In the kitchen with Sherri Malouf and Shelby Malouf-Pieterse

Sherri Malouf and her daughter, Shelby Malouf-Pieterse, are the owners of Piggy Sue’s Steakin’ Bacon (steakinbacon.com, find them on Facebook), a bacon-themed mobile food trailer that hit the road last summer. Among the trailer’s signature items are the bacon steak skewers, featuring half-inch-thick cut slices of bacon on a stick, with the added option of chocolate sauce. Other staples include a bacon poutine with homemade gravy and chewy cheese curds; and fried ice cream, featuring your choice of toppings like whipped cream, sprinkles, hot fudge, Oreo crumbs and more. Piggy Sue’s sports a unique rubberhose art style that’s easy to spot — just look for the trailer’s titular mascot on the side.

What is your must-have kitchen item?

Shelby: Either my tongs or my fry scoop.

What would you have for your last meal?

Shelby: A medium-rare rib-eye steak, with caramelized onions on top and then probably some mashed potatoes and roasted veggies on the side. A full meal.

What is your favorite local restaurant?

Sherri: Buckley’s [Great Steaks] in Merrimack, to go along with the steak theme!

Shelby: The one that first came to mind is actually Ming Du, and they are in Hillsborough. They have fantastic Chinese food — something about it is just better compared to all of the other places around me.

What celebrity would you like to see ordering from the food trailer?

Sherri: Morgan Freeman!

Shelby: I would love to see a chef, really just any celebrity chef. Honestly, I would probably just freak out if Gordon Ramsay came up to my truck and ate a piece of my bacon. … I would die a little on the inside, I’d be so happy.

What is your favorite thing on your menu?

Sherri: I think probably for me it would be the bacon skewer with chocolate on it.

Shelby: I love it all! I think I’m going to have to say the poutine with the bacon on top, though.

What is the biggest food trend in New Hampshire right now?

Sherri: People seem to love the wood-fired pizzas. We just talked to someone recently who said he’d really like to do a wood-fired pizza food truck.

What is your favorite thing to cook at home?

Sherri: I love to do the Bell & Evans boneless skinless chicken thighs. I do this marinade that is out of this world, and then I smoke them.

Shelby: I usually like just cooking really well-rounded meals.

Homemade chocolate balls
From the kitchen of Sherri Malouf and Shelby Malouf-Pieterse of Piggy Sue’s Steakin’ Bacon

12 ounces semisweet chocolate pieces
¾ cup sweetened condensed milk
Pinch of salt
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 teaspoon vanilla
Granulated sugar (optional: flaked coconut, sweetened cocoa powder or instant coffee.

Using a double boiler, melt the chocolate over hot but not boiling water. Stir in the condensed milk, salt, walnuts and vanilla. Set the mixture aside to cool until it’s easy to shape into balls. Roll balls into sugar or other optional ingredients.


Featured photo: Sherri Malouf (right) and her daughter, Shelby Malouf-Pieterse, of Piggy Sue’s Steakin’ Bacon. Courtesy photo.

Get your Greek fix

Yiayia’s Greek Night Out to return after long hiatus

It was late 2018 when Concord’s Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church began hosting Yiayia’s Greek Night Out, an ongoing series of community events that feature Greek food demonstrations centered around traditional dishes, followed by dinners of the dish and dancing in the church hall. The sixth and most recent in-person event took place on March 14, 2020.

“It was right before everything was closed down,” the Rev. Constantine Newman of the church said. “I remember we had a very light turnout that day because everything was still sort of iffy.”

More than three years later Holy Trinity is now getting ready to revive the popular community event. Yiayia’s Greek Night Out is set to return on Saturday, June 17, and will feature the eggplant-based moussaka as its instructional centerpiece.

Past cooking demonstrations have featured other authentic Greek items like spanakopita (spinach pie), baklava, tsoureki (Greek Easter bread) and dolmathes (stuffed grape leaves). Newman said the events were born out of the growing interest in Greek food outside the church community.

Holy Trinity continues to hold monthly drive-thru Greek boxed dinners to go and is planning a flea market for later this summer where gyros and baklava will be available for sale.

Moussaka, Newman said, is similar to a Greek lasagna, but with eggplant instead of pasta.

“It’s not a complex dish but it takes a lot of time,” he said. “You need to thinly slice the eggplants and then roast them so that the moisture comes out. Then you layer eggplants and potatoes, and in between those layers is a meat and tomato sauce with spices. Then it’s topped off with a béchamel. … What we usually do is the demonstration dish is sort of a small one that we cook there on the spot, and beforehand we’ll have everything else made.”

Trays of finished moussaka prepared before the event will be served after the demonstrations, along with a side of Greek potatoes, a salad, and Greek cookies and ice cream for dessert. Music and dancing are expected for the duration of the event.

The $15 entry admission, Newman said, is available at the door. Collected proceeds go toward the event’s sponsor, Holy Trinity’s Mother Maria of Parish Outreach Ministries.

“They try to take care of people in the parish that are in need, or various charitable organizations throughout the city,” Newman said. “We’ve given donations to the [Concord] Coalition against Homelessness, the Friends of Forgotten Children, and Waypoint. … So the money that we collect … goes to helping needy people in general in our area.”

Yiayia’s Greek Night Out
When: Saturday, June 17, 5 p.m.
Where: Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church, 68 N. State St., Concord
Cost: $15 per person
More info: Visit holytrinitynh.org, call 225-2961 or email htgoc@comcast.net

Featured photo: Photo courtesy of Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church in Concord.

West Side roasts

William & Sons Coffee Co. now open in Manchester

While living in Brazil with his wife, Patty, Jonathan Hutchins became interested in the world of specialty coffee. He opened a small boutique roaster in the southeastern city of Porto Alegre, with the mission to bring the hard work of coffee farmers harvesting high-quality beans to the forefront. William & Sons Coffee Co., named after Hutchins’ father, was born.

“My dad didn’t work with coffee, but he was just an inspiration for me to start the company, and so that was how we came up with the brand name,” Hutchins said.

Fast forward to 2021 and Hutchins, a Maine native, found himself returning home to New England. By the end of that year he would launch a small roasting lab in the town of Loudon.

Around that time Hutchins became connected with the owner of Mi Vida Cafe, formerly located at the intersection of Amory and Laval streets. When that shop closed and the space became available, Hutchins saw a unique opportunity.

On May 12, William & Sons Coffee Co. opened a retail location where its own roasted coffees sourced from multiple growing regions around the world are available hot and iced, in addition to a selection of teas and a small offering of baked goods like muffins and cinnamon rolls. Hutchins continues to operate out of his Loudon facility, where all his beans are still roasted.

“We weren’t really planning on opening up a shop,” he said, “but I had met a lot of the neighbors in the area here on the West Side, and it’s just an incredible community with amazing people. … I kind of liked doing that model versus putting something on Elm Street.”

Hutchins is a certified Q grader, or a licensed specialty coffee tasting professional as recognized by the Coffee Quality Institute. He sources his beans from as far away as African countries like Kenya and nations like Papua New Guinea, each unique for their own tasting notes.

“We have a lot of farmer friends in Brazil,” he said. “I have contacts with importers, and I do direct trade with some Brazilian farmers. … To start off our shop, we have a good friend of ours in Brazil who actually sent us 40 pounds of green coffee just to have for the inauguration, so that’s been kind of special. That’s our espresso that we’re using right now, and we’ll have other different coffees that we feature from different parts of the world in the future.”

William & Sons offers a full line of hot and iced coffees, with a variety of different roast styles. Hutchins said the “more fruit-forward” tastes of a super light roasted coffee are among the shop’s specialties, which he said are meant to showcase its origins. Coffee drinks can be made with whole milk, oat milk or half-and-half, in addition to several optional flavor shots and sweeteners.

Other options include freshly brewed teas, as well as some other specialty drinks from hot chocolates to iced mochas and bubble teas. Hutchins also produces a small selection of baked goods out of his Loudon roasting facility, like cinnamon rolls, muffins and brownies.

In the few weeks that Hutchins has been open for business, he said, the West Side community has welcomed him with open arms. You can’t miss the unique chocolate brown-colored building on the street corner — coffee lovers have already made it their new home to work on their laptops, in addition to many others that use it as a pit stop for their morning’s cup of joe.

“We’ve got like 10 or 15 people that have come in every single day since we’ve opened, and it’s just been really fun meeting a lot of different people every day,” Hutchins said.

William & Sons Coffee Co.
Where: 489 Amory St., Manchester
Hours: Monday through Friday, 6 a.m. to 2 p.m., and Saturday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Closed on Sundays.
More info: Visit wsonscoffee.com, or find them on Facebook and Instagram

Featured photo: William & Sons Coffee Co. Photo by Emma Catherine Photography.

The Weekly Dish 23/06/08

News from the local food scene

Weddings and wines: Join Bookery Manchester (844 Elm St.) in welcoming LaBelle Winery owner and winemaker Amy LaBelle on Sunday, June 11, from 4 to 6 p.m. — she’ll be there to present and sign copies of her debut book, Wine Weddings: The Ultimate Guide to Creating the Wine-Themed Wedding of Your Dreams. Released Dec. 16, the book offers advice on planning and hosting weddings of every size and type, covering everything from choosing invitation designs and wedding favors to creating your own menu of signature drinks and wine choices. Admission is free and the event will include a wine tasting. During New Hampshire Wine Week, LaBelle’s Amherst location (345 Route 101) will also present A Celebration of Women Winemakers, a special four-course wine dinner happening on Wednesday, June 14, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Amy LaBelle will be joined by fellow winemaker Lisa Evich of Simi Winery in California to provide commentary on their philosophies and selected pairings throughout the evening. The cost is $99 per person — purchase tickets online at labellewinery.com, where you can view the full menu.

A Jewish feast: Online ordering for the 26th annual New Hampshire Jewish Food Festival, presented by Temple B’nai Israel (210 Court St., Laconia), opens on Sunday, June 11, and will continue through Sunday, July 9. Menu items will include savory brisket with gravy, freshly sliced corned beef, pastrami and tongue from Evan’s New York Style Deli in Marblehead, Mass., as well as sweet creamy noodle kugel and a vast assortment of other home-cooked Jewish foods and pastries, most of which use recipes that have been handed down from generation to generation. Since the pandemic struck in 2020, festival organizers have continued with an online ordering and pickup system. Those who place their orders online will be prompted to select a time on either Friday, July 21, or Saturday, July 22, at Temple B’nai Israel. Visit tbinh.org/food-fest-menu to view the full menu.

Let’s talk tomatoes: Save the date for a special in-person workshop on growing and harvesting tomatoes presented by UNH Cooperative Extension master gardener Will Lowenthal and happening at New Hampshire Audubon’s Massabesic Center (26 Audubon Way, Auburn) on Thursday, June 22, from 5 to 6:30 p.m. Lowenthal will discuss the many challenges that can arise when growing your own tomatoes and will demonstrate different support methods, from staking and caging to overhead trellising. He’ll also show attendees how to properly prune tomatoes to control growth and improve disease prevention. The workshop will take place primarily outdoors, so dress accordingly for the weather and prepare for a short walk over grassy, flat but uneven terrain. Registration is required by June 20 — the cost is $10 for Audubon members and UNH Extension master gardeners, and $15 for non-members. Visit nhaudubon.org or call the Massabesic center at 668-2045 to register.

In the kitchen with Dave Stewart

Dave Stewart is the owner of the Blasty Bough Brewing Co. (3 Griffin Road, Epsom, 724-3636, blastybough.com), a farm-to-kettle brewery that opened its doors on the grounds of McClary Hill Farm in Epsom in early 2018. The brewery gets its name from a branch of pine known as a “blasty bough,” used by immigrant settlers in colonial America to light fires to cook their food and keep them warm during the winter. Stewart, who began home brewing in the early 1990s, said he became inspired by friends of his setting up breweries on their own farms. In addition to the beers — featuring a lineup that includes a New England IPA, a Belgian-style golden strong ale and a lightly hopped American amber ale, among others — Stewart offers a small scratch-cooked “Munchings & Crunchings” food menu at the brewery, with items like macaroni and cheese, chili and cornbread, a barbecue pulled pork sandwich, chips with homemade pico de gallo, and a Korean-style spiced brisket sandwich.

What is your must-have kitchen item?

A nice set of balanced, sharp knives.

What would you have for your last meal?

Wild strawberries with raw milk whipped cream.

What is your favorite local restaurant?

The Lazy Lion in Deerfield. They’ve been around for a good long time and have stayed the course. It’s just good food and it’s an interesting setting in a nice little town.

What celebrity would you like to see ordering from the brewery?

I have to have two. Stanley Tucci, just because I think that would be fun, and then the other would be a guy named Dario Cecchini. He’s a butcher from Panzano in Chianti[, Italy]. He was on an episode of Chef’s Table, the Netflix show … and he’s kind of a larger-than-life character. … I don’t have the same kind of personality as him, but I think it would be nice to feed him.

What is your favorite thing on your menu?

The newest thing that we’ve added is a brisket sandwich done in a Korean style, so it’s got kimchi and gochujang on a slightly chewy, fairly soft roll, and that’s been well-received. That’s the current favorite.

What is the biggest food trend in New Hampshire right now?

I think people are hungry, no pun intended, for an experience. … The saying is that people eat with their eyes, and so if you present them with something and it’s beautiful, it’s going to taste better.

What is your favorite thing to cook at home?

A linguine with white clam sauce. It’s just something that showcases a couple of ingredients and it’s simple.

Sbricciolona (Italian lemon almond cake)
From the kitchen of Dave Stewart of the Blasty Bough Brewing Co. in Epsom, modified from Marcella Hazan’s Essentials of Italian Cooking

¼ pound blanched, skinned almonds
1 cup toasted almonds
1¾ cups all purpose flour
½ cup cornmeal
⅝ cup granulated sugar
Grate the peel of 1 lemon
2 egg yolks
8 Tablespoons room-temperature butter

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Grind the skinned almonds to a powder. In a food processor or a blender, pulse the motor on and off until the desired consistency is reached. Mix all of the dry ingredients, the ground almonds, the toasted almond chunks and the lemon peel into a big bowl. Add the egg yolks to the dry ingredients and mix it all together with your fingers. Keep using your fingers to mix in the softened butter. Smear the bottom of a 12-inch cake pan with butter. Crumble and sprinkle the dough evenly into the pan. Bake for 40 minutes. Serve when completely cooled and firm — it breaks up into nifty, irregular chunks. According to Stewart, it’s best served with any dark beer or dessert wine, or a cup of tea or coffee.


Featured photo: Dave Stewart, owner of the Blasty Bough Brewing Co. in Epsom. Courtesy photo.

A Gate City flavor tour

Taste of Downtown Nashua returns

Foodies will get a unique opportunity to discover the Gate City’s culinary scene during the annual Taste of Downtown Nashua, returning for a 27th year on Wednesday, June 7. Presented by the Nashua-based nonprofit Great American Downtown, the event pairs nearly two dozen area restaurants with participating businesses for a night of exclusive food and drink sampling.

“We have 20 stops, which is the most we’ve had in a few years,” Great American Downtown executive director Carolyn Walley said. “The tradition of the event is that there will be a flow of attendees going through the shops, and so you get a two-in-one experience. You get to check out the shops and the restaurants at the same time. … You also leave the event completely full, so you don’t have to buy dinner that night. I get messages from a lot of people saying that they like to go with their family and walk around downtown to try everything, and it’s fun.”

Pandemic woes forced the Taste of Downtown to pause for two years before it was able to return in full force last year. As a result, the 2022 event featured several first-time participants.

“It was so great to see Main Street buzzing again,” Walley said of last year’s Taste of Downtown. “That was the first time that a lot of us had seen such a crowd on Main Street in a couple of years. I think we sold about 750 tickets last year, and we’re expecting the same this time.”

Ticket holders will receive a map with a designated number for each assigned stop, featuring a participating restaurant or food truck paired up with another downtown retail business. Three outdoor areas of live local music — New Hampshire-based alternative rock band Hunter, Nashua group The Humans Being and the Nick Goumas Jazz Quartet — are also part of the experience.

The event is timed perfectly for attendees to discover Mike’s Italian Kitchen, which recently just rebranded from MT’s Local Kitchen & Wine Bar within the last several weeks. Walley said they plan to serve miniature Italian sausage subs, while their sister restaurant, Surf, will serve tiramisu.

Rambling House Food & Gathering and The Hidden Pig, two other local eateries that have joined Nashua’s dining scene within the last year, are also participating for the first time.

“This year we’ve really expanded our horizons from what downtown is usually considered,” Walley said. “We usually have it from City Hall to the Hunt Building and then east and west a few blocks. But we’ve expanded more down toward South Main Street, and so Root Awakening Kava Bar is participating, and then some of the other restaurants are down there. … I think downtown is naturally growing, so we’re trying to expand our normal perspective of it.”

In addition to the foods, of-age attendees will have access to two craft beer stops courtesy of Bellavance Beverage Co., at The Hidden Pig and The Peddler’s Daughter. Taste of Downtown tickets can be purchased in advance online via Eventbrite, and are also available the day of.

“I pair the businesses together and then it’s really up to them to collaborate … with coming up with the display and the offerings and things like that,” Walley said. “So it really generates a great sense of community between the businesses, which is what I like most about it.”

27th annual Taste of Downtown Nashua
When: Wednesday, June 7, 6 to 8:30 p.m.
Where: Main Street and several connecting side streets across downtown Nashua
Cost: $45 per person, which includes access to all the provided food samples (and beer samples for attendees ages 21+); tickets can be purchased online through Eventbrite
Visit: downtownnashua.org/taste
Maps of participating locations, which include parking guides, are available online or can be picked up at Scontsas Fine Jewelry (169-173 Main St.), CasaNova Men’s Boutique (147 Main St.) and Fresh of Nashua (178 Main St.) on the day of the event.

Participating food and beverage purveyors

  • Bellavance Beverage Co. (bellavancebev.com; beer stops will be at The Hidden Pig and The Peddler’s Daughter)
  • Caribbean Breeze (caribbeanbreeze-restaurant.com; paired with PRG Rugs)
  • Casa Vieja Mexican Grill (ordercasaviejamexicangrilltequilabar.com; paired with Enterprise Bank)
  • Cravings Cafe & Gift Shop (find them on Facebook @cravingscafe.nashua; paired with NBT Bank)
  • Edible Arrangements (ediblearrangements.com; paired with Purple Finch Properties)
  • Giant of Siam (giantofsiam.com; paired with Glorious Possibilities)
  • The Hidden Pig (thehiddenpig.com; paired with the Nashua Center for the Arts)
  • JajaBelle’s (jajabelles.com; paired with Meredith & Greene Candle Bar)
  • Mike’s Italian Kitchen (mikesitaliankitchennh.com; paired with CasaNova Men’s Boutique)
  • The Peddler’s Daughter (thepeddlersdaughter.com; paired with the League of New Hampshire Craftsmen)
  • Rambling House Food & Gathering (ramblingtale.com; paired with Tangled Roots Herbal)
  • Riverwalk Bakery & Cafe (riverwalknashua.com; paired with Fresh of Nashua)
  • Root Awakening Kava Bar (rootawakeningkava.com; paired with Creative Vibes)
  • Soel Sistas (soelsistas.com; paired with Fortin Gage Flowers & Gifts)
  • Stella Blu (stellablu-nh.com; paired with Bar Harbor Bank & Trust)
  • Sub Zero Nitrogen Ice Cream (subzeroicecream.com; paired with Nashua Coins & Collectibles)
  • Surf (surfseafood.com; paired with Wilfred’s Barber Shop)
  • Tostao’s Tapas — Bar (tostaostapasbar.com; paired with Scontsas Fine Jewelry)

Featured photo: Photo by Chris Michaud.

The Weekly Dish 23/06/01

News from the local food scene

Bacon me crazy: There’s still time to get tickets to this year’s New Hampshire Bacon & Beer Festival, returning to Anheuser-Busch Brewery (221 Daniel Webster Hwy., Merrimack) on Saturday, June 3, with general admission from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. and VIP admittance, directly following a cocktail hour, beginning at 12:30 p.m. A chief fundraiser for the High Hopes Foundation, the festival will feature more than 50 craft brewers serving beers, ciders, meads and cocktails. Local restaurants and food trucks and competitive barbecuers also join in on the fun, receiving bacon from Claremont’s North Country Smokehouse to create any kind of dish they want. Find a story about the festival in the May 25 edition of the Hippo on page 40; see hippopress.com.

110 Grill now open in Concord: The 110 Grill, a regional restaurant chain with several locations across New England and New York state, recently celebrated the grand opening of its newest spot in Concord. The 80 Storrs St. restaurant, the 110 Grill’s seventh New Hampshire location, opened on May 17, according to a recent post on its Facebook page. See 110grill.com to view the restaurant’s full menus.

Getting corny: Join New Hampshire Audubon at its Massabesic Center (26 Audubon Way, Auburn) for Growing Corn: As Fresh As It Gets, a workshop on Thursday, June 8, from 5 to 6:30 p.m. featuring UNH Cooperative Extension master gardener Will Lowenthal. He’ll discuss how to select different varieties of local sweet corn this summer, including determining where and how to plant and maintain a healthy crop as well as how to address pests and other problems. Registration is required by June 5 — the cost is $15. Visit nhaudubon.org or call the Massabesic center at 668-2045 to register.

Ya Mas on the move: Pelham eatery Ya Mas Greek Taverna & Bar is relocating to a larger space at the Mall at Rockingham Park (99 Rockingham Park Blvd., Salem), and has a projected reopening date of July 15, according to recent announcements on its Facebook and Instagram pages. “The Pelham location will be closing at the end of June,” the announcement goes on to read. See yamasgreektaverna.com.

In the kitchen with Adam Donnelly

Adam Donnelly of New Boston is the executive chef of the Riverside Grille (737 River Road, New Boston, 384-2149, riversidegrillenh.com), which opened in January. Known for its eclectic modern-American menu, served alongside a full bar in a family-friendly casual setting, Riverside Grille offers items like burgers, wraps, sandwiches and flatbread pizzas in addition to plated steak and seafood dishes. Donnelly is originally from Goffstown and has several years of local restaurant experience, mostly specializing in classic French and Italian cooking.

What is your must-have kitchen item?

The easy answer is to say a French knife, but it’s because it’s true. You can use it for almost anything.

What would you have for your last meal?

Mac and cheese. Always has been and always will be. … You can always mess with it a little bit and do it how you want.

What is your favorite local restaurant?

It’s Firefly [American Bistro & Bar] in Manchester. They are old friends of mine and great owners. I learned more from Chef David [Becker] when I was younger than anyone else and I attribute a lot of what I’ve done to those relationships.

What celebrity would you like to see eating at the Riverside Grille?

To be honest, I would much rather see the members of my community enjoying themselves. We have been missing a gathering point for our communities and I love that people can do that here. Especially in a small town like this, I think it’s really important.

What is your favorite thing on your menu?

I would love to say it’s the new app sampler or the Mixed Grille, but it is definitely the grilled stuffed chicken. [It has] fresh spinach and feta cheese, topped with roasted tomatoes and a garlic cream sauce. It’s got everything you want in a dish.

What is the biggest food trend in New Hampshire right now?

I have really enjoyed that people are getting back to basic homestyle dishes — classic Americana. The culinary world got pretty pretentious for a while and I think it’s kind of returning to its roots now.

What is your favorite thing to cook at home?

I really like to cook breakfast for my kids [ages 9, 8 and 7] in the morning. They have been picky up until now, but they’re really opening up to new things. Cheese omelets are their newest favorite.

Tasha’s pan sauce
From the kitchen of Adam Donnelly of the Riverside Grille in New Boston

Any cut of steak to your liking
Red wine
Pinch of garlic
Pinch of rosemary
Pinch of thyme
1 cup beef stock
1 to 2 Tablespoons butter

Sear the steak in a cast iron pan and finish it in the oven. Remove the steak and deglaze the pan with red wine. Add the garlic, rosemary and thyme and simmer for a minute. Add the beef stock and reduce by half. Take off the heat and add a couple of tablespoons of butter. Swirl until melted. Stir it up and serve.


Featured photo: Adam Donnelly, executive chef of the Riverside Grille in New Boston. Courtesy photo.

The Weekly Dish 23/05/25

News from the local food scene

Eats by the slopes: McIntyre Ski Area (50 Chalet Way, Manchester) is due to reopen its seasonal onsite restaurant, The Hill Bar & Grille, for a fourth season on Tuesday, May 30, marketing director Aly Coakley confirmed. Since 2020, the eatery has been open during the spring, summer and fall months, offering a menu of burgers, sandwiches, plated entrees, salads and appetizers, with an outdoor patio and lawn seating areas in addition to indoor dining. Coakley said a number of weekly events and happenings are scheduled throughout the summer before the restaurant closes for ski season around the end of October — beer, bourbon and boards nights on Tuesdays, ladies’ nights on Wednesdays, trivia nights on Thursdays and live music and prime rib specials on Fridays and Saturdays are among those that are planned. Visit mcintyreskiarea.com/the-hill-bar-and-grille to view the eatery’s full menu.

Third time’s a charm? Postponed twice due to inclement weather, Gibson’s Bookstore’s (45 S. Main St., Concord) author event featuring longtime New Hampshire radio personality Mike Morin is now scheduled for Thursday, June 1, at 6:30 p.m. Morin will present his newest book, If These Walls Could Talk: Celebrating 100 Years of the Red Arrow, America’s Most Beloved Diner, which details various stories and anecdotes that contribute to the original Red Arrow’s lasting legacy in Manchester’s culinary scene, from connections to celebrities like Adam Sandler and Kevin Costner to its reputation as a spot for presidential hopefuls over the past four decades. No admission to the event is required, and for those who can’t make it, signed copies of If These Walls Could Talk may be ordered online at gibsonsbookstore.com. For additional details on the Red Arrow’s 100th anniversary, check out our cover story that appeared in the Sept. 29, 2022, issue — go to issuu.com/hippopress.com to find the e-edition. The story starts on page 10.

Green Mountain spirits: Vermont’s Village Garage, a craft distillery and tasting room that opened last year in the town of Bennington, recently launched three bottles of its products in New Hampshire, according to a press release. The distillery’s Village bourbon, Village rye and Village Bonfire — the latter a campfire-inspired smoked maple whiskey — are all being rolled out across the Granite State through Republic National Distributing, according to the release. “We brought Village Garage to Massachusetts, and New Hampshire is the logical next step in our New England expansion,” distillery co-founder and Vermont native Matt Cushman said in a statement. “We think Bonfire will do really well here, especially around these summer campfires.” See villagegarage.com.

In the kitchen with Adam & Laura Rexford

Husband-and-wife team Adam and Laura Rexford of Manchester are the in-house bakers at Angela’s Pasta & Cheese Shop (815 Chestnut St., Manchester, 625-9544, angelaspastaandcheese.com), regularly experimenting with different seasonally inspired flavors of baked goods and treats like scones, cookies and whoopie pies. A baker at Angela’s since 1998, Laura Rexford met her husband while completing an internship as a culinary student in the bakery of the Omni Mount Washington Resort in Bretton Woods. Adam Rexford, who received a baking degree from Johnson & Wales University, would join the Angela’s team a couple of years later.

What is your must-have kitchen item?

Laura: Mine is a rubber spatula, for savory [items] and for baking.

Adam: Mine is a bowl scraper.

What would you have for your last meal?

Laura: Definitely a turkey club, with rice with peas in it. And a Painkiller.

Adam: A rare burger … and an Old-Fashioned.

What is your favorite local restaurant?

Adam: River Road Tavern [in Bedford]. … When I order a burger there I order it rare and 98 percent of the time it comes out perfect.

Laura: My favorite local spot is Shorty’s Mexican Roadhouse. We go there every week after our bake! They have the best bartenders and the menu is easily adapted for my dairy allergy.

What celebrity would you like to see trying something that you’ve baked?

Adam: That’s such a hard question because I’m kind of cynical toward the whole celebrity life anyway. I don’t know.

Laura: Yeah, I would say, just like a regular everyday person. We want everyone to enjoy our stuff.

What is your favorite thing that you offer at the shop?

Laura: I’m not a breakfast kind of person — like, I’d rather have a sandwich. … My favorite thing to eat, though, would be one of Adam’s quick breads. Right now we have a lemon glazed poppy seed bread that’s delicious.

Adam: Probably just new flavor ideas for ricotta cookies and whoopie pies. … The mini whoopie pies have been going like crazy.

What is the biggest food trend in New Hampshire right now?

Adam: Laura and I have kind of talked about this, and I think it’s just small bites.

Laura: Yeah, like, with the whoopie pies, it seems like that’s something that someone would buy to maybe share, whereas [with] the 12-pack you can have one with lunch and then save the rest of the pack for another time, and you’re not feeling guilty about it because it’s so tiny.

What is your favorite thing to cook at home?

Laura: I really don’t care to bake or cook at home, so Adam does it all.

Adam: Yeah, I literally do almost 95 percent of the cooking at home. Probably one of my favorite things is doing beer can chicken on the grill.

Anise ricotta cookies
From the kitchen of Adam and Laura Rexford of Angela’s Pasta & Cheese Shop

1 stick unsalted butter, softened
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 15-ounce container whole-milk ricotta cheese
3 Tablespoons light cream
2 teaspoons anise extract
2½ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
For the glaze (stir until combined):
1½ cups powdered sugar
3 Tablespoons water (more for a thinner glaze, less for a thicker glaze)

Cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add and beat in the eggs, ricotta cheese, light cream and anise extract until smooth. Add the flour, baking powder and salt to the wet mixture and mix until smooth. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Scoop the dough (about 2 tablespoons each) onto parchment-lined cookie sheets, leaving about 2 inches between scoops. Bake for 15 minutes, until the edges are slightly golden. Let the cookies cool completely. Dip cookie top into the glaze and sprinkle with nonpareils.


Featured photo: Adam and Laura Rexford, in-house bakers at Angela’s Pasta & Cheese Shop in Manchester. Courtesy photo.

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