Erofili Roesel

What is your must-have kitchen item?

Definitely a knife.

What would you have for your last meal?

A spaghetti and feta pizza. … It’s something we have on the menu that my mom created back in the day.

What is your favorite local restaurant?

We’ve been going to The Red Blazer [Restaurant and Pub in Concord] for the longest time. I get the chicken Parm there.

What celebrity would you like to see ordering from your restaurant?

Adam Sandler.

What is your favorite thing on your menu?

The cheese pizza is something we have all the time. I like simple stuff.

What’s the biggest food trend in New Hampshire right now?

The steak and cheese sub, just because it has so many variations, and the gyro also seems to be upcoming as well. We have a beef strip or a grilled chicken option for our gyros.

What is your favorite thing to cook at home?

I like a simple piece of grilled chicken with Greek olive oil, oregano and some lemon, and then some mashed potatoes.

Homemade grilled chicken and mashed potatoes
From the at-home kitchen of Erofili Roesel of Brookside House of Pizza in Loudon

3 pieces chicken breast, butterflied
5 russet potatoes, peeled and cubed
¼ cup milk
½ stick butter
Dash of fresh oregano
Pinch of salt
Pinch of pepper
1 fresh squeezed lemon
Greek olive oil

Cook chicken breasts on the stove top in a cast iron pan, with enough olive oil to coat the bottom of the pan. Add oregano, salt, pepper and lemon. Boil the peeled and cubed potatoes until soft. Blend potatoes with milk, butter, salt and pepper. (Optional: Add another squirt of lemon when chicken is done).

Food & Drink

Farmers markets

Cole Gardens Winter Farmers Market is Saturdays, from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Cole Gardens (430 Loudon Road, Concord), now through April 17. Visit colegardens.com.

Downtown Concord Winter Farmers Market is Saturdays, 9 a.m. to noon, in the Families in Transition building (20 S. Main St.). Find them on Facebook.

Rolling Green Winter Farmers Market’s final dateis Saturday, Feb. 27, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., at Rolling Green Nursery (64 Breakfast Hill Road, Greenland). Visit rollinggreennursery.com.

Salem Farmers Market is Sundays, from 10 a.m. to noon, inside the former Rockler Woodworking building (369 S. Broadway, Salem). Visit salemnhfarmersmarket.org.

Featured photo: Erofili Roesel

Distanced discourse

Walker Lecture Series goes virtual

After canceling its events in 2020, the Walker Lecture Series will return for its 124th spring season with weekly virtual events every Wednesday from March 3 through April 21.

The Concord-based series, traditionally held at the Concord City Auditorium, features free performances and lectures on history, travel, art and science topics. This spring’s virtual events will be hosted by Concord TV, some pre-recorded and aired on the city’s public access TV channel, and some livestreamed over Zoom.

“[When Covid hit,] we were thrown for a loop just like everyone else [was], and we didn’t know what the future would hold,” Walker Lecture Series trustee Jon Kelly said, “but we’re dealing with that reality now. We’re embracing it with a spirit of experimentation.”

The series kicks off with “Banjos, Bones, and Ballads,” where local musician and historian Jeff Warner will perform and discuss traditional New England tavern music, hymns, sailor songs and more.

“He plays old-time music on the banjo, the spoons, the washboard and the bones, just like people did in the 19th century,” Kelly said. “He’s a lot of fun.”

The following week, mentalist and author of Psychic Blues Mark Edward will present a lecture, “Psychics, Mediums, and Mind Readers: How do they do it?”

“He talks about the fraudulence of people who pretend they can talk to the dead and encourages people to use critical thinking to examine the trick nature of it before they believe that someone has magical powers,” Kelly said. “I think our audience will be really interested in that.”

Other programs in this spring’s Walker Lecture Series will include an art lecture on Frank Lloyd Wright and Norman Rockwell; a history lecture on New Hampshire revolutionaries John Stark and Henry Dearborn; an author event with Michael Tougias, discussing his memoir The Waters Between Us; a nature program about bears; travelogues about Denali National Park and Preserve in Alaska and the deserts, coastline and safari parks of Namibia; and a faculty concert by Concord Community Music School.

“We try to choose programs that will be edifying for the audience, but we also want it to be fun,” Kelly said. “We want [the topics] to be things that people will enjoy and like.”

The Walker Lecture Series has also planned and released the schedule for its fall season, which will run Sept. 22 through mid-December. Though it remains to be seen whether the series will be held virtually or in person, Kelly said he is hopeful that in-person events will be possible.

“People have done well with socialization over Zoom, but I am nostalgic for the days when people would all pile in the City Auditorium and get there early and talk with their neighbors in the lobby,” he said. “I’m choosing to be optimistic that we’ll be able to have that in the fall.”

Walker Lecture Series spring season
When: Wednesdays, 7:30 p.m., March 3 through April 21
Where: Virtual, on Concord TV (Channel 22, or stream at yourconcordtv.org), YouTube and Zoom, depending on the program
Cost: Free and open to all; no tickets or reservations required
More info: Call 333-0035 or visit walkerlecture.org

“Banjos, Bones, and Ballads” with Jeff Warner
March 3 on Concord TV

“Psychics, Mediums, and Mind Readers: How do they do it?” with Mark Edward
March 10 on Zoom

“Norman Rockwell and Frank Lloyd Wright” with Jane Oneail
March 17 on Zoom

“Autumn in Denali” and “The World of the Bear” with Tom Sterling
March 24 on Concord TV

“Two New Hampshire Men from the American Revolution: John Stark and Henry Dearborn” with George Morrison
March 31 on Zoom

“Growing Up Wild in the ’60s and ’70s” with Mike Tougias
April 7 on Zoom

“The Road to Namibia” with Rick Ray
April 14 on Zoom

Concord Community Music School Faculty Concert
April 21 on Concord TV

Featured photo: The Walker Lecture Series opens with “Banjos, Bones, and Ballads” by Jeff Warner on Wednesday, March 3. Courtesy photo.

Got you covered

The latest recommendations for proper mask use

State Epidemiologist Dr. Benjamin Chan gives an update on best mask-wearing practices.

What types of masks are the most effective?

If people can find masks that are two or three layers, that’s preferred over single-layer masks. Oftentimes, we see homemade masks being one piece of fabric, so we encourage people to … double up on the fabric they’re using, or to look for store-bought masks, most of which are made of multiple layers. … If you’re using a neck gaiter and it’s only a single layer, folding the neck gaiter in half is a very simple way of adding another layer of fabric … but we would go even further and say that neck gaiters are probably not the best type of mask to use. … The other key point is that masks should be well-fitted. … The whole goal of wearing a mask is to not let your respiratory drops escape, and to not let somebody else’s respiratory drops come in, so if there are gaps, that’s going to cause the mask to be less effective. Ideally, all of the air you breathe out and breathe in should be filtered through the fabric.

How can people ensure a good fit with their masks?

I think the first and easiest way is to simply use masks that have a nose wire so it can be pinched and cinched down around the nose to prevent any gaps that can occur between somebody’s nose and cheek area. … To eliminate gaps on the sides of the mask, there are different mask fitters and mask braces that can be used to better form the mask to the face. … Double-masking is another strategy. … Its primary purpose is to get a better fit [by] eliminating the gaps … but there’s also the added benefit that it has multiple layers.

What is double-masking?

When we’re talking about double-masking, we’re talking about wearing a reusable cloth mask and a disposable mask. … The way it’s being promoted and recommended by CDC … is that people should wear the disposable mask against the face, and then the cloth mask over that, so the cloth mask helps to compress the disposable mask against the face. … CDC does not recommend combining other types of masks.

Are two masks always better than one?

We’re not universally recommending that everybody should be walking around wearing two masks. What we are recommending is that … they upgrade their mask to one that’s better-fitting … and double-masking is just one option for people to get a better fit with their mask.

Is it safe for kids to double-mask?

I think the goal here is to focus on getting kids to wear at least one mask. … For young children two years of age and older — we and CDC continue to recommend that masks not be put on children under the age of 2 — wearing masks can take some training and some practice … but it can be done.

What’s the deal with N95 masks?

N95 masks are generally medical-grade masks that should be reserved for health care providers caring for sick patients and patients with Covid-19 in the hospital, and for people in health care settings. There are over-the-counter [KN95] masks that may be constructed of comparable material to an N95 mask … but aren’t appropriate or certified for medical use. … A KN95 mask is certainly an option … but we’re not recommending that … over another well-fitted procedural-type mask.

Is there any reason someone should not wear a KN95 mask?

One of the downsides of KN95 masks and some of those thicker types of masks is that there’s more resistance to breathing in and out, which can make it harder for some people to breathe. That’s part of the reason we’re not universally recommending that everybody wear KN95 masks.

At what point should a mask be thrown away?

It partly depends on … how long they’re wearing it during the day. [It’s different], for example, for somebody who is in school and wearing their mask all day … [than for] someone who wants to run into a grocery store for a half an hour. … The general recommendation is that when the mask is soiled or saturated, or the person is having a hard time breathing through it … and the fabric has lost its filtration efficacy, it should be discarded and replaced. … If you wear a disposable mask for an extended period of time, use a new one the next day. If it’s a reusable cloth mask, make sure you’re taking it home and washing it.

Is it really necessary to wear a mask outdoors?

It’s still recommended that people wear masks outdoors if they’re going to be around other people … but there’s some discretion involved. … If … there are two people sitting down 10 feet from each other, then it’s probably not necessary for them to wear a mask the whole time, but if you’re with a group of people mingling or moving around, absolutely [wear a mask].

Is there anything else you want people to know about proper mask-wearing?

I think the focus right now should be, one, that people wear at least one mask … and two, that people upgrade their single-layer masks to ones that are better-fitted. … A CDC study … showed that, if two people are together and one of them has Covid-19, when both people are wearing masks [that] are well-fitted, exposure can be reduced by more than 95 percent. — Angie Sykeny

Featured photo: Dr. Benjamin Chan, MD.

Jason Duffy

Jason Duffy is the executive chef of Bistro 603 (345 Amherst St., Nashua, 722-6362, bistro603nashua.com), which opened last August. Born in Brighton, Mass., and raised on Cape Cod, Duffy got his start in the industry at the age of 14 as a dishwasher at the Chart Room restaurant before moving up the ranks there over the course of a decade. He and owner Jeff Abellard are also part of a close-knit restaurant team that has run Bistro 781 on Moody Street in downtown Waltham, Mass., since 2015. Like its predecessor, Bistro 603 features an eclectic menu of items out of a scratch kitchen, ranging from small shareable plates to larger meals with optional wine pairings.

What is your must-have kitchen item?

Tongs, a side towel and a knife. You can get most things done as long as you have that stuff on hand. … The tongs are like extensions of my hand. I do a million things with them.

What would you have for your last meal?

Probably a big crab boil, with corn on the cob and whatever shellfish I can get.

What is your favorite local restaurant?

In N Out Burritos [in Nashua] has great aguachile. It’s basically heavily marinated citrus-spiced shrimp. We also recently went out to Michael Timothy’s [Local Kitchen & Wine Bar] for my birthday, which is a really cool place.

What celebrity would you like to see eating at your restaurant?

I am a book nerd at heart. I would love to have Stephen King in here.

What is your favorite thing on your menu?

Our braised short ribs. It has tender fall-apart beef, our house made gnocchi, truffled mushroom cream sauce and roasted Brussels sprouts. It’s one of our biggest sellers. Every part of it just always comes out great and consistent.

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

Scratch-made comfort food with a twist. … We can spend all day coming up with all sorts of intricate stuff, [but] I try not to use all sorts of terms on the menu that people wouldn’t recognize. We’ve noticed that the recognizable stuff sells tremendously at the outset, but as you build a client base and people know who you are then they start to trust you more.

What is your favorite thing to cook at home?

I love all kinds of soups. I’ll spend a couple of days making a really nice chicken stock.

Smoked tomato chimichurri
From the kitchen of Chef Jason Duffy of Bistro 603 in Nashua

1 cup smoked tomatoes (halved and smoked at 200 degrees for two hours)
1 tablespoon raw garlic
1 tablespoon raw shallot
½ teaspoon crushed red pepper
½ tablespoon dry oregano
½ tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon lime juice
1 cup vegetable oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Combine everything but the oil in a blender and puree. While running the blender, trickle in the oil to emulsify it all together. According to Duffy, the chimichurri is great as a sauce or a marinade for meats.

Featured photo: Jason Duffy

Pandemic puzzles

Mother and son create interactive kids book about Covid-19

Deer orienteer Stephen Stagg is on a new kind of hunt in The COVID Paper Chase, a special edition title of Windham children’s author E.A. Giese’s Stephen Stagg Series that Giese wrote and illustrated with her adult son B.G. Sullivan during the pandemic.

The books in the series feature interactive puzzles for young readers to do as they follow Stephen Stagg on his orienteering adventures. In The COVID Paper Chase, Stephen is looking around his neighborhood for an item of great importance that is in short supply due to the pandemic. It includes hidden images and pandemic-related vocabulary words to find, mysteries to solve and a special activity.

“It’s meant to be more like a workbook,” Giese said. “Educational for children as well as entertaining.”

Giese and Sullivan said they have talked casually about collaborating on a book together for years but could never seem to find the time, so when Sullivan was laid off from his full-time job last March due to the pandemic, they decided to finally give it a go.

“Being laid off had significantly freed up my time at that point,” Sullivan said, “and I really wanted to do something productive with that time … and do something that would be able to help other people.”

Sullivan said he has “always been an artistic person,” having an interest in illustration since he was a child, and going on to attend and receive his certificate from a graphic design school.

“I homeschooled my two sons through middle school and high school, and we were very creative during that time,” Giese said. “We’ve been lifelong creatives, all of us.”

In Giese and Sullivan’s collaborative process, Giese came up with the story and developed the storyboards while Sullivan worked more on the script itself, which is written in rhyming verse. Giese did the hand drawn illustrations, outlined in pen and colored with colored pencils, and used a rubbing technique to give the illustrations texture. Then, Sullivan used his graphic design skills, he said, to add “the finer details, more realism, and really bring her illustrations to life.”

The idea for a children’s book about Covid-19, Giese and Sullivan said, came from seeing parents they knew struggle with explaining the pandemic to their young children. They wanted to create a book that could help parents “broach the subject” in an honest, but comforting way, Sullivan said.

“It’s psychologically soothing for children without being too heavy and grim,” he said.

“There was kind of a fine balance between giving [the book] some lightheartedness to make it palatable to children while still paying respect to the weight and seriousness of the issue,” Giese added.

Giese and Sullivan said they plan to team up for more children’s books for both the Stephen Stagg Series and other series.

“We’re really starting to see a future in our collaborations together,” Sullivan said.

“We have a lot of fun doing this together,” Giese added, “and I think that really comes across in the book.”

The COVID Paper Chase
The book is available at the authors’ website, regalbeepub.com, and will be available on Amazon by the end of February.

Featured photo: E.A. Giese and B.G. Sullivan. Courtesy photo.

Paws for celebration

Animal shelter observes anniversary, plans expansion

The Manchester Animal Shelter has found homes for more than 25,000 animals since it opened 25 years ago. Executive Director Kendra Paul talked about how the shelter has evolved over that time and its plans to continue expanding its facility and programs.

How has the shelter grown since it started 25 years ago?

Well, it’s been 25 years since we’ve been at this location, but actually, before that, [the shelter] used to be located across the street and was primarily run by the Manchester Police Department as more of a pound setting. When we built the [current] building on this side of the street, we made it more homey for the animals in terms of giving them nice spaces. The dogs have indoor-outdoor runs now. The cat cages are a little bit bigger. We have a community room where cats can walk around freely so that they’re able to have that enrichment and socialization that they wouldn’t otherwise get, just being in a cage. We’ve also started a lot of new programs here, such as Fix a Pit, where we spay and neuter pit bulls in the Manchester area for free. We do low-cost spay-neuter clinics called our Quick Fix program. We also have a [pet] food pantry, and that has been really utilized, especially since Covid hit; with so many people losing their jobs and unable to [provide] food for their pets, we’ve really seen a big need in the community in that area.

In what ways do you plan to continue growing?

We’re looking to expand the shelter, because, in the 25 years we’ve been here, we haven’t really touched the building or made any significant additions other than putting the trailer in, but we’re really running out of space now. The city is growing and the programs are growing, we’re seeing more animals, and we just need more space to really accommodate everyone, not only the team working here but the animals as well. We’re looking to add more cage space, to have a better setup for staff to be able to work and get their stuff done, and redo the kennels so that they’re less like a pound and more homey and relaxing-feeling for the dogs. Going forward, we want to have more of a community outreach program and find any ways we can to get out into the community and help and increase our presence as much as possible so that we’re there when people need us.

What’s in the works right now?

We’re really trying to get that expansion off the ground so that we can help more animals. … We’ve met with an architect, and he’s going to put together some plans. Once we get those plans, we’re going to be trying to get people to help us in terms of fundraising, donations — any way that the community can come in and help and support us.

What kinds of challenges has Covid posed for the shelter?

I’d say the biggest challenge we’ve had is probably fundraising. Being a nonprofit, we are really counting on the community to help us with raising money for these programs, for feeding the animals and for medical costs. Not being able to have in-person events or fundraisers has really been an issue here for us as well as many other nonprofits. … Another challenge is that, with people losing their jobs or getting laid off, we’ve seen an increase in the number of owners surrendering their pets.

How have you been dealing with those challenges?

We’re trying to be really creative in thinking of ways to cut costs and save money. … We’ve reached out to the community and have really had to rely on the community to come together … [to help] when we are running low on the food pantry or need donations [to cover] peanut butter and food and toys and different things that we need for the animals. People have been absolutely amazing and very generous with that, and we’re so grateful.

What makes Manchester Animal Shelter unique?

I think one of the biggest things that make us unique is our volunteer base. We just have so many dedicated people, staff and volunteers. We’re always being told that we’re ‘the little shelter with the big heart,’ and it really does ring true for us. There’s so much passion and dedication with these animals and with our volunteers and team members that I think that alone kind of sets us apart. I also think that our community programs set us apart, because there aren’t many places that offer things like the Fix a Pit program or being able to do offsite time with the dogs where they can go for hikes and go out on the trails to get a break from the shelter. These are programs that not every shelter gets to have, and we’re very fortunate that we’re able to do those things.

How can people help the shelter?

Right now, people could help us the most by donating to this [expansion] project. We’re hoping to do some fundraising challenges or events that are safe in the midst of Covid, like virtual events or online raffles and things like that.

Featured photo: Kendra Paul. Courtesy photo.

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