Poor Amy Adams plays a severely agoraphobic woman who believes she’s witnessed a murder in The Woman in the Window, a long-delayed movie (and not just because of the pandemic, as is clear from watching the movie) now available on Netflix.
I mean, like, poor poor Amy Adams, who can be so good (Enchanted! Arrival!) but has just been saddled with some real nonsense lately, to include all the Zack Snyder Lois Lane stuff, the mess that was Hillbilly Elegy and now this. And she tries, she gives this movie more than it deserves, but unlike Emily Blunt, who was the best thing about the otherwise borderline-silly The Girl on the Train, Amy Adams feels a bit like she’s being drowned by all the suspense melodrama.
Anna Fox (Adams) is a child psychologist but it seems like she is currently on a sabbatical and just focused on regaining her own health. Her own psychiatrist (Tracy Letts, the playwright and screenwriter who adapted this screenplay from the book by A.J. Finn) is working on finding her a medication that will help her with her anxiety and depression and with the agoraphobia that keeps her trapped in her thankfully large brownstone. Based on a conversation she has with her husband, Ed (Anthony Mackie), from whom she is separated and who is with their young daughter, Olivia (Mariah Bozeman), Anna spends a lot of her days staring out the window and watching her neighbors. She does some post-neighbor-watching Google-stalking as well, which is how she knows what the Russells, the family newly moved in across the street, have paid for the house and that they don’t have much of an internet presence.
Soon, though, the Russell family bleeds into her life a bit. Fifteen-year-old Ethan Russell (Fred Hechniger) brings over a gift from his mother. His father, Alistair Russell (Gary Oldman), hires David (Wyatt Russell), Anna’s tenant who lives in a basement apartment, to do some handyman work. And on Halloween, when Anna’s candy-free house is being pelted with eggs, Anna, who can barely bring herself to open the door and then faints when she does, meets and spends time with Ethan’s mom (Julianne Moore), who Anna’s snooping has told her is Jane Russell. Jane drops a lot of hints about the possible dark side of Alistair and is just generally kind of oddball in that way that certain Julianne Moore characters can be. But Anna has a good time with her and even seems to have made a friend.
Or has she? Has she even met Jane Russell? And later, when she thinks some harm befalls Jane, what has she actually seen, if anything at all? Despite advice, Anna can’t seem to stop herself from mixing her powerful psychiatric drugs with what seems like a steady stream of red wine. Between this mix of intoxicants and her general jumpiness that has her quick to call 911 at every hint of trouble, not only are police detectives Little (Brian Tyree Henry) and Norelli (Jeanine Serralles) unsure what to believe but even Anna can’t be sure of what she’s seen.
On paper, all of this is fine — Rear Window-ness, unreliable narrator, spacious if spookily lit real estate. And the movie has a cast of solid performers. But I feel like tone is where this movie sort of falls apart. It can’t decide if it’s playing things straight: the drama of Anna’s condition meets the suspense of the mystery of the Russells, or some pulpier blend of suspense and thrills peppered with some very dark comedy. I feel like we get examples of both — with more pulp as the movie goes on — but the lack of tonal consistency makes it hard to, say, enjoy it for the melodrama or take Adams’ performance very seriously. She’s giving A Lot of performance — which also doesn’t seem to hit exactly the right tone ever — but it feels like she is often more serious or more sudsy than the movie around her.
I didn’t dislike The Woman in the Window much in the same way I didn’t dislike last fall’s unremarkable Rebecca or the recent, slightly goofy ghost story Things Seen and Heard. Netflix actually feels like it would be a sensible outlet for prestige, movie star versions of cheap thrillers, higher-budget versions of basic cable movies about shady husbands and Muhr-Der. It’s just too bad for Adams in particular that this movie couldn’t be a nudge or two better. C
Rated R for violence and language, according to the MPA on filmratings.com. Directed by Joe Wright with a screenplay by Tracy Letts (from the book of the same name by A.J. Finn), The Woman in the Window is an hour and 40 minutes long and is available on Netflix.
Those Who Wish Me Dead (R)
Angelina Jolie is a forest firefighter running from flames and assassins to keep a kid safe in Those Who Wish Me Dead, an entertaining-enough action movie available on HBO Max and in theaters.
Hannah (Jolie) drinks too much and does potentially self-destructive stuff like parachuting off the back of a pickup truck driving fast on a wooded road. As her ex-boyfriend, Sheriff Ethan (Jon Bernthal), knows, this tough-lady stuff is all her way of self-destructively coping with her trauma and regret from a fire that trapped her team, resulting in the deaths of one firefighter and a group of kids who were stuck on a hillside. She is punished for this by being assigned to a forest fire tower for a year. On the downside, she is stuck here alone (with no toilet), but on the bright side (not really) it gives her lots of time to stare at the horizon and cry.
On the slightly brighter side, Hannah’s exile means that she is in the woods when the 11-ish-year-old Connor (Finn Little) needs someone to turn to. Connor and his father Owen (Jake Weber) are on the run after Owen’s boss, a Florida district attorney, is killed. Owen believes that the criminal organization (whose representative here is played by Tyler Perry, who is fun and could have used more screen time) that he has been investigating is now after him. Owen heads to Ethan, his late wife’s brother, whose ranch-y home, shared with pregnant wife Allison (Medina Senghore), seems like a good place to hide out. That plan would have been more successful if he didn’t have a picture of Ethan and his ranch hanging on the wall of his house as a big clue for assassins Jack (Aidan Gillen) and Patrick (Nicholas Hoult).
When Hannah finds a frightened Connor wandering in the forest, she is able to convince him that she’s a friendly but they face a series of obstacles: Hannah’s communication equipment has just been fried by a lightning strike. It’s a significant walk into town. Some of that walk will be through what is essentially a field of lightning. Jack and Patrick are on the hunt for Connor. And lastly, a big chunk of the forest they’re in the middle of is on fire.
Angelina Jolie is never not Angelina Jolie in this movie; there is nothing about her that believably suggests a hard-living firefighter. But as a movie star in an action film, she’s fine. She can sell the physicality of the part well enough and once we get over the hump of setting up Hannah’s backstory situation, the movie is pretty immediate-problem-solving-based. The problem is getting through this lightning field, the problem is hiding from Jack and Patrick, the problem is getting Connor in touch with “the News,” which was what his father told him to do if they were ever separated. (That plan has some practical flaws but in the general “don’t worry about it too much, this is an action movie” sense is fine because it gets the information disseminated and removes the point of killing Connor — aside from just revenge, I guess.) Chases through the forest and fights in front of a scary fire-lit background are the point of this movie and it executes them competently. I basically enjoyed this movie as I was watching it — particularly Senghore’s performance and character, she is the movie’s truly believable bad-ass — and while I wouldn’t recommend going out of your way to find it, if you already have HBO Max, it is perfectly acceptable low-effort entertainment. B-
Rated R for strong violence and language throughout, according to the MPA on filmratings.com. Directed by Taylor Sheridan with a screenplay by Michael Koryta and Charles Leavitt and Taylor Sheridan, Those Who With Me Dead is an hour and 40 minutes long and distributed by New Line Cinemas. It is available on HBO Max and is screening in theaters.
Freedom, by Sebastian Junger (Simon & Schuster, 147 pages)
In 2012 Cheryl Strayed hit publishing paydirt with a memoir of her three-month solo hike on the Pacific Crest Trail. That book, Wild, was an account of how Strayed fought her way through both a literal wilderness and a wilderness of grief after her mother died from a cruelly rapid onset of lung cancer.
In his new book Freedom, Sebastian Junger also takes to the wild, with dramatically different style and intent. Best known for the commercially successful The Perfect Storm (published in 1997 if you want to feel old), Junger set off to walk a long distance along railroad lines, which happens to be illegal. This gives the account a thin tension. Will Junger and his comrades — a photographer, two Afghan War veterans and a dog — be arrested? Run over by a train? Eaten by bears? That is the extent of the mystery in this meandering account that reads at times like the collision of Reader’s Digest Condensed Books and the “N” volume of the World Book Encyclopedia — “N” for the emphasis on Native Americans.
Strayed covered 1,100 miles; Junger and his companions, 400, going from Washington, D.C., to Philadelphia to Pittsburgh. He admits in an afterword that the journey was “done in stages and not always with the same people,” which somewhat diminishes the accomplishment. But the slim book is still a surprisingly engrossing reflection of what “freedom” really means in a primitive sense, not the patriotic one, and why there is so much appeal in these stories of people who temporarily cast off the shackles of civilization for the perils and hardships of the wild.
The book is divided into three sections, titled “Run,” “Fight” and “Think.” In the first, Junger jumps right into the journey, taking no time for the formalities of explaining why he was doing this, and quickly launching into encyclopedic mode with a discourse on the freedom Native Americans had before Europeans arrived to chase and slaughter them. By the close of the section, we are weeping for the Apaches, even though Junger makes clear that brutality was not unique to the invading Europeans.
As Junger writes about the European settlers, “If you were willing to risk being captured … then you could make your way up the finger valleys of the Juniata and find a secluded spot to build a cabin and get in a quick crop of corn. … The risks were appalling and the hardships unspeakable, but no government official would ever again tell you what to do.”
In taking the journey, Junger attempts to experience not only the travails of Native Americans and the early settlers but the lifestyle of our ancestors, millennia-past. “The poor have always walked and the desperate have always slept outside. We were neither, but we were still doing something that felt ancient and hard.”
He writes vividly of the stresses of the body when moving constantly: “Sometimes you enter a great blank space where a whole hour can seem to go by faster than some of the minutes within it, and the loyal dog of your body trots along as if the entire point of its existence is to expire following your orders.”
For food, the men made fires and grilled meat and vegetables they bought when they ventured into towns, and occasionally wolfed pancakes and eggs at diners where people looked at them with a mixture of suspicion and envy. They carried a single machete, which they stuck in a tree while they slept, counting on Junger’s dog to serve as an alarm if something evil came their way.
In the second section, “Fight,” Junger returns with dismaying insistence to tales of Native American cruelty to settlers. Then he segues into stories about how the railroads were built, with equally horrific random tales of carnage. (The book could have been subtitled “1,000 horrific ways to die in early America.”) The takeaway: Trains and settling a wilderness are dangerous, as was the trip that Junger and his companions were, somewhat inexplicably, taking,
“The towns, the cops, the freight companies — no one wanted us on the lines, which was understandable. In fact, over the course of four hundred miles, we failed to come up with a single moral or legal justification for what we were doing other than the dilute principle that we weren’t causing actual harm so we should be able to keep doing it,” he writes.
In the final section, “Think,” and throughout a frayed thread that runs through the book, Junger wrestles with the perception of freedom and real freedom’s uglier realities. “People love to believe that they’re free,” he says, although flag-waving Americans “depend on a sprawling supply chain that can only function with federal oversight, and most of them pay roughly one-third of their income in taxes for the right to participate in this system.”
In the end, it’s unclear what Junger accomplished other than pulverizing his feet to something the consistency of pink oatmeal. The trip had been an escape of a 51-year-old in the middle of a divorce and was “a temporary injunction against whatever was coming” next. It’s definitely not the triumphant finish of Wild.
Except for one thing: Like Strayed, Junger got a film out of his exceedingly long hike. Called The Last Patrol, the HBO documentary came out in 2014. The book is as uneven as the territory the men crossed, but intriguing enough to make us want to see the footage. B-
BOOK NOTES When Andy Warhol said that in the future everyone will be famous for 15 minutes, he left something out: that in the future, everyone will write a novel, whether anyone wants to read it or not. I was reminded of this recently when listening to Four-Hour-Work-Week guru Tim Ferris interview author Steven Pressfield (A Man at Arms, W.W. Norton, 336 pages) on a podcast. Ferris, who has made a ton of money writing nonfiction, mused that he was thinking of writing a novel. Of course he is. Who isn’t? That is clear from new fiction offerings from former President Bill Clinton and Georgia politician Stacey Abrams, not to mention a forthcoming novel from Empty Nest star Dinah Manoff. Abrams, to her credit, is dedicated to the craft. She wrote her first novel in law school and has published eight romance novels under the pen name Selena Montgomery. She’s also written two nonfiction books. Her newest is While Justice Sleeps (Doubleday, 384 pages), billed as a thriller set within the U.S. Supreme Court. Clinton teams up with superstar author James Patterson again for The President’s Daughter (Little, Brown and Co./Knopf), which, at 608 pages, brings to mind Clinton’s 35-minute speech in 1988 and how the crowd went wild when he finally said “In conclusion.” Somewhat predictably, it’s a thriller about the kidnapping of a president’s kid. The previous Patterson-Clinton book was The President is Missing (Little, Brown and Co., 527 pages). Apparently the president goes missing. Less promising is Manoff’s July release of The Real True Hollywood Story of Jackie Gold, billed as a coming-of-age story set in Hollywood (Star Alley Press, 338 pages). Right now it’s only offered on Kindle and it appears to be the first book published by this company, which may be a cover for self-publishing. If it flops, it doesn’t take away from Manoff’s other talents (she did, after all, win a Tony) but only suggests that maybe, just maybe, everyone doesn’t have a novel in them. Andy Warhol, by the way, thought he did. Though famous for his pop art, Warhol wrote something that he called a novel — literally. A, a Novel (Grove Press, 451 pages) was not especially well-received in 1968 and, being largely a transcript of recordings, can barely be called a novel, but a first edition is going for $6,500 on Amazon. If you’ve got one somewhere, get thee to a book dealer, fast.
Books
Author events
• MEREDITH TATE AND CAMERON LUND Tate presents Shipped. Lund presents Heartbreakers and Fakers. Hosted by Gibson’s Bookstore in Concord. Virtual, via Zoom. Thurs., May 20, 7 p.m. Registration required. Visit gibsonsbookstore.com or call 224-0562.
• GLENN A. KNOBLOCK Author presents Hidden History of Lake Winnipesaukee. Hosted by Gibson’s Bookstore in Concord. Virtual, via Zoom. Wed., May 26, 7 p.m. Registration required. Visit gibsonsbookstore.com or call 224-0562.
• KEVIN KWAN Author presents Sex and Vanity. Hosted by The Music Hall in Portsmouth. Thurs., May 27, 7 p.m. Virtual. Tickets cost $5. Visit themusichall.org or call 436-2400.
• JAMIE DUCHARME AND JEFFREY KLUGER Ducharme presents Big Vape: The Incendiary Rise of Juul. Kluger presents Holdout. Hosted by Gibson’s Bookstore in Concord. Virtual, via Zoom. Wed., June 2, 7 p.m. Registration required. Visit gibsonsbookstore.com or call 224-0562.
• ANNETTE GORDON-REED Author presents On Juneteenth. Hosted by The Music Hall in Portsmouth. Thurs., June 3, 7 p.m. Virtual. Tickets cost $5. Visit themusichall.org or call 436-2400.
• LIN-MANUEL MIRANDA, QUIARA ALEGRIA HUDES AND JEREMY MCCARTER Authors present the launch of their new book, In the Heights: Finding Home. Hosted by Gibson’s Bookstore in Concord. Virtual, via Zoom. Tues., June 15, 8 p.m. Registration and tickets required. Tickets cost $40 to $44. Visit gibsonsbookstore.com or call 224-0562.
Call for submissions
• COVID POETRY ANTHOLOGY New Hampshire residents are invited to submit original poems for review and possible publication in COVID Spring Vol. II,an anthology of poetry about the pandemic experience in New Hampshire, to be edited by New Hampshire Poet Laureate Alexandria Peary and published by Hobblebush Books this summer. Youth age 18 and under may also submit original poems to be considered for the anthology’s new youth section. Submit a poem or poems (up to three) by Sun., May 23, through the online submission form at hobblebush.com/anthology-submissions. Poets will be notified of the editor’s decision by June 15.
• NH LITERARY AWARDS The New Hampshire Writers’ Project seeks submissions for its Biennial New Hampshire Literary Awards, which recognize published works written about New Hampshire and works written by New Hampshire natives or residents. Books must have been published between Jan. 1, 2019 and Dec. 31, 2020 and may be nominated in fiction, nonfiction, poetry, children’s picture books, middle grade/young adult books. All entries will be read and evaluated by a panel of judges assembled by the NHWP. Submission deadline is Mon., June 21, 5 p.m. Visit nhwritersproject.org/new-hampshire-literary-awards.
Alchemy Sound Project, Afrika Love (Artists Recording Collective)
I assume you know by now that I try to steer readers away from dissonant, disagreeable jazz. I roll like that mostly because purposely annoying runs, no matter the level of talent, go through me like a nail. In other words, I am not a hawker of Charles Mingus et al; I think I’ve only covered one of his live albums here, purely for the sake of humanity (and to keep the remastered Blue Note albums coming in, like you couldn’t have guessed). So this one, from a scarily talented quintet of bandleaders (on trumpet, woodwinds and piano on the prime-mover side), does start with some dis-ambiance (“The Fountain”), and I was about to commence to barfing, but then it just flies off into hyperspace with the immensely complicated “Dark Blue Residue”: You’re at once overwhelmed by the band’s depth of musicianship; I mean it’s Jedi-level. And accessible as well. Mind, I’m just trying to help the genre, not scold anyone for liking skronky nonsense, but I’d recommend this to anyone exploring jazz. A
Living Wreckage, “Breaking Point” (self-released)
I’m sure we can dispose of this quickly, the teaser single from a quote-unquote “superstar metal band consisting of vocalist Jeff Gard (Death Ray Vision), guitarists Jon Donais (Anthrax, Shadows Fall) and Matt LeBreton (Downpour), bassist Matt Bachand (Shadows Fall, Act of Defiance) and drummer Jon Morency (Let Us Prey). Their goal is to make “good ol’ hard rock/metal that fits somewhere between Skid Row and Pantera.” Now, the only thing I know for sure is that I’ve always considered Anthrax to be the Pepsi to Metallica’s Coca-Cola within the ’80s thrash-metal sphere, like Anthrax wanted to be DRI so badly that they even named a song after that band. Pretty hurtin’, huh? Now, that’s not to say these guys aren’t going to be the next (place name of “superstar thrash band” that everyone forgot about in three months here), because who knows, maybe this tune’s combination-ripoff of Meshuggah, Nine Inch Nails and Metallica will be the key to unleashing speed-metal again upon our unsuspecting world, this time for a permanent reign. But I doubt it. B
PLAYLIST
A seriously abridged compendium of recent and future CD releases
• May 21 sounds like a great Friday for new CDs, am I right? Well, tough Tootsie Rolls, frantic fam, because here they come anyway. Let’s have a look at the list of albums coming out tomorrow, shall we? Right, blah blah blah, Georgia Anne Muldrow, don’t like her; Blake Shelton, never heard of him, unless that was the guy who tried to sell me a used Corolla in 1996 — ah, here’s something I can actually get excited about (you wouldn’t believe how short that list is these days, guys): It’s none other than goth king Gary Numan, with his new album, Intruder! You may know that this vampire-techno vanguard, he of the swirling fog and and the spooky tunes that are so awesome they’re probably illegal in the Midwest, has had himself a few setbacks, like the time he was supposed to collaborate with Trent Reznor but it just turned into Nine Inch Nails doing a cover of Numan’s “Metal,” and Numan is self-diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome, and he has a really crazy girlfriend (which of course only means he’s in a band, but whatever). Anyway, even though everyone expected him (because he announced such) to just buy a farm and retire after his big 1980s hit “Cars,” he stuck with it, and his last bajillion albums are the gold standard for post-Bauhaus vampire rock, and I’m sure I’ll listen to this single, “Now And Forever,” from Intruder and will pronounce it awesome. Yes, I will be doing just that. It has a weird, scratchy Nine Inch Nails style beat, but when you add Numan’s half-yodeling voice it becomes instantly awesome. I have no idea why he isn’t more popular than Reznor, but whatever.
• The Monkees are a long-gone band and TV show that was huge in the mid-1960s, because they were basically The Beatles with more accessible songs and lots of sight gags involving chimpanzees and hot girls named Mary and Sandra, because those were the official hot girl names of that generation. There are only two Monkees still alive now (and yes, I had to check that they’re still alive), namely Micky Dolenz (the goofy, chimp-like drummer) and Mike Nesmith, the slacker guitarist. Since these guys still have to make a living playing music, there is a new album on the way, called Micky Dolenz Sings Nesmith, which should be self-explanatory if unexciting news to Monkees fans, because none of those guys were allowed to write songs for the original TV show, so I assume the song snippets I just heard were random songs written by Nesmith, jingly ’60s-pop trifles that are happy and catchy, whatever, and Dolenz can still actually sing, which is the weird part.
• Columbus, Ohio, alternative hip-hop duo Twenty One Pilots will release their sixth full-length, Scaled And Icy, on May 21. You’ll know them from the Eminem-meets-boy-band hit “Stressed Out,” or maybe you somehow don’t, which doesn’t mean that you aren’t cool anymore, it just means that you never bother to Shazam the songs you hear at fashionable outlet malls (if so, send me a Friend request). The pair’s latest single is “Shy Away,” which starts off like bloopy Billie Eilish electropop, then becomes emo, then tries to sound like a Smashing Pumpkins B-Side. Your dog might like it, I don’t know.
• We’ll put this week in the books with a quick listen to eclectic techno-whatever dude Nicholas Krgovich, whose new LP, This Spring, consists of a bunch of cover songs originally done by Canadian experimental wingnut Veda Hille. “LuckLucky,” the first single, sounds like Orbital in mellow mode. It’s OK.
Retro Playlist
You might think of me as a closed-minded punk/noise/metal guy, given all the love I’ve heaped on the louder genres and my constant bashing of half-plugged fedora and indie bands. But there’s a soft side to my W.C. Fields-ness that’s surfaced recently: I’ve become completely obsessed with Fleetwood Mac.
There’s an explanation. I did the math the other week, and between this newspaper and all the other magazines, papers and blogs to which I’ve “contributed,” I have written, to date, at the very least, around 4,500 CD reviews. Do you have any idea how much damage all that bad music could do to a human cerebrum? I kidded around about that in my book and sometimes mention it here, but never did I realize that my experiencing all that horror would actually lead to something positive.
Announcement: I have become convinced that Fleetwood Mac is the greatest pop-songwriting unit in history. I say all this for the benefit of young music-searchers, of course; old folks know how divine the band’s Rumours album is. There’s “Dreams,” “Go Your Own Way,” and all that stuff.
I’m also grimly fascinated by how bloody weird the band members were. Sara Fleetwood, who stole drummer Mick from Stevie Nicks and married him, has (maybe) posted all sorts of insider groupie details over at the blog songfacts.com. As with any potential troll, it’s impossible to determine if she’s real or not, but sure, I believe it, and besides, whether it’s fake or not, Sara’s got to be completely crazy by now.
That Sara person may have been the inspiration for the only great song (the suspiciously named “Sara”) on the band’s absolutely awful 1979 album Tusk. The stunted yin to Rumours’ yang, Tusk was written almost exclusively by guitarist Lindsey Buckingham, who, in a drugged-up panic, was desperate to make people forget that the band made epic pop-rock. The critics sure did, after Tusk flopped its way into the stores.
But regardless, “Sara” — obviously a rough sketch for “Gypsy,” which came later — is a magnificent touchy-feely song. If you’re young, add that to your playlist, as well as anything else either of the two women wrote back then.
My wife and I decided this would be the year we would beautify our landscaping. Mulch! Fresh loam! Grass seed! New shrubs! Flowers! And even a fancy sprinkler that sits on a tripod! This would be the year.
Well, some of those things have actually happened but others, sadly, have not. The area right in front of my house looks like a construction site. No, not a construction site; it looks like something exploded in front of my house.
There are two giant holes from removing a couple stumps, except that I’ve only been able to get one of the stumps out. I’m told I need a “come-along” and a “winch.” And then I guess I’m going to crank it right out, so says YouTube. I can’t imagine anything could go wrong.
OK, so there’s been a lot of digging and just generally tiresome labor, and that means I’ve needed to whet my whistle with some beer from time to time. My selections have been completely random and maybe even questionable but I regret nothing.
I know I’m not alone in trying to beautify lawns and landscaping this year and so I know I’m also not alone in needing something to quench my thirst.
Here’s a look at some brews that helped reward me after attacking some stumps.
Harpoon UFO by Harpoon Brewery (Boston)
I found this in the back of my dad’s fridge and when I saw it I immediately harkened back to the college days when I had far too many Blue Moons and UFOs with orange slices sitting on the brim of the glass. I think we all went to the well on this style too frequently and just got sick of it. So, probably 15 or maybe more years since I last had one of these, I dove in, and it was refreshing and tasty. There is absolutely nothing offensive about this beer. It’s definitely got a little sweetness but it’s not nearly as overpowering as I remembered. On a hot day, yeah, I think this is a winner.
Holy Donut Imperial Stout by Lone Pine Brewing Co. (Portland, Maine)
Brewed in collaboration with the famed Portland doughnut shop that gives this beer its name, this is an imperial stout brewed with dark chocolate toasted coconut doughnuts. Honestly, I’m not sure whether it’s dessert or breakfast and who really cares anyway? The main problem with this beer is that I was halfway through it when I realized it was 10.5 percent ABV — that sort of made for an interesting afternoon. This is a rich, decadent bomb of a beer that still manages to be dangerously easy to drink.
Newcastle Brown Ale by Lagunitas (Chicago)
This is another one I found in the back of my dad’s fridge — honestly, what’s in the back of this guy’s fridge is absolutely wild: Mike’s Hard Raspberry Lemonade from probably 2008, some kind of hard root beer and then some Heady Topper sitting right next to it. It’s incredible. This was one of my first favorite beers during and after college. My whole family loved Newcastle. We got kegs of this stuff for all family graduation parties, I think. And then one day I bought a six-pack and every beer in the pack was skunked, and it’s just really hard to come back to a beer once that happens to you. But you know, again, years later, this was perfectly fine! (It’s also now brewed with a different recipe.) It’s got a subtle nuttiness and a little bit of malt — extremely easy to drink. This is a perfectly pleasing if not especially remarkable beer.
What’s in My Fridge Wachusett Blueberry Ale by Wachusett Brewing Co. (Westminster) My wife saw this in the fridge and asked why I don’t keep the fridge stocked with this beer at all times. It’s a great question and there’s really no excuse for my lapse. If you’ve never tried this, please do. It’s super-refreshing, very easy to drink and features the extremely pleasing but not at all overpowering flavor of blueberry. Cheers!
Featured photo: Holy Donut by Lone Pine Brewing Co.
Lorna Aouad of Auburn is the owner of Loulou’s Bakery (loulousbakery.com, and on Facebook and Instagram @loulousbakery.nh), a wholesale and catering business she started two years ago that specializes in Mediterranean sweet cookies, savory pies and other handcrafted items. Her cookies, which include flavors like date, almond tea, sesame tea and chocolate sable, are all made from scratch and can be found in most Hannaford Supermarket locations in southern New Hampshire, as well as McKinnon’s in both Salem and Portsmouth. Aouad, who is originally from Lebanon, also makes small meat pies, spinach and feta pies, and cheese or thyme flatbreads, and offers catering for several meat, vegetarian or dessert platters with three-day advance ordering notice.
What is your must-have kitchen item?
Measuring cups and spoons, and also my spices, which I cannot cook without.
What would you have for your last meal?
My meat flatbread. It has ground beef, tomatoes and onions and a squeeze of lemon on top, and it’s on a thin crust, almost like a pizza crust. It’s to die for.
What is your favorite local restaurant?
My favorite is Cotton [in Manchester]. I love their steak and their salad and popcorn shrimp. It’s such a cozy little place. I also really like Piccola Italia [Ristorante in Manchester].
What celebrity would you like to see trying something you’ve made?
I would love to have Gov. [Chris] Sununu try some of my food, definitely my flatbread or my stuffed grape leaves or kibbeh.
What is your personal favorite menu item?
I love my kafta soup. It’s ground meat, almost like meatballs, and inside of them there’s parsley, onion and some special spices. The soup itself has rice and tomato paste and some parsley in it.
What is the biggest food trend in New Hampshire right now?
Definitely comfort food, especially because it’s such a stressful time right now.
What is your favorite thing to cook at home?
I like to make appetizers, not just Lebanese appetizers but a bunch of different things. I make the best Seven Layers, which has refried beans, guacamole, cheese, tomatoes, scallions, olives and then a special sauce in the middle with different spices in it.
Easy hummus recipe From the kitchen of Lorna Aouad of Loulou’s Bakery in Auburn, loulousbakery.com
15 ounces broiled chickpeas, warm 1 large squeezed lemon 1 clove peeled fresh garlic ½ teaspoon salt 2 tablespoons tahini sauce 3 Tablespoons warm water 1 teaspoon olive oil
Featured photo: Lorna Aouad of Loulou’s Bakery in Auburn with husband Rami Kattar
Farmers markets open with plans for a more lively summer
Ledge Top Farm in Wilton is a vendor at this year’s Milford Farmers Market. Courtesy photo.
Adrienne Colsia wasn’t sure what the Milford Farmers Market’s first day back outdoors would bring. The market canceled its entire indoor season this winter — though to make up for some lost dates, it remained outdoors for six additional weeks through Nov. 21 last year.
On May 8, the market kicked off its summer season more than a month earlier than normal, at its usual outdoor spot at 300 Elm St. across from the New Hampshire Antique Co-op.
“Usually you never know with that first market, but it was very well-attended. I had a lot more people come out than I was expecting,” said Colsia, who manages the market and also co-owns Paradise Farm in Lyndeborough, one of its featured vendors. “I actually had several vendors that day tell me that they had broken their own sales records for one market.”
At least 19 vendors are on the schedule each week, offering a wide variety of items from beef, poultry and fresh produce to prepared meals, cheeses, baked goods, craft beer and wine.
For the time being, Colsia said, masks are still required and sampling is not allowed. But other features of the market, such as live music in the center of the lot, may be returning soon.
As the summer market season returns in the Granite State, pandemic regulations and restrictions that were implemented last year may still be in effect or may be eased a bit. According to Gail McWilliam Jellie, director of agricultural development for the New Hampshire Department of Agriculture, Markets & Food, it will all likely vary depending on where you go — each individual market, she said, can have its own guidelines encouraging masks or one-way shopping, or temporarily suspending product sampling, live entertainment or demonstrations.
Here’s a look at some farmers markets that have already kicked off their outdoor seasons and others due to start in the coming weeks, plus a couple new local markets debuting in 2021.
Markets underway
Khadija A. with Fresh Start Farms, vending at the Milford Farmers Market. Courtesy photo.
When it comes to creating a vendor list for the Milford Farmers Market, Colsia aims for variety.
“We try to limit things like crafts or jewelry,” she said. “We want people to feel like they can do their grocery shopping here. That’s what I strive for.”
This year’s roster includes Lone Wolf Cheese of Harrisville, which makes many of its own cheeses, butters and yogurts; Quarter Moon Farm of Hancock, which offers a line of certified organic black garlic products; and Mola Foods of Nashua, offering world-inspired spice blends.
In mid-June, a few additional vegetable vendors will be joining the market too once their products reach their peak growing season — among them will be Groh Farm of Wilton, a biodynamic farm established by Temple-Wilton Community Farm co-founder Trauger Groh.
After a few months indoors from January to April, the Concord Farmers Market also kicked off its summer season at its usual spot on Capitol Street, steps away from the Statehouse. Market president Wayne Hall said the board has been closely following guidelines from the City of Concord, which still has a mask ordinance in effect through June 1.
“Samples are allowed now … but the vendor has to hand it to the person rather than them just reaching for it,” said Hall, who also owns Rockey Ole Farm in Concord, a purveyor of leafy greens, fresh berries and other produce in addition to eggs and cut flowers.
The Contoocook Farmers Market moved back outdoors on May 1, a few weeks earlier than normal, to its normal spot by the gazebo next to the Contoocook Railroad Museum. Many of the same guidelines from the start of the last summer season remain in effect, such as the encouragement of one shopper per household to visit the market to promote social distancing. Most of the vendors also offer several types of alternative payment methods to limit cash use.
Another market that recently moved back outdoors, the Salem Farmers Market is in a new spot as of May 16, according to president Bonnie Wright — the Tuscan Village shopping plaza. You’ll find it there every Sunday behind Drive Fitness and adjacent to the building housing Williams Sonoma and the new Tuscan Market. For the first time in more than a year, Wright said, the Salem market has extended its hours back to its usual 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. time frame.
Salem also has the distinction of being one of the only year-round markets in New Hampshire that has remained nearly uninterrupted. From March 2020 all the way until January of this year, the market had been outdoors, before finding a temporary indoor spot at 369 S. Broadway.
“Our market is so critical to the livelihood of our customers … that our vendors agreed to keep coming out,” Wright said. “Other farmers markets have used us as a model, because we were proactive right at the beginning. We were strict about social distancing and masks from the start.”
Markets on deck
Fresh vegetables from Kearsarge Gore Farm in Warner, a vendor at Concord and Warner’s markets. Courtesy photo.
As Memorial Day weekend approaches, more outdoor markets across New Hampshire are set to begin their summer seasons. Next up are the Henniker Community Market, kicking off on May 20, and the Weare Real Food Farmers Market, due to hold its first outdoor market on May 29.
Henniker is coming off the heels of an “outstanding” inaugural Handmade & Homegrown event on May 8 in the Community Center park, a primarily arts-focused market that also featured a few local prepared food vendors, according to market manager Monica Rico. The Henniker Community Market will continue every Thursday in that spot through Oct. 21.
The Weare Real Food Farmers Market held its first year outdoors last July through the weekend before Thanksgiving, and a new indoor space opened March 15, owner Marek Rivero said. Outdoors, the market has received clearance from the Town to remain open from Memorial Day weekend through the entire rest of the year, weather permitting. You’ll find vendors’ products from right in town as well as in neighboring communities — Warner River Produce of Webster, for example, has been featuring items like spinach, carrots, microgreens and shiitake mushrooms, while the New Hampshire Doughnut Co. has been dropping off deliveries of its fresh doughnuts.
On Wednesday, June 2, the Derry Homegrown Farm & Artisan Market will return for the first time since the 2019 season. Just one day before its original opening date last year, the market’s board announced it had unanimously voted to sit the 2020 season out.
“Most of our vendors have been with us since the beginning, and just about everybody is back with us and equally excited as us to be back,” market manager and board vice president Neil Wetherbee said. “The community response also has been great so far.”
New vendors are expected, like Meta Microgreens of Dracut, Mass., and Mimi Rae’s Gluten Free Bakery of Chester, which offers cookies, brownies and other treats.
With Derry holding its first farmers market since the onset of the pandemic, Wetherbee said several critical decisions were made early on, among them to permit vendors to give out samples.
“We usually have alcohol vendors … and it’s a huge thing for them to come but not be able to do samples,” he said, “and the alcohol has to be in a roped off section of the market anyway.”
Live music performances and art demonstrations are returning to the Derry market too, thanks to a grant the board received from the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts.
Also on June 2 will be the return of the Canterbury Community Farmers Market, which is set up in the parking lot of the Elkins Public Library. Like in Contoocook, the market is continuing to observe its best practices from last year, which can be viewed on the website.
The New Boston Farmers Market is due to return on June 12, co-manager Allison Vermette said.
“We have a few of our craft vendors coming back who had taken last year off,” she said. “We do have a few new vendors coming too, which is always exciting. … We have one right here in town called Coyote’s Kitchen that will be bringing vegan organic pizza crusts.”
Similar to last year, Vermette said live musicians will be performing from the nearby gazebo each week throughout the season. One-way entrances and exits for customers are also in effect.
“We’re going to see if we can get food trucks like we have at the market in the past, and we’ll kind of have a separate eating area where there’s enough space,” she said.
On June 15, the Bedford Farmers Market will begin its season. The market had moved to the parking lot at 209 Route 101 in Bedford last year out of necessity, but according to manager Lauren Ritz, it was such a success that they decided to keep it there.
Because Wicked Good Butchah and Flight Coffee Co. are both located in the shopping plaza, Ritz said, this year’s market does not have a meat or coffee vendor. Instead, there will be around 20 local vendors selling everything from fresh produce to maple syrup, baked goods, seafood and more. New faces to the Bedford market this year include Jajabelles of Nashua offering fresh pastries; Sunfox Farm, which will have sunflowers and sunflower oil; and Oasis Springs Farm, also of Nashua, offering its own hydroponically grown lettuce and microgreens.
Intown Manchester is also planning on bringing back its farm stand, which debuted at Victory Park last year, executive director Sara Beaudry said. Intown Manchester’s Farm Stand & Artisan Shop will be held on Thursdays from June 17 through Aug. 26, with produce from Fresh Start Farms, as well as a small selection of other vendors, like DJ’s Pure Natural Honey and Dandido Hot Sauce.
New markets for 2021
Shortly after the formation of the Pelham Agricultural Commission, chairwoman Jenny Larson said its board members began planning to organize a subcommittee for a farmers market.
“We got involved in the community and asked citizens what they’d like to see from us … and the overwhelming response was for a farmers market,” Larson said. “So that was the No. 1 thing we immediately put on our agenda, and it went off without a hitch from there. … Pelham had had one years ago, but it just kind of fell apart due to a lack of volunteers.”
The new Pelham Farmers Market, expected to feature more than a dozen vendors, is set to begin June 19 outside the First Congregational Church of Pelham, continuing on Saturdays through October.
“We’re going to have something pretty much for everyone,” Larson said. “Farmer Dave’s over in Dracut, [Mass.,] will have all kinds of fruits and veggies. We’re going to have a meat vendor, some breads, baked goods, some microgreens, some honey, and some organic soaps. Our applications for vendors are on a continuous basis, so they can send one in three months from now if they just want to sell in the fall.”
The market will be held rain or shine from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Larson said additional events such as live music and demonstrations have also been in discussion for future markets.
Candia’s Agricultural Commission is also planning a new Candia market that will begin on June 19. According to market manager Pattie Davis, it will be on the grounds of the Smyth Public Library on the third Saturday of each month, from 9 a.m. to noon, wrapping up Oct. 16.
“The original idea … was for people with farms in town to be able to sell their wares once a month if they didn’t have enough stuff to come every week,” Davis said. “At this point, there’s one bakery and one crafter, and after that it’s all fruits and vegetables.”
She added that each market will feature a booth highlighting a different community organization — the first one will be the local gardening club, which will be there selling perennials.
Local farmers markets Here’s a list we’ve compiled by the day of the week of summer farmers markets happening in southern New Hampshire this year. Some markets are rain or shine while others may be postponed or canceled due to weather — be sure to visit their websites or Facebook pages for the most up-to-date information on each individual date.
Sundays • Gilmanton Community Farmers Market will be from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Gilmanton Year-Round Library (1385 Route 140) beginning June 13 and through Sept. 26. Visit gilmantonfarmersmarket.com or find them on Facebook @gilmantoncommunityfarmersmarket.
• Nashua Farmers Market will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at City Hall Plaza (229 Main St.) beginning June 20 and through Oct. 17. Visit downtownnashua.org or find them on Facebook @nashuafarmersmarket.
• Salem Farmers Market is from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. As of May 16 the market has moved to a new outdoor location at Tuscan Village South, behind Drive Fitness (12 Via Toscana Drive). Visit salemnhfarmersmarket.org or find them on Facebook @salemnhfarmersmarket.
Mondays • Durham Farmers Market will be from 2:15 to 5:30 p.m. in the parking lot of Sammy’s Market (5 Madbury Road) beginning June 7 and through Oct. 4. Visit seacoastgrowers.org or find them on Facebook @market03824.
Tuesdays • Bedford Farmers Market will be from 3 to 6 p.m. in the parking lot of Wicked Good Butchah (209 Route 101), beginning June 15 and through Oct. 12. Visit bedfordfarmersmarketnh.org or find them on Facebook @bedfordfarmersmarketnh.
• Rochester Farmers Market will be from 3 to 6 p.m. on the Rochester Town Common (Route 108 and South Main Street) beginning June 15 and through Sept. 28. Visit rochesternhfarmersmarket.com or find them on Facebook.
Wednesdays
• Canterbury Community Farmers Market will be from 4 to 6:30 p.m. in the parking lot of the Elkins Public Library (9 Center Road) beginning June 2 and through Sept. 29. Visit canterburyfarmersmarket.com or find them on Facebook @ccfma.
• Derry Homegrown Farm & Artisan Market will be from 3 to 7 p.m. at 1 W. Broadway beginning June 2 and through Sept. 29. Visit derryhomegrown.org or find them on Facebook @derryhomegrown.
• Dover Farmers Market will be from 2:15 to 5:30 p.m. in the parking lot of the Greater Dover Chamber of Commerce (550 Central Ave.) beginning June 2 and through Oct. 6. Visit seacoastgrowers.org or find them on Facebook @market03820.
• Peterborough Farmers Market is from 3 to 6 p.m. on the lawn of the Peterborough Community Center (25 Elm St.) now through October. The market moves indoors during the winter months. Find them on Facebook @peterboroughnhfarmersmarket.
Thursdays • Exeter Farmers Market is from 2:15 to 5:30 p.m. at Swasey Parkway (off Water Street) now through Oct. 28. Visit seacoastgrowers.org or find them on Facebook @market03833.
• Franklin Farmers Market will be from 3 to 6 p.m. at Marceau Park (Central Street) beginning June 24 and through Sept. 30. Visit franklinnh.org or find them on Facebook @franklinlocalmarket.
• Henniker Community Market is from 4 to 7 p.m. in the town’s Community Center park (57 Main St.) now through Oct. 21. Find them on Facebook @hennikercommunitymarket.
• Intown’s Farm Stand & Artisan Shop will be from 3 to 6 p.m., at Victory Park (Concord and Chestnut streets, Manchester) beginning June 17 and through Aug. 26. Find them on Facebook @manchesterfood.
• Rindge Farmers & Crafters Market is from 3 to 6 p.m. at West Rindge Common (Route 202 North) now through Oct. 7. Find them on Facebook @rindgefarmersandcraftersmarket.
• Wolfeboro Area Farmers Market is from 12:30 to 4:30 p.m. at Clark Park (233 S. Main St.) now through Oct. 28. Visit wolfeborofarmersmarket.com or find them on Facebook @wolfeboroareafarmersmarket.
Fridays • Francestown Community Market is from 4 to 7 p.m. at the horse sheds near the Francestown Police Station (15 New Boston Road). Find them on Facebook @francestowncommunitymarket.
• Newport Farmers Market will be from 3 to 6 p.m. on the Newport Town Common (N. Main and Park streets) beginning June 11 and through Oct. 1. Visit newportfarmersmarketnh.com or find them on Facebook @newportfarmersmarketnh.
Saturdays • Barnstead Farmers Market will be from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 96 Maple St. in Center Barnstead beginning June 12 and through Sept. 25. Visit barnsteadfarmers.weebly.com or find them on Facebook @barnsteadfarmersmarket.
• Candia Farmers Market will be from 9 a.m. to noon outside the Smyth Public Library (55 High St., Candia) beginning June 19. (Note: This market will only be held on the third Saturday of each month through October. Dates are June 19, July 17, Aug. 21, Sept. 18 and Oct. 16). Visit candianh.org or email agcomm@candianh.org.
• Cole Gardens Farmers Market is from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Cole Gardens (430 Loudon Road, Concord) now through Oct. 30. Visit colegardens.com or find them on Facebook @colegardens.
• Concord Farmers Market is from 8:30 a.m. to noon on Capitol Street (near the New Hampshire Statehouse) now through Oct. 30. Visit concordfarmersmarket.com or find them on Facebook @concordfarmersmarketnh.
• Contoocook Farmers Market is from 9 a.m. to noon at 896 Main St. (by the gazebo behind the train depot) now through October. Find them on Facebook @contoocookfarmersmarket.
• Milford Farmers Market is from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 300 Elm St. (across the street from the New Hampshire Antique Co-op) now through Oct. 9. Visit milfordnhfarmersmarket or find them on Facebook @milfordfarmersmarketofnh.
• New Boston Farmers Market will be from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the corner of Route 13 and Meetinghouse Hill Road beginning June 12 and through Oct. 9. Visit newbostonfarmersmarket.webs.com or find them on Facebook @newbostonfarmersmarket.
• New Ipswich Farmers Market is from 9 a.m. to noon in the parking lot of New Ipswich Town Hall (661 Turnpike Road) now through October. Beginning in November the market typically moves indoors to the New Ipswich Congregational Church. Find them on Facebook @newipswichfarmersmarket.
• Pelham Farmers Market will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. outside the First Congregational Church of Pelham (3 Main St.) beginning June 19 and through Oct. 30. Search “Friends of Pelham NH Farmers Market” on Facebook.
• Portsmouth Farmers Market is from 8 a.m. to noon in the parking lot of Little Harbour Elementary School (50 Clough Drive, Portsmouth) now through Nov. 6. Visit seacoastgrowers.org or find them on Facebook @market03801.
• Warner Area Farmers Market is from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the Warner Town Hall lawn (5 E. Main St.). Visit warnerfarmersmarket.org or find them on Facebook @warnerareafarmersmarket.
• Weare Real Food Farmers Market will be outdoors from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 65 N. Stark Hwy. in Weare beginning May 29. Visit wearerfm.com or find them on Facebook @wearerealfoodfarmersmarket.
• Wilmot Farmers Market will be from 9 a.m. to noon on the Wilmot Town Green (9 Kearsarge Valley Road) beginning June 26 and through Sept. 25. Visit wilmotfarmersmarket.com or find them on Facebook.
Feautred photo: Lakonian Olive Oil is a vendor at this year’s Milford Farmers Market. Courtesy photo.
