Author: Joey Ciaramitaro

The creator of goodmorninggloucester.org Lover of all things Gloucester and Cape Ann. GMG where we bring you the very best our town has to offer because we love to share all the great news and believe that by promoting others in our community everyone wins.

Maple Syrup time at Bothways Farm in Essex!

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

Hi Joey,

          I thought the GMG readers might enjoy seeing a couple pictures of our Maple Syrup production at Bothways Farm in Essex,We have 10 Maple Trees tapped with 20 metal buckets that we collect the sap from.So far we have collected about 90 gallons of sap.It taking us 70 gallons of sap to make a gallon of syrup.We boil it down in the wood fired evaporator for hours until the sap starts to turn brown from its original clear color.Once it just starts to stick to a ladel we transfer about a half gallon to a smaller pot.We then burn the rest off until the sap starts to foam,that means its real close.We then test the sap in a metal tube with a Hydrometer which tests the density of the sap.Once it hits a red line of the Hydrometer that means its now got a high enough sugar content and has changed into the syrup you put on your pancakes.Lets just say its about 10 hours of watching sap boil to 10 minutes of pure terror getting to density just right,because if you don`t and it gets too thick you get sap rock candy.The cold weather has been delaying our collecting of the syrup just like everyone else in New England.

Thanks

Dean Burgess

cliffy_bday,maple_syrup_008cliffy_bday,maple_syrup_011

Community Stuff 3/17/14

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

 

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Registration for FREE Adult Education Classes at Wellspring House

Celebrate spring with a new plan for growth! Registration for FREE adult education classes at Wellspring House in Gloucester is going on now for those interested in attending our Spring Session. Classes begin Monday, March 24th   and you must be registered before that date.
Wellspring’s Adult Learning Initiative (ALI) provides 8 weeks of FREE classes in Computer Skills, Career Development, English and Math for men and women interested in passing the high school equivalency test, returning to school or finding a career. Classes run from 8:45 am -12:30 pm, Monday – Friday for 8 weeks.
The goal of the ALI program is to help individuals move toward personal and financial self-reliance by gaining self-confidence, direction, motivation and workplace skills necessary to further their education and careers.
Whether your goal is to get a better job or go back to school, call Career and Education Advisor, Mary Scofield, for more information or to sign up for classes at (978) 281-3558, ext. 304. Wellspring House is located at 302 Essex Ave., Gloucester MA.

Be Courageous!!

Mary Scofield
Career and Education Advisor
ALI Program
Wellspring House, Inc.
302 Essex Avenue
Gloucester, MA 01930
(P) 978-281-3558 x304

Hey Joey!

Just wanted to spread the good news! My daughter Bailee who is now 8 is being recognized as a Hometown Hero by the Red cross on Thursday the 20th at their Annual Hometown Heros Breakfast. She is being honored among firefighters and nurses and others who were at the finish line of the Boston Marathon. They are being recognized for their response on that horrible day. We are so proud of her and want to thank all the Glostonians who have supported her by coming out and buying lemonade at all of her stands! She will be opening up soon in the spring with a new focus…still thinking on where she wants to donate this time. But we will have characters in costume!! I will keep y’all posted! Thanks Joey for all your help with spreading the word! She gets ALOT of customers because of GMG!!

Brieana Militello

 

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They Came, They Clawed, They Fricked It Up!

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

Would You Look At These Pretentious Bananaheads Crowing Around All Proud Of Themselves For Messing Up Perfection?

If you want to read the horror story that they pass off as a recipe (and claimed they conquered no less) Click Here-

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Will They Ever Learn The Rules Of Lobster Roll Making Is To Not Get In The Way Of The Most Delectable Meat Known To Mankind- Lobster Meat?

Why I ask you do, they feel the need to mask the flavor of the most succulent meat on earth with not one, not two, not three, but no less than unlucky 13 lobster roll ingredient violations???

Why not squat down over the mixing bowl and lay down a nice fat shit in there to compliment the flavors while you’re at it?

Read the ingredient list these dopes from The Tasting Table put together (Violations Highlighted in Red)-

We Came, We Clawed, We Conquered Messed It Up

Building the perfect lobster roll (Or Not)

INGREDIENTS

  • Salt
  • 1 lemon
  • 5 whole star anise pods
  • 2 heads garlic, halved
  • 4 dried árbol chiles
  • 1 (6-inch) piece fresh ginger, peeled and cut into ¼-inch coins
  • 3 stalks lemongrass, trimmed, tough outer layer removed and stalk bruised and tied into a knot
  • 2 (1½ pound) live lobsters
  • ¼ cup mayonnaise
  • 1 tablespoon finely minced parsley
  • 1 tablespoon finely chopped chives plus 1 tablespoon chives, cut into ½-inch pieces
  • 2 teaspoons reserved lobster cooking liquid
  • 1 teaspoon lemon juice
  • ½ teaspoon lemon zest
  • ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • ¼ teaspoon celery salt
  • 3 tablespoons butter
  • 1 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
  • 4 split-top hot dog rolls

Anise?????  Like as in Licorice anise?  In a lobster roll?   I wish Patrick Ewing was still in his prime so we could set him up right in front of where ever these dopes tried to serve these lobster roll abominations and he could swat them into the stands like a basketball and then stand over the servers and flex and growl like he just made the most impressive shot block in the history of the NBA.  Just like “Get That Shit Outta Here!” 

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Arbol Chile?   Really????  What are we at Taco Bell now?  Lemongrass?  Ginger?  Please.  This is absolutely criminal.  

I guess I should have stopped reading when I read these pretentious buffoons were writing in from New York where they root for the Yankees and all.  I mean WTF do they know about lobster rolls anyway, right? 

Maybe it’s a March thing where they want to get out in front of all the other pretentious food bloggers who will inevitably write their own versions of the Perfect Way to Fuck Up a  Good Lobster Roll.

When I saw the laundry list of lobster roll purist violations I just couldn’t leave this debacle go unchecked.   There are plenty of pretentious food bloggers who will throw in 2-5 violations but when you go over the top with 13 you have to know that someone with some common sense is gonna call you out on it.

Listen here anyone who would describe themselves as  a “Foodie”.  Do all us normal real folk a favor and spare us your stupid frickin lobster roll recipes that include anything other than a split top roll.  Spare us your French baguettes, spare us your frickin lemon zest bullshit, spare us your ginger and your anise and your arbol chlis.  

Hellooooo, we wanna taste the lobster.  How hard is that to comprehend?  If we wanted to eat Mexican we’d order a goddamned Burrito.    

This is a lobster roll.   The purist of the pure.  Time tested.  Tradition.  Like a Fenway Frank, only a bajillion times better.

It’s easy, there’s no need to go out of your way to try to fuck it up with your laundry list of  Lobster roll no-nos like anise and garlic and lemongrass.

Here’s the way to do it and not to do it-

Bad-

How to F^@K Up a Lobster Roll

Good-

Ingredients For The Worlds Greatest Lobster Roll

Read the ingredient list these dopes from The Tasting Table put together (Violations Highlighted in Red)-

 

  • Like a right of Spring I feel compelled to get us all off on the right path to Lobster Roll righteousness.  I’m not sure if we should have expected more considering the source- Foodie Bloggers From New York.  Maybe we don’t have to expect more but we certainly can’t let this shit go unchecked.

    Read past year’s lobster roll rants-

    Rating and Ranting- The Lobster Rolls From Tasting Table’s Lobster Roll Rumble

    A Preemptive Lobster Roll Refresher Course Before Anyone Gets All Crazy

    Bastardized Lobster Roll on Tap Today At Gloucester Gourmet

    What Is Wrong With People???? Another Lobster Roll Disaster From Some Broads In California

    • The Adventure’s Fo’c’sle is coming along.

    Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

    Hi Joey,

    Despite the cold, snowy weather, the Schooner Adventure’s crew continue to be hard at work below deck.

    They are rebuilding the fo’c’s’le – crew bunks and galley.    Here are a few shots that show the work done to date.  Most of these shots are taken from near the mid ship area looking forward towards the bow.   The vertically boarded wall is the bow’s watertight bulkhead.   This was not originally present on the Adventure, but is a current Coast Guard requirement.   I’ve included a couple of shots of John Miles and our intern, Sarah, doing the woodworking.   The last 2 shots show the vertical partitions between the bunks.   The final shot is taken from the bow looking aft towards a mast and the watertight bulkhead that separates the fo’c’s’le from the fish hold.   The galley will be built along that bulkhead.

    Mary Barker

    Friends of Burnham’s Field Launched

    Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

    Joey,

    Thanks to you and GoodMorningGloucester for being so supportive of Burnham’s Field (see here, here and here for a few examples of awesome GMG stories you’ve published about the field.) I wanted to share some good news: the launch of the first-ever Friends of Burnham’s Field.

    The Friends are welcoming new members: Anyone who ever played on the field as a kid or goes to their kids’ games at the field or walks their dog there. If anyone is interested, more information is at the Friends’ new website here and below.

    And yes, I’m very much looking forward to your ribbing for quoting myself in the news release below.

    Thanks, Joey!

    – John McElhenny     

    New community group forms as the largest playground in central Gloucester undergoes its first renovation in 30 years; Donated trees and park benches welcomed

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    Gloucester, Mass., March 14, 2014 – A group of families, neighbors and other residents have launched the first-ever Friends of Burnham’s Field to make the largest open space and playground in central Gloucester a more beautiful, welcoming open space to walk, exercise, play and enjoy the outdoors.

    Burnham’s Field is a 7-acre park, playground and recreation area in downtown Gloucester. Generations of Gloucester children and their families have played on its swings, basketball courts, ball fields, play structure and grassy open spaces.

    Burnham’s Field has recently enjoyed a surge of new activity with the launch of the Burnham’s Field Community Garden, more frequent clean-ups and the first major renovation to the field in 30 years scheduled to begin this spring. The renovation will include new playground equipment, swings, a walking loop, lighted paths, fences, park benches, a spray fountain for kids, bathroom, trees and other improvements. 

    The Friends of Burnham’s Field is being launched to create a community of people who will continue to care for the field once the renovations are complete. Dozens of Gloucester residents have already joined and a new website has been created, www.burnhamsfield.org. 

    “The Friends of Burnham’s Field is made up of regular people — neighbors, parents, children, friends — who want to make sure Burnham’s Field stays a park Gloucester can be proud of for generations to come,” said John McElhenny, a neighbor and founder of the Friends. “The rebirth of Burnham’s Field in the heart of the City sends a message that in Gloucester, green spaces and playgrounds matter.” 

    Organized under the Gloucester Fund, a registered 501(c)(3) charity, the Friends are welcoming donations for park benches, picnic tables and trees and are offering naming and sponsorship opportunities to local businesses. For information on how to become a Friend of Burnham’s Field or make a donation, click here.

    “Burnham’s Field holds special meaning for many people who’ve grown up in Gloucester,” said City Councilor Melissa Cox, who represents the neighborhoods around the field. “The Friends of Burnham’s Field gives anyone the chance to become involved with the field as a Friend or to donate a tree, park bench or picnic table to remember a relative or their own fun memories ‘down at Burnham’s.’”

    Fun Start Soccer At The Manchester Athletic Club

    Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

    Contact Marcy Plante at 978-526-8900 ext 384

    or programs@manchesterathleticclub.com 978-526-8900 ext 257

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    Community Photos 3/15/14

    Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

     

    When the behemoth iceboat Rocket was built in 1888 she was said to be among the fastest vessels on the planet – capable of over 100 mph.  With a gaff rigged sail.  Rocket is the treasure of the North Shrewsbury Ice Boat and Yacht Club in Red Bank, NJ, and just one other boat in this class remains – Jack Frost, of the Hudson Valley Ice Club.  There had been one other, Icicle, built for John A Roosevelt, an uncle of FDR.  For sport in their day they would race trains, and Icicle once beat the “Chicago Express” on a run between Poughkeepsie and Ossining.

    Rocket was rebuilt by Bob Pulsch who won the Betty Ramsey Trophy in the 2004 Gloucester Schooner Race with Heron, the 1911 Crowninshield schooner he had rebuilt.  Last week Rocket sailed again, for the first time in almost 100 years.  Bob Pulsch (80) and others aboard are regulars in the Gloucester Schooner Race in Adventurer.

    Rocket Launch

    http://www.nbcnews.com/nightly-news/seemingly-never-ending-winter-joy-ice-boaters-n49426

    February 1994, Cape Ann Marina From Peter Seminara

    Bob Quinn Submits-

    This scene is off Cherry St, over the DPW sand pile.. Turkeys Roosting In The Trees

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    Community Stuff 3/15/14

    Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

    Al Bezanson Submits-

    Maine Boatbuiders Show March 14-16th

    P3160599

    If they don’t have it you don’t need it

    http://www.portlandcompany.com/boatShow/

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    Beloved Demons: Confessions of an Unquiet Mind

    In his follow-up to Lunatic Heroes, Martignetti sheds all defenses to reveal the viscera of a mind shaped by the dark and confusing forces of his childhood. This collection of memoirs and essays focuses mainly on Martignetti’s adult years, and features the pivotal characters of his ever-entertaining personal narrative. From the cascade of memories and emotions triggered by an accidental butterfly killing in “Cocoon Talk,” to the homicidal impulses prompted by a visit to his boyhood home in “Sign,” from the heartbreaking to the hilarious musings inspired by beloved pets in “Mochajava” and “Dog,” and throughout the uncensored sexcapades of “Mad,” “The Wild,” and “Feast of the Hungry Ghost,” Martignetti’s colloquial, humorous, and intimate style will keep you riveted, crack you open, enthrall and embrace you with an honesty normally reserved for not even the closest of friends.

    Masconomet Regional High School junior Isabelle Yabe has been named Grand Prize Award Winner for her piece “Japanese Heritage” in this year’s 6th Congressional District High School Art Show. The awards were presented Saturday, March 8, by U.S. Representative John F. Tierney at Montserrat College of Art’s 301 Gallery, 301 Cabot Street, Beverly. This marks the 20th year Montserrat has hosted this competition. The exhibit included 124 pieces from 25 different high schools and one homeschooled submission.

    The exhibition was juried by Chris Van Allsburg, a Caldecott Medal winning author and illustrator whose books The Polar Express and Jumanji, are among his 15 publications, and Greg Bokor, a designer who is the founder and CEO of Cloud Factory, who has done work with such major global brands as Buick, Pepsi, Target, American Eagle and many others. The competition was open to high school students from public and private schools within the 6th District of Massachusetts, as well as high school students home-schooled within the district.

    Gloucester_Palazola

    Saturday, March 19th, from 9am to 2pm –  Electronic Recycle Day at the GHS Parking Lot. Recycle any kind of electronic item (computers, scanners, flat panel monitors, copiers, etc.) for $5 each, appliance (dishwashers, dryers, stoves, microwaves, dehumidifiers, refrigerators, AC, exercise equipment, lawn mowers, small engine items, snow blowers, lawn mowers, etc.)  for $10 each, computer monitors  for $10 each, TVs  for $10-25 each. NO FEE: cables, keyboards, cell phones, car batteries, sewing machines, and some other items.

    We will also be recycling bicycles (NO FEE)! Bring your unwanted old or new bicycle and drop it off; it will be reused. Any bicycle is a good bicycle: mountain, road, BMX, cruiser, kids’, etc. – old or new. Our aim is to keep bikes from being thrown out when they can be reused. 

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    Gloucester Police Department, Healthy Gloucester Collaborative, and Gloucester U at Gloucester High School have partnered to bring a brand new course to the Gloucester U after-school program!
    Students will work hands on with GPD and other instructors from the field, travel to various exciting locations, and even have the opportunity to earn 1 academic credit!
    Click the link below to Register for the Course!  https://docs.google.com/forms/d/175dEHKu5mb3oyFkKRXAHcGlHI8XDlKqwL9BZSs9Whns/viewform

    For more information got to Go to http://gloucesteru.weebly.com/new-course-offerings-session-2.html or Contact:

    Samantha Whitney 

    Lead Program Coordinator
    Gloucester High School Library 

    Latitude 43 and Turner’s Seafood Team Up For Maritime Gloucester!
    On Monday, March 31st, Jake DaSilva and his team will welcome the crew from Turner’s Seafood into the Latitude 43 kitchen for a sustainable seafood dinner. The chefs will prepare dishes highlighting underutilized, local seafood to showcase the best of what the waters off Gloucester have to offer.
    The three-course meal will feature underutilized fish that can typically be found at Turners Seafood or on Lat 43’s specials menu (think beyond haddock to skate wings), and each guest will receive a recipe card detailing how they can prepare this local seafood in their own home.  The three-course meal is $33.00 with a percentage of the total going directly to Maritime Gloucester to support a new fisheries exhibit. 
    For reservations call  Latitude 43: (978) 281-0223.  The restaurant is located at 25 Rogers Street, Gloucester, MA

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    The award-winning documentary MAIDENTRIP is about the life and adventures of 14 year-old Laura Dekker, the youngest person ever to sail around the world alone. Laura sets out—camera in hand—on a two-year voyage in pursuit of her dream.
    In the wake of a year-long battle with Dutch authorities that sparked a global storm of media scrutiny, Laura now finds herself far from land, family and unwanted attention, exploring the world in search of freedom, adventure, and distant dreams of her early youth at sea. Jillian Schlesinger’s debut feature amplifies Laura’s brave, defiant voice through a mix of Laura’s own video and voice recordings at sea and intimate vérité footage from locations including the Galapagos Islands, French Polynesia, Australia, and South Africa.
    Doors open at 6:00 pm, film begins at 6:30. Tickets for the show can be purchased online at or at the door, as space permits. Prices are $10.00 adults * $8.50 students & seniors (60+), and $7.00 for CACC and MG Members. ADVANCE TICKETS ::: http://www.CapeAnnCinema.wordpress.com/advance-tickets
    This event is a benefit for Maritime Gloucester. Let’s pack the theater!

    Movie trailer: 

    Hello Joe!

    I am one of those ‘ladies’ who run at dawn with Pixie Harrington.  We’ve been at it for over ten years and I am sure by now folk along the back shore hate us since we wake them up with our loud conversations!

    I am sure we have met through Bob Gillis.

    Anyway here’s why I am bugging you.

    I am running the Boston Marathon on April 21.  I am running for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.  This organization is very near and dear to my heart as I myself have MS.  I have been on an incredible mission for the past 14 years running marathons, climbing the highest peaks in the world, the first person with MS to go to the North and South Poles and I began training to hopefully run the Iditarod in the not too distant future.

    All of this may sound crazy especially for a person living with MS but I do all these extreme adventures for one reason only.  I want to change the perception of what MS looks like and challenge those living with MS to chase their dreams and goals.  As I tell them they all have a mountain, the mountain is MS now what are you going to do with it?  My journey has been incredible and hopefully if I can make life easier for one person suffering with MS my mission will have been oh so worth while.

    Sorry to be so lengthy in my request.  Perhaps you can help me.  I am hosting a fundraiser at Jalepenos on March 24.  Jalepenos is wonderful to host these fundraisers for many of us and now they are doing it for me.  Would you be able to publicize this for me on Good Morning Gloucester?

    When: March 24

    Where:  Jalepenos

    For:  The National Multiple Sclerosis Society and Wendy Booker’s run of this year’s Boston Marathon

    From: 4:30pm until closing

    Thank you so very much in advance.  If you need more information please let me know.

    Wendy

    Hello Joe,

    I hope you might include this information about the library book sale in  Good Morning Gloucester.

    Thank you

    Dianne

    The Friends of the Rockport Public Library are having a Spring Forward Book Sale on Friday, March 21 from

    10 AM to 5 PM, Saturday, March 22 from 10 AM to 5 PM and Sunday, March 23rd from 1 PM to 5 PM.

    This sale has an abundance of books in all categories including many children’s and young adult titles, along with history and politics, biography and memoir, art, cooking, crafts, gardening, both recent and well-aged fiction, mysteries, and lots more. Movies on DVD and VHS and music CDs will be on sale as well.

    Spring also brings back the popular bake sale with home made offerings for $1 donated by library friends.

    All monies raised at the book sales is used to enhance programs at the library including museum passes,  children’s programs and cabin fever movies.

    The library is located at  17 School Street on the corner of Broadway in Rockport.

    www.rockportlibrary.org    978 546-6934

    submitted by Dianne Anderson

    Friends of the Library board member

    THIS WEEKEND! DEMAND YOUR SPRING! AT POP GALLERY!

    Make Sista Felicia’s Orange and Finochio (fennel) Salad

    Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

    Orange and Finochio (fennel) Salad

    all photos and recipe from Sista Felicia

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    Ingredients:
    5 Finochio (fennel bulbs)
    8 oranges
    1/2 cup fresh mint leaves
    ¼ cup fresh oregano leaves
    1 medium onion
    Juice of 2 lemons
    ½ cup pitted black olives
    ¾ cup olive oil
    1 tablespoon Masala wine
    1 teaspoon sugar
    ½ teaspoon kosher salt
    ½ teaspoon fresh ground pepper
    ¼ cup fresh squeezed orange juice

    Directions:

    Step 1: using a sharp knife cut both ends of orange, off and discards ends

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    Step 2: place flat side of orange on a cutting board and place the blade of the knife under the pith of orange and guide the knife in a downward direction removing the skin

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    Step 3: repeat steps 1 & 2 with remaining oranges

    Step 4: place one skinless orange in your hand and insert a paring knife into both sides of orange sections membrane’s to remove skinless orange slices and reserve in a bowl

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    Step 5: reserve fresh orange juices in a small bowl by squeezing juices from reaming sectioned orange membranes

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    Step 6: remove the long stems and any outer damaged skins from the fennel bulbs and discard

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    Step 7: Using a mandolin slice onion very thin and reserve

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    Step 8: using mandolin slice fennel bulbs very thin and reserve

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    Step 9: Juice lemons over a small strainer to capture any seeds and pulp

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    Step 10: chop fresh mint

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    Step 11: Chop fresh oregano

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    Step 12: layer ½ Finochio (fennel) slices onto a large platter

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    Step 13: top Finochio (fennel) slices with 1/2 of the orange slices

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    Step 14:  layer ½ the onion slices over the orange layer

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    Step 15 Repeat steps 12, 13, and 14

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    Step 16: Sprinkle chopped mint and orange over the top layer

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    Step 17: scatter black olives over the top of the salad

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    Step 18: add reserved orange juice, olive oil, masala wine, sugar, salt and pepper to the lemon juice pulse until dressing ingredients become evenly incorporated

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    Step 19: pour evenly over the entire salad and finish with a dusting of fresh ground pepper, serve at room temperature or chill in the refrigerator for one hour before serving

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    Enjoy!

    Community Photos 3/14/14

    Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

    Gloucester Railway,Rocky Neck photo From Anthony Marks

    Gloucester Railway Rocky Neck

    The burned out hulk of a house at the corner of Washington st. and
    Mansfield st is finely being demolished after two and a half years. In
    its place will be a new building with retail space on the first floor
    and townhouses on the upper floors.

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    Woodpeckers from Gail Byrnes