Author: John Fladd

Superman Cocktail

This drink is all about appearances. It is over-the-top to the point where it feels like it’s missing its sparklers, three paper umbrellas and a peacock feather. This might be the most visually impressive drink you’ll ever make. Our hero — or superhero in this case — flirts with being just a little too much — too sweet, too boozy, too good-looking — but ultimately looks too good not to drink.

  • 1 ounce kirsch, a high-octane Dutch cherry brandy
  • 1 ounce coconut rum
  • ¾ ounce grenadine
  • ¾ ounce blue curacao
  • 2 ounces plain seltzer or club soda
  • Regular ice cubes
  • Crushed ice or pebble ice

Tajin powder for the rim – this is a spicy spice flavored with chili and lime. It will help cut through what might otherwise be a very sweet drink.

Rim a rocks glass. Run a wedge of lemon or lime around the rim of the glass, then turn it upside-down and swirl it around Tajin that you have sprinkled on a plate. The spice will cling to the citrus juice and give you a rim of flavor when you sip your drink.

Carefully fill the glass about halfway with crushed or pebble ice, making sure not to knock any of the spiced rim loose.

In a cocktail shaker, combine regular ice, the brandy, the rum, and the grenadine. Shake thoroughly, then pour over the ice in your rocks glass, keeping straight to the middle — again, so you don’t mess with that pretty rim.

In a mixing glass — this could be an actual mixing glass or a largish measuring cup — stir the blue curacao, seltzer, and more regular ice. This will combine them without the seltzer losing its zip. Gently pour the blue mixture down the center of the drink, straining out the ice in the mixing glass. Because of the gas bubbles in the blue mixture, it is not as dense as the red mixture, and will rest on top of it in a separate layer, if the superhero bartender gods are with you.

If you’ve ever eaten chunks of mango or pineapple on a skewer that have had Tajin or chili powder sprinkled on it, you’ll notice a similar vibe to this spicy/sweet cocktail. The drink itself might have been too sweet, but lightening it up with club soda and replacing the sugared rim with Tajin has brought the operation back within operating tolerances.

Featured photo: The Superman. Photo by John Fladd.

Enthusiast & professional

Northeast Coffee Festival spans the coffee spectrum

Karen Bassett is the owner of Wayfarer Coffee Roasters in Laconia. She is also the director of this weekend’s Northeast Coffee Festival in Concord.

“This is actually Year 5 [of the Festival],” she said, “but it is the third year in Concord. The Northeast Coffee Festival is a hybrid-type event which brings both coffee professionals and coffee consumers together. It’s a two-day festival in Concord. There are two parts of the festival. One of them is the outdoor Community Market, and that is free and open to the public. It includes over 30 vendors, so coffee, tea, some pottery, some community vendors. We also have a massive main stage right on Main Street for a live music series; there will be live music and DJs all weekend. We have food trucks. We have a beer garden. We have an outdoor demo stage for coffee demonstrations, which is really cool. So that’s all outside and free and open to the public.”

The other half of the Festival, Bassett said, is designed around the interests of coffee professionals and avid amateurs.

“On both Friday and Saturday,” she said, “the other part of the festival is our educational programming. We have brought in 55 speakers from all over, really all over, lots of New England coffee and tea professionals, and have curated an educational series of workshops, panels, small group discussions, demonstrations, hands-on learning across seven different workshop tracks. We have workshop tracks about roasting, cupping (which is coffee tasting), sensory, espresso and tea. We have a panel track and then we have a ‘Beyond the Cup,’ small kind of casual conversations on a specific topic. It’s all pretty incredible.”

Bassett said the Coffee Festival’s organizers have made it a priority to be inclusive.

“There’s some high-level education,” she said, “but there is something for everyone, no matter where you’re at in your coffee journey or tea journey. Each workshop is indicated if it’s for beginners, intermediate, or advanced coffee drinkers. So you can curate a choose-your-own-adventure-style workshop.” It’s set up for professionals who are producing coffee, she said, but also for enthusiasts who are drinking it, and some people just like the concept of coffee.

“That’s what makes this festival really unique and special. Many industries have their own trade show, you can go and you can be in a convention center with thousands of vendors, And while that certainly has a place, this festival’s mission is to bring coffee and community together. And so we’re really trying to form real connections and provide opportunities to network between coffee producers, coffee importers, coffee roasters, and tea as well, of course. And baristas and people who just love coffee. So it’s kind of spanning that whole supply chain all the way like from the seed to cup.”

Some of the most popular sessions each year, Bassett said, are advanced latte workshops. “That’s always super well attended,” she said. “That’s the fun — you see on social media, people pouring these beautiful designs in their lattes. That just kind of brings people from all across. the industry. That’s a lot of fun, especially for baristas and consumers and people who visit local coffee shops. We also have sessions on how to brew better coffee at home. I think that one’s a great one for someone kind of entering this and maybe like, ‘oh, I don’t know what ones are for me.’ That one’s a great one for people to come to. The list could go on and on. If you’re a cafe owner, there’s a lot of ones about how to just run a better business, how to kind of lead from your heart, how to build a good culture, how to build a training program.”

The Northeast Coffee Festival
When: Friday, May 15, and Saturday, May 16
Where: Main Street in Concord
More: Many of the event’s activities are free and open to the public. Tickets to attend sessions and workshops are $99 each, through the Festival’s website. Visit northeastcoffeefestival.com/passes.

Featured photo: Coffee Festival. Courtesy photo.

Set your PoutineFest alarm

Tickets sell out fast for this big food event

“I call it the Poutine Super Bowl,” Tim Beaulieu said, “especially in New Hampshire. This is where it all started.” Beaulieu is the founder and organizer of New Hampshire’s PoutineFest, an annual celebration of everything poutine. Poutine, a French Canadian dish made from french fries, gravy and cheese curds, is a staple of New Hampshire’s Franco-American community. “It was my grandfather who inspired me to get involved in [Franco-American] culture, and after seeing what they did with poutine in Montreal I realized, ‘Oh, my god, we have to do that here.”

“So we took some of those pieces from Montreal up in Quebec,” Beaulieu said, “and made them a little bit more New England-y. Essentially, [PoutineFest] is a big poutine sampling event that is family-friendly. We have entertainment. But mostly we have local restaurants, pretty much all from New Hampshire, to see how their poutine compares to each other. We have a couple that come up from Mass and a couple that come over from Maine, but the New Hampshire event is primarily New Hampshire-based. We do have sister events in other states now … in Vermont, Maine, and this year for the first time the city of Boston. So we’re calling this event the Granite State PoutineFest now, and it’s kind of the flagship of all of them.”

For many years, Beaulieu said, PoutineFest was held at the Anheuser-Busch brewery in Merrimack, but since the brewery’s closing last year the festival has changed its location and its schedule.

“So Aug. 29 is when it’s going to be this year,” he said. “We used to do it in October for probably four or five years after Covid, but when Anheuser-Busch closed we did a bit of a scramble to find a good, suitable location. And most of them had late summer offerings, so we moved it to August. We’re going to be at 603 Brewery. The thing I like about them is that they’re so close to the town of Londonderry and they have experience doing events and they’ve kind of seen what we’ve done in the past. There will be slightly different beer offerings, which is great, because that works for me. But it will still be family-friendly, which I like. And it’s something that we both share as values.”

Beaulieu sees PoutineFest as an opportunity for independent restaurants to showcase their interpretations of poutine as they compete, whether they present traditional takes on it or more interpretive ones.

“We have a people’s choice award,” he said, “and we also have an overall champion from our chef judges. So we get a little bit of both. We create custom kitchens for all the restaurants outside. The hardest part [of coming here] is most of these poutine vendors are small businesses that don’t have the infrastructure to leave their restaurants. We give them as much product and infrastructure as we possibly can, so they can’t say no, unless they have a scheduling conflict. We also pay them to come; they’re getting paid to do this. It’s not a ton of money, but we’re making sure we cover as many of their expenses as possible.”

The tricky part of attending PoutineFest is getting tickets.

“They are gone in hours,” Beaulieu said. “Everyone remembers our first year back from Covid when we sold out in one hour. It was nuts. But since that time it’s usually a few hours. Our poutiniacs, they set their alarm for 10 o ‘clock on the day of ticket sales. If you’re there at 10, you’ll get tickets. If you wait till the afternoon, there’s no guarantee.”

Granite State PoutineFest
When: Saturday, Aug. 29
Where: 603 Brewery, 42 Main St., Londonderry, 404-6123, 603brewery.com
Tickets: Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. Saturday, May 16, at poutinefest.com/newhampshire and will sell out quickly. General admission tickets are $54.99.

Featured photo: PoutineFest. Courtesy photo.

Greek food fest season starts now

Nashua church gets the baklava rolling

According to Jamie Pappas, a co-chair of this weekend’s Greek Food Festival put on by St. Philip Greek Orthodox Church in Nashua, the event fills a critical need.

“People in the greater Nashua area absolutely love Greek food,” she said, “and we don’t have many Greek restaurants where they can reliably find it. We have a lot of restaurants that do serve Greek food, a lot of the pizza places, for instance, but not dedicated Greek food restaurants. So people really love our event and we actually have people that come to the event two or three times during the two-day event because they want to get enough to last them a while.”

This year’s Festival will take place Friday, May 15, and Saturday, May 16, from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Pappas said one factor in the success of the event is the authenticity of the food.

“Everything that we sell is homemade by our church parishioners in our facility,” she said. “Even the tzatziki sauce for the gyros is homemade. Every pastry we sell is homemade.”

“One of the newer items we’ve had for the last couple of years,” Pappas continued, “are the lamb shanks. We used to do just the lamb kebabs and the chicken kebabs, but a few years ago we started making lamb shanks and those are incredibly delicious.” Because lamb shanks come from a hard-working part of a sheep (the shins), they require long, slow cooking. “That’s why those are started in the week before [the Festival], she said. “You have to start the cooking process earlier and the braising and the marinating and the tomato sauce and cooking. So it’s an added, a little added pressure, but it’s worth it because people enjoy it and they go like hotcakes”

The Greek dishes don’t just attract Greeks to the Festival, Pappas said. “The non-Greeks too, they love it. They really do. We offer the lamb, but we also offer chicken, chicken kebabs and other foods like that. There’s pastitsio, which is kind of like a Greek lasagna. And then the spanakopita, which is the spinach and cheese pie. We have the dolmades, which is your stuffed grape leaves. And meatballs, Greek-style meatballs. So there are other things other than the lamb. Believe it or not there are even a few Greeks who don’t like lamb, but we worry about them.”

For many Greek food enthusiasts the best part of a festival is the baked goods, and in particular the baklava. “We’ve been making that for the past week,” Pappas said, pointing out that volunteers from the St.Philip congregation work in teams to make the dishes for the Festival. “I’m in charge of the baked goods myself,” she said. “We’ve been working every weekend since the end of January. We’ll get anywhere from 10 to 20 people coming to make the doughs and to make the cookies and to cook them and to pack them away and then general cleanup afterward. From soup to nuts, we have to do it all. We have multi-generational families that come. Up until a couple of years ago, when my mom passed, it was something that we did together as a family.” Each batch of baked goods carries a degree of variation, she said.

“We have a standard recipe for everything. If we have 100 pans of spanakopita, there are 100 pans with the exact same ingredients, but especially with the baked goods, they might be put together a little differently. Some people make sesame cookies long and skinny and people make them short and fat, but it’s with the same amount of dough. They’re shaped a little differently or they look a little different, but they taste the same because it’s the same dough and the same amount going into each cookie.”

Saint Philip Greek Food Festival
When: Friday, May 15, and Saturday, May 16, from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Where: St. Philip Greek Orthodox Church, 500 W. Hollis St., Nashua, 889-4000, stphilipnashua.com.
More: There will be free parking, a shuttle bus, Greek dancing and live music. Visit nashuagreekfestival.com.

Featured photo: Greek Food Festival at St. Philip Greek Orthodox Church. Courtesy photo.

The Weekly Dish 26/5/14

• Doughnuts! The NH Doughnut Co. has opened a new store in Concord at 89 Fort Eddy Road (715-5097, nhdoughnutco.com). It is open Tuesday through Friday, 6:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., and Saturdays and Sundays, from 7:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.

• Mac & cheese & giving back: Mr. Mac’s Macaroni and Cheese, 497 Hooksett Road in Manchester, is partnering with Harbor Care to donate $2 for every “Classic All American Mac” purchased in May to efforts to end homelessness among veterans, according to a press release. Last year’s similar Mac Gives Back May initiative provided a donation of $3,000 to support local veterans in need, the release said. “Funds raised will help Veterans facing housing challenges, including assistance with rental application fees, security deposits,and emergency housing support,” the release said. See mr-macs.com to see the menu. See harborcarenh.org for more on Harbor Care.

• Cookie dough two ways: The martini/cupcake pairing for May at the Copper Door (15 Leavy Drive, Bedford, 488-2677, or 41 S Broadway, Salem, 458-2033, copperdoor.com) focuses on cookie dough. A Cookie Dough Martini will be made with Dough Ball cookie dough whiskey, whipped vodka, chocolate liqueur, a splash of cream and a cookie dough garnish for $14.75. A Cookie Dough Cupcake will combine a brown sugar cupcake with cookie dough filling, caramel frosting, mini chocolate chips, a chocolate cup, and a mini chocolate chip cookie garnish for $12.

• Puttin’ on the spritz: There will be a spritz-making class at Tuscan Market (Tuscan Village, 9 Via Toscana, Salem, 912-5467, tuscanbrands.com) Saturday, May 16, from 6 to 8 p.m. Craft and enjoy three specialty cocktails made with Grey Goose Vodka, Guests will serve themselves while learning the art of the perfect spritz. Additional food and beverages will be available throughout the class. The cost is $59.60 through the Tuscan Market webpage.

• Batch cocktails: NH Liquor & Wine Outlet, Store #50 (Willow Spring Plaza, 294 DW Highway, Nashua, 888-0271, liquorandwineoutlets.com) will host a Monday Funday Cocktail Class – Pre-Batch Cocktails with Broken Shed Vodka, Monday, May 18, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Shake up your Monday with an exclusive cocktail class led by David Bean, the renowned mixologist from Jamison’s of Hampstead. You’ll dive into the world of Broken Shed Vodka while learning the art of crafting elevated cocktails using fresh, all-natural, seasonal ingredients. The cost is $12 per person through Eventbrite.com.

• Viking Feast: Harper’s Eden Catering (35 Manchester Road, Derry, 416-0509, harperseden.com) will host a Viking Feast at The Rugged Axe (377 S. Willow St., Manchester, 232-7936, theruggedaxe.com) Tuesday, May 19, from 6 to 9 p.m. It’s the perfect chance to hang with friends, enjoy tasty dishes and throw some axes. Don’t miss this unforgettable feast filled with laughter and good times. Tickets are $71.21 at harperseden.com/event-calendar.

• Wine and lighthouses: Join LaBelle Winery Derry (14 Route 111, Derry, 672-9898, labellewinery.com/labelle-winery-derry) Wednesday, May 20, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. for a Sip and Paint class with a skilled instructor from Heart Studio. You will create an acrylic painting on canvas of a lighthouse at sunset scene. You may choose to add on a glass of LaBelle wine and/or a cheese plate to help with the creative process. Tickets start at $64 through the LaBelle website.

• Blooms, Bottles, and Buttercream: Wine on Main (9 N. Main St., Concord, 897-5828, wineonmainnh.com) will host an evening of flower arranging, desserts, and wine tasting Wednesday, May 20, from 6 to 8 p.m. Ashley from Savvy Sweets & Treats returns with more delicious goodies. Meanwhile, flower expert Ambra Kash will show you how to arrange your own springtime bouquet with flowers fresh from the farmers market. As you work, enjoy a wine tasting featuring four wines from around the world. Tickets are $103.22 through the Wine on Main website.

• Lavender mocktails: Local Street Eats (112 W. Pearl St., Nashua, 402-4435, local-streeteats.com) will host Love of Lavender: a Mocktail Workshop, Wednesday, May 20, from 6 to 8 p.m. This will be a floral mocktail class in collaboration with Fortin Gage Flowers (86 W. Pearl St., Nashua, 882-3371, fortingage.com). The cost is $45 at local-streeteats.com/events.

Kiwanis carnival for kids

Where to find your garden additions

Get new flowers and greenery for the growing season at area garden clubs and garden enthusiasts plant sales. Because the club members are the ones selling the plants, you can get some planting advice along with your new annuals and perennials. Here are a few sales slated for the next few weeks. Know of a plant sale not mentioned here? Let us know at adiaz@hippopress.com.

• Garden Club of Deerfield will hold its plant sale on Friday, May 8, from 3 to 6 p.m. and Saturday, May 9, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., at the Deerfield Town Hall on Church Street, according to a post on the club’s Facebook page.

• The Amherst Garden Club will hold its plant sale on Saturday, May 9, from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Wilkins School, 80 Boston Post Road in Amherst, according to amherstgardenclub.org/plant_sale.

• The Colonial Garden Club of Hollis will hold its sale Saturday, May 9, from 9 a.m. to noon at Lawrence Barn, 28 Depot Road, according to hollisgardenclub.org.

• The Friends of the Audi and Concord’s General Service Department will hold their Perennial Exchange on Saturday, May 9, at 9a.m. to noon at the Concord City Auditorium, according to theaudi.org.

• The Rye Driftwood Garden Club will hold its sale on Friday, May 15, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., and Saturday, May 16, from 9 a.m. to noon, at Goss Farm, 251 Harbor Road in Rye, according to ryenhgardenclub.org.

• The Nashua Garden Club will hold its sale on Saturday, May 16, from 8 a.m. to noon at the Nashua Historical Society, 5 Abbott St. in Nashua, according to a post on the Nashua Garden Club’s Facebook page.

• The Bow Garden Club will hold its plant sale on Saturday, May 16, from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Bow Community Center, 2 Bow Center Road, according to the club’s Facebook page.

• The Goffstown Garden Club will hold its plant sale on Saturday, May 16, from 8 a.m. to noon in the Goffstown Commons, according to their Facebook page.

• The Milford NH Garden Club will hold its annual plant sale on Saturday, May 16, from 8:30 a.m. to noon at the Community House Lawn, according to milfordnhgardenclub.org.

• The Candia Garden Club will hold its sale on Saturday, May 16, from 9 a.m. to noon, at the Masonic Hall, 12 South Road in Candia, according to a post on its Facebook page.

• The Windham Garden Club will hold its sale on Saturday, May 16, from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 61 Kendall Pond Road in Windham, according to a post on the club’s Facebook page.

• The Bedford Garden Club will hold its plant sale on Saturday, May 16, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., at the Educational Farm at Joppa Hill, according to bgcnh.org/plant-sale-2026.

• The Hooksett Garden Club will hold its annual plant sale on Saturday, June 6, from 9 a.m. to noon (or sellout) at the Hooksett Public Library, 31 Mount Saint Mary Way in Hooksett, according to hooksettnhgardenclub.org.

• The Derry Garden Club will hold its plant sale on Saturday, June 6, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., at Robert Frost Farm, according to the club’s Facebook page. See derrygardenclub.org.

• The NH Audubon’s McLane Center, 84 Silk Farm Road in Concord, will hold a Pollinator Fest & Native Plant Sale on Saturday, June 6, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., according to nhaudubon.org.

• The Merrimack Garden Club will hold its annual sale on Saturday, July 18, at the American Legion on Baboosic Lake Road, according to merrimackgardenclub.org.

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