My View of Life on the Dock
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.
Roomba 770 removes dirt, dust and pet hair on its own. It features Dirt Detect™ Series 2 technology to concentrate cleaning in the dirtiest areas and a Full Bin Indicator that lets you know when the bin needs to be emptied. Using iAdapt® Responsive Navigation Technology, Roomba thoroughly vacuums the entire floor, including hard-to-reach spots under furniture. Dual HEPA air filters stop fine dust from circulating in your home.
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
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)
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 Â 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
3 combine 3 tablespoons chili oil and sesame oil in large fry pan; heat over high setting
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
5 in small mini chopper combine all sauce ingredients; add reserved leftover marinade from Ziploc bag; Blend well; reserve
5 add 3 tablespoons chili oil; peppers, white scallion pieces, garlic slices and freshly ground pepper to fry pan sauté four minutes
6 add reserved sauce to pan; mix well; cook four minutes; scrape ingredients from bottom of pan with metal spatula if necessary
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
8 arrange cooked rice in large serving bowl; top with stir fry mixture
9 roughly chop reserved green parts of scallions and sprinkle over top of stir fry; serve
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
Love gardening? Eager to get involved in community work?
Join Backyard Growers for the 2014 growing season as a volunteer Garden Mentor! Garden Mentors are an essential part of our program to ensure our participants are getting the support they need to become successful vegetable gardeners! Intermediate gardening experience required; low time commitment; big community impact! Mentor training provided on February 22. For more information and to apply visit http://capeannfarmersmarket.org/backyard-growers and click on “Become a Mentor” or call Anna at 610.220.9823. Deadline to apply is Feb 1st.
Please let me know if you have any questions. Thank you so much for your help!
Best,
Anna
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.
Here’s a shot of Motif No 1 from Matthew Green-
aaaand The Paint Factory from Manny Simoes-
Let’s run a couple different polls-
So frickin good.
By 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 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.
Chunky 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.
Pocket 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.
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!
|
A message from Alchemy:
Thank you for a great 10 years, it’s been a wonderful first chapter. We will be temporarily closing on March 3rd. Wait till you see chapter two….
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!
 
 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.
Good Morning Gloucester 
