In the kitchen with Ashley Tardugno

Ashley Tardugno of Derry is the owner of Whisk Chick ([email protected], and on Facebook and Instagram @whiskchickbakes), specializing in charcuterie-style sweet boards and boxes consisting of freshly baked goods, chocolate-dipped items, candies, fresh flowers and seasonal fruits, as well as some pies and cream- or mousse-based cakes. A graduate of New England Culinary Institute, Tardugno oversaw all of the bakery items and sweet treats at Roundabout Diner & Lounge in Portsmouth for around a decade prior to launching Whisk Chick about six months ago. She works out of Creative Chef Kitchens (35 Manchester Road, Derry), a shared commercial kitchen space — a one-week advance notice is recommended for all orders, which include multiple sizes depending on the number of people being served. In addition to owning Whisk Chick, Tardugno also runs the New Hampshire chapter of For Goodness Cakes, a national nonprofit providing underprivileged youth with a birthday or graduation cake.

What is your must-have kitchen item?

For me, I feel like a rubber spatula is so important. I can’t do anything without that thing. It’s multi-purpose — you stir with it, you scrape with it, you do everything with it.

What would you have for your last meal?

Fried chicken. … Other than that, it would be my mom’s soups.

What is your favorite local restaurant?

I’m going to go with Jocelyn’s in Salem. It’s Mediterranean … and everything at that place tastes amazing. I love the kafta and the hummus.

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

Jack Black, because he’s awesome and he makes me laugh, and maybe he’d write an awesome song about it or something.

What is your personal favorite order you’ve fulfilled?

I love doing them all — they are all so individual. But I’m probably going to go with the first one that I did for a customer. … It was just basic stuff, like chocolate chip cookies, brownies, blondies and fruit and all that stuff … [but] I had had this idea for so long, and it was just really nice for me to see it finally come together.

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

Definitely charcuterie, grazing tables and those kinds of things. They are popping up everywhere.

What is your favorite thing to cook at home?

Anything having to do with breakfast. It’s my favorite meal.

Homemade shiny cookie icing
From the kitchen of Ashley Tardugno of Whisk Chick in Derry (makes enough to cover 30 medium-sized cookies)

1½ cups powdered sugar, sifted
1½ to 2 Tablespoons milk
1 Tablespoon light corn syrup
½ teaspoon vanilla

Mix all of the ingredients until combined, using only the 1½ tablespoons of milk. If the icing is too thick, add the remaining ½ tablespoon. Proper consistency will make it drizzle thinly off the back of the spoon. Drizzle icing on the cookies. Allow at least two hours to set before stacking or storing them.

Featured photo: Ashley Tardugno of Whisk Chick, based in Derry. Courtesy photo.

Get in the spirit

New Hampshire Distiller’s Week returns

By Katelyn Sahagian

[email protected]

New Hampshire in early November is the place to be for everyone who adores fine spirits like tequila, whiskey, gin and vodka. Celebrities of the industry come from across the country and the world to partake in the spirited celebration.

The annual Distiller’s Week, with the highlight event of the Distiller’s Showcase of Premium Spirits on Thursday, Nov. 3, is back.

When Mark Roy began Distiller’s Showcase and Week, it wasn’t something he anticipated getting this big. Roy conceived the show when he was hired as the New Hampshire Liquor Commission’s spirit marketing and sales specialist. He saw that there was a week-long celebration of wine in New Hampshire, and thought, why not one for liquor and spirits as well?

“We did a trial run our first year to see how it would work with the support of our local brokers,” Roy said. “We had a whopping 250 people in attendance and it was a smashing success.”

While it started off small, this year there are expected to be around 1,000 participants alone. Roy, when he spoke with the Hippo, said that more than 800 tickets had already been sold.

The showcase will have 180 booths set up with different brands of alcohol at many of them. The tables will offer tastings, and some will have specialty cocktails for people to try. Roy said that he recommends people look up the brands that will be visiting, to try to make a game plan of brands they want to see and have never experienced before.

“I tell them to use this as an event to try products that you normally wouldn’t try or maybe try ones a bit out of your price range,” Roy said. “If you make a checklist of who you want to see and what you want to taste, that’s a really good idea.”

There’s more than just alcohols and tastings. Brands like Pepsi and Stonewall Kitchen will have non-alcoholic beverages, water and cocktail mixers for people as well. Restaurants like 110 Grill, Tuscan Brands and Whole Foods Market will have stalls for people to peruse.

Before the Showcase, there will be a special event called A Taste of Ireland. The experience will begin at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 2, at the Manchester Country Club (180 S. River Road., Bedford). This event was curated by Bord Bia, the food board in Ireland.

Teresa Phelan, the board’s Vice President of Alcohol for North America, said her entire job is to get people in America excited about Irish alcohols. While most people think of whiskey when it comes to Irish spirits, Phelan said that there is a growing emphasis on gin on the island.

“A lot of our distilleries started producing gin when they weren’t quite ready to release their whiskey, but they’ve used all these wonderful botanicals from the Irish countryside and made these excellent gins, which are now super-popular,” Phelan said. “They’re also not as traditionally juniper-heavy.”

A Taste of Ireland will highlight the love of gin with the Irish botanicals, but will also have an emphasis on the diverse flavors of Irish whiskey.

Phelan explained that while most whiskeys have a lot of rules they must follow, Irish whiskey isn’t bound to many more than having to be made in Ireland and contain malted cereal grain. For example, bourbon can only be made of over 50 percent corn and stored in new, charred white oak casks for at least two years before bottling.

This lack of hard rules on what makes Irish whiskey an Irish whiskey allows for distillers to have more freedom with the flavors and process, said Phelan. To really drive this point home, she had scratch-and-sniff booklets created for people to smell different parts of the distilling process, as well as the Irish countryside.

“I think one of the greatest things about Irish [whiskey] is that it’s got this distinct flavor profile,” Phelan said. “It’s a lot lighter, it’s fruity, it’s got some cereal notes.”

She added that a great example of this type of classic Irish whiskey is Jameson Original, which has a strong flavor of orchard-ripe apple, as well as a deep spice from the used bourbon casks it’s aged in.

While the flavors and variations of Irish whiskey are going to be highlighted at the event, Phelan said that the history of Irish whiskey was something she really wanted to drive home.

According to Phelan, there were hundreds of Irish distillers making whiskey in the 1700s. Nearly all the whiskey in the world was made in Ireland, and it was exported across the globe for consumers to enjoy.

The downfall of Irish whiskey was a twofold event, Phelan said.

“We would have had almost a distillery in every town in Ireland, except for Prohibition in the U.S., which was one of our biggest markets,” she said. “Along with us getting independence from the British, that cut off pretty much our sales market instantly.”

By the 1980s the total number of distilleries in Ireland had dropped to just two. Now, that number has grown to 42, a greater than 4,000 percent increase in a decade.

Many of the distilleries in Ireland will be featured in the Showcase, along with new whiskeys made in America — and, at least one new release is from the Granite State.

Tamworth Distilling, owned by Scott Grasse, is coming out with a new whiskey. Grasse, who engineered the viral Crab Trapper whiskey, is using a cone to help his newest creation during the aging process. The whiskey is called Dunce, an homage to John Duns Scotus, a Franciscan priest and philosopher who wore a cone-shaped hat because he believed it heightened his mind.

“It’s remarkable because it’s added magic to the aging process,” Grasse said. “You’ll taste it, [and] you’ll say, ‘What am I tasting?’ What you’re tasting is the divine energy of the universe.”

Grasse recently wrote a book about his life as a distiller with renowned spirits expert Aaron Goldfarb. It’s scheduled for a Nov. 8 release, just after Distiller’s Week comes to a close.

While Grasse and Goldfarb won’t be able to come up to celebrate the release of the book, or the whiskey, the Showcase is something they both look forward to hearing about.

“The New Hampshire Liquor Commission has been an amazing partner,” Grasse said. “New Hampshire is one of the biggest single buyers of spirits and [they’ve] been so helpful with us when we launched something. I don’t think we could be doing or leading the world in innovation if we didn’t have such an amazing partner.”

Ninth Annual Distiller’s Showcase
Where: DoubleTree by Hilton Manchester Downtown, 700 Elm St., Manchester
When: Thursday, Nov. 3, 6 to 8:30 p.m.
Price: Tickets start at $60
Visit: distillersshowcase.com

How are all the types of whiskey different?
Source: New Hampshire Liquor Commission
Bourbon
Must be made in America
Must have at least 51 percent corn in the mash
Must be aged in a new charred oak barrel for minimum of two years
Canadian
Must be made in Canada
Must contain no less that 40 percent alcohol by volume
Irish
Must be made in Ireland
Must have at least 30 percent malted grain in the mash
Japanese
Must be made in Japan
Is allowed to contain rice
Rye
Must be made from at least 51 percent rye
Scotch
Must be made in Scotland
Must be aged in oak barrels for at least three years
Age statement is the youngest age after bottling
Tennessee
Must be made in Tennessee
Mash must be at least 51 percent corn

Featured photo: Courtesy photo.

The Weekly Dish 22/10/20

News from the local food scene

• Spooky servings: Still haven’t made your plans yet for Halloween? Several area bars, restaurants, breweries and other venues have you covered with costume contests, dance parties, comedy shows and other 21+ events. The Shaskeen Pub and Restaurant (909 Elm St., Manchester), for instance, is holding its 16th annual Halloween Bash on Saturday, Oct. 29, from 9:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m., featuring a night of drinks, dancing, live music from DJ Myth and prizes awarded for the best costumes. At LaBelle Winery Derry (14 Route 111), there will be an adults-only Spooktacular Halloween party on Friday, Oct. 28 — the festivities begin at 7:30 p.m. and go until 11 p.m. inside the Vineyard Ballroom, featuring a local DJ, appetizers, snacks and desserts included for late-night munching. The bar will also be open all night, featuring themed cocktails available for purchase, as well as wine, beer and mixed drinks. Check out the Hippo’s Oct. 20 issue for a complete list of Halloween-related happenings at local restaurants and bars, beginning on page 15 — go to issuu.com/hippopress to read and download the e-edition for free.

• Greek eats: Grab your lederhosen and head to Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church (68 N. State St., Concord) for Greektoberfest, a special event happening on Saturday, Oct. 29, from 6 to 10 p.m. inside the church hall. Enjoy a full buffet of German and Greek specialties, from schnitzel and bratwurst to loukaniko (Greek sausage), along with potato salad, sauerkraut, pretzels, rosemary flatbread and feta and beer dips, plus desserts, Greek and German music, dancing and more. Tickets are $25 per person (free for kids and teens under 18). The boxed Greek meal-to-go fundraisers, meanwhile, continue at Holy Trinity Church with a stuffed peppers dinner on Nov. 13 and a cheese pita and Greek vegetable medley dinner on Dec. 11. Visit holytrinitynh.org.

Join Assumption Greek Orthodox Church (111 Island Pond Road, Manchester) for its annual Fall Food Fest Bazaar on Saturday, Oct. 29, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. inside its church hall. Presented by the church’s Ladies Philoptochos Society, the event features a variety of homemade Greek foods available for purchase. Menu items will include lamb shanks, roast chicken, meatballs, pastichio, spinach and cheese petas, and a variety of assorted Greek cookies and pastries. There will also be a 50/50 raffle and basket raffles for Thanksgiving, along with vendors selling imported Greek items. Visit assumptionnh.org or call the church office at 623-2045.

• Cider fever: More than 10 local and regional purveyors are expected to participate in a cider and mead fest tasting event to be held at Beer & Wine Nation (360 Daniel Webster Hwy., Merrimack) on Friday, Oct. 28, from 5 to 7 p.m. A free event, the tasting will include options from Citizens Cider, Stowe Cider and Downeast Cider, as well as Shipyard Brewing Co., Smuttynose Brewing Co. and several others. Beer & Wine Nation, which opened in June 2021 in Merrimack’s 360 Shopping Plaza, has one of the largest selections of beers, wines and ciders under one roof in the area, with more than 2,000 at any given time. Visit beerandwinenation.com.

• Food and flannel: Save the date for the Junior Service League of Concord’s fifth annual Fall Festivus, a sampling and fundraising event set to return to The Barn at Bull Meadow (63 Bog Road, Concord) on Thursday, Nov. 3, from 6:30 to 10 p.m. In addition to food and craft beer samples provided by area restaurants and breweries, the event features live music and a silent auction with the chance to win all kinds of prizes. Flannel attire is encouraged. Single tickets are $25 in advance and $30 the day of (event is 21+ only), with proceeds going to the Junior Service League of Concord, a volunteer organization supporting women and children in crisis. Visit jslconcord.org.

On The Job – Levi Maxwell

Violin seller

Levi Maxwell is a violin seller and owner of Levi Maxwell Violins (400-7149, facebook.com/levimaxwellsviolins), based in Mason.

Explain your job and what it entails.

I buy new violins at a discount by buying them in bulk. I put the strings and bridges on and tune them up. I then sell them to aspiring musicians of all ages. I advertise mostly via Facebook and good old word of mouth.

How long have you had this job?

I have been selling violins on and off for a few years now but have been putting more effort into this growing business in the past few months.

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

I would have to say that when the musician in me met the entrepreneur in me, this business was born.

What kind of education or training did you need?

Humbly, having a good ear comes in handy when tuning a violin as violins are one of the trickiest instruments to tune. I am also learning some basic violin repairs as I go, which I find to be an exciting challenge.

What is your typical at-work uniform or attire?

I am naturally laid back, so the fact that I own my own business is nice when it comes to work attire. I am able to dress comfortably and casually.

What was it like starting a business during the pandemic?

Levi Maxwell’s Violins didn’t really get much momentum until after the pandemic, so I was mostly able to avoid the trouble of a startup business when the world was stopping.

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

I think if I had known in the beginning that the violin business was going to catch traction the way it has, I probably would not have put as much time, effort and money into other ventures. But, hey, learning is part of the whole process, right?

What do you wish other people knew about your job?

One thing I wish people knew about what I do is how fragile a violin is and how delicate you must be with one. Although, when a repair is needed, the challenge helps me grow.

What was the first job you ever had?

The first job I had was working at Dunkin’ Donuts. I definitely have a sweet tooth, but I have to say I prefer handling violins over doughnuts as the temptation is just too strong for me.

What is the best piece of work-related advice you have ever received?

I would have to say that the advice that encourages me the most about my business is simply seeing a satisfied customer.

Five favorites

Favorite book: The Bible
Favorite movie: Ice Age
Favorite music: Christian worship music
Favorite food: Mexican
Favorite thing about NH: The weather is never boring.

Featured photo: Levi Maxwell. Courtesy photo.

Planting spring bulbs

Put a few here and there, or make a big splash of color

As a boy I was surrounded by hundreds of spring daffodils every year. We lived in rural Connecticut, and the people we bought our house from had planted daffodils by the hundreds in our woods. The woods consisted of sugar maples, huge ones, with a sprinkling of ash trees, providing dappled sunshine. We had wide raked paths and all along the paths were daffodils in April and May. We would pick 50 or more at a time and bring them into the house and put them in vases everywhere.

So when I bought my house here in Cornish Flat in 1970, I started planting bulbs, too. Except for my years in Africa with the Peace Corps, I have probably planted some every year for over 50 years. It is now getting tough to find places to plant more, but somehow I manage. One trick I use is to put those little white plant tags pushed almost all the way into the ground (so I see less of them) each time I plant a new batch. That way I don’t inadvertently dig up some while trying to find a blank palette.

The first step is to buy bulbs. My local feed-and-grain store has them, as do garden centers and most grocery stores. You can order bulbs online if you want things beyond the common ones. But I like to try first to buy locally.

Next, find an appropriate place to plant them. If you are planting small, early-spring bulbs like snowdrops or glory of the snow, you can plant them in the lawn. Just poke holes in the sod for them. Their foliage dies back early. But if you plant daffodils or tulips in the lawn, you won’t be able to mow the lawn until their foliage has replenished the energy in the bulbs, which for daffodils is July 4 or thereabouts.

I like to plant a big splash of color in one place. Rather than dig small holes with a trowel or auger, I like to plant a minimum of 25 daffodils or tulips in a wide single hole. To do this, I lay out the bulbs on the ground where I want them, spacing them 3 inches or so apart. I like a planting of bulbs to be an oval or teardrop shape as opposed to a rectangle. That seems more natural, but do whatever pleases you.

Then I take a hand tool and draw a line around the space designated for the bulbs. I remove the bulbs, and dig out the soil. I don’t dump it on the lawn — I put it in a wheelbarrow or on a tarp so I don’t make a mess on the lawn. I discard any stones as I dig.

For depth, follow the directions on the package. Big bulbs like daffodils and tulips generally should be planted at least 6 inches deep. Little things like crocus only need to be 3 inches deep. If I dig down 6 inches, I then add some bulb booster or organic fertilizer in the hole and then loosen the soil for another 2 inches with my CobraHead weeder (or a three-pronged scratcher). If the soil is heavy clay or very sandy, I add a couple of inches of compost and stir that in.

Next I place the bulbs in the hole in a somewhat random pattern, not straight lines. I wiggle the bulbs around so that the base of each bulb is near the bottom of the loosened and enriched soil. Finally, I shovel the soil from the wheelbarrow back into the soil, being careful not to dislodge my bulbs. If the soil is really crummy, I throw some away and mix in compost to replace it. Bulbs need good drainage.

What about hungry animals that want to eat your flowers before you can enjoy them? Squirrels and chipmunks love tulip bulbs and have been known to watch from a distance as gardeners plant them — and dig them up almost right away. Some sources claim that adding sharp crushed oyster shells on top of the soil, or near the top, will deter them. I doubt that. Oyster shells won’t deter a tulip-hungry gray squirrel.

Wire mesh buried in the soil above the bulbs will deter squirrels, however. The problem is that when you cut it to size, the edges are razor-sharp. When I interviewed the White House gardener at the end of the Clinton years, he reported that they kept squirrels away from their bulbs by feeding them all the corn they could eat. A well-fed squirrel won’t bother to dig for tulips, he said. That’s not a good plan, in my view, it will attract more squirrels. I say, if you want tulips, plant them and hope for the best. Having a dog helps, too.

Deer are another problem. Deer love tulip buds and flowers, and will often eat them just before they open. Although there are deer repellent sprays, I think the best solution there is to temporarily surround beds of tulips with wire fencing. Chicken wire comes in 3-foot-wide rolls that can easily be supported with thin stakes and will keep deer away from your tulips.

Lastly, if you want tulips on your table, you might consider buying them. Local greenhouses near me grow them by the thousand and sell them through my local food coop at a fair price in season. Then you can focus your bulb efforts on things that deer and squirrels won’t eat.

The best bulb in deer country is the daffodil. They are mildly poisonous, so squirrels won’t eat the bulbs and deer won’t eat the flowers. There are over a dozen different named categories of daffodils, and a wide range of colors beyond yellow: white, orange, and even some with a green eye, or center. They will bloom early, mid-season or late in the spring. So buy plenty and enjoy a pest-free spring.

Featured photo: Plant with the pointy end up. Photo by Henry Homeyer.

Treasure Hunt 22/10/27

Dear Donna,

This treadmill was in my grandparents’ garage when I was a child, and since my grandparents have both passed it has been passed around to a few family members. I have had it for about eight years. I can find very little information about this company or this particular item. It seems that at one point there was a sort of pulley system to work your arms as you walked, but not sure how I would even go about trying to replace such things. A friend of mine looked it up by the patent number, but even that didn’t yield much information about this particular style of treadmill. The base is somewhat heavy, but the handle is removable and it is still usable. I would just like to see if I can get more information to pass on to family members, so we can decide what should be done with this item. Any way you can help would be greatly appreciated.

Sincerely, Catherine

Dear Catherine,

I have to start off by saying what a history there is in treadmills. From prisons to health care!

What I didn’t find out was any further information on the company.

I think your piece is a neat piece but desirability would be low. Possibly a museum would like to have it, for example. This piece falls under the category of old industrial heavy items that take up a lot of room. Replacing parts for usage would have to be home done. I think you can always find make-do parts now to fix it.

Either way I don’t feel the value would be more than what you could get from someone else who likes it too. Possibly $100.

I thank you for sharing, Catherine, and now have more insight into treadmills myself. Really enjoy learning something new every day. I hope I gave you some additional help.

Donna

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