Thanks so much to our hosts, Passports owner and Chef Eric Lorden and wine expert Matt Rose, for a lovely evening of exquisite food paired perfectly with a selection of fine southern Italian wines.
Superb, and my new favorite entree, is Eric’s rosemary scented duck leg, with walnut gremolata* and red quinoa, which was paired with an delicious rich and spicy red, Pipoli Aglianico, Del Vuture. What a treat! The shrimp scampi was equally as tasty, and for your information, Eric only purchases fresh native Gulf shrimp, no questionable farm-raised Asian shrimp is served at Passports.
Matt did an absolutely excellent job explaining the different regions from where the wines hailed as well as sharing interesting stories about the Sicilian farmers and families that grow the wines. As usual, the service at Passports was outstanding. Don’t miss the next Passports wine dinner; I recommend making an early reservation. The restaurant was filled with equally as happy and satisfied patrons as were my husband and I.Â
Hosts Matt Rose and Eric Lorden
* I had to look up exactly what is gremolata (or gremolada) and it is a chopped herb condiment classically made with garlic, parsley, and lemon zest.
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Al forwards this link and writes, “Schooner race from Key West to Cuba is about to start and the boats can be tracked. The link is from Apella who has become a regular in the Gloucester race.” Follow this link.
Alicia Unleashed Episode 16 Taped 1/28/2016 with Bside and Alicia Cox
Click the podcast icon to listen-
Topics include:
David Bowie, Labyrinth, Does Kyle hate me? Bridget traumatized by David Bowie, Reboot movie or Sequel, A stranger rented a movie, Straight outta Compton, Bridget Mom’s reaction, Homie Cast recap, Accent Porn, Finding out info on Facebook, Airing out personal life on Facebook, What would you want your super power to be?, New look Barbies, Do kids under 20 years old know Oprah, Oprah rant, Oprah is amazing, Do your kids know Oprah?, Pineapple!, Pregnant mothers who smoke, Reality, Controversial smoking issue, Pedestrians who don’t say thank you, Chris almost took Bridget out, dating sites and guys perspectives, Kindle books and Audibles, Ending at 53 minutes, Ending Sweet 16
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Hi Joey, There was a gray seal pup rescue at Captain Hooks this morning. He was okay, just exhausted. He came off the river at high tide and then crossed the street to Captain Hooks. Fire Dept and Animal Control came and then the woman is Marine Biologist from NOAA that used to rescue seals who just happen to be driving by. So they wrapped him in a blanket. Put it in the woman’s Subaru and took it to the top of Hodgkins where the Animal stranded Coordinator lives near by and she’ll make sure that he goes back to river at high tide. The woman from NOAA said the seal was probably 45-50 days old.
Did you know that Gloucester hasn’t had a girls’ hockey team since 2007? Â With a large increase in the number of girls currently participating in Cape Ann Youth Hockey and the number of surrounding school systems (not to mention nationwide) that are currently offering ways for their female high school students to play competitive hockey, it is a shame that Gloucester isn’t.
Well, some mothers of current Cape Ann Hockey players are trying to change that!
I also find it noteworthy that Gloucester High School’s home rink, the Dorothy M. Talbot Rink, is graced with a scoreboard donated by Visa USA to honor and acknowledge the Olympic career of Team USA Women’s Hockey Coach, Benjamin Smith, III….and yet, does not have a High School Girls’ Team. [Ben lead the USA women’s team as they earned a Gold Medal in the 1998, a Silver in the 2002, and a Bronze in the 2006 Olympic Games.
PLEASE spread the word and see what we can do about making sure that Gloucester has a Girls’ Hockey Team next year!
PREPARING FOR THE FUTURE
It wasn’t our typical Friday night practice at O’Maley Rink for our CAYH girls teams, we went from lacing up our girls’ skates to talking about the future. Where does it go after here? Some of the U14 girls entering 8th and 9th grade started to inquire about a high school team. The CAYH league currently runs a girls travel league from the U10-U14 level.  Over the last few years, girls hockey has increased in popularity with over 69,744 females registered with the USA Hockey Association in 2014-15. In our community CAYH went from 24 girl players in 2012/13 to a significant increase to 62 girl players in 2015/16 season.
Where does that leave the girls in our community entering high school who want to continue to play in an all girls league? Gloucester High hasn’t had a girls’ team since 2007. After some research we have found that Gloucester High is the only school that is not in a cooperative girls hockey team. Manchester/Essex travels to Marblehead, Ipswich travels to Beverly, and it was indicated that Rockport travels to Boxford to play. Seems crazy when we have a rink right in our back yard!
After some emails and a facebook page dedicated to bringing awareness that “YES Gloucester wants to PLAY!” there has been tremendous feedback and support from former GHS Girl players and from the community. Our girls want to play and we want to see our girls play!
Our first step in creating a team is gathering a list of interested players from Gloucester and surrounding towns. If your daughter is interested in playing please e-mail girlsplayicehockey2@gmail.com
We look forward to hearing from you!
Sincerely,
Jessica Cusumano and Mandy Milan (CAYH MOMS)
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On February 5th, 2016 Dave Edwards, President and CEO of the Essex County Community Foundation (ECCF), along with Julie Bishop, VP for Philanthropy, will lead an important discussion at Cape Ann Television (www.capeanntv.org) about addressing the needs of Essex County.
The ECCF is gearing up for an unprecedented major community leadership project, an initiative focused on making a long-term, measurable impact on the quality of life in Essex County. The end result will not only help to guide their philanthropic priorities and strategic grantmaking, but it will also arm local community leaders with the data to help move the region forward. The ECCF will rely heavily on collaborations with funders, elected officials, business leaders and nonprofits to see their vision through.
Please join us on February 5th at 12:00 pm to unite in conversation.
After checking in with my elbow doctor at Anna Jacques Hospital in Newburyport, I took a drive along the road to Plum Island. I only meant to stay for a few minutes as I was planning to hurry on back to work on current projects but within moments of being there, a gorgeous Red-tailed Hawk was spied circling around. It was too tempting and I desperately wanted to stay longer and photograph and film but turned right around and headed back over the causeway. Halfway across a bevy of some sort of large white avian creature caught my eye–could it be–yes, it was a large flock of swans! They were feeding on the seaweed and seagrass along the Merrimack River shoreline.
Quickly finding a place to park I got out my gear and with a wide swathe of marsh grass dividing me from the swans, I tried to get as close to the water’s edge as possible. There were NINE swans in all, two adults and seven almost year-old swans. So much for getting back quickly. And was I ever pleased with my rule never to leave the house without cameras.
A passing woman from the neighborhood out walking said that this was the first time she had seen the swans at the river’s edge in over two years. For my swan film, footage of one year old swans was needed, and here were seven! Every cloud has a silver lining as I never would have been on Plum Island today if not for elbow injury.Â
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2 lg whole Red Roasted peppers; cut into quarters( reserve 3 pieces for another use)
5 â…› inch thick slices Fontina Cheese
½ cup pesto
5 prosciutto slices
½ teaspoon Kosher Salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 ½ cups olive oil plus 1 tablespoon for baking dish
3 cup Muddica (Italian Style Bread Crumbs; See link below for Sista Felicia’s Muddica Recipe)
â…“ cup water
Step-by-Step
1 Cut a slit/pocket along thick side of each chicken breast
2 lay cut chicken on clean flat work surface; open slit side facing up
2 arrange one piece of red roasted pepper on right side of split breast; top with slice of cheese, 1 teaspoon pesto, one slice prosciutto
3 fold left side of split chicken breast over top of fillings; season with salt & pepper; (repeat with remaining 4 breast)
4 carefully dip each stuffed breast in olive oil and immediately cover with Muddica (Italian Style Bread Crumbs)
5 arrange in glass baking dish
6 mix water and 1 tablespoon olive oil together; pour equal amounts in each corner of baking dish
7 cover baking dish with aluminum foil; bake in preheated 375 degree oven 20 minutes; remove foil cook 10 minutes uncovered until Muddica(breadcrumbs) are golden in color and Chicken is fully cooked
Good Morning Gloucester 