Day: January 9, 2014

In The Battle For Most Picturesque Photo Location Who You Got Between The Burnham House In Essex and Motif No 1 and The Paint Factory

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

So Anthony Marks Photo This Morning Of The Burnham House Got Me To Thinking…

In The Battle For More Picturesque Photo Location Who You Got Between The Burnham House In Essex and Motif No 1 in Rockport and The Paint Factory in Gloucester.

At One Time I might have said the Paint Factory but it’s such a mess now you’d have to put it out of the running.   The Burnham House In Essex has the Natural surroundings thing going for it.  Rockport’s Motif No 1 is nice in it’s own right and probably has the most world wide cache.

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Here’s a shot of Motif No 1 from Matthew Green-

aaaand The Paint Factory from Manny Simoes-

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Let’s run a couple different polls-



Sista Felica’s Extends an Invitation To All SJP Students Tomorrow

Posted on by Sista Felicia

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opendoorBy now everyone has heard the media reports about the bomb threat made earlier this week at St. John’s Preparatory School in Danvers Ma, for tomorrow’s school day.  School administration has worked closely with authorities all week and has successfully implemented precautionary guidelines for the school community to follow.  The decision to send our sons to school tomorrow has been the topic of discussion all week. We were notified today that tomorrow classes remain as scheduled, but they will be allowing an excused absence to any student not attending tomorrow’s classes.

Tonight every SJP Parent needs to make a decision that they feel comfortable with. This is not a time to cast stones and make judgment on others and their decisions. But I thought I ‘d extend an open invitation to those who have decided not to attend classes tomorrow.

This afternoon, I reached out to The Open-Door Food Pantry to make arrangements for an afternoon of service for any St. John’s Preparatory student who has decided to not attend classes tomorrow.

All are Welcome to participate.  Please help me spread the word to SJP students who may be interested in helping others tomorrow

Details:

PLEASE IN BOX ME YOUR SONS NAME IF PLANNING TO ATTEND~ the open door can accommodate small and large groups, I just need to provide a head count before noon time tomorrow.

Details:

The boys are scheduled to begin at 12:00 pm tomorrow (I will Chaperone)

Dress: in comfortable work clothes

Address:

The Open-Door Food Pantry

28 Emerson Avenue

Gloucester Massachusetts 01930

The Scarf, With Pockets!

Posted on by Kimsmithdesigns

Scarf with Pockets ©Kim Smith 2014. JPG -3 copy The ideal scarf for photographers ~ a scarf-with-pockets!

If you are anything like me, when out photographing or filming, your coat pockets are so over-stuffed that there is no room for frozen fingers. Typically, my pockets contain second and third alternate lenses, car keys, lens cap, lens wiping cloth, and gloves. The gloves are off so that I can work the cameras, which invariably leads to numb hands and fingers. Meet the scarf-with-pockets. In between shots, you can tuck your hands into the convenient scarf pockets. For added warmth, I worked this in the brioche stitch, which creates a luxuriously textured and lofty pattern.

My favorite yarn currently is Frog Trees’s gorgeous Chunky Alpaca. Alpaca is warm and cozy, with a similarly soft feel to that of cashmere, and is NOT ITCHY!

You can purchase Frog Tree’s Chunky Alpaca from Robert at Coveted Yarn. Frog Tree yarns are fair trade; profits from the sale of yarns goes to the artisan.

Frog Tree chunky Alpaca ©Kim Smith 2014 copyChunky Alpaca comes in a beautiful array of colors. If Robert doesn’t have the color you are looking for in stock, ask, and he will custom order it for you.

4 Skeins Frog Tree Chunky Alpaca

#6 needles (or size to suit your knitting style; I knit very loosely)

Cast on, very loosely 24 sitiches. Work basic brioche stitch for approximately 52 inches. Bind off loosely. Scarf measurement before pockets: 52″ in length, 6″ wide.

For each pocket ( work both simultaneously on the same needles so they come out the same length), loosely cast on 48 stitches. Work knit one pearl one ribbing for one inch. Switch to brioche stitch and work until total length of pockets equals the same width of scarf (in this case, 6 inches). Bind off very loosely. Slightly stretch and block ribbing to equal width of the pocket. Stitch pockets to scarf.

Scarf with Pockets ©Kim Smith 2014. JPGPocket Detail

End Notes ~ The brioche stitch is a little tricky. Heidi, who works at Coveted Yarn, recommended online youtube tutorials, which I did, and found it was a terrific way to learn a new pattern. This is the perfect winter for an extra thick and lofty scarf and I’ll be busy on a second scarf-with-pockets because daughter Liv has claimed the red one in the photo.

I have recently noticed scarves with pockets in shops and the pocket openings were acclimated horizontally rather than vertically, as are the pockets in this pattern. That’s a great idea, because the pockets can then be used to also hold items however, the openings would be less conveniently placed for warming hands.

Frog Tree chunky Alpaca Coveted yarn ©Kim Smith 2014

Join Chef Matt Beach at the Chef’s Table Sunday, January 12th at 6pm: 4 Openings

Posted on by Kimsmithdesigns

There are four openings for Chef Matt Beach’s Open Chef’s Table. The menu and accompanying wines look absolutely beautiful and, after having sampled Chef Matt’s Warm Apple Tarte Tartin, I can honestly say I would go just for the tarte alone!

Treat a date or guest to a lovely evening of warm and wonderful hospitality, and an equally as wonderful dining experience!
Open Chef’s Table – Sunday, January 12
6:00 p.m.
$75.00 per person
Great time to use that beach gourmet
gift certificate!
beachfood
Open Chef’s Table – Sunday, January 12
6:00 p.m.
(Most tables sell out within 24 hours)!
Greetings!
Please join us for beach gourmet’s
 Open Chef’s Table
(You can sign up for one place or all 12)
MENU

Hors d’oeuvres

Wine: Adami Vignetto Giardino single vineyard, premier cru Prosecco

The Veneto, Italy

Salad

 

 Mesclun greens, oranges, pistachio, and goat cheese with champagne vinaigrette

Wine: Cellar de Roure Cullerot Bianco

Valencia, Spain

 

 

Entrée

 

Spiced Duck breast with Port-cherry sauce, crispy potato, and roasted green beans

Wine: Domaine de Cristia 2010 Chateuaneuf-du-Pape

Southern Rhone, France

Dessert
 

Warm Apple Tart Tatin

Wine: Mas Amiel Muscat de Rivesaltes

Languedoc-Rousillon, France
 
The Open Community Chef’s Table

Here is how it works. There are twelve seats available at the table.  You can reserve as many seats as you like.

Take one or take all twelve seats and invite your friends to join you. Your personal dining experience begins at 6:00 p.m. when you arrive at Savour Wine and Cheese for hors d’oeuvres and wine tasting at the wine machines.

Dinner begins at 6:00 p.m. when you join your dining companions (whomever has bought the other 11 seats) for a four-course meal, each course paired with tasting-portion wines chosen by our in-house expert, Kathleen Erickson Morgan.

Call today to reserve your seat.  You can use a credit card to reserve your place and we will  not charge it until the day of the event.  If you choose to pay by check, make it out to Beach Gourmet.  

 

Checks will be held until the evening of the event.  (As this is such a small gathering, we must charge for no-shows, or cancellations within the 24 hours prior to the event.  Just call and let us know).

Price per seat is $75.00  Wine is served in tasting portions, and is complimentary.  (MA Meals Tax and gratuity not included).  As always, if you have a food allergy, please inform your server.  We look forward to sharing this great event with you!

Sincerely,
Chef Matt Beach and
Kathleen Erickson Morgan
(Co-owner of Savour Wine and Cheese)
beach gourmet – 978 282-1414
Savour – 978 282-1455

A Cooks Dream!

Posted on by Sista Felicia

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Ruffoni Hammered Stainless Steel 7-qt. Braiser……I am in love!

It’s a new year and I am especially looking forward to two big milestone celebrations in 2014! In a few days I will kick off the year by celebrating my 45 Birthday, six months later, my  husband and I will be celebrating our 20th wedding anniversary, and a month after that our twins celebrate their Sweet 16 th Birthday! Time truly flies by when you’re having fun!!

I have joked for years with friends and family that every woman needs to be given a bridal shower every 10-15 years to replace and/or update broken or worn out kitchen gadgets and appliances. How many times have you secretly wished for this? It amazes me that marketing companies haven’t presented this idea to the thousands of companies out there that provide kitchen items.

There seems to be a tunnel-vision focus on targeting newlywed brides. Married women (who actually have kitchen experience) and 10 or more years of kitchen experience under their belts have been pushed aside and placed on the back burner. It doesn’t seem possible that I could be the only one who would love to have another bridal shower! There must be others with this same dream?

Hundreds of thousands of women/ men/ cooks would be thrilled to be the recipients of a 10-15 year bridal shower party, don’t you think? If only one person stepped up to the plate and pitched this idea to the world, everyone would team up and follow with the same game plan. It would be a home run for everyone. Cooking equipment sales would increase  and American kitchens would be updated with the newest cutting edge culinary technology!

Most of the time over the past three years was spent writing my first cookbook “Gifts of Gold and a Sicilian Kitchen with Sister Felicia, Harvest”.   Last year was spent in full-blown production mode, meeting deadlines to get  the cookbook to print.  In the process of production my kitchen gadgets and appliances have taken a beating.  Many are either broken or on their last leg!

I’ve loved every moment of the journey.  From compiling, writing, editing, creating, photographing, re-photographing, and actually making the recipes to the marketing and  shipping of the book it was all an exhilarating experience and I am so grateful to my family and team for their integral roles in making this dream a reality!

WITH ALL THAT SAID….

I recently took a stroll through one of my favorite stores, Williams-Sonoma and spotted the most gorgeous pan I have seen. I was there to return my broken pepper mill. Just another casualty left behind in the wake of making that cookbook dream a reality. If you have never been to a Williams-Sonoma store before and you enjoy cooking, you simply must find a location near you and make a special visit. This stores wide range of products, will trigger all your senses!

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 There are amusement park destinations for children…and there are William-Sonoma stores for cooks!

What is important in my kitchen might not be important to you in yours. But Williams-Sonoma is a place every cook (good, bad, experienced or not) can dream.  On this particular visit I spotted dozens of items I dream of buying some day.  Some items that need replacing and other items that in creating a dish warrant a specific new tool.

Every time I visit William-Sonoma I think about that “10 year married woman bridal shower concept” for long time married brides that I have been joking about with my friends and family for years.

Fishing Boat’s Enemy ~ Ice

Posted on by Fredrik Bodin
It appears that we'll be out of the arctic's grip in a few days. In this circa 1950 photo, the fishing boat is iced up and cannot go out. Ice can destabilize a vessel to the point of capsizing if not removed. It needs to be removed with sledge hammers and shoveled overboard. The crew, already tired from fishing around the clock, becomes exhausted from ice removal.
It appears that we’ll be out of the arctic’s grip in a few days. In this circa 1950 photo, the fishing boat is iced up and cannot go out. Ice can destabilize a vessel to the point of capsizing if not removed. It needs to be removed with sledge hammers and shoveled overboard. The crew, already tired from fishing around the clock, becomes exhausted from ice removal.