Album Reviews 25/04/17

Iron Lung, Adapting // Crawling (Iron Lung Records)

Holy catfish, fam, this is the craziest thing I’ve heard since — well, the last craziest thing I heard. Maybe if I’d read their bio I’d’ve been better prepared, but what’s done is done: This Nevada hardcore metal duo bonded over (please tell the kids to leave the room, that’d be great) a fascination with medical experiments from the 1800s and whatnot, so in that sense they’re perfectly qualified to push envelopes, which they do in the areas of both speed and unbridled ferocity. In a way, their lightning-fast Bad Brains/Larm approach could be said to be a Dillinger Escape Plan type of thing for the black metal crowd, that is to say it feels like they’re careening out of control for the most part, flailing away like Venom at three-times speed, but every once in a while they slam on the brakes to make a slow-doom point. The project is completely self-financed, too, which is all the more reason for you to give them a shot. A+ —Eric W. Saeger

Mac Sabbath “Pair-a-Buns” (self-released)

In completely insane news, I received a note from this Los Angeles-based Black Sabbath parody band’s PR person that they’ll be “coming to my area soon,” specifically to The Vault in New Bedford, Mass., on May 3, which may as well be Neptune for all the likelihood that I’d ever drive that far for a joke band, even if the fog is beginning to clear regarding who and what the band actually is and revealing a novelty act that just might blow up big (people loved RackaRacka’s Ronald McDonald Jackass-style videos, after all). A video for this went crazily viral on Twitter, but even before that, news outlets like the U.K.’s Daily Star were spilling plenty of ink over it. This (now old) flexi disc single contains a parody of Sabbath’s “Paranoid,” which the b tune and plays at about the same speed as proto-punkers The Dickies did in 1979, but these guys are serious about their anti-fast-food, anti-music-industry theatrics: The guys dress up like metalized versions of the old McDonaldland characters — an Ozzy-fied Ronald McDonald who plays the spatulas, “Slayer MacCheeze” on guitar and such, you get the gist — and put on a frenzied live show at any small club that’ll put up with them. This is priceless, guys. You know what, if you’re driving to this show, message me and I’ll join you; we’ll get in the door for free. A+ —Eric W. Saeger

PLAYLIST

A seriously abridged compendium of recent and future CD releases

NOTE: Local (NH) bands seeking album or EP reviews can message me on Twitter/Bluesky (@esaeger) or Facebook (eric.saeger.9).

• Well here we are, gang, as I write this we are in the grip of a typical Third Winter, in New England, and guess what, spoiler, it’s freezing again! I had a heat-saving idea so we didn’t have to call the oil delivery guy again, what I did was take all our tax return stuff and put it in the ol’ pot-bellied stove and burn it, which was better than paying my taxes; after all, there’s no one at the IRS anymore to take my check and staple it neatly to their pile of Eric’s Tax Stuff and drop it in someone’s inbox and then go back to their desk and eat the ham sandwich they have every single day, while looking out the window, dreaming of freedom and birdies and super-polite sexytime with someone they work with who actually talked to them once a few years ago! I tore up the check and ordered Captain America #100 from eBay, for my comics collection, and stocked up on cans of beans, for the fast-approaching apocalypse! Anyway, while I shuffle the myriad pages of my giant doomsday prepper grocery list, we should probably talk about the Friday, April 11, batch of new music CDs, in this music CD column, everyone shut up and let me look at the list, oh! Oh! Look guys, it’s sludge-metal heroes Melvins with a new album, Thunderball, wait, why did the Melvins think they could name their new album after a copyrighted James Bond movie (actually I’m kidding, legally they can, they’d only maybe have lawyer problems if they renamed their band “Thunderball,” and besides, anyone who even remembers that there was once a James Bond movie called Thunderball is in a retirement home right now, where all they watch is reruns of Match Game ’77, so I think no one will complain either way), why did they do this? Oh who cares, it’s a Melvins album, let me do the rock journo thingie and listen to something from it. Here it is, a new tune called “Victory Of The Pyramids,” and wait, what are they even doing here, the video starts with crazily flashing images, aren’t the YouTube moderator-goblins supposed to warn people first? Like, suppose I’d just accidentally heard a Van Morrison tune and my stomach was already totally touch and go, I’d probably toss my cookies right now! And waitwhat, the song is awesome of course, but it’s punk-speed, someone tell me what’s going on here with all this crazy nonsense, between “fast Melvins” and “no IRS anymore” and ridiculously high prices for Captain America #100 in “Fine” grade condition, I’m lost, on this silly planet, with all you crazy people! But wait, breaking news, it slows down to normal Melvins speed after a few minutes; it’s doomy and Black Sabbath-y but not crazily insane like Korn. Right, OK, it’s mostly slow, please disperse, nothing to see here, let’s move on.

• But wait, there’s more doom metal, with Insatiable, the new album from Aussie band Divide and Dissolve! Composed of two women, the band doesn’t have a singer, but you’ll probably like them if you like Bell Witch or getting in car accidents.

• Pennsylvania “shoegaze/post-hardcore” band Superheaven releases its self-titled LP on Friday! “Cruel Times” is really cool, kind of like Stone Temple Pilots, a band that was never shoegaze, why are they saying they’re shoegaze? They’re not!

• Lastly this week I’d like to say that experimental indie/world music band Beirut’s new album is called Study Of Losses, and it includes the single “Guericke’s Unicorn,” a woozy and weird but very tolerable modern art-pop thing that sounds like Luke Temple trying to make circus music for cute dogs that like to swim. Just go listen to it, trust me. —Eric W. Saeger

Featured Image: Iron Lung, Adapting // Crawling (Iron Lung Records) & Mac Sabbath “Pair-a-Buns” (self-released)

Rhymes with ‘shmeegan’ lemon Bundt cake

There’s a word that rhymes with “shmeegan” that we’re not going to say, because it makes some people nervous. It brings up memories of judgmental relatives who might — or might not — have lectured them at some point about the ambiguous ethics of eating animals. Or milk. Or honey. The shmeegan-shy might think of a time in college when a very cute shmeegan fed them some cookies or beet-loaf that was allegedly “just as good as the real thing.”

Don’t worry. This Bundt cake is very good on its own merits, without comparing it to anything else.

Cake

A large spoonful of shortening and ¼ cup (about 25 g) almond flour to grease and coat your Bundt pan

1 cup (227 g) butter-flavored shortening or margarine

2 cups (397 g) sugar

1 teaspoon kosher or coarse sea salt

4 eggs’ worth of egg replacer, prepared according to instructions – I like one by Bob’s Red Mill

2 teaspoons baking powder

3 cups (360 g) all-purpose flour

1 cup (227 g) almond milk

zest of 2 lemons

1/3 cup (45 g) chopped, candied lemon peel – this is theoretically available in candy stores but is easier to find online

Glaze

1/3 cup (75 g) fresh squeezed lemon juice
¾ cup (150 g) sugar

1 Tablespoon dehydrated lemon juice powder – again, this is probably easiest to find online

Heat oven to 350°F.

Thoroughly grease your Bundt pan with shortening. Really slather it on. If it looks like you’ve used too much, it’s probably just about right. Dust the shortening with almond flour. In an hour or so, when you are able to pop your cake right out of the pan, you’ll be pleased with your foresight.

In your mixer, beat the rest of your shortening or margarine, the sugar and the salt until it is light and fluffy-looking.

Mix in the egg replacer, one half at a time, then the baking powder and flour. When you add the dry ingredients, mix them in with your lowest speed at first, or you’ll cover yourself and the kitchen with flour.

Mix in the almond milk, lemon zest and candied lemon peel, then beat on high speed for about 30 seconds.

Transfer the batter to your Bundt pan and smooth out the top with a wet spoon or silicone spatula, then put the pan in the oven. Bake for about an hour, or until it reaches an internal temperature of 200°F. Or you can do the toothpick thing.

As soon as it is cool enough to handle, depan the cake onto a large plate.

Heat the glaze ingredients in a small saucepan over medium heat, whisking occasionally, until the mixture just barely comes to a boil. You don’t actually want to cook the lemon juice; you just want to make sure that the sugar has dissolved completely.

At this point, you might ask yourself why you added lemon juice powder to the glaze, and not just squeeze another half a lemon or so. Good question. The lemon juice powder allows you to make the mixture extra lemony, without making it too liquidy.

Use a pastry brush to brush the hot glaze onto the still-hot cake. Keep brushing until it has all been absorbed. Remember to look in the bottom of the hole in the middle, where some of the glaze will have collected.

Cover the Bundt cake with a large mixing bowl to make sure your cat doesn’t get to it, and let it sit for an hour or so to completely absorb all the syrup. Slice and serve with, er, I was going to say whipped cream or ice cream, but that would sort of defeat the purpose of making this shmeegan.

Regardless, this is lemony and tender, with a slightly crunchy, sugary crust. This will really score points with the shmeegan in your life.

Featured photo: “Shmeegan” Lemon Bundt Cake. Photo by John Fladd.

For whatever you’re cooking

G-Mom’s BBQ Sauce goes beyond the grill

By John Fladd

[email protected]

Nashua sauce-maker Allison Marques’ dream recipe comes from a childhood memory she wishes she had.

“G-Mom was my grandmother,” Marques said. “G-Mom had five kids and she was the best person I ever knew, really. “She actually passed away when I was rather young. I didn’t … grow up into my late teens and twenties with her alive, but I named the sauce after her. I don’t actually have a recollection of her making the sauce with me. I really wish I had that memory.”

It was many years after her grandmother’s death that Marques connected the barbecue sauce she loved with G-Mom.

“She made lots of other delicious things,” Marques said, “but I found out that the sauce was her recipe from my uncle, because he made the sauce for a long time … and then I found out that it was actually my grandmother’s recipe. And so my uncle Ken helped me understand how to make it. Because I’m not a chef; I’m not super creative in the kitchen. But I know a good thing when I taste it.”

The result was G-Mom’s BBQ Sauce. Once Marques and her uncle worked out the specific recipe — up till then “nothing was ever measured; it was a little of this, a little of that,” she said — she and her husband Casey worked up three versions of the sauce to bring to market.

“This product is too good to not share with other people,” she said.

“All the general ingredients stay the same for the base mild recipe,” Marques said. “In my opinion, if I’m going to bring something to market, I need my customers to know that they’re going to get the same product, the same delicious product, every single time. Then, as you bring it into a medium flavor or a hot flavor, you add more peppers or sauces and things like that in order to make it hotter. We’re planning to move into an even spicier flavor, which I know some of my booth visitors are excited about at the shows we present at. But as we go to move into the hotter realms, I want to obviously be truthful and honor my grandmother’s recipe. I can always make it hotter, but we can’t always make something that’s already hot hotter and taste better.”

“My grandmother’s recipe, the G-Mom’s barbecue sauce flavoring, is unlike any other sauce that I’ve ever tasted,” Marques said. “It’s got a nice depth of flavor. It’s definitely got a sweetness to it. You definitely taste the tomato base. It’s not super vinegary, but it does have depth; I know in using Worcestershire sauce, it adds a depth to my sauce.”

Marques said that while it’s a good barbecue sauce, that label can be a little misleading.

“The sauce itself doesn’t distinctly isolate itself to barbecue,” she said. “It brings out the flavor of whatever you’re cooking and that’s really what’s so special about this sauce. When I think of ‘barbecue’, I think ‘OK, I can only have this if I make pulled pork or if I’m smoking something on my smoker.’ This sauce can really go on anything, and … I’ve had vegetarians buy the sauce, and they’re saying, ‘I want to put this on rice and vegetables. I want to put this on tofu.’”

“One of the biggest things for me,” Marques said, “is seeing children try the sauce who don’t eat anything, who are super-picky. And their moms are like, ‘I can’t believe she’s eating this right now. I can’t believe she is enjoying this.’ I have story after story after story of people trying this. Seeing the joy on their faces has been really fun.”we call it. We cook them to order so they get them hot off the press with everything like the frosting is like put right on top melted.”

G-Mom’s BBQ Sauce

G-Mom’s BBQ Sauce comes in three varieties — Mild, Medium and Hot — and is available through gmomsbbq.com.

Featured photo: Courtesy photo.

Doughnut batter in a waffle iron

New Dessert House satisfies a sweet tooth

By John Fladd

[email protected]

Have you ever eaten a doughnut and thought to yourself, “This is excellent. I really, really like doughnuts, but I think it would be better if it were crispier, somehow.”?

Tanya Grenier has you covered.

She and her husband are the brains behind Tanya’s Waffle-Donuts. The Boscawen businesswoman described her product this way: “They look like a waffle,” she said. “They taste like a doughnut, but they’re not deep fried. They’re all made from homemade recipes, made from scratch.”

The idea for the waffle-doughnut came from a family trip, Grenier recalled.

“We were at an Airbnb with our daughter and our son-in-law,” she said. Her daughter asked her dad if he could make doughnuts for breakfast. “So they had all the ingredients to make them, but we didn’t check and they ended up not having oil. So we were like, ‘Oh, we can’t deep fry them.’ We ended up making pancakes with the batter. They looked like a pancake in a pan, but they tasted like a doughnut. They were amazing, but then my husband said, ‘You know what would be really cool, though? If it was the shape of a waffle it would be a little easier to pick up and like look really cool with a waffle shape.’”

A waffle donut covered in frosting and sprinkles.
Courtesy photo.

The Greniers spent three years developing a recipe that would work.

“Basically,” Tanya said, “you can’t use a waffle recipe or a doughnut recipe. What you need to do is you’ve got to kind of combine them to get them to rise because most doughnut recipes are made to be deep-fried, and these are not.” Eventually, she said, the recipe came together. “The best part of these is they have less sugar than a regular doughnut, but they still taste just like a doughnut, but they’re not greasy. They’re light and fluffy. They’re not fried in oil at all. They’re all made in a waffle iron.”

Once the base recipe was worked out, the Greniers were able to develop a large number of variations on the doughnuts themselves, and an equally large number of frosting types, which have lent themselves to many combinations.

“We make a cake waffle doughnut, which is our original waffle doughnut,” Tanya said. “It has a little bit of cinnamon, a little bit of nutmeg. We make a chocolate waffle doughnut, which is like a milk chocolate, almost — not a dark chocolate but like a milk chocolate doughnut. We make maple doughnuts and apple doughnuts. We’ve done banana doughnuts. We do a cornbread waffle doughnut. We do a potato waffle doughnut. We do carrot cake ones.”

The Greniers package some waffle-doughnuts for individual sale, but they are happiest when they serve them hot and crispy from their food truck.

“The food truck is called the Waffle Donut Wagon,” Grenier said, “and then when we sell them pre-packaged it’s called Tanya’s Homemade Waffle Donut. We usually only sell [the individually wrapped ones] at special indoor craft events. We’ve done horse shows, we’ve done weddings, birthdays, bridal showers, pretty much anything you can think of. We do that with the truck just because we can offer food items plus they’re hot off the press as we call it. We cook them to order so they get them hot off the press with everything like the frosting is like put right on top melted.”

Tanya’s Waffle Donuts and the Waffle Donut Wagon

Tanya’s Waffle Donuts and the Waffle Donut Wagon can be found at events throughout New Hampshire and can cater any event. Call 785-6283 for more information, or search for “Waffle Donut Wagon” on Facebook or @waffledonutwagon on Instagram.

Featured photo: Courtesy photo.

The Weekly Dish 25/04/17

News from the local food scene

By John Fladd

[email protected]

• New ownership: The Sal Terrae line of spices has been purchased by Smokin’ Tin Roof Hot Sauce (899-7369, smokintinroof.com), according to Smokin’ Tin Roof owner Phil Pelletier. According to a post on Facebook, “We are very excited to announce and welcome a new line as a part of the Smokin’ Tin Roof family, Sal Terrae Spice Co!! You will now be able to purchase these great products at events, future store locations, and online.”

• Taco Tour participating restaurants: With just two weeks left until the Taco Tour (tacotourmanchester.com), Manchester’s biggest food day of the year, the Greater Manchester Chamber released the names of more than 90 participating restaurants and organizations in an April 9 press release. The list includes businesses as different from each other as 815 Cocktails & Provisions, New Hampshire Fisher Cats, and Thai Food Connection. To view the full list of participants (as of April 8), visit manchester-chamber.org/taco-tour-manchester-2025-list-of-participating-restaurants.

• Chili cook-off: Rockingham Brewing Co. (1 Corporate Park Drive, Unit 1, Derry, 216-2324, rockinghambrewing.com) will host its Fourth Annual Chili Cook-Off on Saturday, April 19. On its Facebook page the brewery posted, “This is a non-ticketed event. We’re open 1 to 8 p.m. and as usual, chili & seating are both first come, first served. … BUT our worthy competitors are making TWICE as much chili this year, so there should be plenty for all. Please be patient as we work to get you all served ASAP.” The names of this year’s chilis are “Piggy Back,” “Silence of the Hams,” “Night Owl,” “Jort Munder” and “Ten.”

• Cooking with kids: According to The Culinary Playground’s (16 Manning St., Derry, 339-1664, culinary-playground.com) website, there are openings in two cooking classes for children this week. On Saturday, April 19, from 10 a.m. to noon, children ages 6 to 10 can learn to make a carrot cake trifle. There is a second class from 1 to 3 p.m. for kids 10 and up. On Wednesday, April 23, preschoolers can make carrot apple muffins in sessions at 11:30 a.m. and 1 p.m.

Kiddie Pool 25/04/17

Family fun for whenever

Free wild fun

• Discover Wild New Hampshire Day brings the state’s outdoor adventures to the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department (11 Hazen Drive in Concord) on Saturday, April 19, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The free event features more than 100 educational and experiential exhibits, live animals, archery, casting, flying, an air-rifle range, retriever dogs, crafts, a Fish and Game biologist, a food truck alley and more according to the website. See wildlife.nh.gov/dwnh for a map with participating presenters and activities.

More museum

• Get an extra day to see SEE Science Center (200 Bedford St. in Manchester; see-sciencecenter.org), which is open Mondays, April 21 and April 28, for April school vacation in addition to its regular Tuesday-through-Sunday days of operation. SEE is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekends. Admission costs $14 for ages 3 and up.

• The McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center (2 Institute Drive in Concord; starhop.com) is slated to be open daily Wednesday, April 16, through Sunday, May 4, from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission costs $13 for adults, $12 for 62+ and ages 13 through college, $10 for ages 3 to 12 and free for ages 2 and under. Planetarium shows are an additional $7 for ages 3 and up.

Papas Feroces

• The Fisher Cats continue a series of games against the Harrisburg Senators. On Thursday, April 17, at 6:35 p.m., it’s New hampSHIRE Night, with a theme around wizards and adventure. On Friday, April 18, at 6:35 p.m. the team will play as their Copa de la Diversion alter egos Gatos Feroces. On Saturday, April 19, at 4:05 p.m., the team will play as the New Hampshire Space Potatoes, honoring the Granite State’s potato and UFO history. And at the Sunday, April 20, game at 1:35 p.m., the first 1,000 fans will get a free scarf. See milb.com/new-hampshire.

Storytime

• Bookery Manchester (844 Elm St. in Manchester; bookerymht.com) will host a storytime with author Duane “Archie” Archambault and his new book Conga’s Rescue Adventures, illustrated by Kolorful Highlights, on Saturday, April 19, at 1 p.m. Reserve a spot online.

Bunnies & eggs

• The Carriage Shack Farm, 5 Dan Hill Road in Londonderry, carriageshackfarmllc.org, will host an Easter Bunny Party on Saturday, April 19, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Kids can collect six eggs from egg stations, decorate their own Easter egg, take photos with the Easter Bunny and meet the farm animals, according to the website. Admission costs $12.95 per person for ages 16 and up, $11.95 for seniors and military, and $10.95 for children 15 and under, the website said. Buy tickets online or purchase them at the gate, the website said.

• Hudson’s Best Easter Egg Hunt will take place Saturday, April 19, with sessions at 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. at Inner Dragon Martial Arts, 77 Derry Road in Hudson. The event will feature egg hunts, a photo op with the Easter Bunny and more, according to the description at funnels.hudsonmartialart.com/egghunt, where you can register for a time slot.

• Charmingfare Farm in Candia wraps up its Egg-citing Egg Hunt this Saturday, April 19, and Sundays, April 20 (Easter Sunday). Kids between the ages of 2 and 12 can hunt for a dozen eggs in Grandpa’s Barn, the website said. The event will also include an opportunity to meet the Easter Bunny, visit farm animals (including new spring babies) and more, according to the website. Time slots between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. are available on those days. Admission costs $29 per person.

Stay in the loop!

Get FREE weekly briefs on local food, music,

arts, and more across southern New Hampshire!