Apple cranberry compote

I am back to thinking about snacks again this week. Why not? December is basically a month-long eating festival.

In the world of snacking, although charcuterie boards are ever so popular, sometimes it is nice to offer just one type of cheese and cracker. However, you can elevate that pairing by adding some toppings. You can keep it simple with some Dijon mustard or honey to drizzle on the cheese and crackers, or you can make it just a bit fancier with this apple cranberry compote.

And if you have leftover compote, a night at home and time to cook a meal, you can serve the compote with roast chicken or pork. Fancier than plain applesauce, it adds a nicely sweet component to your protein.

Let’s talk about the ingredients. For the apple, you want a firmer variety. I prefer a Granny Smith or Fuji; you can choose any apple that would work well for baking. As you’ll see in the recipe, I add a tablespoon of brandy. It’s optional, but it does add a tiny bit of flavor as well as a hint of warmth. The rest of the ingredients are fairly straight forward. If you’re looking for a bit more pop to this recipe, feel free to finish it with the tiniest pinch of salt. It will make the sweetness of the compote shine even more.

Apple cranberry compote
Serves 4

4 apples, peeled and cored
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
1 Tablespoon brandy, optional
3/8 cup light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup dried cranberries

Dice apples into small, bite-sized pieces.
Combine apples, lemon juice, brandy, sugar and cinnamon in a medium-sized pot over medium-high heat.
Bring to a boil, then turn to low and cover.
Simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add dried cranberries, cover, and cook for another 5 minutes, stirring once or twice.
Remove from heat, uncover, and allow to cool slightly.
Serve or transfer to a storage container and refrigerate.

Featured Photo: Apple cranberry compote. Courtesy photo.

In the kitchen with Megan Sampson

Megan Sampson of Hudson and her aunt, Vicki Abbott, are The Soup Ladies (thesoupladies.com, find them on Facebook), offering a product lineup of nine all-natural soups and one no-cook pasta salad, all of which come as dry mixes with either air-dried or freeze-dried ingredients — for most of them, just add water. Options include everything from a split pea soup and a corn chowder to a quinoa medley, a sweet potato chili and a turkey stew and pot pie filling. Originally known as Homemade Specialty, the business started 11 years ago when Abbott, its owner and founder, would make split pea soup as a teacher’s gift. Eventually she started introducing more soups that she would sell at local craft fairs, and that soon led to taking on some wholesale accounts. She and Sampson now run the company — rebranded as The Soup Ladies earlier this year — together. Today, their products are available in more than two dozen farm stands, country stores, butcher shops and other establishments across New Hampshire, Massachusetts and a few other states, and can also be ordered online to ship.

What is your must-have kitchen item?

Our newest tool that we have … is our automatic sealer. We used to have to do everything by hand, but now we have a heat sealer that will seal and trim the bag for us, and we can do five bags at a time versus us doing them individually. So it saves us quite a bit of time. It’s honestly the best purchase that I think we’ve made as a company.

What would you have for your last meal?

Lobster, pretty much any way I can get it. … I generally like them just steamed, or if I’m ever in the Portland, Maine, area, we always go to The Highroller, which has the best lobster rolls.

What is your favorite local restaurant?

Luk’s Bar and Grill [in Hudson]. … It’s always consistent and the food is always great. My favorite thing to get there is their cauliflower wings. I have to get them every single time.

What celebrity would you like to see trying one of your soups?

Gordon Ramsay. … I feel our products are great, but I would like to see what his opinion is.

What is your favorite product that you offer?

There are two. We have our sweet potato chili that we developed and it’s our most popular soup. I really enjoy that one; however, I’ve had it many times, so you’re obviously not always looking for more of a heavier soup or a chili. … So my second favorite is our quinoa medley. It’s more of a lighter, feel-good kind of soup, and it has a ton of vegetables in it, which is right up my alley.

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

I feel like plant-based foods are kind of trending right now. I myself … am pretty much 90 percent plant-based — I consume meat on occasion, but I don’t have it that often. But I am noticing it more and more at restaurants, and even at the grocery store, that they are tending to have more plant-based items.

What is your favorite thing to cook at home?

I like to make stuffed portobello mushrooms. … I’m actually the only one in my household that likes mushrooms, so whenever I can make them for myself, I try to.

Sweet potato chili dip
From the kitchen of Megan Sampson of The Soup Ladies, thesoupladies.com

1 package The Soup Ladies sweet potato chili
1 14.5-ounce can no-salt diced tomatoes
1 pound North Country Smokehouse chorizo brandy sausage, sliced
8 ounces Cabot shredded cheese
16 ounces Cabot sour cream
Shredded lettuce
Fresh diced tomatoes
Diced jalapenos and chopped scallions (optional)

Cook the sweet potato chili mix as directed. Brown the sausage and add into the chili mix the last 20 minutes of cooking time. Set the cooked chili aside until cooled. Top the chili with sour cream and sprinkle on the shredded cheese, shredded lettuce and fresh diced tomatoes. For a little added spice, try adding diced jalapenos and chopped scallions. Refrigerate for one hour to set the dip. Serve with tortilla chips and enjoy.

Featured photo: Megan Sampson of The Soup Ladies, based in Hudson. Courtesy photo.

New Year’s eats

Get ready to welcome 2023 at a local restaurant or bar

Ring in 2023 with a special multi-course meal or a midnight Champagne toast at one of these New Hampshire restaurants, bars and function centers. Reservations are filling up fast for many — be sure to contact each establishment directly for the most up-to-date details on availability.

• 815 Cocktails & Provisions (815 Elm St., Manchester, 782-8086, 815nh.com) will hold a special ’80s prom-themed New Year’s Eve party on Saturday, Dec. 31, at 8 p.m., with dancing, contests, hors d’oeuvres, unlimited photo booth use and a featured open bar menu. Tickets are $120 per person and can be purchased in advance online.

• Averill House Vineyard (21 Averill Road, Brookline, 244-3165, averillhousevineyard.com) will hold a special Brazilian New Year’s Eve dinner and wine pairing on Saturday, Dec. 31, at 6:30 p.m. In addition to a pre-set five-course meal with wine pairings, the evening will include a dessert wine to ring in the new year, and a 9 p.m. countdown (midnight Brazilian time). Tickets are $89 per person and reservations are being accepted online now.

• Bedford Village Inn (2 Olde Bedford Way, Bedford, 472-2001, bedfordvillageinn.com) will hold a special four-course prix fixe New Year’s Eve dinner on Saturday, Dec. 31, with seatings from 5 to 9:30 p.m. The meal will include your choice of an appetizer (Dunk’s mushroom toast, Wagyu beef carpaccio, New Hampshire cheese board, broiled Cape Cod oysters, kabocha squash and ricotta agnolotti or lobster bisque); a salad (baby red oak or mache and watercress salad); an entree (grilled filet mignon, smoked New Bedford sea scallops, herb-marinated Australian grass-fed lamb rack, pan-roasted Arctic char, cornbread-crusted Icelandic cod loin, Long Island duck breast or maple-roasted delicata squash); and a dessert (bananas Foster bread pudding, peach bellini sorbet, pistachio cake, chocolate turtle torte or hot chocolate baked Alaska). The cost is $95 per person, and the Inn’s igloos can also be reserved on New Year’s Eve with a $150 rental fee, a $400 food and beverage minimum and a bottle of Champagne included. Additionally, the Inn’s Trattoria Fondi will be open for breakfast from 8:30 to 11 a.m. and for dinner from 11:30 a.m. to 1 a.m. on New Year’s Eve. On Sunday, Jan. 1, the Inn’s dining room will be open for brunch from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., while Trattoria Fondi will be open for breakfast from 8 to 10:30 a.m., and for lunch and dinner from 4 to 9 p.m.

• Bistro 603 (345 Amherst St., Nashua, 722-6362, bistro603nashua.com) will open for brunch at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 31, with dinner service starting at 3 p.m. that will include a special features menu and — later on — a DJ and a complimentary Champagne toast at midnight.

• Buckley’s Great Steaks (438 Daniel Webster Hwy., Merrimack, 424-0995, buckleysgreatsteaks.com) will be open on Saturday, Dec. 31, from 4 to 9 p.m., serving its regular dinner menu in addition to some seasonal specials, like seared scallops, line-caught Atlantic halibut and 24-ounce grilled porterhouse steak. Reservations are being accepted online now.

• Cask & Vine (1 E. Broadway, Derry, 965-3454, cask.life) will hold its 10th anniversary celebration on Saturday, Dec. 31, at 5 p.m., which will have an “apocalypse” theme. Guests are invited to dress as either a “survivor” or a “zombie,” and the evening will include a Champagne toast at midnight to ring in the new year. A $50 deposit is required per attendee, which will then be applied to your check at the end of the night.

• Castleton Banquet and Conference Center (58 Enterprise Road, Windham, 898-6300, castletonbcc.com) is hosting a special New Year’s Eve party on Saturday, Dec. 31, at 7 p.m., which is being organized by East Coast Entertainment. In addition to a cash bar, attendees will be treated to a three-course meal featuring a mixed garden salad with dinner rolls, petite filet mignon duet with lemon caper chicken and dessert. Also included will be a DJ and a 50/50 raffle. Tickets are $225 per person (event is 21+ only).

• CJ’s Great West Grill (782 S. Willow St., Manchester, 627-8600, cjsgreatwestgrill.com) will be open until 10 p.m. on New Year’s Eve (Saturday, Dec. 31).

• Colby Hill Inn (33 The Oaks, Henniker, 428-3281, colbyhillinn.com) will hold a special six-course sparkling wine dinner for New Year’s Eve, happening on Saturday, Dec. 31, from 7 to 10:30 p.m. The meal will include nut and wild mushroom foie gras, New Hampshire oysters two ways, cassoulet with flageolet beans, duck confit, mushrooms and andouille sausage, your choice of an entree (petite tournedos with lobster tail, Moroccan spiced rack of lamb or pan-seared cod), a “white winter festival” dessert featuring a coconut cup with white chocolate gelato, crisp meringue, lavender snow and a gold leaf, and a plate of mignardises as the last course, served with coffee, tea or espresso. The cost is $150 per person, and overnight guests also have the option to attend a Champagne brunch the following morning.

• Copper Door Restaurant (15 Leavy Drive, Bedford, 488-2677; 41 S. Broadway, Salem, 458-2033; copperdoor.com) will serve a special prix fixe dinner menu for New Year’s Eve on Saturday, Dec. 31, beginning at 4 p.m. at both locations. Dinners feature your choice of two-course, three-course or four-course meals, with options like truffled risotto, crispy Tuscan meatballs, shrimp bisque, butternut-apple salad, grilled filet oscar, sesame-crusted tuna, crispy duck confit, truffled mushroom ravioli, caramel apple pie, sugar cookie cupcake and chocolate hazelnut cheesecake. The cost is $74 per person for a two-course meal, $84 for a three-course meal and $94 for a four-course meal. Reservations are highly recommended.

• Cotton (75 Arms St., Manchester, 622-5488, cottonfood.com) will serve dinner on Saturday, Dec. 31, from 4 to 8:30 p.m., featuring its regular menu with some specials. Reservations are encouraged.

• CR’s The Restaurant (287 Exeter Road, Hampton, 929-7972, crstherestaurant.com) will be open for dinner on New Year’s Eve (Saturday, Dec. 31) from 5 to 9:30 p.m., featuring an a la carte with holiday specials and its most popular regular items. Live music will also be featured from 5 to 10 p.m. Reservations are required.

• The Derryfield Restaurant (625 Mammoth Road, Manchester, 623-2880, thederryfield.com) will hold a New Year’s Eve party on Saturday, Dec. 31, at 9 p.m., featuring live music by the Chad LaMarsh band. Tickets are $25.

• Firefly American Bistro & Bar (22 Concord St., Manchester, 935-9740, fireflynh.com) will be open for brunch from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., and for dinner from 4 to 10 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 31. On Sunday, Jan. 1, Firefly will be open for brunch from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., and for dinner from 4 to 8 p.m.

• Flannel Tavern (345 Suncook Valley Road, Chichester, 406-1196, flanneltavern.com) will host a special Rocking New Year’s Eve celebration all day long on Saturday, Dec. 31, from noon to 9 p.m., featuring food and drink specials and a full schedule of live local music acts.

• The Foundry Restaurant (50 Commercial St., Manchester, 836-1925, foundrynh.com) will be open on Saturday, Dec. 31, from 4 to 10 p.m., serving its regular dinner menu with some specials. On Sunday, Jan. 1, The Foundry will be open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. for brunch only.

• Gauchos Churrascaria Brazilian Steakhouse (62 Lowell St., Manchester, 669-9460, gauchosbraziliansteakhouse.com) will serve dinner on Saturday, Dec. 31, from 4 to 8:30 p.m. Reservations are highly recommended.

• Giorgio’s Ristorante & Bar (270 Granite St., Manchester, 232-3323; 707 Milford Road, Merrimack, 883-7333; 524 Nashua St., Milford, 673-3939; giorgios.com) is open regular hours on Saturday, Dec. 31, at all three locations.

• Granite Restaurant & Bar (The Centennial Hotel, 96 Pleasant St., Concord, 227-9005, graniterestaurant.com) will be open regular hours on Saturday, Dec. 31, from 5 to 9 p.m. (and until 10 p.m. at the bar), serving their regular dinner menu with some specials.

• Greenleaf (54 Nashua St., Milford, 213-5447, greenleafmilford.com) will serve a special multi-course dinner for New Year’s Eve on Saturday, Dec. 31, with four seatings, at 5, 6, 7 and 8 p.m. Courses will include vichyssoise, scallop crudo, lobster and truffle ravioli, grilled rib-eye and hazelnut cake. The cost is $125 per person and optional wine pairings are also available for an additional $25 fee. Each dinner also includes a celebratory glass of bubbles. Reservations with a non-refundable $50 deposit are required.

• Hanover Street Chophouse (149 Hanover St., Manchester, 644-2467, hanoverstreetchophouse.com) will be open on Saturday, Dec. 31, from 5 to 9 p.m., serving a special prix fixe five-course dinner menu. The cost is $105 per person and reservations are required.

• LaBelle Winery (14 Route 111, Derry, 672-9898, labellewinery.com) will hold a special Swinging Big Band New Year’s Eve dinner on Saturday, Dec. 31, from 6 to 10:30 p.m. The event will include a three-course plated dinner and a performance by the Freese Brothers Big Band in LaBelle’s vineyard ballroom. Enjoy a winter kale salad, your choice of an entree (New York strip steak or roasted vegetable cannelloni) and a trio of profiterole for dessert. Tickets are $100 per person and include the dinner, a wine pouring, the band performance and admission to LaBelle Lights after the show.

• Los Reyes Street Tacos and More (127 Rockingham Road, Derry, 845-8327, losreyesstreettacos.com) will be open on Saturday, Dec. 31, from 11:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.

• Martingale Wharf Restaurant & Bar (99 Bow St., Suite W, Portsmouth, 431-0901, martingalewharf.com) will hold a special First Night event on Saturday, Dec. 31, at 9 p.m., featuring food and cocktails, ice bars and ice sculptures by Jeff Day, a DJ and more.

• Mile Away Restaurant (52 Federal Hill Road, Milford, 673-3904, mileawayrestaurantnh.com) will serve a multi-course meal for New Year’s Eve on Saturday, Dec. 31, featuring your choice of an appetizer (seafood chowder, Swedish meatballs or fruit with sorbet, or you can substitute shrimp cocktail or escargots); a salad (Caesar salad or garden salad with blue cheese, house ranch, raspberry vinaigrette or balsamic dressing); an entree (sliced roast tenderloin of beef, grilled duck breast, chicken Wellington, scallops and lobster ravioli, roasted stuffed acorn squash, baked stuffed jumbo shrimp or baked stuffed scrod — all entrees come with your choice of garlic mashed potatoes, Swiss potato or rice, and your choice of butternut squash, pickled beets or applesauce); and a dessert (chocolate mousse cake, flourless chocolate cake, bourbon bread pudding, cheesecake or lemon mascarpone cake). The cost is $55 per person and entree orders are required with all reservations.

• MT’s Local Kitchen & Wine Bar (212 Main St., Nashua, 595-9334, mtslocal.com) will be open on Saturday, Dec. 31, from 4 to 9 p.m., serving its regular dinner menu in addition to some seasonal specials, like oyster Rockefeller, lamb shank and grilled rib-eye. Reservations are being accepted online now.

• New England’s Tap House Grille (1292 Hooksett Road, Hooksett, 782-5137, taphousenh.com) will be open from Saturday, Dec. 31, from 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m., and on Sunday, Jan. 1, from 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.

• New Hampshire Pizza Co. (76 N. Main St., Concord, 333-2125, newhampshirepizzaco.com) will be open on Saturday, Dec. 31, from noon to 10 p.m. and on Sunday, Jan. 1, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., for brunch.

• The Peddler’s Daughter (48 Main St., Nashua, 821-7535, thepeddlersdaughter.com) will offer various appetizer and entree specials on New Year’s Eve, like shrimp and corn bisque, baked stuffed shrimp, ginger pork gyozas, prime rib with potatoes and green beans, chicken roulade stuffed with spinach and goat cheese over whipped potatoes with pan sauce, and spicy orange glazed salmon over sauteed vegetables. There will also be live music from the band Take 4 and a Champagne toast at midnight.

• Piccola Italia Ristorante (815 Elm St., Manchester, 606-5100, piccolaitalianh.com) will serve dinner on Saturday, Dec. 31, from 4 to 9 p.m.

• Portsmouth Gas Light Co. (64 Market St., Portsmouth, 430-8582, portsmouthgaslight.com) will hold a special “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” New Year’s Eve celebration on Saturday, Dec. 31, starting at 8 p.m., featuring passed hors d’oeuvres, a brick oven craft pizza buffet and a Champagne toast at midnight. Tickets start at $75 general admission.

• Raleigh Wine Bar + Eatery (67 State St., Portsmouth, 427-8459, raleighwinebar.com) will serve a special four-course New Year’s Eve dinner on Saturday, Dec. 31, with optional wine pairings. Two seatings are available, at 6 or 9 p.m. Featured items to choose from will include roasted cabbage, oysters with caviar and Champagne, coal-roasted venison, roasted sirloin, chocolate torte and chestnut brown butter cake. The cost is $120 per person with a Champagne toast (additional $50 if wine pairings are included). Reservations require a $25 deposit per person.

• The Republic of Campo (969 Elm St., Manchester, 666-3723, republiccafe.com and campoenoteca.com) is scheduled to hold its final day of service on Saturday, Dec. 31, from noon to 9:30 p.m., before owners Edward Aloise and Claudia Rippee prepare to put the restaurants up for sale.

• Saddle Up Saloon (92 Route 125, Kingston, 347-1313, saddleupsaloonnh.com) will host a special New Year’s Eve party on Saturday, Dec. 31. Dinner will be served at 6 p.m., featuring your choice of prime rib, half-roasted chicken or baked haddock (each entree also comes with mashed potatoes and veggies). Local party cover band Casual Gravity will then perform from 8:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. The cost is $60 per person and also includes a Champagne toast at midnight, followed by a pizza buffet.

• Sea Dog Brewing Co. (9 Water St., Exeter, 793-5116, seadogbrewing.com) is celebrating New Year’s Eve on Saturday, Dec. 31, from 9:30 p.m. to midnight, with various hors d’oeuvres and a complimentary Champagne toast at midnight.

• The Shaskeen Irish Pub and Restaurant (909 Elm St., Manchester, 625-0246, shaskeenirishpub.com) will host a special New Year’s Eve party on Saturday, Dec. 31, featuring a food buffet from 8 to 10 p.m., a midnight Champagne toast, and music by Chris Bennett, a.k.a. DJ Myth. The cost is $60 per person.

• The Side Bar (845 Lafayette Road, Hampton, 601-6311, thesidebarnh.com) will hold a special New Year’s Eve party on Saturday, Dec. 31, at 9 p.m., featuring a complimentary pizza and appetizer buffet, drink specials and live entertainment from DJ CHN all night long, and a Champagne toast at midnight. Tickets are $25 in advance via Eventbrite and $30 at the door.

• Surf Restaurant (207 Main St., Nashua, 595-9293; 99 Bow St., Portsmouth, 334-9855; surfseafood.com) will be open on Saturday, Dec. 31, from 4 to 9 p.m. at its Nashua location and from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. at its Portsmouth location, serving its regular dinner menus in addition to some seasonal specials, like smokey tomato bisque, crispy calamari and Alaskan king crab futomaki, grilled rib-eye and scallop surf and turf, and pan-seared halibut. Reservations are being accepted online now for any size party.

• T-Bones Great American Eatery (25 S. River Road, Bedford, 641-6100; 404 S. Main St., Concord, 715-1999; 39 Crystal Ave., Derry, 434-3200; 77 Lowell Road, Hudson, 882-6677; 1182 Union Ave., Laconia, 528-7800; 311 S. Broadway, Salem, 893-3444; t-bones.com) will be open on Saturday, Dec. 31, until 10 p.m., at all of its locations.

• The Village Trestle (25 Main St., Goffstown, 497-8230, villagetrestle.com) will host a special “New Year’s Bash” on Saturday, Dec. 31, at 7 p.m., featuring food and drink specials, party favors, live music by the Bob Pratte Band and a Champagne toast at midnight. No cover charge is required for admission.

• The Wild Rose Restaurant (Stonehurst Manor, 3351 White Mountains Hwy., North Conway, 356-3113, thewildroserestaurant.com) will hold a special four-course New Year’s Eve dinner on Saturday, Dec. 31, with two seatings at 6 or 9 p.m. The dinner includes your choice of an appetizer (scallops wrapped in bacon, shrimp cocktail, Jonah crab cakes, pumpkin ravioli or crab and lobster bisque); a Caesar salad; an entree (pit smoked and aged prime rib of beef, lobster ravioli, filet of cod with a lobster cream sauce, grilled New York strip steak, half-roasted duck, shrimp, scallops, lobster and Jonah crab meat in a garlic basil Parmesan cream sauce, or grilled rack of lamb); and a dessert (blueberry cheesecake, flourless double dark chocolate torte, chef-made caramel pecan ice cream or vanilla creme brulee). The cost is $88 per person and also includes coffee and tea.

Featured photo: Courtesy photo.

The Weekly Dish 22/12/22

News from the local food scene

• Celebrate with wine: Winemaker Amy LaBelle of LaBelle Winery in Amherst and Derry is also now a published author. Her debut book, Wine Weddings: The Ultimate Guide to Creating the Wine-Themed Wedding of Your Dreams, was released Dec. 16, according to a press release. The book covers how to create a wine-inspired wedding theme and aesthetic, focusing on topics like creating mood boards, vineyard ceremonies, invitation designs, signature drinks, menu selection and wine choices. It also includes a section about working with vendors. “Couples can think of Wine Weddings as a road map for navigating the wedding-planning process, resulting in a memorable experience for everyone involved,” LaBelle said in a statement. A 10-year veteran of the wine industry, LaBelle and her team have hosted hundreds of weddings at both of their vineyard locations — the book is even filled with photographs taken at actual weddings hosted at the winery, according to the release. LaBelle also shares the details of planning her own wedding and offers professional guidance for planning and hosting weddings of every size and type. Wine Weddings is available now for purchase on LaBelle’s website at amylabelle.com, as well as through Amazon or the winery’s website at labellewinery.com. According to the release, the electronic version of the book will be released on Jan. 4.

• The cat’s meow: If you’ve visited the Bookery (844 Elm St., Manchester) recently, then the cat’s likely out of the bag on this one. Cat Alley Cafe, as the shop’s in-house cafe is now known, is a sister location of Restoration Cafe on Hanover Street. Its new branding is inspired by local artist Brooke Van Gurp, according to its Instagram page, who recently finished a special Cat Alley Cafe mural of “Bob the Cat” on its walls. Cat Alley Cafe is open seven days a week, featuring a menu of soups, sandwiches and salads — with varying weekly selections — along with fresh baked goods and locally roasted coffees. In late 2021, the Bookery had announced a partnership with Restoration Cafe owner Tom Puskarich to reimagine the store’s food and drink menu. Follow them on Instagram @catalleycafe.

• North Nashua Mexican eatery returns: California Burritos Mexican Grill officially reopened its location at 2 Cellu Drive in North Nashua on Dec. 15, owner and founder Raul Cabrera recently announced. The storefront, which had previously closed for renovations back in the spring, is now open again with expanded seating and production space, as well as a margarita bar. Cabrera, a native of El Salvador, has a total of four California Burritos locations in New Hampshire. His family opened the first one on Factory Street in Nashua in late 2014, before expanding to Hudson in 2017, the Cellu Drive location in 2018 and Manchester in February 2020. Each eatery serves authentic Mexican options like tacos, burritos, bowls and quesadillas in a fast casual, counter-service setting, along with traditional Salvadoran dishes like pupusas, or handmade corn tortillas filled with cheese, refried beans and chicharrón (pork). Visit californiaburritosnh.com or find them on Facebook.

On The Job – Ernie Dascoli

Window treatment specialist

Ernie Dascoli is the owner of Made In The Shade, a custom window treatment business in Windham.

Explain your job and what it entails.

I’m the owner of a custom window treatment company. My job entails overseeing the day-to-day operations, which entails mostly marketing, sales and install coordination. I help people transition their homes by using blinds, shades, shutter and draperies products that dress up their windows and change the entire feel of rooms in their home.

How long have you had this job?

I started the business this year and have enjoyed a lot of early success, considering you hear most companies struggle at the beginning.

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

I’ve always been in corporate sales for packaging manufacturers, so the interaction with the client came naturally. I was looking to transition out of the corporate grind and build a company of my own. I was burnt out from traveling all over the country and spending 100-plus nights on the road and weekly conferences and Zoom calls that seemed to accomplish nothing except give the group a reason to jump on another call. It left me with a very unfulfilling feeling inside, and I felt destined to do something better for myself.

What kind of education or training did you need?

The education never stops. I spent a week at the corporate franchise office learning the basics of running the business. I then took it on my own to work with some local window treatment installers to learn the products and how they are installed. I also spent a lot of time meeting with my window treatment manufacturers to learn about all the products and trends in the window treatment industry.

What is your typical at-work uniform or attire?

Depends on what hat I’m wearing. For in-home consultations, I dress more professionally — dress pants and a golf or button-down dress shirt. If I am doing an install, I’ll be wearing work pants or jeans and a golf shirt of some sort. No matter what, it is always important to look respectful at a customer’s home.

How has your job changed over the course of the pandemic?

Being a relatively new business, things are changing constantly. From the beginning of the year until now, I feel like I’ve lived through two dramatic swings that most businesses don’t experience for years. In the beginning of 2022, business was booming, but these past few months business has slowed due to inflation pressures and a downturn in the economy on the brink of a recession. You need to roll with the punches and keep adjusting. It’s important to stay ahead of the business environment and keep on learning.

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

When you work for a large company, no matter how much you like the company or the people you work with, you’re still an employee, and everyone is replaceable. There’s not a lot of loyalty. I should have started my own business earlier.

What do you wish other people knew about your job?

I’m always looking out for my customer’s best interest. When I have happy customers, that is the most rewarding part of the job.

What was the first job you ever had?

I was a caddy at a country club in town.

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

No matter how bad you think a situation is, it’s usually not as bad as you think it is, and most of the time it works itself out.

Five favorites

Favorite book: The Lizard King
Favorite movie: True Romance
Favorite music: ’80s, grunge, rock and metal
Favorite food: Pizza
Favorite thing about NH: The Lakes

Featured photo: Ernie Dascoli. Courtesy photo.

Enjoying the winter landscape

Pruned trees for outside, cut branches for inside

Normally at this time of year I can go out to the stream behind my house and pick stems of a shrub called winterberry (Ilex verticillata) to use in vases and on my wreath. It is generally loaded with small red berries that persist until mid-winter when hungry birds eat them, or they just plain fall off.

Winterberry is a great decorative shrub in winter that prefers wet feet but will grow in ordinary garden soil too. It is dioecious, meaning that it requires male and female plants — usually one male will take care of all the females. This year I didn’t get many of those bright red berries I like so much for decoration, and I have heard from other gardeners that they had few, too.

This prompted me to walk around my property looking at my woody shrubs to see what might substitute for winterberries. I didn’t find any berries at all. But I did cut some red-twigged dogwood (Cornus sericea) to use in a vase, and some budded branches of a Merrill magnolia (Magnolia x loebneri).

The magnolia buds are a bit like pussywillows on steroids: an inch long and very fuzzy. I have some in a vase on the table, and they look very good, and will for many weeks ahead. I’ve done this before, and will occasionally get a few buds to open into white flowers. I cut some greenery to go with them, a few stems of white pine. Hemlock would look good instead, but doesn’t hold needles well indoors.

It struck me that winter can be pretty bleak for people who don’t have nice-looking winter shrubs and trees. Judicious pruning can transform a messy tree full of small branches going every which way into sculpture. I recently helped a client prune a 50-year-old Japanese maple into sculpture that will keep it looking great for several years — with only a few minor pruning cuts each year.

When pruning, I ask myself, what will this little branch, currently the thickness of a finger, look like when it is the thickness of an arm — or a leg. If it is growing sideways toward a walkway, it must come off. Going through the middle of the tree? Remove it! The maple I pruned had many small dead branches that had been choked out because bigger branches had blocked off the sun, effectively starving them.

Bark is important. I like plants that have exfoliating bark, which means bark that is shaggy and peeling off — thus showing more than one color. My Seven Sons Flower Tree (Heptacodium miconioides) is one of those. In addition to the nice bark it offers me a display of small white flowers each fall. White birch (Betula papyrifera) and river birch (Betula nigra) are others with interesting bark. In fact all the birches have handsome bark.

I’ve been growing a paperbark maple (Acer griseum) for about 20 years. It has lovely shaggy reddish-brown bark that is very handsome. It is a very slow-growing tree, at least in this climate. It is listed as a Zone 5 plant (good to minus 20 F) but mine has survived colder temperatures. It looks great in winter.

One of my favorites — but one I do not grow — is sycamore (Platanus occidentalis), which I knew growing up in Connecticut but is rare in New Hampshire where I live. It reminds me of the English plane tree, so common in Europe. The bark peels off in big swaths, showing light gray-green in some areas, dark brown in others. It is just barely hardy to Zone 4, and prefers to grow in river bottoms, but will grow in drier soils, too.

Of the bigger trees, I like American beech (Fagus sylvatica) for its smooth gray bark. Unfortunately, beeches are prone to a fungal disease that mars the bark and eventually kills the tree.

That same smooth bark is a prominent feature of a shrub known variously as shad bush, serviceberry and Saskatoon bush. All belong to the genus Amelanchierbut bear different species names. Most are multi-stemmed bushes that get no more than 10 feet tall, though I have a wild one more than twice that height. Their blossoms are similar to apple blossoms. They do well in partial sun, often growing and blooming on roadsides.

Apple trees, particularly crabapples, can look great in winter. Some crabs hold onto their fruit throughout much of the winter, some drop their fruit in fall and many provide fruit for the birds to eat (that disappears before winter is done). Ask at the nursery when you buy a crabapple if the birds like the fruit. The form and bark of a well-pruned apple or crabapple is gorgeous to my eye.

So if your landscape has little to offer you in winter, plan on adding some winter interest come planting time. And if your trees and shrubs are drab, think about adding some strings of little winter lights to brighten them up, at least at night.

Featured photo: Merrill magnolia buds look like pussywillows all winter long, and bloom in late April. Photo by Henry Homeyer.

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