Author: John Fladd

The Weekly Dish 25/11/27

• Wine week: Tickets are on sale now for the 20th Annual New England Winter Wine Spectacular slated for Thursday, Jan. 22, at the DoubleTree by Hilton Manchester Downtown, 700 Elm St. Doors open at 6 p.m. for general admission, 5 p.m. for people with Advanced Entrance and Bellman’s Cellar Select tickets, according to nhwineweek.com. The Wine Week events will also feature Sommelier Select, on Wednesday, Jan. 21, 5:30 to 8 p.m. at Grappone Center in Concord which is a guided blind tasting, according to the website, where you can purchase tickets for that event as well.

• Farmers market goes indoors: The Concord Farmers’ Market has moved indoors for the season. Fresh, local products will be available Saturdays from 9 a.m. to noon at 7 Eagle Square in Concord.

• Gingerbread decor: The Goffstown Public Library (2 High St., Goffstown, 497-2102, goffstownlibrary.com) will host a family gingerbread house decorating session Saturday, Nov. 29, from 11 a.m. to noon, and Wednesday, Dec. 3, from 6 to 7 p.m. in the children’s room. Pre-built gingerbread houses and decorating goodies will be provided; you just need to bring your imagination. Space is limited and registration is required. One registration per family please.

• Ramen bar: There will be a DIY Ramen Bar for tweens and teens (ages 10 and up) at the Maxfield Public Library (8 Route 129, Loudon, 798-5153, maxfieldlibrary.org) Tuesday, Dec. 2, at 4 p.m. Customize your own ramen with a variety of toppings in the Community Room. Feel free to bring Thanksgiving leftovers to create some wild options. Registration is encouraged.

• Holiday cooking with wine: On Wednesday, Dec. 3, from 6 to 7 p.m., LaBelle Winery Derry (14 Route 111, Derry, 672-9898, labellewinery.com/labelle-winery-derry) will host an interactive cooking demonstration and tasting featuring holiday cocktail party recipes. Sample each class recipe paired with LaBelle Wines. LaBelle’s chefs demonstrate the cooking processes and share culinary tips and techniques. Participants will also receive recipe cards so they can re-create the class recipes at home. The cost is $40 per person at labellewinery.com/public-winery-events.

A parade down Candy Cane Lane

Manchester’s Holiday Parade will have a sweet theme this year

By John Fladd
jfladd@hippopress.com

This year, Manchester’s annual Holiday Parade on Saturday, Dec. 6, will have a new route. According to a Nov. 3 press release from fire chief Peter Marr, “all parades moving forward … will start at Bridge Street and Elm Street continuing south on Elm Street and concluding at Elm Street and Central Street.” “This change improves security, traffic control, and allows for a stronger overall safety posture for events,” the release said.

For Sophia Koustas, chairperson of Manchester’s Parade Committee, this has an immediate practical impact: the need to dress in layers.

“We will be lining up on the [Notre Dame] bridge. and we want to make sure that everybody’s nice and warm,” she said. “I walked it on Veterans Day just to kind of see the route, and I had a windburn at the end of the day.”

Regardless of the weather, Koustas said the yearly parade is a tradition that showcases the pride Manchester has as a community.

“It’s an event that’s open to the [everyone] to participate,” she said. “Members of our community, businesses and organizations come together and bring the downtown area together. I live downtown, so being part of the parade gives me a different perspective of the sense of community that can exist here, and I really, really appreciate that.”

The Parade will be preceded by the Santa Claus Shuffle road race, where hundreds of participants will run a 3-mile course through downtown dressed in Santa suits, stopping to “enjoy samples from Santa’s four major food groups [cookies, maple, chocolate and candy] at four sweet stops along the route down Elm Street,” according to the event’s website. “Once the last runner from the Shuffle goes by the line, that’s when the parade gets started,” Koustas said.

The theme of this year’s Parade is “Candy Cane Lane.”

“That was not something that was just decided by a committee,” Koustas said. “We [the Parade Committee] shared about 10 different themes on social media for folks to vote on which theme they wanted, and Candy Cane Lane was the one that received the most votes. I know that there’s also another competition going on downtown with candy canes, and local businesses downtown will be decorating candy canes. So there will be competition with that also.” As always, Koustas said, this year’s parade will feature marching bands. “As of right now, we have the three [Manchester] high school bands joining us for sure. And I think we might have a couple more entries.”

Manchester’s traditional Grand Marshals for the Holiday Parade are Santa and Mrs. Claus, who will be on the final float in the parade.

“I’m looking forward to seeing people happy,” Koustas said. “We have been very fortunate that for all our participants that enter there’s a very positive spirit overall. It’s just nice to see people come together.”

Manchester Holiday Parade and Santa Claus Shuffle
Saturday, Dec. 6
Santa Claus Shuffle will take place at 3
p.m., preceded by Lil Elf Runs for children
at 2:30 p.m. Visit milleniumrunning.com/
santa.
The parade will begin at approximately 4
p.m. at the corner of Bridge and Elm streets
and will proceed south to Victory Park. Participants
and spectators are encouraged to
dress warmly

Featured Photo: Photo courtesy of Sophia Koustas.

It’s Midnight, it’s Merry

Concord holds nighttime Christmas block party

By John Fladd
jfladd@hippopress.com

According to Jessica Martin, the executive director of Intown Concord, Midnight Merriment is like a block party for downtown Concord.

“It’s really a shop-local event designed to promote the downtown,” she said. “The Main Street businesses stay open, many of them until midnight. There are a lot of fun promotions happening. Gibson’s Bookstore, for example, will have progressive discounts throughout the evening — the closer it gets to midnight, the more money you save.”

Martin said Intown Concord has worked to make Midnight Merriment welcoming to people of all ages and interests, regardless of the weather.

“We’ll have free hot chocolate while supplies last in Bicentennial Square,” she said. “We’ll also have free s’mores. There will be food trucks on Capital Street [and] a warming station in City Plaza, which is the area right in front of the Statehouse, where the tree will be. We have Santa at Arts Alley from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., so people can come down and take their pictures. He’ll be outside, in the courtyard, so people should dress warm. The Concord Arts Market will be in the Eagle Square atrium from 5 to 11 p.m.” This is an indoor space across Main Street from the Statehouse, she said.

As always, music will play a big role in Midnight Merriment, Martin said.

“DJ Nazzy will be with Santa, so that will be fun,” she said, “and we also have holiday music that will be piped in throughout the downtown so people can hear the holiday music as they’re going in and out of the stores. There will also be performances throughout the evening with carollers, and there will be a variety of different local singing groups.”

DJ Nazzy has been providing music for Midnight Merriment for more than 20 years. He said one of the secrets of choosing the right holiday music is to take cues from the people attending an event.

“It’s really knowing your crowd,” he said. “Let’s say you have a group of kids, you want to play music that is tailored to the kids, music that they’re going to enjoy. If it’s a bunch of adults, you want to play classic Christmas music that they grew up enjoying, music that they love. People love nostalgia. People love to relive the good old days of when they were young and they woke up Christmas morning and they experienced the Christmas magic. And I love creating that nostalgia.”

“You see people smiling if you’re playing Bing Crosby,” Nazzy continued. “That’s the type of multi-generational Christmas music that’s just passed down from generation to generation. Gene Autry, all those fun classic Christmas songs that grandparents love, parents love, kids, everybody. That’s why I’ve been doing this for so long, man. I love creating that vibe.”

Midnight Merriment
When: Friday, Dec. 5, beginning at 5 p.m.
Where: downtown Concord
More: Visit intownconcord.org and click
on the “Events” tab.

Featured Photo: Photo courtesy of Intown Concord.

Nashua’s big night

The Winter Stroll fills downtown

By John Fladd
jfladd@hippopress.com

The Winter Stroll is one of the biggest events of the year for Nashua.

“Actually, it’s the biggest,” said Alyssa O’Mara, executive director of Great American Downtown Nashua, the group responsible for organizing the Stroll. “It’s the biggest event that the city of Nashua hosts.”

The Winter Stroll, when Nashua’s Main Street is closed to traffic and attendees are encouraged to explore the downtown area, is one of the first big celebrations of the holiday season.

This year’s event will begin with a candle-lit procession.

“We’ll start our candle distribution for the actual stroll to the Christmas tree at the Center for the Arts this year, because Santa will be there during the day. We’ll stroll down to Water Street and then turn to go to the new pavilion stage right on the riverfront, where we have a 25-foot tree. After the tree is lit is when all of the other activities and vendors and attractions will open up to the public.”

A goal of this year’s Winter Stroll — the 30th one — is to engage everyone who attends, O’Mara said.

“One of the things that we requested this year is that any businesses that are set up on Main Street, if they’re not a craft-oriented, small retail booth, if they’re just a business, they have all been asked to have some kind of giveaway or children’s activity. Every booth will have something going on. So when people are waiting in lines for things they can be doing activities. Between businesses and sponsor tables and nonprofits and vendors we’ll have 40 to 50 booths in addition to the 20 or so food trucks and food vendors on the street. That’s in addition to the restaurants and stores that will be open.”

A new addition to this year’s festivities, O’Mara said, is a trackless train.

“There will be three train stops on Main Street, starting at the tree lighting stage, the pavilion stage there, and then halfway up Main Street will be a stop and then Center for the Arts for Santa will be a stop. It will just be looping all night long going up and down Main Street and it can fit 27 humans, adults and children, on it. Santa will be at the Center for the Arts all day, and we have the Mounted Police Unit on West Pearl Street this year at Santa’s Stables so people can go visit the horses. On the Center for the Arts side by Santander Bank, we’ll have one of our main attractions, a 40-foot tall, 100-foot long, three-lane snow tubing slide. And then on the opposite end of Main Street, just before the railroad tracks will be an artificial ice skating rink that has 60 pairs of skates that people can borrow for free.”

“And then, we have more than 50 performances happening.”

Nashua Winter Stroll
The 30th Annual Nashua Winter Stroll will take place Saturday, Nov. 29, along Main Street in downtown Nashua. Photo opportunities with Santa will start at 2 p.m. outside the Nashua Center for the Arts. A candlelight procession will start at 5:15 p.m. After the ceremonial lighting of a tree, Main Street will be open to foot traffic until 9 p.m. Visit downtownnashua.org/winterholidaystroll.

Here are some additional seasonal shopping events.

  • Record Store Day Black Friday, a separate event from Record Store day in the spring, highlights Nov. 28 releases; see recordstoreday.com for details.
  • Great American Downtown holds a Plaid Friday celebration Friday, Nov. 28, starting at 10 a.m. with the Nashua organization’s team setting up at Fortin Gage Flowers and Gifts, 86 W. Pearl St. in Nashua, to hand out Plaid Friday tote bags to the first 100 shoppers, with the bags “filled with goodies and special offers from participating businesses, according to an email from Great American Downtown. “From there, grab a map and explore exclusive deals, seasonal treats, and festive experiences throughout downtown,” the email said. See downtownnashua.org.
  • The Greater Manchester Chamber celebrates Small Business Saturday on Saturday, Nov. 29, kicking it off at Bookery, 844 Elm St. in Manchester, from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. with refreshments, “a handout detailing the day’s deals” and more, according to manchester-chamber.org, where you can see a list of participating businesses and their plans for the day.
  • The Goffstown Main Street Program will hold Shop Small Saturday on Saturday, Nov. 29, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. with craft booths on Main Street, community raffles and more, according to the Goffstown Main Street Program’s Facebook page.
  • The shops at museums can offer great gifts — that is the idea behind Museum Store Sunday on Sunday, Nov. 30, according to museumstoresunday.org, which lists participating museums including the Currier Museum of Art in Manchester, currier.org; the SEE Science Center in Manchester, see-sciencecenter.org; Canterbury Shaker Village in Canterbury, shakers.org; American Independence Museum in Exeter, independencemuseum.org; Portsmouth Historical Society in Portsmouth, portsmouthhistory.org, and more. — Compiled by Amy Diaz

A view to a kielbasa

Holy Trinity holds its annual frozen food sale

By John Fladd

jfladd@hippopress.com

For the parishioners at Holy Trinity Cathedral in Manchester, one of the food high points of the year is their annual Frozen Polish Food Sale, which event coordinator Karen Sobiechowski says is probably Holy Trinity’s most important fundraising event of the year.

“It’s the only fundraiser that we have for our church here during the year,” she said, “so it’s all-around a great thing for people to enjoy good food and fellowship and that sort of thing.”

“Our church is known for its delicious Polish food,” Sobiechowski said. “We make pierogi — both the potato and cheese pierogi and the cabbage pierogi. We make stuffed cabbage — they’re called golabki — and we also sell kapusta, which is a cabbage dish with some pork in it.”

To buy frozen food, customers order it ahead of time, either on the telephone or online, and pick it up on a given day — Dec. 6 this year. Sobiechowski said pierogi (Polish dumplings, a little like ravioli filled with potatoes or cheese) are the sale’s most popular items each year.

“I think that people appreciate the pierogi just because it’s a laborious process to make them,” she said. “You have to make all the dough, you prepare the filling, there’s multiple ingredients to put together and if one tries to do these things at home, their kitchen looks like a hurricane blew through, with a lot of flour everywhere. But we enjoy getting together. It’s a lot of work, but it’s a labor of love. We have parishioners and volunteers from the community. Some of them are just friends who like to eat Polish food but would like to learn how to make it.”

Sobiechowski said coordinating volunteers on the days when they cook some of the dishes can be challenging; there are a lot of moving parts in play at any given time.

“So, yeah, you have to prepare the ingredients before you can actually assemble the pierogi, for instance,” she said. “You have to cook potatoes, cook onions, [and] mix all these things together. The filling has to cool, and then different volunteers will come and portion things out into the individual servings you would use for an individual dumpling.” She said the filling-portioner uses a small disher like an ice cream scoop to measure out the pierogi filling. “We do that for the pierogi,” she said, “and we also do that for the stuffed cabbage when we make those, so that all of the products are similar and consistent.”

“And then people will come and make the dough in the evening,” Sobiechowski continued, ”and then the next day we’re putting everything together. You have a couple of people in the kitchen that are cooking and some people that are cooling the product and then there are others who are packing and putting those items in the freezer. So it’s a lot of different things happening all at once.”

By the time the frozen dishes are picked up, Sobiechowski admitted, even the most enthusiastic volunteers are a little golabki-ed out.

“We’re going to be doing the stuffed cabbage next week, and then the other volunteers will come and make the kapusta, which we sell by the pint. That will all be done before Thanksgiving, thankfully. We’re just looking forward to getting this good food out to the people that are nice enough to support our parish.”

Frozen Polish Food
To order dishes from the Holy Trinity Cathedral Frozen Polish Food Sale, download an order from at holytrinitypncc.org/downloads or call the rectory during business hours at 622-4524.

Food pickup is scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 6, between 10 a.m. and noon. Holy Trinity Cathedral is at 166 Pearl St. in Manchester.

Featured photo: Courtesy photo

The Weekly Dish 25/11/20

• Zonta holiday auction and dinner: The Zonta Club of Concord, NH (zontaclubofconcordnh.org) will hold its 33rd annual Holiday Auction and Dinner Thursday, Nov. 20, beginning at 5:30 p.m. at the Pembroke Pines Country Club (45 Whittemore Road, Pembroke, 210-1365, pembrokepinescc.com). This event will feature a hosted cocktail hour, a plated dinner, live music, and silent and live auctions. Tickets are $75 through the Zonta website.

• Dinner in the Emerald City: Defy gravity at Evening in Oz: a Wicked-Inspired Wine Dinner at LaBelle Winery Derry (14 Route 111, Derry, 672-9898, labellewinery.com/labelle-winery-derry) on Saturday, Nov. 22, from 6:30 to 9 p.m. This four-course meal will feature a curated dinner menu that pays homage to the Broadway production and the new films, with LaBelle wine pairings served alongside each course, and Oz-themed decor in the Vineyard Ballroom. Tickets are $85.

• The Soup Kitchen: To Share Brewing (720 Union St., Manchester, 836-6947, tosharebrewing.com) will host The Soup Kitchen: A Drag Show and Food Drive, described on To Share’s Facebook page as “a night of camp, glamour, and community giving,” Saturday, Nov. 22, at 8 p.m. Featuring hostesses Glamme Chowdah and Sybill Disobedience, this event will help stock local free stores and food pantries before the holidays. Admission is at least one non-perishable food item or a cash donation of $10 to $20 at the door. All proceeds go directly to support local families in need.

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