In the kitchen with Michael Simmons

Michael Simmons of Manchester is the head chef of Angela’s Pasta & Cheese Shop (815 Chestnut St., Manchester, 625-9544, angelaspastaandcheese.com), overseeing all kitchen operations and developing his own menus every week for lunch and dinner specials. Angela’s has been in business for four decades, offering all types of specialty food items, like cheeses, wines, pastas and heat-and-serve meals, as well as a selection of products from a variety of local businesses and catering menus around the holidays. Since the beginning of the pandemic, the shop has pivoted to offering curbside pickup and local deliveries for its products. Prior to joining the kitchen staff at Angela’s four years ago, Simmons worked in several seafood restaurants on the South Shore of Massachusetts, where he grew up. He also served as the executive chef at the Wildcat Inn and Tavern in Jackson for four years.

What is your must-have kitchen item?

A pair of tongs. It’s like an extension of your hand. Nothing beats a good solid knife either.

What would you have for your last meal?

I would do a Dijon-crusted rack of lamb and a big glass of merlot. I’m really passionate about good food and wine together.

What is your favorite local restaurant?

My favorite restaurant hands down, I would say, is the [Hanover Street] Chophouse [in Manchester]. I really enjoy a nice rib-eye with a glass of wine there. It’s a phenomenal place. The Crown [Tavern] is great too. In fact, they buy our sausages from us for their pizzas.

What celebrity would you have liked to see trying something that you’ve made?

I would have taken Jerry Garcia [of the Grateful Dead] in a New York minute. I just think his influence and his outlook on life were very unique.

What is your personal favorite thing to cook at the shop?

The passion is there for everything I do, but any time I get to venture off into something that I haven’t [done before], I get into it incredibly. A few weeks back I did a braised duck arancini, which had a raspberry compote sauce and crumbled goat cheese on it. It was awesome.

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

Farm to table and locally sourced produce are huge. A lot of grain salads and heart-healthy things like quinoa and avocado are too.

What is your favorite thing to cook at home?

I like to seek out the freshest swordfish I can find and grill it with some rice and a vegetable. That would be my go-to. I’m a big seafood lover.

Fried crab cakes
From the kitchen of Michael Simmons of Angela’s Pasta & Cheese Shop in Manchester (makes roughly 8 three-ounce crab cakes)

½ cup mayonnaise
3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 whole eggs
1 teaspoon black pepper
½ teaspoon white pepper
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
½ cup breadcrumbs or ground cracker meal
1 pound jumbo lump crab meat

In a bowl, combine the mayonnaise, Worcestershire sauce, eggs, black pepper, white pepper, cayenne pepper and Old Bay seasoning with a whisk. Use the mixture to form little patties with the crabmeat and breadcrumbs. Drop the patties into 350-degree frying oil until crispy. Remove and drizzle with fresh lemon juice (optional).

Treasure Hunt 20/07/30

Dear Donna,
Can you help with an approximate value on old 1930s to 1940s Christmas cards? I just don’t want to put them in the trash. Could you give me some advice and possibly let me know of someone who would want them?
Cecile

Dear Cecile,
I understand why you wouldn’t want to throw them away. So many have such sweet graphic designs.

Some holiday cards can bring a value for age, designs, content (like antique Valentine’s Day pop-up cards, for example). The ones that are worth the most would be from before the 1900s, so the earlier the better, and condition is very important. People kept cards over the years so they are not as uncommon to find, especially from after the 1900s.

I have seen many cards from the same era as yours. They usually are in a shoe box or small bags for around $20. If the cards were unused it would be a bit more (they are not as common).

No matter what they are worth they are such a fun piece of nostalgia and can be fun for framing, repurposing, etc., so no, they are not trash.

Beyond perennials

Making your garden a very special place

By Henry Homeyer

listings@hippopress.com

My garden is the place I go in times of sadness, worry or stress. It makes me feel better. I took a few moments one morning recently to really look at what was in my garden to see what made it so special. I saw that in addition to the plants (and who cannot be happy snacking on red raspberries or Sun Gold cherry tomatoes?), I have many things that remind me of friends and of good times. Let’s take a look at my garden, and perhaps you’ll get some inspiration for yours.

I’ve been working on my gardens for about 40 years and have created some nice stone projects. As a young man I built a low 80-foot stone retaining wall to create a terrace that would allow me to plant some fruit trees — most of my full-sun space was near a small stream with a high water table, which is not good for fruit trees.

I worked with my stepson, Josh Yunger, who was a young teenager at the time. It was fun working with him, finding stones on the property and from a tumbledown wall a neighbor, George Edson, had allowed me to pick through. I knew little about walls but had the basics. One stone over two. We mostly found stones with rounded shapes, not flat stones.

And I didn’t know to use crushed stone, not round pebbles, to act as drainage and support for the wall. So those round stones sitting on round pebbles, over time, moved and the wall has slipped and fallen in places. But now it is mostly hidden by plants, and its ramshackle appearance doesn’t bother me. And I feel good when thinking about the work Josh and I did.

If building a stone wall is too much for you, how about placing a long, thin stone standing vertically as an accent in the garden? I have a few of those, and they look great all year round. Just stand up a 36- to 60-inch-long pillar of a stone in a hole 18 to 24 inches deep. Add some loaf-of-bread sized stones in the bottom, and dump in a bag of dry concrete mix. Fill in the rest with soil and pack it well.

I have three nice Japanese red maples that bring fond memories. Two came from my parents’ home in Connecticut, another from a friend. I dug two of them as foot-tall saplings, one bigger. One of these I planted in the early 1970s and it is now 10 feet tall and wide with a 6-inch-diameter trunk at the base. I see it and often think of the 60-foot-tall “mother plant” I climbed as a boy.

Other things are easier than stone projects. I have two nice blue ceramic bird baths. They contrast nicely with the flowers around them, even though no birds ever bathe there. But I love the water in them, and that my wife Cindy Heath floats cut flowers in them. (Yes, my longtime partner and I finally got married July 1 in a Zoom wedding attended by loved ones all over.)

I have a lovely high-temperature fire urn in the garden, a birthday present from Cindy this year. It makes me happy every time I see it. It has a drainage hole and the potter, Stephen Proctor of Brattleboro, Vermont, tells us that it can stay outside all year. Always a bit of a worrier, I will bring it inside before Christmas. It’s too nice to risk having it crack.

A new garden this year is just an oval 7 by 10 feet. I put in a Y-shaped path so it looks like a peace sign from the 1960s. One section is dedicated to milkweed plants for the monarch butterflies. The milkweed will, I suspect, eventually take over the entire garden. But for now? I love seeing the peace symbol —‌ it reminds me of my activist youth.

Then there is my 16- by 20-foot barn. I had a barn raising event in the late 1990s and had more than 30 friends show up. My late friend Bernice Johnson, then in her eighties, showed up with a little hammer in her hand. It makes me happy when I think of that day, and that we got the walls up and rafters on in one day. And now Cindy keeps it tidy inside —‌ something I never managed to do.

Speaking of Cindy, this year she built a gravel walkway down that 80-foot terrace I built for fruit trees in the ’90s. She did an amazing job, lining the path with old bricks I had salvaged from chimneys I removed. The path has a crushed stone base, landscape fabric and then a pea stone layer on top. And of course, Cindy has removed the weeds along the sides, and mulched the beds nicely. It makes me happy to walk along it.

I love the perennials I have gotten from friends and from gardeners I have interviewed. I remember every plant given to me, who gave it to me, and often when I got it. It’s part of what makes my garden so special to me. Now I tend to add little white plastic tags labeled with that information so it will be available even if I am not always around to provide that information.

I recently saw two Doric-style white wood columns free by the side of the road. I stopped. Garden art? Sure. I was in my old green truck, so I loaded them in, and now I have a new project. Not sure how I’ll use them, or where. But they’ll make me happy and remind me of traveling through Europe back when I was a young man. Gardens are good that way. Mine provide plenty of happy memories.

Featured Photo: Peastone walkway. Photo by Henry Homeyer.

The Art Roundup 20/07/30

• A look at Manchester’s ponds: The Millyard Museum (200 Bedford St., Manchester) presents a new exhibit, “Manchester’s Urban Ponds: Past, Present, and Future: A Celebration of the Manchester Urban Ponds Restoration Program’s 20th Anniversary,” on display now through Nov. 28 in the museum’s State Theater Gallery. Through its cleanup efforts, the Manchester Urban Ponds Restoration Program has helped restore the city’s ponds to their historic uses. “Although ponds may not be the first thing one thinks about in Manchester, the Queen City has several ponds that have played an important role in the area’s history,” program coordinator Jen Drociak said in an email. The exhibit provides a look at the history of some of those ponds, including Crystal Lake, Dorrs Pond, Maxwell Pond, Nutts Pond, Pine Island Pond and Stevens Pond. Museum hours are Tuesday through Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission costs $8 for adults, $6 for seniors age 62 and up and college students, $4 for youth ages 12 through 18 and is free for kids under age 12. Call 622-7531 or visit manchesterhistoric.org/millyard-museum.

• Environment-conscious kids books awarded: Local author Sarah Woodard received honorable mentions in the Purple Dragonfly Book Awards, presented by Story Monsters Ink for two of her children’s books, she announced in a press release. The books, The Little Lost Bee and Leila’s Goal, were entered in the Green/Environmental awards category and are suitable for kids ages 5 through 9. The Little Lost Bee teaches kids about bees and how to help protect them through the story of a bee named Bitsy, who gets lost, then rescued after being sprayed by chemicals. Leila’s Goal also encourages nature-friendly practices through the story of a fairy named Leila, who gets sprayed by chemicals and gathers her fairy friends to show humans the negative impact that using chemicals has on the environment. In April, Woodard released her 10th and newest book, Bart’s New Home, which tells the story of a donkey named Bart and the family that raised him. When the family can no longer care for Bart’s special needs, it considers euthanizing him, but ultimately finds a farm sanctuary where he can live out the rest of his life. “[I’m] on a mission to create a world in which all beings are respected and honored,” Woodard said in the press release. “One way I do this is with books. I believe books change the world one reader at a time.” The author is also a Reiki Master Teacher, Certified Shamanic Practitioner, animal lover and communicator and a chemical-free beekeeper. Visit facebook.com/sarahwoodardauthoress.

• The show goes on: Phylloxera Productions’ Copenhagen continues at the Hatbox Theatre (Steeplegate Mall, 270 Loudon Road, Concord) through Sunday, Aug. 9, with performances on Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. (See Hippo’s story about the product in the July 23 issue on page 10.) Tickets cost $18 for adults; $15 for seniors and students. Call 715-2315 or visit hatboxnh.com.

Featured Photo: “Manchester’s Urban Ponds: Past, Present, and Future” exhibit at the Millyard Museum. Courtesy photo.

Reverse Plunkett replay?

Well, Cam Newton signing at this late date for a hitch in Foxboro was a bit surprising. But it was also a typical under-the-radar move that got universal approval throughout football punditry, where Coach B waited for the price to come to the right value as Newton languished on the market.

People are asking what it means for the 2020 Patriots. Prevailing wisdom says it’s one of the following: (a) he’s got cold feet on Jarrett Stidham, (b) he wants to see the kid earn it head-to-head vs. a name QB to see how Stidham fares under fire, (c) he still likes Stid but wants a better backup if things don’t go as planned, or (d) Brian Hoyer is a goner — again.

Another option is one I mentioned six weeks ago: that he’s trolling to see if Newton can be a 21st-century version of Jim Plunkett to be high-ceiling QB for the next four or five years. If it turns out like that, it’s appealing since JP led the Raiders to two Super Bowl wins after being released by the 49ers in 1979. That it came at 29 and just two years after paying the whopping bounty of three first-round picks, a second-rounder and starting QB Tom Owen to get him told you how washed up the 49ers brass thought the former Heisman winner and first overall 1971 pick was.

But the NFL’s Belichickian figure of the day, Oakland GM/owner Al Davis, signed him on the cheap. Not sure if he thought Plunkett could recapture the promise he showed being Rookie of the Year in New England or just that he’d be a better backup than he had. But after two years on the bench, when Dan Pastorini went down early in 1980 with his health and confidence restored he led Oakland/L.A. to those two Super Bowl wins in four years.

Not sure Newton will do that, but his 2015 MVP season says he has a huge upside and he’s a year younger than Plunkett when he was resurrected. I’ve got to think something like that’s going on in Bill’s mind.

Personally I was hoping if they could get a similar deal with Jameis Winston they’d sign him. That would have set up a perfect Tom-vs.-Bill competition where Tampa gets his QB and Bill takes theirs to see who does better without the other.

I know Winston threw a mind-boggling 30 picks, but he also threw 33 TD passes and his 5.190 yards is more than you-know-who has ever thrown for. Plus the only other time the Bucs used a first overall pick on a quarterback was for Vinny Testaverde in 1987. Guess who resurrected his career in Cleveland after busting in Tampa Bay? Coach B.

Here are a few more thoughts from a busy time even with no games going on:

• With the Black Lives Matter national anthem protests raging through the NFL season I’m guessing new Patriots kicker Justin Rohrwasser and his controversial tat of the hate group 3 Percenters are going to be under scrutiny in the year ahead.

• Given the history, the Patriots have no one to blame but themselves for the Cincinnati taping incident. But a lost third-round pick seems kind of steep if Bill didn’t send them there.

• If Hoyer does get cut I’m betting he ends up on the coaching staff as a just in case insurance policy.

• From defying medical advice and the NFLPA to leading those in-your-face 20-person workouts in hot spot Florida, to TB-12’s profiteering in hawking a questionable $45-a-month immunity supplement during the pandemic, Tom Brady is racking up a lot of “I don’t like that guy” points.

Yikes, Tom.

• Is it me or is Kendrick Perkins everywhere these days on all things NBA? Most notably by calling Kyrie Irving a fraud for his phony opposition to the NBA restart. But also for giving the first reason I’ll buy for the Rajon Rondo-Ray Allen feud. Most say it had to do with Ray leaving for archrival Miami, but Perk says it was for Allen being in favor of a rumored Chris Paul-for-Rondo trade. Rondo hates Paul, who he and I think is vastly overrated. It led to two near fights and their ejection during a game at the Garden, so it makes sense that Ray being in favor of dumping Rondo like that would send him around the bend.

• With the NBA announcing 16 players just tested positive for the virus it seems like going into a hot spot in the country to finish their season is going to be tricky. That bubble they’re playing in better be super hermetically sealed.

• Anybody hear when the Dustin Pedroia retirement press conference is scheduled for?

Intimate vibes, casual eats

Gurung’s Kitchen opens inside Bunny’s Superette

Inspired by the supper club, or the concept of serving creative comfort foods and cocktails in an intimate setting, Stones Social is the newest eatery to join the dining scene in Nashua.

The restaurant opened on June 26 in the former space of Pig Tale on Amherst Street. But according to Aislyn Plath of Stones Hospitality Group, it has been in the works since at least 2015. Her father, Scott, is the owner and founder of two successful restaurants in northern Massachusetts — Cobblestones of Lowell, which has been serving elevated tavern fare since 1994; and Moonstones, an eatery featuring global small plates that opened in Chelmsford in the late 2000s.

“Stones Social has a really intimate and casual neighborhood feel,” Plath said. “We wanted this to [have] almost more of a social club style that offers creative comfort food with a great bar program and really amazing cocktails. … We felt that this space would be perfect for that.”

Stones Social’s menu borrows some items that are popular mainstays at both Cobblestones and Moonstones, as well as new options. Chef Adam Hervieux, who has worked at both locations, has taken over the new eatery’s kitchen.

“We’re doing different menu levels, so at the top level we have bar snacks. That has things like housemade potato chips and housemade pickles,” Plath said. “We also have a mushroom jerky that’s insane, and we do a furikake popcorn, which [has] a seaweed and sesame spice.”

Other options include Buffalo tenders with blue cheese, ahi tuna tataki, pork belly with jalapeno ranch, and Chinese five-spice short ribs with house kimchi.

The menu also features a section of wood-fired skillet options, like the garlic jumbo shrimp; the shawarma beets with hummus, harissa and pepitas; and the dry-rubbed barbecue glazed wings. Sandwiches and burgers include a grilled cheese with the option to add barbecue short rib or kimchi, and a cheeseburger with house relish on a potato bun. For salads, the Spa Sampler Plate has greens, hummus, peppadews and crispy chickpeas, while the “Schrute Farms” beet salad features greens, goat cheese, pistachio, honey mustard and the option to add chicken.

If you want more of a traditional, larger-sized entree, Stones Social offers those too, on the “supper time” section of its menu. It features a seared ahi poke bowl, house macaroni and cheese, pork belly fried rice with egg and edamame, vegetable fried rice, and slow braised short rib with smashed olive oil potatoes and garlic green beans.

A majority of Stones Social’s cocktails, Plath said, are originals for the new space. There is the 603 Spritz, which has vodka, elderflower, a cucumber simple syrup and a little bit of absinthe; the Pink Drink, with hibiscus, mezcal and cranberry juice; and the Marge and Rita, or a passion fruit margarita with a five-spice salt rim. The Moonhattan, a house-infused rye whiskey with vermouth that is a staple at Moonstones, has also made it onto the menu.

“We’re trying to have as much fun with the cocktails as possible,” Plath said. “We’re really focusing on New Hampshire, Maine and Vermont too for our drafts.”

In lieu of sit-down table service, Plath said, Stones Social has more of a fast casual concept. Guests can order food and drinks at the bar and create a tab if they wish. Food runners are then assigned to deliver your order to the table. Takeout and online ordering are also available.

“One of the goals here … was to run with a really tight team and to cross-train our staff,” Plath said. “I like working in a small space like this, because you can see everyone and we’re all here to take care of each other and create a nice energy and atmosphere.”

Featured Photo: The #1 Burger with cheese and house relish on a brioche bun. Courtesy photo.

Stones Social
Where: 449 Amherst St., Nashua
Hours: Wednesday through Saturday, 4 to 11 p.m., and Sunday, noon to 8 p.m. (may be subject to change)
Contact: Visit stonessocial.com, find them on Facebook and Instagram, or call 943-7445