Category: Uncategorized

Quit Whining About The Cold

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

Hi Joey,

I was at Sawyer Free Library the other day looking of historic photos and flipped open a book that landed on this page. It struck me as funny because I realized immediately that these kids were skating on the harbor. I asked myself  “How cold does it have to be, for what period of time, to freeze Gloucester Harbor (salt water mind you) to a thickness hard enough to skate on?” 

 

A little research led me to a volcanic eruption in Alaska in during June of 1912 that formed a new volcano called Novarupta, lasted 60 hours and spewed 3.6 cubic miles of magma and 4.7 cubic miles of ash into the atmosphere.  This eruption was 30 times more powerful than the eruption at Mount St. Helens and may have caused a mini-ice age that lasted a few years due to the ash cloud covering the planet in a fine layer of dust that reflected more sunlight back into space. 

What really put a smile on my face was that these kids are smiling! It must have been pretty darn cold for a while, but they were happy to be outside enjoying the cold.

If you want to see this photo, head to the library! Show this photo to one of the librarians, and you’ll be shocked at how quickly they’ll be able to find it.  While you’re there, get a library card and think about making a small donation to help make this wonderful resource even better!

Enjoy,
Bill O’Connor
North Shore Kid
Where North Shore Parents and Resources Connect 
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My Archnemesis- Popcorn

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

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When did it all go so wrong for me and popcorn?  I used to be able to pound down buckets of popcorn in my youth but now that I’m old as a mofo it seems I can’t eat two handfuls without getting fifteen kernels all stuck under my tongue, in between my teeth, all over the damn place.

Damn you popcorn.

St. Johns Prep Students Lend a Helping Hand at The Open Door

Posted on by Sista Felicia

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From Left to right~ BJ Mohan, Aidan Breen, Daniel Powers

The Open-Door staff greeted the students and I with open arms today. This truly is an amazing place. Everyone who walks through the door, patrons and volunteers, are greeted and cared for with respect and love. They have an amazing team of dedicated people working year round to keep things running smoothly.  Upon our arrival, a short list of jobs awaited the boys and an apron for me!

The boys  quickly began working together unloading shipments of food and restocking shelves. As I prepared a light afternoon snack for school children and assisted patrons at today’s open market. It was such a pleasure to have the opportunity to share a few quick recipes using todays market ingredients with shoppers!   Thank you, Sarah Grow, Julie Hazen Lafontaine, and Beth Klinefelter for the last minute arrangements. It was nice to SJP students working together as a team helping others on a day they and their school community felt helpless themselves. I highly recommend volunteering some time to The Open Door. At this pantry there can never to many hands in the kitchen!

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Fish on Fridays

Posted on by Marty Luster

The Fish on Fridays series is a collaboration between Gloucester photographers Kathy Chapman and Marty Luster. Look for various aspects of Gloucester’s centuries-old fishing industry highlighted here on Fridays.

Rods and reels in off-season waiting for warmer weather.

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Photos © Kathy Chapman 2013

 

Giuseppe’s Ristorante to host a Fundraiser Event for the Rockport Middle School Chorus’ end of the year school trip. Live music performed by John Rockwell.

Posted on by Joanne

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The LobstaCrackah Ballet extended another week!

Posted on by Joanne

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GHS DECA Competition Success!!!

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

Hi: Yesterday 43 GHS Marketing DECA students competed at our district conference along with 800 students in our region.  In this competition students must either come up with a creative project on a marketing/business topic and either write a paper ( 30 pages)  and present it or, take a 100 question exam and do a role play with a business professional (judge) using the knowledge and skills they have gained since September. They did an awesome job, and represented Gloucester with the utmost in professionalism as they usually do. Here is a list of the students who have qualified for the state competition held in Boston in March:  Please congratulate them if you see them.  A special thanks to Chris Kobs for not only chaperoning but using his past DECA experience and professional advice to help guide some very nervous students.  He also took the attached photo.

Sam Bevins: Professional selling
Jared Marshall: Professional selling
Jason Erwin Professional Selling
Catherine Movalli: Hospitality Sales
Joshua Lane: Restaurant Managment
James King: Business Financial Management
Mike Burbank: Automotive Services Marketing Management
Ethan Lally: Sports & Entertainment Management
Sara Roberts: Quick Serve restaurant management
Caitlin Powers: Sports & Entertainment promotion plan
Anna Gray: Fashion Merchandising promotion plan
Gloria Kabulo: Fashion Merchandising promotion plan
John Curcuru, Jack Goss, & Drew Luster: Financial Literacy promotion plan Team

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Chicken Stir Fry

Posted on by Sista Felicia

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The men in the family requested chicken stir fry for dinner a few days ago. When ever I think of Chicken Stir Fry I think of cooking with my roommates during my college years at Merrimack.  Chicken Stir Fry is  an affordable meal that can easily be stretched to feed a small army of people. It was a meal we prepared at least once per week for everyone in our apartment building!

Chicken Stir Fry

Rice Ingredients

3 cups water

3 tablespoon salted butter

3 cups white rice (brown rice may be substituted and cooked to your liking)

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Chicken Stir Fry Ingredients

8-10 chicken tenders

2 tablespoons soy sauce

2 heaping tablespoons cornstarch

1/4 cup warm water

6 tablespoons chili oil

3 tablespoons pure sesame oil

1 red pepper; cut into bite-size pieces

1 orange pepper; cut into bite-size pieces

6 scallions; White parts diced; green parts reserve

2 cloves garlic; thinly sliced

1/2  teaspoon freshly ground pepper

3 cups fresh snow peas

1 large can pineapple  rings with juices; cut into pieces

Sauce Ingredients

3 tablespoons fish sauce

2 heaping tablespoons ketchup

1/2 cup water

1 teaspoon chili paste

1 tablespoon rice vinegar

3 heaping tablespoons dark brown sugar

3 garlic cloves; roughly chopped

1 tablespoon ground Ginger

reserved chicken marinade

Step-by-Step

1 bring 3 cups water and 3 tablespoons unsalted butter to rolling boil; add dried white rice; stir; cover pan tightly with lid and turn off heat

2 Combine soy sauce and cornstarch in Ziploc bag; shake and mix well until light brown marinade mixture comes together; add chicken tender pieces to bag; seal bag; refrigerate at least one hour

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3 combine 3 tablespoons chili oil and sesame oil in large fry pan; heat over high setting

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4 add chicken tenders; cook 3 minutes; (reserve marinade in a Ziploc bag) turn chicken tender pieces; cook additional 3 minutes; remove chicken from pan; cut into bite-size pieces

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5 in small mini chopper combine all sauce ingredients; add reserved leftover marinade from Ziploc bag; Blend well; reserve

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5 add 3 tablespoons chili oil; peppers, white scallion pieces, garlic slices and freshly ground pepper to fry pan sauté four minutes

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6 add reserved sauce to pan; mix well; cook four minutes; scrape ingredients from bottom of pan with metal spatula if necessary

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7 add snow peas, pineapple and pineapple juices to pan; mix well; continue to scrape bottom of pan loosening any ingredients; cook four minutes over high heat

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8 arrange cooked rice in large serving bowl; top with stir fry mixture

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9 roughly chop reserved green parts of scallions and sprinkle over top of stir fry; serve

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Cape Pond, circa 1900

Posted on by Fredrik Bodin
Iceboating was, and still is popular on Cape Ann. I've seen it on Niles Pond. All these boats are home made, and my favorite was Mark Sheldon's. Cape Pond is now a public water supply for Rockport.
Iceboating was, and still is popular on Cape Ann. I’ve seen it on Niles Pond. All these boats are home made, and my favorite was Mark Sheldon’s. Cape Pond is now a public water supply for Rockport.

Kirsti H Kettunen-Belle Captures The Snowy Owl Times Two

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

Hi Joey,
I went to Stage Fort Park the other day in search of the snowy owl I heard was there. I was rewarded by two of them. First picture is of the one I saw first, second one I almost missed and third one is of both of them.
Kirsti H Kettunen-Belle

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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

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.

Winter Gardening With David Calvo

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

Joey,
this is for the blog if you want to put it in.
For those who might be interested: EVEN WITH ALL THIS BITTER COLD AND SNOW there is still winter gardening with low hoops.
warm regards,
David Calvo
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Barry Hallett Stylin’ In Anticipation of The Frozen Rush

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

Hey Joe,
Sub zero temps are no match for the GMG 1/4 zip shell.
And if you want to see a cool event this week, this is going on up on the hill.

http://www.redbull.com/us/en/motorsports/offroad/stories/1331618550073/2014-frozen-rush-race-teaser

Polar Vortex or normal New England Winter?

Posted on by God's Morning

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I walked out to Eastern Point today and it felt downright balmy compared to yesterday’s biting wind and frigid windchill factor.  Today felt more like global warming than a polar vortex.  The iced rocks and frozen froth just looks like normal winter to me.

E.J. Lefavour