My View of Life on the Dock
Thanks for sending this in Anthony. If you have any breaking news pictures you would like to share with the GMG readers, send em in- Be Part Of The Team!
Elderly Couple Drive Into Essex River After Accident In Parking Lot. Pic from Anthony Marks, originally uploaded by captjoe06.
I’ll take a Large Coffee Cream and Two Splenda.
TIA
We hada little birthday party at our house last night. As usual, it was a motley crew of extremely funny personalities. Kevin Burgess, who I’ve known since the 80’s,was here. He is one witty talented guy. Had us all LOAO!
He’s a Gumby lover- Pokey too. And here’s his tattoo to prove it.
I’m a Gumby lover. How about you?
Click the picture to go to GUMBY WORLD!
From the Beacon–
Cape Ann Artisans celebrates its 26th Open Studio Tour, where visitors can meet professional artists and watch them work on their creations. Artisans include painters, photographers, sculptors, potters, and jewelers. The tour dates are Saturday, Sunday and Monday, Oct. 10, 11 and 12, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The tour is free and open to the public.
Thirteen professional artists, situated along the scenic coastline of Gloucester and Rockport will welcome visitors to their studios during the Columbus Day weekend.
This year the tour begins in Gloucester at the new waterside studio of Bart Stuyf, whose sculptural work using wood and copper features garden fountains with fish, birds or whimsical dancing frogs.
In downtown Gloucester, Beth Williams employs an ancient Venetian technique to make glass beads. These become unique brilliantly colored necklaces, earrings and brooches. During the tour someone will be demonstrating with the torch.
To read more, click here to take you to the Beacon article
MS Fram Pics From Aboard The Ship From Cynthia Hill, originally uploaded by captjoe06.
From FOB Cynthia Hill-
Yesterday at school we had 5 kids out with the stomach bug…ya know, vomiting etc. So it was a relatively easy day until mid-morning when I started to feel kinda lousy, but I never get sick when the kids do. WRONG!!! I got home at 1:30 and I thought I was gonna die. My head was pounding. Every muscle ached. For the next several hours, I alternated between my bed and the bathroom. After a half a liter of warm ginger ale and 2 pieces of toast, I slept all night and woke up this morning feeling almost 100% better!
So if you’ve got kids or you work with them, you’ll probably get exposed to this nasty little bug. I don’t wish it on anyone!
The annual Laura Evans Memorial Coastsweep Clean-up at Plum Cove Beach will take place Thursday, Oct. 8, from 5 to 7 p.m. Evans was a local environmentalist who volunteered and held clean-ups at Plum Cove Beach. Call Patti Amaral at 978-412-4201 or visit http://www.cleancity.us.
Will has a great eye for detail, or he has scoured the island with a fine-tooth comb!
His answer? “Where’s Zat? Is it the culvert out by the Eastern Point lighthouse parking lot? Allows seawater into the marshes.”
Congratulations, Will!
Try again next week, Folks! Thanks for playing!
From Good Egg Sandy Farrell-
Hi Joey and GMG, We have our third and last Seafood Throwdown coming up this Thursday, October 8th at 4pm, (an earlier start because of the season.) This event will help close the 2009 Cape Ann Farmer’s Market. Our contestants include Team Passports with returning Chef Eric Lorden at the lead and he will be going head to head with Team Lobsta Land and Chef Corey Grammas. Our event will again be emceed by Linda Amero, the Diva of Duncan Street and the judges will be the Rev. Wendy Fitting of Gloucester’s Independent Christian Church and Rockport’s Nancy Goodman from Wellspring. As usual, no one knows what the secret ingredient will be, so we hope you will be able to join us to find that out as we share an afternoon of fun, entertainment, and education. Thanks! Sandy
| Votes | |
|---|---|
| Market Basket |
48%
|
| More than one store |
28%
|
| Stop and Shop |
10%
|
| None of the above |
8%
|
| Shaw’s |
6%
|
She ducked the champion beer pong team of Ciaramitaro-Daniels all night long. I guess you really can’t blame her-she’s got no game and can’t hold her liquor.
Yeah I’m talkin bout YOU AMY FOSTER! We’re callin you out!
Maniacs- each and every one of them.
Putting the Ho In Ho Down-A Bunch of Drunks, originally uploaded by captjoe06.
Uh, this was not from this weekend! 🙂 I’m not sure how difficult this will be, but I guess we’ll find out!
Good luck, and I’ll add clues if needed!
With Market Basket opening Wednesday morning at 7am, the grocery price wars will be beneficial to all of us. Shaw’s and Stop and Shop have some great deals this week. I think I’ll be shopping the sales. How about you? Will you be heading for MB or checking out the flyers for the best prices?
The Magnolia Historical Society
invites you back to the Days of the Magnolia Grand Hotels for an
“Oceanside Evening”
Reminisce with old and new Friends; Enjoy History, Wine, Desserts, Coffee, Tea and Laughter! Casino Wheel of Fortune and 50/50 Raffle!
Learn about Magnolia, our homes, our former grand hotels and more!
Step into this portal of Magnolia history:
“Oceanside Evening”
Saturday October 10th
7 to 10 pm
Magnolia Library Center, Magnolia
Come help us celebrate what makes Magnolia great!!
Lisa Ramos, author of “Magnolia: A Brief History”, will present an informative program along with her panel of Magnolia experts, James Cook and Fran Hines.
SAVE $10 WHEN YOU BUY TWO TICKETS!
Reservation tickets are $15 for members,
or save and purchase two tickets for just $2O!
Non-member tickets are $20, or buy two for just $35.
Join the Magnolia Historical Society today and save!
All tickets purchases are tax deductible!
VINTAGE HATS ENCOURAGED!
Reserved Tickets Availableat Magnolia Library Center,
Magnolia Historical Society, from any board member
or by calling: 978-525-3603
Or you may mail check to P.O Box 5551, Magnolia, MA 01930.
We’ll have your reserved tickets at the door. Walk up tickets also available.
Hope to see you all there!
Here’s a great holiday morning recipe! This recipe was a blue ribbon winner last year. Enjoy!
Harvest Cranberry Pumpkin Muffins with Cinnamon Pistachio Streusel Topping
Streusel Topping:
½ cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
¼ cup brown sugar
3 tablespoons softened butter
½ cup chopped pistachios
Muffins:
1 15 oz can pumpkin puree
4 large eggs
1 vegetable oil
1/3 cup water
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoon cinnamon
1 teaspoons ground powdered ginger
1 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sweetened dried cranberries
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cinnamon and brown sugar. With fingers, mix in butter until mixture is crumbly. Stir in nuts and set aside.
Prepare pans with non-stick cooking spray or cupcake liners
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In the bowl of a stand mixer or with electric hand mixer, beat pumpkin, eggs, canola oil, water and vanilla extract until well combined.
Sift flour, sugar, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, soda and salt to combine.
Add dry ingredients to pumpkin mixture and beat until just combined. Stir in dried cranberries.
Using a medium scoop, fill prepared muffins tins ¾ full. Top each muffing with 2 tablespoons streusel topping.
Bake for 23-25 minutes until toothpick inserted in the middle of the muffin comes out clean.
Allow to cool slightly before removing from baking pan.
Makes 24 muffins
Well number 2 in the GMG Power Rankings is a no brainer. Mike Lindberg came aboard shortly after the home explosion on Eastern Ave early this year.
Mike emailed me some photos of the house explosion and had really captured the devastating scene. While Mike does not post every single day, whatever he does post is always a home run. Mike’s never satisfied with doing anything half assed.
The GMG Schhoner Festival Photo contest was hugely popular, the Gloucester Til The End Video he made with Earl and Arch’s song still gets a lot of traffic, his HDR photography is always something over-the top, his production of the GMG podcasts and intro are top notch.
While we can’t count on Mike’s 3PM post every day, we know when he does have time to put something together for the site, it’s going to leave an impression.
Mike comes in at #2 in the current GMG Power Rankings.
Line baking sheet with aluminum foil.
In a medium saucepan, combine all ingredients. Place over medium high heat and cook, stirring constantly until the bubbling mixture turns golden brown, about 5 minutes. Pour onto prepared sheet and spread out thinly. Allow to cool completely. When cool, break into large pieces and chop coarsely in food processor. Purchased macadamia nut brittle (brickle) may be substituted for convenience.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Place one Pillsbury Refrigerate Pie Crust into a 9” pie plate. Pour 1 1/3 cup processed brickle crumbs into the prepared crust. Press a layer of crumbs into sides of crust, leaving about ½ inch from the edge of the pie plate crumb free. Spread out remaining brickle to cover the bottom of the pie crust.
Unroll second crust; place on top of filled crust and pat together gently. Seal edges of crusts together and flute. Fit a second empty pie plate on top of the filled crust and put in oven.
Bake filled crust 10 minutes. Carefully remove top pie plate and prick crust sides and bottom every inch with fork, piercing only the top crust. Bake again uncovered about 15-18 minutes longer or until entire crust is light golden brown. Cover edge with aluminum foil if necessary while baking. Cool completely on a wire rack before filling.
For the filling:
2 ½ cups heavy cream, divided
½ cup half and half
1 ½ cup coconut milk
¼ teaspoon coconut extract (optional)
1/3 cup cornstarch
¾ cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs plus one egg yolk, lightly beaten
1 whole vanilla bean or ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon salt
2 large bananas, thinly sliced (1/8th inch approximately)
¾ cup sweetened flaked coconut, toasted, divided
2-3 tablespoons confectioner’s sugar, to taste
In a large microwave safe bowl, whisk together 1 cup heavy cream, half and half, coconut milk, coconut extract and cornstarch. Stir in sugar, eggs, vanilla bean or extract and salt. Do not crush or scrape the vanilla bean.
In the microwave on 100% power, cook custard mixture for 11-13 minutes, depending on the strength of your microwave, pausing the cooking process to stir the custard at the end of each minute. At minute 8, remove the vanilla bean and scrape it lightly once if using. Continue cooking custard until thickened. Pausing to stir custard each minute is crucial as microwave power varies widely.
Remove one cup hot custard and spread it on the bottom of the cooled pie shell. Cover the custard with a layer of bananas. Spread one more cup of custard on top of the layer of bananas. Arrange another layer of bananas on top of custard. Mix ½ cup toasted coconut with remaining custard and spread on top of bananas, reserving the remaining ¼ cup of coconut for the topping.
Cover pie with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or until ready to use.
Before serving, whip the remaining heavy cream with desired amount of confectioner’s sugar and spread over pie, using a pastry bag for decorative accents if desired. Sprinkle remaining ¼ cup of toasted coconut over whipped cream and serve. Purchased whipped cream may be substituted for convenience. Serves 8. Enjoy!
Since I have not posted anything new for a while due to some crazy circumstances, I thought it might be fun to share a few winning Topsfield Fair recipes from ’07 and ’08. This recipe is responsible for the first blue ribbon I ever won. The competition heats up again tomorrow and continues until the last day of the Fair, Columbus Day. If you are going the Fair be sure to stop in the Coolidge Building and see if Lily (my daugther) or I have added to our ribbon collection.
This recipe is easy and delicious so please try it next time you are looking for a treat!
TOASTED PECAN TOFFEE COOKIES
3 cups light brown sugar
1 cup butter flavored shortening
1 cup butter, softened
2 large eggs
3 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
3 ½ cups old fashioned oats
1 cup pecan halves, toasted and broken in to quarters
2 cups crushed toffee candy bars, such as Skor or Heath
1 12 oz bag milk chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 4 baking sheets with parchment paper or spray with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.
In a mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt and set aside.
Cream butter, shortening and sugar in mixing bowl till light and fluffy. Add eggs and mix until combined, about 1 minute, pausing to scrape down sides of bowl as you mix. Add dry ingredients slowly to wet mixture to combine and mix well. Add oatmeal and mix again till combined.
With a spoon, add in chocolate bits, crushed candy bars and pecan pieces. Do not use mixer as it will crush them. Mix well till combined.
Using a medium sized ice cream scoop (about 2 tablespoon or 1 oz size) place cookies on prepared baking sheet, 12 to a sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes-10 for more chewy cookies and 12 for a more crunchy cookie.
Allow to cool slightly on the pan and then move to a cooling rack to cool completely.
As I said, this is the recipe that won me the first prize/blue ribbon I ever received for cooking or baking……….and the rest is history! Stay tuned for more winning Topsfield Fair recipes!
I’m gonna do a GMG Power Ranking feature. This is all for fun and jest so don’t get all bent up and twisted if I don’t feature you right away if you’re a regular contributor.
I also won’t include myself in teh power rankings as that would be obviously lamo.
#1 in teh GMG Power Rankings is the girl who I first brought aboard. My very own Robin Quivers- loyal, dedicated and passionate for Gloucester- The one and only Sharon Lowe.
I brought Sharon into the fold shortly after meeting her at last year’s October Block Party. She had her Nikon slung over her shoulder and was snapping away. I had a very brief conversation with her that night but felt an instant connection as to what GMG was about and what I wanted it to be.
At the time I was putting out about 6 or 7 posts a day and winter was approaching. I knew I’d be going on my vacations in Naples and was fretting how I’d be able to maintain the quality. The blog had already taken off and I didn’t want to let the growing fan base down.
Sharon stepped up initially with one post a day and before long I gave her editorial control and another time slot, the 9AM and the 12PM.
Before long she came up with the very popular Where Zat? game every Monday at noon. Her contributions have been invaluable and I can always count on her to cover her two posts a day. If she’s going to miss a post time she’ll also let me know so I can cover it for her.
If I had to put out 12 posts a day I could never keep the quality you’ve come to expect without contributions from all of our team but Sharon is the one constant that I can count on every time.
So give Sharon a shout out and a big congratulations on her #1 GMG Power Ranking.
Keep in mind if she starts to fuck up she will be knocked right out of that #1 spot as the list will be static and ever changing. More power rankings in the days to come.
Good Morning Gloucester 