• A wine wonderland: Join the Bookery (844 Elm St., Manchester) in welcoming LaBelle Winery owner and winemaker Amy LaBelle on Sunday, March 26, from 4 to 6 p.m — she’ll be there to present her recently released debut book, Wine Weddings: The Ultimate Guide to Creating the Wine-Themed Wedding of Your Dreams. At a total of 10 chapters, 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. It’s also filled with photographs taken at weddings hosted at both of the winery’s locations, in Amherst and Derry, and LaBelle even shares the details that went into planning her own wedding. Admission is free and the event will include a free wine tasting at the conclusion of LaBelle’s presentation. Visit bookerymht.com.
• Spring into flavor: Enjoy the flavors of a new season at a special Welcoming Spring grand tasting on Saturday, March 25, from 3 to 5 p.m. at Beer & Wine Nation (360 Daniel Webster Hwy., Merrimack). More than 50 varieties of beer, wine and ready-to-drink cocktails will be available to sample from around 10 different vendors. Admission is free and open to all attendees over the age of 21. Beer & Wine Nation, which opened June 2021 inside Merrimack’s 360 Shopping Plaza, features one of the largest selections of beer, wine and ready-to-drink cocktails under one roof in the area, with more than 2,000 craft and domestic beers and more than 1,300 from around the world. Visit beerandwinenation.com or follow them on Facebook and Instagram @bwnmerrimack to keep up with the newest product arrivals.
• Pizza at Presto: Manchester’s Presto Craft Kitchen (168 Amory St.) is introducing a pop-up craft pizza menu, which will be available on Thursday, March 23, from 11 a.m. to 7:45 p.m., while supplies last, in addition to its regular menu. Specialty options will include, among others, the three-cheese House Pie with aged balsamic and basil; the Hungry Hornet, featuring locally sourced honey, pepperoni and a secret “stinger” seasoning; and the Dracula, which has garlic cream, provolone, fresh mozzarella, confit garlic and aged balsamic. According to a recent Facebook post announcing the pop-up menu, the goal is to begin offering it on a monthly basis. Visit prestocraftkitchen.com or find them on Facebook @prestocraftkitchennh to view the menu.
• Seventeen years in the making: Save the date for a special apple brandy release party at Flag Hill Distillery & Winery (297 N. River Road, Lee) on Friday, April 7, at 7 p.m. The event celebrates the release of Flag Hill’s apple brandy, which has been slowly aging for 17 years — in addition to a cocktail hour with upscale hors d’oeuvres and sample sips of the brandy, there will be live music and a three-course meal, featuring your choice of peppercorn-crusted filet or chickpea and kale portabella as an entree. Tickets are $80 per person and the dress code is cocktail attire. Visit fhapplebrandy.eventbrite.com to reserve your spot.
Spring means a lot of different things to different people:
Flowers
Mud
Taxes
Bunnies
Spring Break
When I was a college student, back in the Late Cretaceous, I had strong feelings about Spring Break. I had heard the stories about 24-hour beach parties, bacchanalian excess and overcrowded hotel rooms. I had dreams of going on a proper Spring Break, but each year I ended up broke and crashing on various friends’ couches, teaching them how to make piña coladas.
Admittedly, I was something of a low achiever in college. I was not smooth or popular. I never made the dean’s list. I did not break any hearts. I didn’t write much poetry.
What I did do, however, was master the art of making a piña colada. I prized my blender and through sheer repetition and practice could measure out the ice, rum, pineapple juice and coconut cream by eye, and make a roomful of college students with low standards very happy.
“Who’d you invite over, tonight?”
“Rick, Bob, Hugo, those three girls and their friends.”
“And—”
“And Fladd.”
“Ugh. Really?”
“And his blender.”
“Oh, OK, then.”
From time to time I’m tempted to make one of those college piña coladas, but just as there are television shows from my youth that I won’t watch for fear that Adult Me will hate them, I’ve been too afraid to make one.
But it is spring.
What if I made something that Adult Me would think tasted like spring but at the same time was strange enough that College Me would cautiously approve of it?
I give you —
The Pea-ña Colada!!!
2 ounces pea-infused rum (see below)
1 ounce pineapple juice
1 ounce coconut rum – I like Malibu or Coconut Jack for this.
½ ounce fresh-squeezed lime juice
¼ to ½ ounce simple syrup, depending on how sweet you would like this
Put on your most garish shirt, preferably something that will utterly humiliate your children.
Combine all ingredients over ice in a cocktail shaker. Tell your digital assistant to play “Margaritaville” at Volume 8. (Granted, you aren’t actually making a margarita, but the sentiments are just about perfect for this situation. If you can’t make yourself listen to Jimmy Buffet, ask for something by Van Halen.)
Put the top on your shaker, then shake until the ice cubes — and maybe your heart — break.
Pour, ice and all, into a rocks or small Collins glass.
Don’t make any plans for the rest of the afternoon, because this drink will go down very quickly, get lonely, and call for a bunch of its friends to celebrate Spring Break in your stomach.
OK, with all my industrial-strength reminiscing, I skipped over a detail that you might want to discuss a bit before actually making this drink:
“Excuse me? Pea-flavored rum?”
You heard me. Pea. Infused. Rum.
Here’s the thing: Against all odds, it’s delicious. The peas carry a spring-like herbaceousness that plays really well with the fruit juices. The coconut — which your own embarrassing memories lead you to expect to be too sweet — is actually restrained and tasty. Adult You probably doesn’t want a drink quite as sweet as you did in your salad days, and dialing in the actual sweetness with simple syrup will allow you to make this just perfect for singing really loudly. You might want to call an old friend on the phone and sing loudly to them, too.
Bright Green Rum
Add equal amounts by weight of fresh sugar snap peas and white rum to your blender. Don’t worry about snipping off the little stems and squiggly parts on the ends. Just wash them briefly and throw them into the pool with the rum. Go with a basic white rum for this. I like either Bacardi or Captain Morgan. The flavor of the peas will cover up any subtle nuances that you might want to savor in a top-shelf rum.
Blend the rum/pea mixture on a medium-low speed for a minute or so, so that the peas are chopped up really finely but haven’t been liquified.
Let the mixture rest for an hour, then strain it. It will be a vibrant, please-don’t-ignore-me shade of green. If you are so inclined, filter it through a series of coffee filters, which will tone down the color but leave you with the vibrant, pea-ey taste that you want for a proper Pea-ña Colada.
Featured photo: Pea-ña Colada. Photo by John Fladd.
Nicole Chalfant of Derry is the owner and founder of Bungalow Bakes (bungalowbakes.com, and on Facebook and Instagram @bungalowbakes), offering a variety of scratch-baked cakes, cupcakes, scones, biscuits, sweet breads and other items available to order. Named after her bungalow home in Derry where she first launched her business, Chalfant now bakes in a commercial kitchen at The Grind Rail Trail Cafe (5 W. Broadway) downtown, which also regularly features her items. She’ll often collaborate with craft breweries in town too, including baking sourdough loaves for the weekly sandwich specials available at From the Barrel Brewing Co. (1 Corporate Park Drive). Cask & Vine (1½ E. Broadway), meanwhile, almost always carries one of Chalfant’s own cheesecake flavors on its dessert menu.
What is your must-have kitchen item?
My KitchenAid mixer. She was a birthday present from my husband. Her name is Buttah, because she is butter yellow. We’ve gone through a lot together and she has never failed me!
What would you have for your last meal?
My husband and I traveled to Tuscany last April and we stayed at an agriturismo, which was this beautiful farmhouse on an olive farm. We took a cooking class with a chef and his wife and the woman who owns the farm, and we spent the whole afternoon with them, learning how to make pasta and we made a ragu and we made tiramisu from scratch. … I would do all of that again. It was the most amazing meal I’ve ever had.
What is your favorite local restaurant?
It’s been The Grind and Cask & Vine [both in downtown Derry]. They are both amazingly passionate about what they do and about supporting local businesses.
What celebrity would you like to see trying something you have baked?
I think it would be Mary Berry. … I fell in love with her on The Great British Bake Off and her other cooking competitions, because she is so knowledgeable and yet so gentle, and she wouldn’t say mean things about your food, ever. She just seems like a delightful human being.
What is your favorite thing to bake for someone?
I love doing babies’ first birthday cakes. I’ve done a lot of them — I have 14 nieces and nephews between my husband’s family and my family, and they are all under the age of 8 at the moment, so in the last 10 years I’ve done a ton of baby’s first birthday cupcakes and smash cakes. … I love when they just get in there and get the frosting all over themselves.
What is the biggest food trend in New Hampshire right now?
Something that I really love is the use of local ingredients and smaller makers. I try really hard to source ingredients locally, and seasonally, when possible.
What is your favorite thing to make at home?
That would be Henrietta’s pound cake. … Henrietta was a friend of my grandmother’s back when she lived in upstate New York. This pound cake is a huge family recipe. It always gets made by my mother and my aunts, and it’s my favorite thing to eat. … It’s just simple and delicious and it reminds me of my family. I can’t make it too often because I would eat the whole thing.
Henrietta’s pound cake From the kitchen of Nicole Chalfant of Bungalow Bakes in Derry
1 cup butter, at room temperature 2 cups sugar 3 eggs, at room temperature ½ teaspoon almond extract 1 cup milk, at room temperature 3 cups flour 1 teaspoon baking powder Sliced almonds
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 10-cup Bundt or tube pan. Sprinkle a few sliced almonds in the bottom of the pan. Set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour and baking powder. Set aside. Using a mixer, cream the butter and the sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and the almond extract and mix thoroughly. Add the flour mixture in three portions, alternating with the milk, mixing lightly in between additions. Spoon the thick batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 55 to 65 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then turn the cake out onto a wire rack to cool completely. Slice and enjoy.
Featured photo: Nicole Chalfant, owner and founder of Bungalow Bakes in Derry. Courtesy photo.
New Hampshire Maple Weekend returns with sugarhouse tours, syrup samples and more
March is prime maple season in New Hampshire, and sugarhouses large and small are inviting you to partake in a celebration of the sweet stuff. During New Hampshire Maple Weekend — returning on Saturday, March 18, and Sunday, March 19 — there will be opportunities at participating sugarhouses for visitors to attend free tours, view maple syrup making demonstrations and sample all kinds of exclusive maple-flavored goodies.
The weekend is overseen by the New Hampshire Maple Producers Association, a nonprofit founded in 1943 that today represents more than 350 maple purveyors statewide. A full list of participating sugarhouses and their Maple Weekend plans is available on the NHMPA website.
On March 13, during the annual gubernatorial tree tapping at the Remick Country Doctor Museum & Farm in Tamworth, Gov. Chris Sununu announced a proclamation officially recognizing March 2023 as Maple Month in the state of New Hampshire. The Granite State ranks seventh in the nation in the total production of maple syrup, according to the proclamation, and generates about $10 million in sales revenue annually from syrup and other maple products.
Andrew Chisholm, president of the NHMPA, is a maple producer himself — he runs Chisholm Farm in Hampstead, which is known for its flavored syrups, from cinnamon and vanilla to cardamom-infused syrup. During Maple Weekend he’ll also have maple ice cream that’s produced by Shaw Farm, just over the state line in Dracut, Mass.
Chisholm has been at the forefront of promoting the maple syrup industry in New Hampshire, which he said has steadily been on the upswing statewide as an agricultural product. On Sept. 5, 2022, the NHMPA received a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to execute a marketing campaign for promoting maple syrup “beyond pancake’s best friend” — Chisholm said this will include an overhaul of the Association website, with the goal to improve its user-friendliness among maple producers and consumers. The grant cites that in 2021 New Hampshire was the No. 1 exporter of maple syrup and maple sugar in the United States.
“That’s really been my focus over the last year, is trying to promote maple as a natural sweetener that has a lot of minerals that we’re trying to get on a daily basis anyway,” Chisholm said.
Here’s a look at how this year’s maple season has gone so far for some in southern New Hampshire, plus what you can expect when you visit a local sugarhouse on Maple Weekend.
Maple madness
Although they welcome visitors all month long for weekend tours, Journey’s End Maple Farm, a small family-run operation in Pittsfield, turns into a syrup lover’s destination on Maple Weekend.
“There are literally hundreds and hundreds of people that come through that weekend,” said Amy Lemire, whose fiance, Marty Boisvert, runs the maple production at Journey’s End. “It’s crazy busy, but it’s fun. … The great thing too is that right in our area there are numerous maple producers, so we find that a lot of families are coming out and making a whole day of it.”
Both days, Journey’s End will be serving treats like maple shakes and maple sundaes, plus “sap dogs,” or slightly sweeter versions of hot dogs, cooked in sap water. They also host vendor pop-up events, with onsite purveyors offering everything from microgreens, homemade artisan breads, jams and jellies to candles, home decor, birdhouses, woodworking signs and more.
“We’ll be boiling sap and we’ll be giving samples of product … right off the evaporator,” Lemire said. “We also set up a maple tree and we kind of simulate tapping it for the kids, so it’s a good learning experience for them.”
At Ice Mountain Maple in Boscawen there will be maple fudge, maple candy and maple coffee. The evaporator will also be running all day, inviting visitors to see the maple production process. Established in the fall of 2019, Ice Mountain Maple is also a small family-run sugarhouse that spent its first season tapping trees the following year.
“Last year we had the most people we’ve ever had,” said Chrisi Gray, who owns Ice Mountain Maple with her husband, Jon. “It’s just phenomenal to see how popular it’s become.”
In addition to its own treats, Ice Mountain Maple is partnering with Confections by Kate, a baking business based in Boscawen.
“She uses our syrup exclusively for her baked goods that feature maple,” Gray said, “so we’re going to have her baked goods in our sugarhouse this year as well.”
In Chester, Folsom’s Sugar House plans to have ongoing tours throughout each day of Maple Weekend and will be providing samples of maple syrup and maple cream.
“We explain to people how we tap the trees, the collection of the sap and bringing it back to the sugarhouse, and then the process of boiling it,” co-owner Brian Folsom said. “We also talk about how we use the reverse osmosis to concentrate the sap and then how we bring it to a finished product … and then we have a little store where they can go in and sample or purchase our different products.”
Journey’s End Maple Farm in Pittsfield. Courtesy photo.
Folsom said that on a good day he can collect between 600 and 900 gallons of sap from the trees, collected in five-gallon pails from tree to tree across nearly two dozen locations and gathered in a large tank in the back of his truck.
It takes roughly 40 gallons of sap to make one gallon of syrup. But using reverse osmosis, Folsom said, they’re able to save time and energy by concentrating the sap, producing the same amount of syrup by the use of just 15 gallons.
After the reverse osmosis process, the sap goes through an evaporator, which boils between 60 and 70 gallons an hour on average. Visitors then learn about how the syrup is filtered and bottled, as well as the four types of Grade A syrup that are produced and how each is different in flavor and color.
“We have golden, which is a very light, delicate maple flavor, and then we go on to the amber, a nice rich maple flavor that we’re making,” Folsom said. “Then we get into the dark and then there’s very dark, a very strong robust maple flavor. All of those four are considered Grade A.”
Let the sap flow
As a whole, sugarhouses across the Granite State are well ahead of where they were at this time last year, according to Chisholm, thanks to a steady combination of mild days and cold nights.
“I know a lot of producers in southern New Hampshire and even in Vermont were producing maple syrup in January, which is incredibly unusual,” he said. “Some of them that I spoke with had already produced 40 percent of their 2022 crop by Valentine’s Day of this year. … We got a little nervous around then, because it was getting really warm and wasn’t cooling off at night, but then … as we got into late February and early March, we had that pretty hard freeze for a few days, and that’s exactly what we needed right there at that time.”
Chisholm said the recent late-season winter storm that blanketed much of the state in 8 to 14 inches of snow on March 4 was also very beneficial for maple producers.
“The snow actually helps the trees, because it keeps kind of a refrigerator effect going in the woods,” he said. “It really does help extend the season for us a bit, because if you think about it, as we get into that early spring sun in March, if there’s no snow in the woods, it will heat the ground faster and the woods don’t retain some of that cold weather that we need for the sap to run.”
Folsom said he produced more syrup this February than he has in any February of the last 30 years.
“The start of this month has already been very strong for us, so we’re going to end up with an excellent season,” he said. “If it had warmed up and stayed warm, our season would have ended. But that hasn’t been the case.”
Ideal temperatures for maple producers are around 40 to 45 degrees during the day, and 20 to 25 degrees at night. For many, Chisholm said, the maple season could stretch into early April this year the way the forecast is trending.
“We haven’t seen an April flow of sap around in the southern part of the state for a while,” he said. “Up north it’s very common. You go north of the Franconia Notch and they are typically into April just because of the latitude up there and the little microclimates that they can get in some of the valleys.”
New Hampshire Maple Weekend When: Saturday, March 18, and Sunday, March 19 Where: Participating sugarhouses and farms statewide Visit: nhmapleproducers.com For a full list of participating sugarhouses, click the “Find a Sugarhouse” tab on the New Hampshire Maple Producers Association website. Some will be offering maple sugaring tours and demonstrations, while others will be selling and providing samples of their own maple syrup and a variety of maple-infused products.
Joyce’s maple shortbread cookies Courtesy of Journey’s End Maple Farm in Pittsfield (makes about 50 small cookies)
2 sticks butter ¼ cup Journey’s End dark maple syrup ⅓ cup brown sugar 1 teaspoon maple extract 2½ cups flour Journey’s End granulated maple sugar
Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Cream together the butter, maple syrup, brown sugar and maple flavoring until light and fluffy. Add the flour and mix well. Roll the dough out onto a lightly floured board to 1/4 inch thickness. Using small cookie cutters, cut out and place onto an ungreased baking sheet. Use a small fork to make light dents in the cookie tops. Sprinkle the tops lightly with maple sugar. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes.
Asian maple Brussels sprouts Courtesy of Ice Mountain Maple in Boscawen
3 to 4 cups Brussels sprouts, halved 3 Tablespoons dark maple syrup 2 Tablespoons olive oil ¼ cup soy sauce 1 teaspoon powdered ginger 3 to 4 shakes Cholula sauce
Toss all the ingredients into a bowl. Set aside for 15 minutes. After marinating, spread the Brussels sprouts evenly in a greased roasting pan. Roast in a 450-degree oven for 20 minutes — a multipurpose toaster oven on the Roast setting works best, according to Ice Mountain Maple co-owner Chrisi Gray. Note that the cooking time might vary, based on the size of the Brussels sprouts.
Featured photo: Photo courtesy of Ice Mountain Maple in Boscawen.
• Wine in the dark: Join LaBelle Winery for a blindfolded wine tasting at its Amherst facility (345 Route 101) on Wednesday, March 22, from 6 to 7 p.m. During this session led by LaBelle wine educator and sommelier Marie King, participants will be blindfolded and must rely on their senses of smell and taste to identify five of the vineyard’s wines. No previous knowledge of wine is required — just a curiosity and a desire to learn about and taste wine. A similar class is also planned at LaBelle’s Derry location (14 Route 111) on Wednesday, April 12. The cost is $40 per person and advance registration is required. Visit labellewinery.com.
• Brews and eats at the golf course: Get your tickets now for a special 603 beer dinner happening at Stonebridge Country Club (161 Gorham Pond Road, Goffstown) on Saturday, March 25, from 5 to 9 p.m. The three-course prix fixe menu will feature selections from Ed Ceccherini, executive chef of the club’s Drumlins Restaurant, alongside craft beer pairings from Londonderry’s 603 Brewery. The cost is $40 per person (event is 21+ only) and tickets must be purchased by March 20. See golfstonebridgecc.com.
• Spring into deliciousness: Save the date for the annual spring wine and cheese festival, happening at Fulchino Vineyard (187 Pine Hill Road, Hollis) on Saturday, March 25, and Sunday, March 26, with multiple available time slots to choose from on either day, including from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and from 2 to 4:30 p.m. Tickets are $49 per person and allow attendees access to sample all kinds of cheeses, meats, seafoods and desserts from around the world during their designated time slots, in addition to complimentary samples of wine and a souvenir wine glass. Visit fulchinovineyard.com to purchase tickets in advance and to see the most up-to-date details on time slot availability.
• Edible art: And speaking of cheese, check out a charcuterie-board building class with the team at 603 Charcuterie — new classes at local breweries, wineries and restaurants across the Granite State are added to the calendar on an almost daily basis. The next available dates include a brunch-themed charcuterie class at Boards & Brews (941 Elm St., Manchester) on Sunday, March 26, at 10 a.m. as well as classes at Mountain Base Brewing (553 Mast Road, Goffstown) on Monday, March 27, at 6:30 p.m., and at KC’s Rib Shack (837 Second St., Manchester) on Monday, April 3, at 6:15 p.m. Tickets for classes usually range between $115 and $128 depending on the location (those that are held at breweries usually include two drinks in the price). Attendees get to eat all of the provided charcuterie board-building materials and even get to take their boards home. See 603charcuterie.com/classes for details.
Bruschetta is a wonderful appetizer for a gathering. You assemble all of the toppings but leave your guests to build their own snacks. This means less work for you, as well as letting your guests choose which toppings and how much of each they want.
For this bruschetta recipe, there are a few ingredient notes. For the dried figs, you can use whatever variety you prefer. Both mission and calimyrna work well. Next, the wine needs to be on the dry side so that you don’t have an appetizer that tastes more like a dessert. Finally, store-bought ricotta is 100 percent fine, but if you’re seeking total indulgence, try homemade. (I have a recipe on the Think Tasty website.)
The most important part of this recipe is the figs. Everything else can be tweaked slightly. Have walnuts on hand? Go ahead and replace the pecans. Craving sourdough? Cut it into smaller slices and forget the baguette! Need to make the figs in advance? That’s totally fine. Add a little extra liquid to the storage container, and they’ll be delightfully moist when it’s time to serve them.
Now, give this recipe a try and see how well dried figs work in an appetizer!
Bruschetta with drunken figs and ricotta Makes 20
1/2 cup dried figs 1 cup dry red wine 2 Tablespoons granulated sugar 1 sprig rosemary 1/3 cup pecans 1 cup ricotta 20 baguette slices
Remove stems from figs, and cut into quarters. Combine wine, sugar and rosemary in a small saucepan over high heat. Once boiling, reduce heat to low, and add quartered figs. Simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. While figs simmer, preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Chop pecans roughly, and place on a baking sheet. Bake for 6 to 10 minutes, giving the pan a shake after 4 minutes. Transfer pecans to a small serving bowl. Place baguette slices in the oven, and toast for 5 minutes or until golden brown. When figs are done simmering, remove rosemary. Transfer all of the figs and some of the liquid to a serving bowl. To assemble: top 1 baguette slice with a spoonful of ricotta, a few figs and a sprinkle of pecans.
Featured photo: Bruschetta with drunken figs and ricotta. Photo by Michele Pesula Kuegler.
