The Hippo Press

Flights of Tastiness — 04/02/2026

on the cover

Can’t decide which pie, martini or iced coffee you want to try? Order a flight! In this week’s cover story, John Fladd looks at some area restaurants offering flights of drinks and eats to allow you to try a lot of different flavors in one sitting. Featured photo: Mimosa flight from the Purple Finch Cafe. Courtesy photo.

Also on the cover This week’s food section has extra cheese, with a look at one more flight — the mac and cheese flight at The Goat in Manchester — and a trio of cheeses made in Lee from goat milk. The stories start on page 16. Michael Witthaus looks at the pairing of words and wine at a Concord wine shop (page 12). And he talks with Diane Blue, singer for Shades of Blue, ahead of the band’s April 4 show in Derry (page 22).

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Quality of Life 26/04/02

260402 News Quality Of Life

I’ve been meaning to clean out my freezer, anyway As reported on the U.S. Department of Agriculture Food Safety and ...

Hoops heaven on Saturday

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The Big Story – Final Fours: Down to the Final Four in both NCAA basketball championships this weekend. Can the ...

This Week 26/04/02

260402 Featured Content News This Week

Thursday, April 2 It’s time for your encyclopedic knowledge of the movie Dirty Dancing to pay off at Dirty Dancing ...

Flights of Tastiness

four milkshakes in small glasses frosted on the sides with different colorful sprinkles and different sweet toppings

260402 Cover Stories Featured Content

Small bites and small sips OFFER A big flavor experience Having a hard time picking just one thing from the ...

Words and wine

women sitting at tables in large retail space, drinking wine

260402 Art & Theater Featured Content

Book club gathering in Concord Even casual oenophiles know that chardonnay and a soft brie go together well. But what ...

Treasure Hunt 26/04/02

close up of part of a vase with simple decoration

260402 Family Fun Treasure Hunt

Dear Donna, This small vase has been in my family for years. My parents got it for a wedding present ...

Kiddie Pool 26/04/02

260402 Family Fun Outdoors

Family fun for whenever Showtime • The Hispanic Flamenco Ballet will perform for students on Friday, April 3, at 10 ...

The Weekly Dish 26/04/02

260402 Food

• Easter bake sale: The Assumption Greek Orthodox Church Ladies Philoptochos Society will hold an Easter bake sale on Saturday, ...

A trio of mac

wooden food board holding three small cast iron skillets with macaroni and cheese with different toppings, lined up

260402 Featured Content Food

The Goat expands on the idea of traditional macaroni and cheese Erica Fleury has given a lot of thought to ...

Goat cheese and Christmas trees

brown goat photographed from above, little face looking up

260402 Food

A look at Hickory Nut Farm and their goats “When I see goats out in the field,” said Donna-Lee Woods, ...

An unnamed character archetype

short ball glass filled with red and yellow cocktail and ice, sitting on counter with cocktail shaker and ingredients

260402 Food

This is a drink inspired by a short story I am writing. All the characters are unnamed characters that you ...

Album Reviews 26/04/02

album covers for I See Orange, “Wine Boy” and Jon Anderson, Survival And Other Stories

260402 Albums Pop

I See Orange, “Wine Boy” (self-released) Eh, this is fine, if not exactly groundbreaking. This three-piece buzz-band is from the ...

The Official We Do Not Care Club Handbook, by Melani Sanders

book cover for We Do Not Care Club by Melani Sanders

260402 Books Pop

(Harvest, 203 pages) If you are a woman of a certain age who spends any time on social media, you’ve ...

Send Help (R)

scene from film Send Help with Rachel McAdams sitting on a log beside fire, wearing torn up clothes

260402 Featured Content Film Reviews Pop

Rachel McAdams is a kooky delight as an overlooked office worker who blossoms into her best, insane self when she ...

The Music Roundup 26/04/02

260402 Music This Week

• Organized: A listening room show with food and wine served features J3ST, a Concord-based organ trio led by Tom ...

Good chemistry

five band members standing in dark room, two holding guitars, woman leaning against piano

260402 Featured Content Nightlife

Jon Butcher and Diane Blue join together at Tupelo Collaborations make the rock and blues world go ’round. Like Shades ...

Kiddie Pool 26/04/02

Family fun for whenever

Showtime

• The Hispanic Flamenco Ballet will perform for students on Friday, April 3, at 10 and 11 a.m. at the Concord City Auditorium, 2 Prince St. in Concord, according to theaudi.org. Call 305-420-6622 for tickets.

• Ovation Theatre Company will present The Addams Family Musical, primarily featuring performers ages 13 to 19, on Friday, April 3, and Saturday, April 4, at 7 p.m. as well as April 4 at 2 p.m. at the Derry Opera House, 29 W. Broadway in Derry, according to ovationtc.com, where you can purchase tickets.

• Cinderella will be presented by Southern New Hampshire Youth Ballet as their spring show on Saturday, April 4, at 1 and 4 p.m. See snhdt.org for tickets; the show takes place at the Palace Theatre, 80 Hanover St. in Manchester, whose website says the show is 75 minutes long with a 15-minute intermission.

Easter fun

• Hunt for eggs at the Lions Clubs of Pinardville and Goffstown’s Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday, April 4, with 9 a.m. (for ages 1 to 4), 9:45 a.m. (ages 5 to 7) and 10:30 a.m. (ages 8 to 10) start times at Roy Park in Pinardville. Find the clubs on Facebook.

• Carriage Shack Farm, 5 Dan Hill Road in Londonderry, will hold an Easter Bunny Party at the Farm on Saturday, April 4, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., according to carriageshackfarmllc.org, where you can purchase tickets.

• Charmingfare Farm, 774 High St. in Candia, will wrap up its Egg-citing Egg Hunt, geared toward egg hunters ages 2 to 12, this Saturday, April 4, and Sunday, April 5, with entry times from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., according to visitthefarm.com.

Science!

• Retro-priced $3 admission continues at the SEE Science Center, 200 Bedford St. in Manchester, through Saturday, April 4, to celebrate the Center’s 40th birthday. The center opens at 10 a.m. (with a last admission at 3 p.m. on weekdays and 4 p.m. on weekends) and is closed Sunday, April 5, for Easter, according to see-sciencecenter.org.

• The monthly Super Stellar Friday at McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center in Concord on Friday, April 3, is all about the nocturnal world of caterpillars and moths: “The Caterpillar Lab will present a photograph and video packed talk that explores the nighttime world of caterpillars, moths, and how to find them. … This special lecture will include time to meet a few special caterpillar specimens up close, try out blacklight flashlights, and chat with Caterpillar Lab educators about all things local caterpillar,” according to starhop.com. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. for the 7 p.m. presentation, and a sky viewing will take place at 9 p.m., weather permitting, according to the website, where you can purchase admission tickets for the program as well as add-on tickets for the 8 p.m. planetarium show.

This Week 26/04/02

Thursday, April 2

It’s time for your encyclopedic knowledge of the movie Dirty Dancing to pay off at Dirty Dancing Trivia tonight at 7:30 p.m. at Chunky’s Cinema Pub (707 Huse Road, Manchester, 206-3888, chunkys.com). Tickets are $7 through the Chunky’s website.

Thursday, April 2

The new season of music at the Casino Ballroom on Hampton Beach kicks off tonight with Melissa Etheridge. Doors open at 7 p.m.; show starts at 8 p.m. See casinoballroom.com for tickets.

Friday, April 3

Jewel Music Venue (61 Canal St., Manchester, 819-9336, facebook.com/jewlnh) will host the Hachi presented Wizard’s Wasteland Tour featuring headliners Space Wizard along with Swamp Wizard, She-Wolf, Ainonow and Slang Dogs, according to Jewel’s Facebook page, where you can find a link to purchase tickets.

Friday, April 3

The BNH Stage (16 S. Main St., Concord, 225-1111, ccanh.com) will host Lisa Joins a Cult tonight at 7:30 p.m. foran immersive evening of exploring religious cults, why they happen and what keeps them going. Tickets are $27 through the Capitol Center website.

Saturday, April 4

There’s a Baa Baa Bash at Brookford Farm (250 West Road, Canterbury, 742-4084, brookfordfarm.com) from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. each Saturday and Sunday in April beginning today. Welcome spring with baby animals, muddy boots and maybe even a live animal birth. Buy feed bags and feed the animals. Admission is free. Visit brookfordfarm.com/events.

Saturday, April 4

The Exeter LitFest will run today from noon to 5 p.m. at Exeter Town Hall and feature authors including Chanda Prescod-Weinstein (whose works include the April 7 release The Edge of Space-Time: Particles, Poetry, and the Cosmic Dream Boogie) and Catherine Newman (author of 2025’s Wreck) among other author conversations, according to exeterlitfest.com. The day will also feature children’s events at the Exeter Public Library starting at 10 a.m., the website said.

Saturday, April 4

Concord’s Giant Indoor Yard Sale takes place today from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Everett Arena (15 Loudon Road, Concord), according to the event’s Facebook page. Adult admission costs $5, the page said.

Sunday, April 5

Catch Cecil B. Demille’s first attempt at the Moses story when the 1923 silent film The Ten Commandments plays at the Wilton Town Hall Theatre on Main Street in Wilton, screened with live musical accompaniment by Jeff Rapsis, today at 2 p.m.

Friday, April 3

The New Hampshire Fisher Cats open their 2026 season tonight at 6:03 p.m. at Delta Dental Stadium (1 Line Drive, Manchester, 641-2005, milb.com/new-hampshire). They will take on the Binghamton Rumble Ponies tonight and again tomorrow, Saturday, April 4, and Sunday, April 5, at 1:05 p.m. See milb.com/new-hampshire for tickets. The game will be preceded by a Hot Dog Happy Hour with food and live entertainment beginning 90 minutes before game time.

Save the Date! April 17, 2026
The three-time Grammy Award-winning Nitty Gritty Dirt Band will perform at the Nashua Center for the Arts (201 Main St., Nashua, 800-657-8774, nashuacenterforthearts.com) Friday, April 17, at 7:30 p.m. as part of their “Farewell Tour, All the Good Times: 60 Years of Dirt.” Tickets start at $66, with a limited number of VIP passes available through the Nashua Center’s website.

Featured photo: Retired Navy pilot Lynn “Skip” Carter. Courtesy photo.

Quality of Life 26/04/02

I’ve been meaning to clean out my freezer, anyway

As reported on the U.S. Department of Agriculture Food Safety and Inspection website (fsis.usda.gov), Ajinomoto Foods, a frozen food company that supplies many grocery stores, including Trader Joe’s, has expanded a recall of frozen rice and frozen chicken products. “The establishment is recalling approximately 33,617,045 additional pounds of various ready-to-eat (RTE) and NRTE chicken and pork fried rice, ramen, and shu mai dumpling products, for a combined total of 36,987,575 pounds subject to recall” the USDA statement read.

QOL score: -1

Comment: Approximately 9 million pounds of the recalled food was Trader Joe’s Vegetable Fried Rice. According to the USDA website, “The problem was discovered when the establishment notified FSIS that it received multiple consumer complaints involving glass found in product.”

Easter shortages

As reported by New Hampshire Public Radio in a March 23 online article, cold weather and a delayed harvest have contributed to a local carrot shortage. NHPR reported that “a mid-January freeze and exceptionally hot weather this month in California, from where the majority of the national carrot supply originates, appears to have delayed harvests in the southern San Joaquin Valley,” leading to shortages in area supermarkets. Additionally, according to a March 29 online article by WMUR, rising chocolate and candy prices have driven up the cost of this year’s Easter candy. “Along with chocolate, candy prices are up nearly 12% over the past year,” the article reported.

QOL score: -2

Comment: You could grow your own. Carrots, that is, not candy. Late spring is the time to harvest your early-spring-planted carrots.

Indoor bugs

As reported on March 26 New Hampshire Public Radio at nhpr.org, the large numbers of ladybugs that have been appearing in your house are, according to horticulturist Emma Erler, “not dangerous and they don’t hurt the structure or lay eggs, but they are annoying.” Erler said in the article that “[y]ou can vacuum them up with abandon as the species is invasive and in no danger of disappearing from the landscape.”The native New Hampshire ladybugs tend to hibernate outside and it’s the Asian ladybugs we’re seeing indoors, the article said.

QOL score: -1

Comment: One ladybug? Awww. More? Ewww.

QOL score last week: 51

Net change: -4

QOL this week: 47

What’s affecting your Quality of Life here in New Hampshire?

Let us know at news@hippopress.com.

News & Notes 26/04/09

Bird news

The pair of peregrine falcons nesting at the Brady Sullivan Tower in Manchester welcomed an egg on March 25, according to the daily log for the Peregrine Cam, which you can access via nhaudubon.org/education/birds-and-birding/peregrine-cam. The cam offers livestreaming video of three angles on the nest via NH Audubon and the support of Peregrine Networks and Brady Sullivan Properties, according to the website. Last year the nest produced five eggs, of which three hatched.

Bird events

The NH Audubon’s Massabesic Center, 26 Audubon Way in Auburn, will celebrate the return of nesting birds with two programs on Saturday, April 11. “NestWatch Volunteer Training: Eastern Bluebird and Tree Swallow Monitoring” will run from 9 to 11:30 a.m. and “Build-A-Birdhouse” will run from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., according to the NH Audubon’s newsletter. Register for either at nhaudubon.org.

Health care forum

The New Hampshire Insurance Department will hold the 2026 Commissioner’s Health Care Policy Forum on Wednesday, April 29, from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. “This first-of-its-kind event is designed to bring together policymakers, stakeholders, and interested members of the public for a proactive discussion on one of the most pressing issues facing New Hampshire residents and employers: the rising cost of health care among Granite Staters. The forum is the first event hosted by the Department specifically focused on examining ways to help bend the cost curve and promote greater transparency around the drivers of health care spending. The program will feature the rollout of New Hampshire’s Total Health Care Expenditure findings, including the New Hampshire Health Care Dollar, 2023 and 2024 total statewide health care spending, and insights from the NHID Health Care Data Chartbook,” according to a press release. The forum will take place at the New Hampshire Fire Academy Auditorium, 98 Smokey Bear Blvd. in Concord. Register at bit.ly/3NyeIzY.

Baby shower

The United Way of Greater Nashua is collecting items for its Community Baby Shower, which is slated for April 22, according to a press release. Donate to the registry or drop off baby items to 20 Broad St. in Nashua, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., through Sunday, April 12. Items include baby clothes, car seats, diapers, board books and more; see unitedwaynashua.org/event/community-baby-shower.

Manchester Artists

The Manchester Artists Association will hold its April meeting on Monday, April 6, at 7 p.m. in the Community Room at the Michael L. Briggs Public Safety Building, 405 Valley St. in Manchester, featuring speaker watercolor artist Leah Keuhne, according to a press release. See manchesterartists.com.

“Emergence,” a spring juried members exhibition, will open Thursday, April 2, and run through Saturday, June 27, at the Center for the Arts Members Gallery, 428 Main St. in New London, with an opening reception slated for Saturday, April 4, from 3 to 5 p.m. “‘Emergence’ highlights artwork inspired by themes of transformation, renewal, and the shifting energy that arrives as spring moves toward summer. The exhibition reflects both the natural transition from cold to warmth and the creative momentum that grows within a supportive arts community,” according to a press release. The gallery is open Thursday through Saturday, 1 to 5 p.m. See cfanh.org.

Dave Anderson of the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests wraps up the Cottrell-Baldwin Environmental Lecture Series with a talk called “New Hampshire Forests — Past, Present and Future: 125 Years Protecting NH Landscapes and Landmarks Mammal Tracking in New Hampshire” on Tuesday, April 7, from 7 to 8:30 a.m. at Fox Forest’s Henry I. Baldwin Environmental Center, 309 Center Road in Hillsborough. See forestsociety.org/events to RSVP.

Salem Animal Rescue League will hold a fundraising music bingo event on Friday, April 10, at 7 p.m., doors open at 6 p.m., at the Windham Country Club, 1 Country Club Road in Windham. Tickets cost $60 and include dinner; see sarlnh.org.

The Queen City will be featured in its own board game with Monopoly: Manchester Edition, slated for release in late November, according to a press release.

Comfort on a Plate — 03/26/2026

on the cover

What foods do you turn to when you need a little culinary comfort? John Fladd asked folks in the food industry as well as others what they turn to for comfort and offers a few recipes to make your own comforting meal.

Also on the cover John also talks to the folks at Sunflower Bakery and Cafe about their weekend business (page 14). Michael Witthaus talks to Dirty Cello ahead of their show in Concord on Sunday (page 20). And find more music this weekend in our Music This Week listings, which start on page 21.

Read the e-edition

Baseball is back

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Quality of Life 26/03/26

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elderly man standing next to mannequin wearing pilot's uniform

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Thursday, March 26 Retired Navy pilot Lynn “Skip” Carter will speak about his military flying career and other exploits, including ...

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bowl filled with cheesy macaroni and cheese sitting on red diner counter

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Treasure Hunt 26/03/26

box of old, clouded glass bottles of various sizes and colors, in dim closet, photo taken from above

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Hello, Donna, I have several boxes of old bottles. They are dirty but otherwise in good condition. I think my ...

The Weekly Dish 26/03/26

260326 Food

• New pie: The new brick and mortar iteration of Slightly Crooked Pies (1209 Elm St., Manchester, 661-4575, slightlycrookedpies.com) will ...

Baking for the weekend

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Sunflower Bakery offers sweet and savory treats Brittani and Jake Randall own the Sunflower Bakery and Cafe in Nashua. They ...

Giant pretzels for the win

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Fisher Cats get ready for another season of baseball and eats One of the most challenging aspects of being responsible ...

Old-fashioned rice pudding

bowl filled with rice pudding on counter

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5½ cups (1,250 g) whole milk – We don’t want this pudding to be too fatty or not fatty enough ...

Album Reviews 26/03/26

album covers for Flesh Field, On Enmity and Big Harp, Runs to Blue

260326 Albums Pop

Flesh Field, On Enmity (self-released) Some of you may remember the goth phase I was processing in these pages back ...

Not a mellow cello

four member band playing on stage with singer/cellist front woman

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Rocking up a staid stringed instrument According to common wisdom, one way to deal with stage fright is to imagine ...

Author: The Hippo Press

Flights of Tastiness — 04/02/2026

Kiddie Pool 26/04/02

This Week 26/04/02

Quality of Life 26/04/02

News & Notes 26/04/09

Comfort on a Plate — 03/26/2026

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