp, only better. mysticknotwork.com NUTMEG + HONEY, West Hartford. An intrepid search for Connecticut-made gifts NEWENGLAND.COM

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could involve traipsing all over the state … or a simple online scroll through Nutmeg + Honey’s vast trove of specialty foods, housewares, luxury soaps and facial treatments, and more, all carefully curated and attractively presented in theme gift boxes, baskets, and bags with a seasonal focus. nutmeghoney.com WOODBURY PEWTER, Woodbury. Pewter, the material of everyday housewares in colonial times, has enjoyed a revival as a less expensive alternative to silver. Calling on time-honored methods—and, for some pieces, molds hundreds of years old— Woodbury’s artisans use today’s lead-free pewter alloys of tin, antimony, and copper to craft modern and reproduction cups, pitchers, teapots, plates, serving utensils, and decorative pieces available in bright or satin finishes. woodburypewter.com

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Travel | R E S O U R C E S Clancy Designs, Jamestown, RI

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that seem kissed with morning dew. The Clancys’ functional pieces—bowls, pitchers, tumblers, martini and margarita glasses, all hand-blown—are splashed with bright, happy colors. clancydesigns.com DAVE’S COFFEE SYRUP, Narragansett. Rhode Island’s state drink, coffee milk, is made with cold milk and a few dollops of a sweet elixir known as coffee syrup. At the Dave’s roastery in Narragansett, this Ocean State staple is crafted from cold-brewed Brazilian coffee, cane sugar, and cassava root. If the Dave’s locations in Providence and Charlestown are too far a drive, the company’s syrup and coffees are available online. davescoffee.com KENYON’S GRIST MILL, West Kingston. In Rhode Island, cornmeal means johnnycakes, and Kenyon’s has ground meal for the Ocean State’s iconic flapjacks for 327 years. The current mill was built in 1886, and corn (pesticide-free and non-GMO) is still ground between the original stones. Buy yellow, red, blue, or white cornmeal—some from rare Rhode Island flint corn—along with pancake and johnnycake mixes online or at the mill store. kenyonsgristmill.com

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Finding Their Way Home (Continued from p. 80) in—beset by parasites and worms, f lea-ravaged, undernourished. He named the mother “Annie.” She was small, black and white, with rough fur that suggested wirehaired terrier ancestry. She was playful and filled with the good nature of a dog who seemed to know her life had taken a turn. “She was my shadow. She followed me everywhere,” Davis recalls. “She even jumped a four-foot-high fence just to be where I was.” While some dogs need months to be well enough to travel, Annie’s stay at the ranch would last only a few weeks: time to mend, to be spayed, microchipped, groomed, and well fed. To be made as attractive and appealing as a dog who likely had never slept indoors could be. Then, in the early-morning darkness of Tuesday, November 1, Annie and her puppies found themselves crated in a 28-foot trailer hitched to a steel-gray van. Joining them were some 100 other rescued dogs, all bound for Rhode Island, 1,800 miles and 40 hours away. At several points along the way, Davis and his two helpers would stop and walk the dogs, letting them sniff the fresh air. “Three hours is as long as I go without seeing what is happening back in the trailer,” Davis explains. By early Thursday they had arrived at a farm not far from the Rhode Island ocean. There, the rescues would recover from the long trip, and be bathed and groomed, nails clipped, ready for their closeup in two days. On Saturday, Annie, along with her traveling companions, went back into their crates, this time for a short ride to Clark Farms in Matunuck, where an immense greenhouse and property had been given over to Always Adopt, one of the biggest dog adoption events in the country. They would be joined by many other Southern rescues who had been living with local foster families and at New England shelters. For six hours, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Always Adopt would see throngs of people coming by and 108 |

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Annie, the rescued wirehaired terrier mix from Texas, enjoys some cuddle time with Sam Hogg and Sarah Paquet of Providence. More than a year after the passing of their beloved miniature schnauzer, the couple came to the Always Adopt event at Clark Farms to see if they were ready for a new four-legged family member.

Anderson has given each shelter a bell; when a dog is adopted, that bell’s ring fills the room. experiencing something like a rescue street bazaar, filled with barking, tails wagging, and an almost overwhelming mix of excitement and nerves. The event’s creator and director for the past decade is Louise Anderson. “Imagine how you felt when you adopted your own dog,” she tells people. “Now multiply that feeling by hundreds.” Inside the greenhouse, the dogs who only weeks earlier faced a bleak future would now have a few hours, as one rescue volunteer said, “to win you over.”

T

he first Saturday in November brings short-sleeve weather by early morning. The last of Clark Farms’ pumpkins lie on the ground, along with dry corn stalks from its popular maze. Anderson has

been here since 6 a.m., but the event itself is the easy part. For the past several months she has been working to ensure that everything comes together for this day: the area shelters that bring their dogs, Davis’s transport, health certifications for all the rescues, references from vets for everyone who had applied online for a dog, pet approvals from landlords for their tenants, even a food truck. For Anderson, the stakes are too high to relax. “These dogs have come a long way,” she says. “I think they somehow know it’s their chance. We call it their ‘freedom ride.’” She has organized Always Adopt days twice a year in Rhode Island since 2013, missing only two pandemic years. The event has grown from hosting 90 dogs and welcoming 700 people in the beginning to often having more than 400 dogs and several thousand people. Like many who work in animal rescue, she says success is not about numbers, that one healthy dog killed is too many, but still: Under her watch, more than 7,000 rescues have found a new life. Shortly before 9 a.m., Anderson speaks to her team of volunteers outside the greenhouse. She is upbeat and energetic, dressed in shorts and sneakers with a pink Always Adopt T-shirt with “Pack Leader” emblazoned on the back. A volunteer handler is assigned to be with each of the nearly 300 dogs. NEWENGLAND.COM

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There are also dog trainers and helpers to keep everything clean, water dishes filled, hundreds of cars parked, and all the people checked in. To understand Anderson’s passion for this day, you need to know her backstory. After 20 years as a physical therapist in Britain, she married an American businessman, John Nicolosi. They moved to Rhode Island in 2001, and in 2006 she shifted her focus to therapy for small animals. “No rescue animal ever pays for PT [from me],” she notes. “Some special-needs animals get free treatment for life.” Every dog she has ever owned has been her “soul mate,” Anderson says, and years after losing them she still tears up when saying their names. Her current dog is a collie mix named Teddy, found in a roadside box in Tennessee beside a sign reading “Free puppies.” She and her husband set up the Nicolosi Foundation for Animal Welfare to pay the bills for Always Adopt and to help other rescues with medical care for their animals. (The $600 adoption fee at the event covers only a fraction of what rescue shelters and foster families actually pay to care for the animals, often for weeks at a time.) Anderson’s life changed after she watched a documentary in 2012 about kill shelters. “I couldn’t sleep for days,” she remembers. “I thought, What can I do? What can one person do? Not a lot? Or can I?” She attended conferences on dog adoption and visited shelters to learn about their challenges. “When I first started doing this,” she says, “the only way people were adopting [kill-shelter] dogs was on wonderful websites like Petfinder and Adopt a Pet. You’d click on the site and look at photos and fill out an application, and soon the dog would be put on a transport and you might meet your new friend at a truck stop. Boom—into your arms. I thought it was amazing how well it works. The dogs leap out, and it’s like they know this is their family now. But I thought, What if we could bring a lot of dogs who needed homes to one place on one day? People could see so many 110 |

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at once. They could look into a dog’s eyes. We could be matchmakers.” And then she decided this: “I had to go to the front lines. I had to visit my rescue partners down South. I had to experience what they did. What they felt.” So she accompanied rescue workers to a Louisiana kill shelter as they chose the dogs they could save on one day. With them, she also searched under bridges for strays, listening for little voices and whimpers. “I needed in some small way to understand what they have to do. Their daily routine is looking for abandoned animals. They are the real heroes here. They will keep [the dogs]

When people walk past, glancing but not stopping at her dog, one volunteer calls quietly but with a tone of urgency: “Take a look.” for as long as they need to, to get them healthy to find homes.” It is why she and Davis have been friends for years: In the animal rescue world, where burnout and discouragement take a steep toll, they live for the victories. “Advocate for the dog,” she tells the Always Adopt volunteers. “Ask people not to rush. Find out as much as you can about the dog you’re handling, so you can be as informed as possible to anyone showing interest in your dog.” Her voice rises as she wraps up her short talk. “Now let’s find all these dogs a home!” The greenhouse doors are set to open at 10. As Anderson finishes, a symphony of barking announces the arrival of Davis and his long-distance cargo. One by one, Davis’s dogs are delivered into the hands and leashes of their handlers, and scamper off. Anderson looks around. “I just want people to come with an open heart,” she says.

W

aiting in a long line of preapproved “early birds” to enter right at 10 is a young couple from Providence: Sarah, a librarian, and her husband, Sam, an architect. A year and a half earlier, they’d said good-bye to their miniature schnauzer, Stich. “He was such a good boy,” Sarah says. As Stich aged, he lost his hearing, his eyesight faded, he stumbled. “We kept adapting to whatever changes he needed. We got a dog stroller and propped him up with cushions so he could eat. Then the spark left him. Our vet understood. “I thought I would never want another dog,” she continues. “How can another dog be as cute? Or make us laugh again? I wasn’t ready. But after a year, my husband started asking, so we visited shelters. Every time a shelter listed a dog that looked promising, it would get swooped up by someone else. I thought Always Adopt would mean more chance at finding the one.” What Sarah does not know, as she waits to enter, is the answer to what everyone who has lost a dog wonders: Will I be ready? When the doors open, handlers are walking their dogs on leashes to show them off. The puppies play in their own enclosed area. The participating shelters have set up displays with photos of their dogs and paperwork ready to be filled out. Anderson has given each shelter a bell; when a dog is adopted, that bell’s ring fills the room. There is a lot to take in—too much for some dogs. In a quiet corner, Gina Macaione crouches over one trembling animal. A certified Reiki master, she says her task is to “chill the little guys out.” She massages calming oil into the dog’s fur, pressing into tense muscles while speaking softly. “I keep them here long enough to get them to not be nervous. I don’t want them to miss out on their forever home.” When Macaione finishes, the handler tells the dog, “You are going home today to a soft bed and a lovely family.” Macaione takes a breath. “Fingers crossed.” Kelli, a 3-year-old shepherd mix from Texas, enters shaking. But after a few minutes nestled against Macaione, she calms. Dawn, her handler, leads NEWENGLAND.COM

9/27/23 1:52 PM


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her just beyond the greenhouse, away from the buzz. They sit together beside a little hut with “Letters to Santa” on its door. When people walk past, glancing but not stopping, Dawn calls quietly but with a tone of urgency: “Take a look.” Outside the greenhouse is a special section with a sign reading “Meet and Greet.” If a potential adopter already has a dog at home, an important test awaits: Will the two animals be compatible? One of Davis’s dogs, Ashley, is here—small, black and brown, with long, thin hair. Her handler, Stephanie, leads her to where a retired nurse named Jacqueline and her husband are waiting with their dog, Archie. “Are you ready to meet your new family?” Stephanie asks. “Ashley, welcome to New England,” Jacqueline says, as the dogs meet, sniffing, figuring things out. (“No aggression,” notes Stephanie. “That’s a good thing.”) Ashley will live with her new

At the end of the day, perhaps two dozen dogs remain, but none will ever return to the South; they belong now to New England. family, with lots of space to romp. “I can have fun with my new kids,” Jacqueline says. “Archie now has a new friend.” An older man is walking with a dog he’s adopting: Tyson, whom Davis has ferried north. “C’mon, buddy,” the man coaxes. “He needs meat on his bones,” says the handler. The man’s daughter explains that her father, who is 85, lost his dog a while ago and now “needs someone to look after.” She says if anything happens to her father, she and

her husband will take Tyson in. “He’s so mellow,” Davis says, leaning down for a good-bye pat. “He has a brother. There wasn’t room for him this time. Next time.” By midafternoon, the crowd has thinned a bit. Bells have been ringing constantly, and you see cars driving away, windows down, the heads of dogs poking out, sniffing the scent of freedom. A volunteer named Lisa says she has done this for seven years and has always left happy because the dog she was assigned to handle had found a home. But it’s now three hours in, and she’s getting worried about her current charge, a year-old mix of generations of Texas strays. A family with a little blueeyed girl is headed to where the puppies are playing, but they pause to look at Lisa’s dog. The girl kneels down to provide a friendly pat before they move on. In the final hour before the end of the event, Anderson walks through the greenhouse, talking quietly with the

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volunteers. Perhaps two dozen dogs remain, but none will ever return to the South; they belong now to New England. The next day, they will be brought to a nearby PetSmart adoption event, and most will go to new homes that day, with foster families taking care of the few that on this day did not hear their names called. As for Sarah and Sam, the young couple from Providence, they had come to Always Adopt wanting a male but were stopped by the sight of a small black and white female, with fur that spoke of wirehaired terrier along the way. It was Annie, and amid the swirl, she was quietly wrapped around her handler’s legs. “She was just looking around,” Sarah would later recall. “No barking, no wagging or pulling, and most important, no other interested parties. We just locked eyes.” “Let’s take a walk,” Sarah told Annie. When she and Sam and the dog sat together outside, there were tears. Looking back on that moment, Sarah says she realized: “I was ready.” Nearly a year later, Sarah sends this report: “Annie is a cuddler. She loves to dive into your arms and push her head into your neck. She cannot get close enough! We go to dog parks and she loves to steal the ball from a dog that’s playing fetch and then get the entire park pack to chase her. We have said many times how lucky we are to have her.”

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I hopped down into (Continued from p. 120) the trench where coffee; Kyle was halfway into his cus- the road used to be. tomary predawn Mountain Dew. It I was standing in was still raining, though only lightly. The air was dense with humidity, and what was effectively I could hear a steady roar from the stream that runs alongside the Moun- a riverbed that tain Road from the height of the land continued as far down to the valley below, where it joins the Upper Lamoille River on down the hill as I its way to Lake Champlain. But even this was something I’d become accus- could see. Life in the Kingdom

tomed to: The stream had been roaring for weeks now, and I liked that I could hear the sound of the water from the house. I found it soothing, almost meditative. “Pretty sure we’re screwed,” said Kyle as we pulled out of our driveway, though of course he didn’t say “screwed.” Already that morning, he’d gotten reports from workers on neighboring road crews, and these reports were not hopeful. From the sound of it, large sections of road had been affected, and some were rumored to be impassable. Yet as we drove down the Mountain Road, alongside that roaring stream, the true consequences still seemed distant, even improbable. The Mountain Road itself had escaped relatively unscathed; sure, there were places where the stream (now a frothing river) had scoured its banks and undermined the roadway, and sure, there was the bridge that had sacrificed one of its wing walls to an earlier, localized storm a few weeks back, necessitating a detour. But by and large, things looked fairly normal. I relaxed into the passenger seat of Kyle’s truck, all but certain that the rumors were overstated, and that the warnings from state off icials, while justif ied as a precautionary measure, had been unnecessary. It was just another heav y rain event, requiring no more than the typical remediation: a few loads of material here, a new culvert there, and a bit more overtime for Kyle. Nothing we hadn’t seen before. Nothing we hadn’t dealt with. 118 |

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All that changed when we turned onto Gonyaw Road, one of the main routes connecting our town to the paved north-south passage of Route 16. Because Gonyaw Road was, well, gone. Kyle parked a bit closer to the edge of the former roadway than I might have preferred, and we both clambered out. “Holy crap,” I said, though of course I didn’t say “crap.” I hopped down into the trench where the road used to be; what remained of the road surface was now at chest height. I was standing in what was effectively a riverbed that continued as far down the hill as I could see. I climbed out, and we drove to Schoolhouse Road; it, too, was a riverbed. Then to Hutchins Farm Road: another riverbed. Three of the primary roads connecting us to the wider world had been effectively erased. This was something we hadn’t seen before. This was something that would take months to fix. Yet in comparison with neighboring communities, our town had fared remarkably well. We are settled on the f lanks of a mountain, a topographical feature that has its share of drawbacks, to be sure, but all of which now seem to pale before one primary compensation: There are few places for f loodwaters to gather. W hile many of our roads were essentially washed away, there was relatively little damage to personal property. As we all know by now, the same cannot be said of many other communities in Vermont. Shortly after the f looding, I drove to Montpelier to

help a friend finish moving out of her house, which lay in the lowest part of town, only steps from the river. By then, I had seen plenty of news coverage regarding the devastation to Vermont’s capital, yet I was entirely unprepared for the in-person reality of it: the towering piles of debris lining every foot of every downtown sidewalk, the silt that covered the ground, and perhaps most affecting to me, the acrid smell of diesel fuel mixed with the manky odor of river sludge. Everywhere I looked, people were hauling trash to those tall windrows. Many wore masks. Most looked very, very tired. We filled Mollie’s car with what remained of her salvageable belongings. She would be staying with a friend for the time being; beyond that, she could not say, though she knew she wouldn’t be returning to the house she had rented for many years. After all, this was the second time in a dozen years that downtown Montpelier had been inundated by a so-called “100-year event.” Yet this sweet little city, nestled like so many Vermont communities into folds of land along the banks of a river, still felt like home to her. One day, she might return. When I visited Montpelier three week s later, much had changed. Many of the windrows of debris were gone, some stores were open, and overall the downtown felt more alive. People were out and about, not merely those engaged in cleanup but also those just going about their everyday business. I parked at the end of State Street and walked to the edge of the Winooski River, which on July 11 had crested above 21 feet, a full 15 feet higher than it was today. The water burbled along, now placid. Upstream from me, some children were throwing rocks into the water for no reason I could discern but the simple pleasure of it. Maybe things weren’t back to normal—not yet, anyhow, and for some, not for a while—and surely there would be challenges ahead. But for now, it seemed, the storm had passed. NEWENGLAND.COM

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Life in the Kingdom | B E N H E W I T T

After the Rains Another once-in-a-century flood hits home. ILLUSTR ATION BY TOM HAUGOMAT

slept through much of the heavy rain that fell during the night of Monday, July 10. Partly this was because I’m an excellent sleeper, capable of slumber in all manner of adverse circumstances. And partly it was because it had already been raining for weeks. The constancy of the rain (and not merely the rain itself— its drumbeat on the roof, the way it soaked through my jeans every morning at chores, how it ensured that our line-dried laundry was never quite dry—but the idea of it) had inured me to its presence and, despite myriad warnings from state officials regarding the possibility of severe f looding, lulled me into a sense of complacency. After all, nothing truly awful had occurred over the previous month of incessant rainfall. How much damage could one more night of rain possibly inflict? It was early on Tuesday morning when Kyle, who 120 |

YK1123_BOB_REV_Kingdom.indd 120

composes the entirety of our town’s road crew, pulled into our driveway in his big silver Ford pickup. I serve on our three-person select board, and in this capacity I have become Kyle’s main point of contact with our town’s administrative process, which includes occasional tours of the 16-ish miles of Class II and Class III gravel roads that fall under our purview. These tours are typically uneventful, an opportunity to assess which ditches might need cleaning out before winter, or if a culvert is due for replacement, or whether we should hire someone to mow alongside the roads. It was light but yet not fully day when I climbed into the cab of Kyle’s truck, which means it was probably a bit after 5 a.m. I was drinking my customary cup of predawn (Continued on p. 118) NEWENGLAND.COM

9/28/23 2:30 PM


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