Author: The Hippo Press

Wine and Chocolate

Classes create pairings for dinner and dessert

Other than red roses, nothing says “valentine” more than chocolate and wine, and LaBelle Winery will capitalize on this tantalizing pairing with two classes in February, available at LaBelle’s Derry and Amherst locations. Classes will meet from 6 to 7 p.m. and admission for each session is $40.

Chocolate Desserts & Wine Pairing is described as a special wine pairing event for lovers of decadent chocolate desserts.

“This is one of my favorite classes,” said LaBelle Winery Sommelier Marie King. “We pair four delicious wines with four specially made desserts made with white, milk, dark and spiced chocolates made by our amazing pastry chef, Sara Mercier.” The wine menu for the evening will include White Chocolate Mousse paired withLaBelle Cranberry; Milk Chocolate Pot de Creme paired withLaBelle Americus; Dark Chocolate Brownie paired withLaBelle Dry Blueberry; and Chocolate Cayenne Truffle paired withLaBelle Petit Verdot.

“I like to keep the class informal, fun, and have guests leave with a little more knowledge about wine and how to pair it,” King said.

Cooking with Wine & Chocolate, facilitated by Amy LaBelle and Executive Chef Justin Bernatchez, is an entertaining interactive cooking class demonstration. Guests will have the opportunity to sample fried chicken with chocolate BBQ sauce, steak with The Winemaker’s Kitchen Cocoa BBQ Spice Blend, Mexican mole sauce, and Chocolate Decadence Dessert — each paired with a LaBelle wine.

One of the surprising things people learn about cooking with chocolate is that it can be used to make savory dishes.

“Think of Mexican mole sauce,” King said. “The sweetness is an underlying note to the savory spicy notes of the dishes. Cocoa powder and dark chocolate, which are most often used for cooking, are actually quite bitter. The sweetness we equate with chocolate is from the sugar, milk and flavorings added to the bitter cocoa.”

What makes wine and chocolate compatible?

“Everything is better when paired well,” according to King. “We like to say that pairing wine and food well elevates the enjoyment of both. Finding what is compatible or contrasting between the wine and chocolate makes for fantastic pairings that neither the food or wine can create separately.”

Although many people tend to think that red is the only wine that can be paired with chocolate, King disagrees: “It does not have to be red wine with chocolate. It especially does not work well with white or ruby chocolate. Fruit or dessert wines are also fun to pair with chocolates.”

“Milk chocolate is sweeter, has less of a perception of tannins and is creamier on the palate. Dark chocolate is more bitter; you can perceive the tannins more easily and [it’s] less creamy on the palate. You might be able to pair both with a wine that is fruit-driven but also tannic, but one chocolate will generally pair better than the other depending on which characteristic dominates,” King said.

Which wines are best paired with white chocolate? “We like to use our Cranberry and Cranberry Riesling, but I have also had success with Seyval, riesling and Shimmer. If the white chocolate has citrus notes, it makes it even easier,” King said.

King noted that rosés have “more tannins than the average white and more acidity than the average red.”

“I am a sparkling girl, so I always try to find foods to pair with sparkling wines,” she said. “Our Tempest sparkling wine is great with milk chocolate as it has raspberry notes and the bubbles help to cleanse the palate from the buttery texture.”

Chocolate Desserts & Wine Pairing
Wednesday, Feb. 7, from 6 to 7 p.m.
LaBelle Winery, 345 Route 101, Amherst
$40

Chocolate Desserts & Wine Pairing
Wednesday, Feb. 14, from 6 to 7 p.m.
LaBelle Winery, 14 Route 111, Derry
$40

Cooking with Wine & Chocolates
Thursday, Feb. 15
LaBelle Winery, 345 Route 101, Amherst
$40

Cooking with Wine & Chocolates
Wednesday, Feb. 21, from 6 to 7 p.m.
LaBelle Winery, 14 Route 111, Derry
$40

For more info or to register, visit labellewinery.com/public-winery-events

Featured photo: Wines paired with chocolates. Courtesy photo.

On The Job – Melissa Derusha

Event Planner

Melissa DeRusha is an event planner and owner of Star Events, based in Hudson.

Explain your job and what it entails.

I host craft and vendor fairs and family outdoor events in New Hampshire. As an event planner, I find venues around New Hampshire to rent. I draw up a contract for my vendors with all the info they need. After that, I create an event page on Facebook with advertising on a bunch of different platforms. Before the event, I continue advertising; then I will create a floor plan for where the vendors’ places will be. The day of the event, the vendors arrive and I have them placed in their spots, and they give me a donation of one of their products. I hold a penny sale raffle for a different charity or program at every event that we have. There is a lot of emailing involved and working with all the vendors.

How long have you had this job?

Four and a half years.

What led you to this career field and your current job?

I loved organizing parties for my family, so I decided I would get into events. And this allows me to have a flexible schedule for my children.

What kind of education or training did you need?

I didn’t need any.

What is your typical at-work uniform or attire?

I wear tops based on the event theme with jeans or leggings.

What is the most challenging thing about your work, and how do you deal with it?

Something challenging would be finding event space to host at.

What do you wish you’d known at the beginning of your career?

You need a lot of patience, and it’s not as easy as most people think.

What do you wish other people knew about your job?

That craft fairs have come a long way. It’s not your old-style crafts. There are so many talented small-business owners as well as direct sale vendors. We have food trucks, face painting and so many fun things.

What was the first job you ever had?

I worked at Canobie Lake in the event center.

What’s the best piece of work-related advice you’ve ever received?

To stick to my contract. — Angie Sykeny

Five favorites
Favorite book: Be Yourself
Favorite movie: Dirty Dancing
Favorite music: everything
Favorite food: french fries
Favorite thing about NH: camping

Featured photo: Michael J. White. Courtesy photo.

Kiddie Pool 24/02/01

Family fun for whenever

Fun for the whole family

• Recycled Percussion will bring their big loud high-energy show to the Nashua Center for the Arts (201 Main St. in Nashua; nashuacenterforthearts.com) on Saturday, Feb. 3, at 3 and 7 p.m. and Sunday, Feb. 4, at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. Tickets cost $39.50 to $49.50. Find out more about the band in the Nov. 9 issue of the Hippo (find e-editions at hippopress.com), where Michael Witthaus interviewed band founder Justin Spencer.

On the ice

• Watch the Saint Anselm College Hawks Women’s Ice Hockey team face the Franklin Pierce University Ravens on Friday, Feb. 2, at 6 p.m. at Sullivan Arena on the Saint Anselm college campus (100 Saint Anselm Drive in Manchester). Tickets cost $10 and are available at the ticket booth one hour ahead of game time. See saintanselmhawks.com.

For the teens

• The Palace Teen Apprentice Company, featuring performers ages 13 to 18, will present Cabareton Tuesday, Feb. 6, at 7 p.m. at The Rex Theatre (23 Amherst St. in Manchester; palacetheatre.org). Tickets cost $15 for adults, $12 for ages 6 to 12.

The Art Roundup 23/02/01

The latest from NH’s theater, arts and literary communities

• Youth ensemble: Manchester Community Music School (2291 Elm St. in Manchester; mcmusicschool.org) will hold New Hampshire Youth Ensembles concerts on Saturday, Feb. 3, at 1 p.m. (featuring the Suzuki Violin Group, String Pep, Concert Orchestra, Boom wackers, Percussion Ensemble, Rock & Blues Orchestra and the NH Youth Jazz ensemble) and at 6 p.m. (featuring Queen City Voices, Queen City Concert Choir, Flute Choir, Concert Band and Symphony Orchestra), according to a press release. The event is free and open to the public.

• Exhibit closing: “Heart of a Museum: Saya Woolfalk” at the Currier Museum of Art (150 Ash St. in Manchester; currier.org, 669-6144) ends its run Sunday, Feb. 4. Described as “a new experiential installation by artist Saya Woolfalk, the exhibition is a commission for the museum that investigates the history of the institution and revisits its iconography and original design,” according to the website, which says the exhibition uses the mosaics designed by Salvatore Lascari that were the entrance of the Currier as the starting point. The Currier is open Wednesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and admission costs $20 for adults, $15 for 65+, $15 for students, $5 for ages 13 to 17, and children 12 and under get in free.

• Sounds of Dune:The music of frequent movie composer Hans Zimmer (Dune, The Dark Knight, Gladiator) will be the focus at the Candlelight Concert on Wednesday, Feb. 7, at 6 and 8:30 p.m. at the Rex Theatre (23 Amherst St. in Manchester; palacetheatre.org). Tickets cost $43 to $60.

• At Balin: Next weekend at Balin Books (375 Amherst St., Somerset Plaza, Nashua; balinbooks.com) author Deborah Roof will sign her book Words, Wonder and the Divine in You on Saturday, Feb. 10, from noon to 1 p.m.

• More playwrights, more stories: The next “Expanding the Canon” play reading circle from Theatre Kapow will take place Sunday, Feb. 11, at 2 p.m. featuring the work Blanche and Stella by A.A. Brenner. See tkapow.com and contact [email protected] for information on joining this Zoom event.

• The kids take ABBA to Greece: The Londonderry High School Drama Club will present Mamma Mia! Thursday, Feb. 15, through Saturday, Feb. 17, at 7 p.m. daily plus 1 p.m. on Saturday at the Derry Opera House (26 W. Broadway in Derry). Tickets to this show, which they rate as PG-13, cost $15 for adults, $10 for seniors and students. See lancerdramaclub.org.

• Coming up from Community Players of Concord: The next main stage production from the Community Players of Concord is coming Friday, Feb. 16, through Sunday, Feb. 18. Witness for the Prosecution, a play by Agatha Christie, is described as “suspenseful thriller” about a man accused of murdering a rich widow, according to communityplayersofconcord.org. The show is at the Concord City Auditorium (2 Prince St. in Concord) at 7:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m. on Sunday; tickets cost $20 for adults, $18 for 17 and under and 65+.

• “Banjos, Bones and Ballads”: Folklorist and traditional music performer Jeff Warner will perform Thursday, Feb. 22, at 11 a.m. in studio A at the YMCA of Downtown Manchester (30 Mechanic St. in Manchester), for a show open to both members and non-members (non-members will need an ID), according to a Y Facebook post. He will present 19th-century music including music that would have been familiar to people of Adirondack Mountain lumber camps, Outer Banks fishing villages and New England whaling ports, according to the post. See jeffwarner.com for more on Warner and his music.

• Improv night: Queen City Improv will perform at Chunky’s Cinema Pub (707 Huse Road in Manchester; chunkys.com) on Friday, Feb. 23, at 7:30 p.m. Tickets cost $20 and are on sale now.

The Players will also hold auditions for their early May main stage production, Pride and Prejudice, on Sunday, Feb. 25, from 4 to 6 p.m. and Monday, Feb. 26, from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Players’ studio (435 Josiah Bartlett Road in Concord). See communityplayersofconcord.org/auditions for the requirements.

• Save the date for Dana: The March schedule has three events coming up at the Dana Center for the Humanities (Saint Anselm College, 100 Saint Anselm Drive in Manchester; tickets.anselm.edu, 641-7700). On Friday, March 1, Ernest Thompson — the playwright and screenwriter who won an Oscar for On Golden Pond — will discuss his latest book, The Book of Maps, and tell stories from his 50-year career, according to the website. The event begins at 7:30 p.m; tickets cost $45. On Thursday, March 14, Delfeayo Marsalis, a jazz and blues trombonist and composer, will perform at 7 p.m. Tickets cost $35. On Saturday, March 16, celebrate Saint Patrick’s Day with Irish folk band The Jeremiahs and the trio Kalos at 7:30 p.m.; tickets cost $45.

Wartime music
The Thursday, Feb. 1, “Bach’s Lunch” program at the Concord Community Music School (23 Wall St. in Concord; ccmusicschool.org) has had a program change; the Feb. 1 program will be “Echoes of Struggle and Triumph” featuring works by composers from World War I and World War II, according to a press release. Flutist Erin Dubois, clarinetist Stephanie Ratté and bassoonist Maria Isaak will present music from “Rosy Wertheim, a Dutch Jewish composer who lived and hid in Amsterdam during World War II; Walter Piston, an American composer born in Maine who became a Navy musician during World War I; Jacques Ibert, a French composer whose musical studies were interrupted during World War I and his music later banned during World War II; and Joachim Kötschau, a German composer and organist who was 26 when World War II began,” the release said. The event is free and open to the public.

This Week 24/02/01

Thursday, Feb. 1

Do you remember Ned Ryerson? Test your knowledge of 1993’s Groundhog Day tonight at 7:30 p.m. at the 21+ trivia night at Chunky’s Cinema Pub (707 Huse Road in Manchester; chunkys.com). Reserve seats for $6 (which includes a $5 off food voucher).

Meanwhile actual Groundhog Day is Friday, Feb. 2, when we find out how Punxsutawney Phil is feeling — early spring or a bunch more winter?

Friday, Feb. 2

The McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center (2 Institute Drive in Concord; starhop.com, 271-7827) will focus on eclipses at tonight’s Super Stellar Friday programming, happening from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. For “Elevating Eclipses” Jacob Garside, a student at Plymouth State University and who has participated in the Nationwide Eclipse Ballooning Project, will discuss the project and the April 8 eclipse, according to the website. Admission costs $12 for adults, $9 for ages 3 to 12, $11 for 62+ and 13-college, the website said. You can also register to attend a webinar version of the discussion.

Friday, Feb. 2

This week’s Friday Night Comedy at the Rex features comedian Dave Russo and friends at 7:30 p.m. at the Rex (23 Amherst St. in Manchester; palacetheatre.org). Tickets cost $35. Find more laughs this weekend and beyond in the Comedy This Week listings on page 33.

Friday, Feb. 2

Constantine Maroulis, a sixth-place finisher on 2005’s American Idol and Tony nominated for his role in Rock of Ages, will perform tonight at the Bank of NH Stage (16 S. Main St. in Concord; ccanh.com) at 8 p.m. (doors open at 7 p.m.). Tickets cost $44.75 ($5 more at the door). Find more concerts this weekend and beyond in our Concerts listings on page 34.

Saturday, Feb. 3

It’s Pink Day at Southern New Hampshire University Women’s Basketball, when the Penmen take on the New Haven Chargers at 1:30 p.m. at Stan Spiro Field House (at the Southern New Hampshire University campus, 2500 River Road in Manchester). Head to the lobby at 12:30 p.m. for raffles, T-shirt sales and more. The men’s game is at 3:30 p.m. Regular season games are free to attend; see snhupenmen.com.

Sunday, Feb. 4

The Peabody, Mass., band Fortune will play the Tupelo Music Hall (10 A St. in Derry; tupelomusichall.com) tonight at 7 p.m. Tickets cost $30.

Save the Date! Thursday, Feb. 8
Comedian Bob Marley brings the laughs to the Flying Monkey (39 S. Main St. in Plymouth; flyingmonkeynh.com) on Thursday, Feb. 8, at 7:30 p.m. Tickets start at $39.50. Find out more about Marley, whose “about” button on his website is New England-ily labeled “Who is this dink?,” at bmarley.com.

Quality of Life 24/02/01

Democracy and stickers!

Voters in last week’s presidential primaries were able to score some pretty great “I voted” stickers. Three different options were available: an Old Man in the Mountain profile in front of an American flag, a happy-face-having state of New Hampshire fishing and a moose in front of an autumnal landscape. The artists behind these stickers are New Hampshire fourth graders Grace of Milton, Jacob of Auburn and Rilynn of Mont Vernon, respectively. New Hampshire Secretary of State David M. Scanlan and Deputy Secretary of State Erin T. Hennessey announced the winners of a statewide sticker-making contest for fourth graders back in October 2023. The stickers will appear at all state elections in 2024.

Score: +1

Comments: QOL did — after asking permission — take one of each.

Students helping out

The University of New Hampshire has introduced the “Semester for Impact” program, a unique experiential learning initiative designed to benefit students and New Hampshire organizations, according to a press release. This program enables UNH undergraduates to work 30 hours a week for 15 weeks with local businesses, nonprofits and municipalities, focusing on projects with positive environmental and social impacts. Students earn academic credit and engage in complementary workshops and courses. The program, which embeds immersive learning into the academic curriculum, is a collaboration with the nonprofit College for Social Innovation. It builds on the success of the Semester in the City program in Boston and aims to develop key competencies, professional skills and career networks for students. Host organizations are invited to apply to participate in the program.

QOL score: +1

Comment: Previously, 190 UNH students have participated in the Semester in the City program in Boston through this collaboration, focusing on community-based learning experiences.

Tax help

Granite United Way has launched its free tax prep program for New Hampshire residents with annual household incomes of up to $64,000. According to a press release, the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program, supported by a $50,000 contribution from Citizens, connects qualifying low-to-moderate-income individuals and families in the state with IRS-certified volunteers who can help them access the greatest amount of tax refunds. This initiative helped participants collectively receive more than $5.5 million in federal tax refunds last year, including significant amounts through the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). To schedule an appointment near you visit nhtaxhelp.org, or go to MyFreeTaxes.com for self-preparation with guidance.

QOL score: +1

Comment: IRS data revealed that about one in five eligible New Hampshire residents don’t file for the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), leaving an estimated $31 million unclaimed, according to the release.

QOL score: 52

Net change: +3

QOL this week: 55

What’s affecting your Quality of Life here in New Hampshire? Let us know at [email protected].

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