Tag: 200618

IPA is still king

There is no getting around it

We can talk about stouts and sours and Belgian-style brews and Pilsners and barrel-aging and so on and so forth, but at the end of the day the IPA is still driving the bus. So, let’s get right into it.

I’ve been fortunate to have a series of excellent IPAs recently — not all at once, mind you — and even as I find myself overwhelmed or even burnt out with the style at times, I can’t help myself from going back time and time again.

Simply put, IPAs remain delicious and brewers seem to continually find ways to create exciting brews that delight the palate.

Here are three IPAs I’ve recently enjoyed and one I look forward to enjoying.

Angelica Hazy Orange IPA by Lord Hobo Brewing Co. (Woburn, Massachusetts)

I love the citrusy, sweet burst of a New England-style IPA that gives it that “juicy” characteristic. The combination of hops can provide an array of tropical flavors like papaya, mango, pineapple, grapefruit and orange. So all of that said, I was intrigued but also scared of this beer. Like I said, I like the citrusy burst but I get scared when a beer is labeled with the name of a fruit. It just screams “too sweet” to me. I need not have been afraid. On a blistering hot and humid day, this beer was refreshing, drinkable and extremely tasty. There is big orange flavor but I never got the over-the-top sweetness I feared. Lord Hobo also produces a non-orange version that is also delicious.

Trading Tales Dry Hopped Lager by Collective Arts Brewing Co. (Waunakee, Wisconsin) in collaboration with Dancing Gnome Brewery (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)

I know, I know this is technically a lager but take a sip and you’ll slot this into the IPA category too. This brew hits you in the face with hops, specifically strata and citra hops but it comes in at an eminently drinkable 5.1-percent ABV. This was an absolute pleasure to drink, and, as with all Collective Arts brews, the can artwork, is, well, interesting.

Rise Double IPA by Breakaway Beerworks (Manchester)

I recently stumbled upon this brewery and grabbed this beer thinking I was grabbing something from an entirely different brewery. Now that it’s clear that I might not be all that detail-oriented these days, I’m glad I did mistakenly choose this brewery, which actually brews its beers at Great North Aleworks in Manchester. Rise is an aggressive brew that is, I think, best described as “amped up.” The hops are amped up, the flavor is amped up, the bitterness is amped up and the alcohol is amped up. But these are all good things. I’m just giving you a heads up. It’s a bold IPA that brings huge citrus and pine flavor. This is a terrific double IPA and I look forward to trying more brews from this brewery.

Playlist 07:01 IPA by Throwback Brewery (North Hampton)

Many breweries are offering ever-evolving versions of their IPAs, keeping the recipe the same but switching up the hop combination or some other aspect of the brew to create a new and interesting concoction with each batch. Throwback’s Playlist beer series features the same “base IPA recipe,” of oats and malts, but they switch up the yeast or the hops with each batch. This iteration, made with dragon, wolf, fox and citra hops and kveik yeast, features flavors of citrus, strawberry and light honey, along with light herbal tea and pine notes, according to the brewery. I’ll be tracking this one down.

What’s in My Fridge
Rise A.P.A. by Whalers Brewing Co. (Wakefield, Rhode Island) I love the can design here featuring a big ol’ whale, of all things, on the front. Their flagship brew, this is a pretty easy-drinking, dry-hopped American Pale Ale that paired quite well with watching my kids run through sprinklers on a hot day. Cheers!

Find your farmers markets

A look at the socially distant summer market scene

You can still get your leafy greens, grass-fed meats and fresh poultry at local farmers markets this summer, but there’s no denying that the fresh-air market vibe won’t be the same, with regulations in place to promote social distancing and the cancellation of vendor demonstrations, tastings and live music.

“It has really been a shift from hanging out and socializing at the market … to just coming in and purchasing or picking up the product,” said Julie Dewdney, market manager of the Canterbury Community Farmers Market, which began on June 3.

Farmers markets have been considered essential businesses from the beginning, according to Gail McWilliam Jellie, director of agricultural development for the New Hampshire Department of Agriculture, Markets & Food. The department has encouraged markets to stay open, both to maintain cash flow for the vendors and to provide food sources for customers. Despite that, many summer markets started late and some have canceled altogether.

Early season markets

One of the only markets in the Granite State that has remained uninterrupted during the pandemic is in Salem. The year-round market, which normally operates indoors from November through about April or May, moved outside several weeks earlier than planned, on March 15, despite temperatures barely above freezing.

“I think on that first day [we went outside] it was 37 degrees out,” board president Bonnie Wright said, “but people wanted to come and vendors wanted to come, so we kept the market going. … We’ve had to adapt a great deal and make a lot of changes as the virus situation has evolved.”

After being in the parking lot of the Mary A. Fisk Elementary School for a few weeks, the Salem Farmers Market moved back to its normal summer location at Salem Marketplace a few miles away on April 5. Since then the market has been operating at limited hours each week, on Sundays from 10 a.m. to noon only — it’s normally from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., according to Wright.

Moving the market outdoors in a paved parking lot, Wright said, has allowed its board members to further space out each vendor and control the flow of customers. Only 100 people are allowed into the market at a time to prevent long lines from forming. Table fees are, for the time being, waived for all vendors in an effort to help supplement the income some have lost.

“It definitely doesn’t have that farmers market feel that people are used to,” Wright said, “but we are seeing quite a bit of people … and occasionally people have to wait to get in.”

In Concord, after the cancellation of its winter market in Eagle Square on March 17 with more than a month left to go, growing uncertainty loomed over whether the city’s summer market on Capitol Street could go on. The market did miss its targeted opening date of May 2 by one week, resuming operations on May 9 with just a fraction of its vendors, but president Wayne Hall said it has exceeded his expectations since then.

“It’s been tremendous,” said Hall, who owns Rockey Ole Farm in Concord. “It’s been very, very steady, and people have been very respectful of the things we’ve been putting in place. … We are also constantly adding more new vendors as we go along.”

Hall said there is still an abundance of leafy greens available at the market, such as lettuce, kale, and Swiss chard. Next up for produce will be strawberries, coming from Apple Hill Farm, followed by blueberries later in July. Summer squash, tomatoes and cucumbers are all expected to be available soon too.

A second summer market has also debuted in Concord this year. For the first time, Cole Gardens is hosting an outdoor market in its parking lot following the conclusion of its indoor winter market in April, market manager Jane Iarussi said.

The Contoocook Farmers Market, according to manager Karin Cohen, began its summer season a couple of weeks earlier than planned, on May 23. Another year-round market, Contoocook had suspended operations indoors at Maple Street Elementary School on March 14.

“We were slated to reopen outdoors on June 6, but there were a lot of community requests for us to open [earlier], and a lot of our farmers also felt like they were ready to go,” Cohen said.

Now back at its normal summer location next to the Contoocook Railroad Museum, the market is encouraging just one member per household to visit if possible, and to leave all children and pets home. Reusable and single-use plastic bags are allowed, as long as you don’t place them on any table surfaces. Product sampling, vendor demonstrations, live music and arts and crafts vendors have all been temporarily suspended until further notice.

“We’re really trying to encourage people not to linger, just because we are such a small market,” Cohen said. “Unfortunately, it’s not the social market that we’re used to, but I think everyone so far has been happy to still be able to come out and support our local farmers.”

Jim Ramanek of Warner River Produce in Webster is a featured vendor at the Contoocook, Cole Gardens and Canterbury markets — he’ll also be joining the Franklin market on Tuesdays when it gets underway on June 23, and has started an online ordering system via harvesttomarket.com.

“We still have a few winter vegetables and we’re doing lots of mixed lettuce, radishes and baby turnips,” Ramanek said. “Spinach is on the decline because it’s just been too hot for it.”

Work Song Farm in Hopkinton, another vendor at this year’s Contoocook market, has certified organic strawberries available first-come, first-serve. According to co-owner Dan Kilrain, the farm will have them for at least the next two to three weeks.

June and beyond

The month of June has brought with it several more summer markets in the state kicking off their seasons under new guidelines. The Canterbury Community Farmers Market was able to begin on schedule, Dewdney said, after its association spent several weeks discussing what the safest practices would be for vendors and customers.

“It was really important to us that we opened up that access to good products,” she said, “so we came up with a whole set of guidelines, with help from the UNH Cooperative Extension and the Maine Federation of Farmers Markets.”

In addition to encouraging masks, all handling of products is done by the vendors until after purchases are made. The Canterbury market has also eliminated all special activities it would normally have throughout the season, and is encouraging people to limit attendance to one visitor per household.

“Our first week was really successful,” Dewdney said of the June 3 market. “We didn’t have to control the crowd level. We had one entry point and we kind of just had a steady stream.”

The Canterbury market averages about 20 vendors — and even though Dewdney said a few vendors have dropped out, the Association has been receiving interest from newcomers.

One of the returning vendors, Kathy Doherty of Sanborn Meadow Farm in Canterbury, said the market’s opening day went well and that many customers even thanked her for being there. Doherty focuses primarily on herbs and leafy greens.

“Early in the season, it’s a lot of radishes, arugula and mixed Asian greens. That’s what I brought the first week, and I’ll diversify a bit with lettuce, broccoli, rhubarb and some varieties of kale,” Doherty said. “The spring was very cold and it seemed to delay everything … but they’re starting to catch up now. I think tomatoes will be coming a bit later than usual.”

The New Boston Farmers Market, which opened for the season on June 6, has roped off access from outside the town common, only allowing one-way entrances and exits for customers. Market co-manager Allison Vermette said the response to the changes has been positive so far.

“Most of the people who have shown up have been very thankful that we’ve been open. I think there’s been a very big push to have more local products available during this whole pandemic,” Vermette said. “It’s normally a very community-based market, so this year we do look a lot different. … We usually have different community guests come in, but that’s unfortunately been cut out for the foreseeable future. We’re also not doing our children’s market this year.”

In Milford the pandemic caused the cancellation of the town’s final two indoor winter market dates on March 14 and March 28. But on June 13 the market was able to start its summer season under new guidelines at 300 Elm St. across from the New Hampshire Antique Co-op.

“I’ve done a lot of research on how to open safely,” market manager Adrienne Colsia said. “Last year I used probably only half the parking lot, but now we’re using the whole perimeter of the lot to space everybody out. … We have one entrance, and we’re encouraging people to just grab and go and not hang around if they can. Customers are allowed to bring reusable bags.”

Colsia, who also co-owns Paradise Farm in Lyndeborough with her husband Wayne, said they will have strawberries available at the market. Other items you can expect at the market include meats like grass-fed beef, pork and lamb, poultry, fresh fish, cheeses, and leafy greens like kale, arugula and Swiss chard.

The Bedford Farmers Market, scheduled to begin on June 16, is in a new spot this year — the parking lot of the Harvest Market on Route 101 in Bedford, which closed its doors about a month ago, according to market manager Lauren Ritz. The market had previously been in the parking lot of St. Elizabeth Seton Catholic Church on Meetinghouse Road.

“The Diocese of Manchester … wasn’t comfortable with having us in the parking lot with the state that New Hampshire was at, at the time the decision was made,” said Ritz, who also co-owns Hoof and Feather Farm in Amherst, one of this year’s vendors. “So we actually reached out on the Bedford’s town Facebook page, and the Harvest Market offered us their parking lot.”

The market will feature 30 vendors throughout the season, some of which will rotate depending on the product availability of each. Hoof and Feather Farm is the meat vendor, featuring chicken, beef and pork, while other vendors are selling various fruits and vegetables, cheeses, honey, maple syrup and personal care products.

Newcomers include Jennifer Lee’s Bakery out of Worcester, Mass., which makes gluten-free and dairy-free baked goods; and the Bedford Sewing Battalion, which will have a table handing out free masks and accepting fabric and elastic donations. Like many of the state’s other markets, Ritz said Bedford had to cancel all planned live entertainment and demonstrations.

Merrimack’s farmers market is also expected to begin this week. According to market manager and town agricultural commission chair Bob McCabe, the Merrimack Town Council on June 11 approved the market to begin on June 17, one week after its proposed start date. That market is expected to continue through mid-October, in the parking lot of Vault Motor Storage on Daniel Webster Highway.

More markets to come

A few more summer markets in the state are expected to get going as the month winds down.

In Nashua, for example, the market will resume on June 21, continuing every Sunday through the middle of October. Due to several lane closures on either side of Main Street to accommodate outdoor dining space for restaurants, this year’s market has moved from its normal spot between Temple and Pearl streets down to the area in front of City Hall Plaza.

“We’ll be around City Hall on the Main Street side, as well as in the shaded area of the Nashua Heritage Rail Trail and [in] the surface parking lot to the rear of the building,” Great American Downtown executive director Paul Shea said. “It’s a larger area than where we normally operate … so customers will have a lot of space to move through the market while distancing.”

The Franklin Farmers Market is expected to begin on June 23 at Marceau Park on Central Street, while in Wilmot the farmers market will start on June 27 on the town green.

While the Intown Farmers Market in Manchester will not be taking place in the traditional sense, plans are in the works for a limited version of the market to return. Starting on June 25 farmers with Fresh Start Farms, a program of the Manchester-based Organization for Refugee and Immigrant Success, will be at Victory Park every Thursday through August.

“It’s going to be more like a farm stand,” Intown Manchester executive director Sara Beaudry said. “We were already in the process of restructuring our farmers market … to move from Stanton Plaza back to Victory Park, but then with everything going on we teamed up with ORIS to bring the market back and to simplify it.”

Jameson Small, program manager for the New American Sustainable Agriculture Project at ORIS, said members of Fresh Start Farms are also at the Bedford, Concord, Merrimack, Milford and Salem markets. In addition to leafy greens they’ll have tomatoes, cucumbers and squash later in the summer, as well as ethnic crops, like amaranth greens and African eggplant.

Market cancellations

The pandemic has caused a few markets in New Hampshire to pull the plug on their summer seasons entirely. One of the most notable to shut down for the year is the Derry Homegrown Farm & Artisan Market, which would have begun earlier this month in downtown Derry.

The market’s board had initially announced that the season would at least be delayed before the decision was made to cancel it altogether on June 2, one day before its original opening date.

“It was a really, really difficult decision that we did not want to have to do,” market manager and board vice president Neil Wetherbee said of its cancellation.

Wetherbee said it came down to the market’s location and its board ensuring the safety of all vendors and customers. Unlike most of the other markets, which are on paved surfaces, Derry’s is on grass, eliminating the ability to make six-foot markers with chalk. He also said its unique location in the center of town, along with its proximity to the rail trail, made it difficult to mandate specific entry and exit points for visitors. Other potential locations in town were considered but its board ultimately could not find one suitable.

In addition to all of those factors, Wetherbee said if the market were to take place it would have featured less than half of its regular vendors.

“We spent the last three years trying to turn this into a community event … and it really would’ve been a shell of what it has been,” he said. “A big part of discussion also was that we didn’t want to live with the responsibility if one of our vendors, especially one of our older vendors, was to get sick, or if we started to see a spike in virus cases in Derry.”

The Lee Farmers Market, which would have started on the last Thursday in May, has also canceled its season, instead “existing virtually,” according to manager Tina Sawtelle.

“We’ve sort of pivoted to becoming an online source to help local farms connect to customers, and to point people in the right direction for where to get product,” said Sawtelle, who originally started the market with her husband through the Lee Agricultural Commission. “It’s actually helped our vendors increase their CSA shares too.”

Find a market everyday
Here’s a list of summer farmers markets happening in southern New Hampshire.

Sundays
• Cole Gardens Farmers Market is from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Cole Gardens (430 Loudon Road, Concord), now through October. Visit colegardens.com.
• Dover Farmers Market is from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Henry Law Park (1 Washington St., Dover), now through Oct. 11. Visit seacoastgrowers.org.
• Nashua Farmers Market will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at City Hall Plaza (229 Main St.), June 21 through Oct. 18. Visit downtownnashua.org/local.
• Salem Farmers Market is from 10 a.m. to noon at Salem Marketplace (224 N. Broadway). Visit salemnhfarmersmarket.org.

Mondays
• Durham Farmers Market is from 2:15 to 6 p.m. in the parking lot of Sammy’s Market (5 Madbury Road), now through October. Visit seacoastgrowers.org.
• Fresh Chicks Local Outdoor Market is from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Monadnock Community Hospital (452 Old Street Road, Peterborough), now through October. Email [email protected].

Tuesdays
• Bedford Farmers Market is from 3 to 6 p.m. in the parking lot of the former Harvest Market (209 Route 101), now through Sept. 29. Visit bedfordfarmersmarketnh.org.
• Franklin Farmers Market is from 3 to 6 p.m. at Marceau Park (Central Street), June 23 through Sept. 29. Find them on Facebook @franklinlocalmarket.
• Rochester Farmers Market is from 3 to 6 p.m. at Rochester Community Center (150 Wakefield St.). Visit rochesternhfarmersmarket.com.

Wednesdays
• Canterbury Community Farmers Market is from 4 to 6:30 p.m. in the parking lot of the Elkins Public Library (9 Center Road), now through Sept. 30. Visit canterburyfarmersmarket.com.
• Dover Farmers Market is from 2:15 to 6 p.m. in the parking lot of the Dover Chamber of Commerce (550 Central Ave), now through Oct. 7. Visit seacoastgrowers.org.
• Merrimack Farmers Market is from 3 to 6 p.m. at Vault Motor Storage (526 Daniel Webster Highway, Merrimack), now through Oct. 7. Visit merrimacknh.gov/farmers-market.
• Peterborough Farmers Market is from 3 to 6 p.m. on the lawn of the Peterborough Community Center (25 Elm St.). Find them on Facebook @peterboroughnhfarmersmarket.

Thursdays
• Exeter Farmers Market is from 2:15 to 6 p.m. behind the Seacoast School of Technology (30 Linden St.), now through Oct. 29. Visit seacoastgrowers.org.
• Henniker Community Market is from 4 to 7 p.m. at Henniker Community Center (57 Main St.), now through October. Find them on Facebook @hennikercommunitymarket.
• Intown Manchester’s Farmers Market will be from 3 to 6 p.m. at Victory Park (Concord and Chestnut streets, Manchester), June 25 through Aug. 27. Find them on Facebook @manchesterfood.
• Rindge Farmers Market is from 3 to 6 p.m. at West Rindge Common (Route 202 North), now through Oct. 8. Find them on Facebook @rindgefarmersandcraftersmarket.
• Wolfeboro Area Farmers Market is from 12:30 to 4:30 p.m. at Clark Park (233 S. Main St., Wolfeboro), now through Oct. 15. Visit wolfeboroareafarmersmarket.com.

Fridays
• Francestown Community Market is from 4 to 7 p.m. across from the Francestown Police Station (15 New Boston Road). Find them on Facebook @francestowncommunitymarket.

Saturdays
• Barnstead Farmers Market is from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 96 Maple St. in Center Barnstead, now through September. Visit barnsteadfarmersmarket.club.
• Concord Farmers Market is from 8:30 a.m. to noon on Capitol Street in Concord (near the Statehouse), now through October. Visit concordfarmersmarket.com.
• Contoocook Farmers Market is from 9 a.m. to noon at 896 Main St. in Contoocook. The year-round market usually moves indoors to Maple Street Elementary School (194 Main St.) beginning in early November, according to market manager Karin Cohen.
• New Boston Farmers Market is from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the corner of Route 13 and Meetinghouse Hill Road, now through October (no market on Saturday, July 4). Visit newbostonfarmersmarket.webs.com.
• New Ipswich Farmers Market is from 9 a.m. to noon at the New Ipswich town offices (661 Turnpike Road). Find them on Facebook @newipswichfarmersmarket.
• Milford Farmers Market is from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 300 Elm St. in Milford (across the street from the New Hampshire Antique Co-op), now through Oct. 10. Visit milfordnhfarmersmarket.com.
• Portsmouth Farmers Market is from 8 a.m. to noon at the Little Harbour School (50 Clough Drive, Portsmouth), now through Nov. 7. Visit seacoastgrowers.org.
• Warner Area Farmers Market is from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the lawn of Warner Town Hall (5 E. Main St.), now through October. Visit warnerfarmersmarket.org.
• Wilmot Farmers Market will be from 9 a.m. to noon at 9 Kearsarge Valley Road in Wilmot, June 27 through Sept. 26. Visit wilmotfarmersmarket.com.

Weekly Dish 20/06/18

• Glendi canceled: For the first time in four decades, Glendi, a popular three-day festival celebrating Greek culture through food, music and dancing in Manchester, will not be taking place this year. Glendi had been scheduled for Friday, Sept. 18, through Sunday, Sept. 20, at St. George Greek Orthodox Cathedral, but the church made the announcement of its cancellation in a June 10 press release. “Our number one priority is the safety and health of our volunteers, our parishioners and our customers,” the release read. St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church’s 72nd Lamb Barbecue, which would have been on June 20 on the church grounds on Bridge Street in Manchester, has also been canceled, its Parish Council announced.

• Appetite for poutine: In place of the canceled fifth annual New Hampshire PoutineFest, which would have been last Saturday, the first PoutineFest Roadshow will be kicking off next month. Tickets recently went on sale online to purchase a special roadshow “passport” for $14.99 (or $29.99 with an event T-shirt included). From July 11 through Aug. 31 you can take the passport with you to any participating restaurant and get 25 percent off a regular order of poutine. According to event organizer Tim Beaulieu, participating Roadshow restaurants encompass much of New England, including many in New Hampshire but others as far north as Maine and the Canadian border and as far south as Rhode Island. “It’s just our way keeping the community of poutine-lovers alive,” Beaulieu said of the Roadshow. “We’ve also had some restaurants in the past that have wanted to come participate at PoutineFest but couldn’t because they were so far away, so now this is their opportunity.” Visit nhpoutinefest.com.

• Dinner at your doorstep: Great New Hampshire Restaurants, which owns T-Bones, Cactus Jack’s and the Copper Door, has recently launched a new project called DingDongDeliver.com. Known as a ghost kitchen, DingDongDeliver.com prepares and delivers ready-to-cook meal packages, featuring items like scratch-made chicken pot pie, burger kits, butcher cut steaks, pasta dishes and homemade desserts. Currently, pre-ordered deliveries are available to all Manchester and Bedford addresses on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, from 1 to 5 p.m. Orders must be placed 24 hours in advance. Visit dingdongdeliver.com, find them on Facebook @dddeliver or call 488-2828.

Signs of Life 20/06/18

All quotes are from Gentleman’s Agreement, by Laura Z. Hobson, born June 19, 1900.

Gemini (May 21 – June 20) So often getting to know a new man was a disheartening business of revising downward from the first impression. Expectations may need revising.

Cancer (June 21 – July 22) Two o’clock in the morning was a hell of a time to remember Pop and his large-scale talk about ethics. The mind was never a respecter of appropriateness. What you want and what’s appropriate may diverge.

Leo (July 23 – Aug. 22) Phil folded the paper, creasing it lengthwise and then across as if he were wedged in by a subway mob. But it was time he needed, not space. He might have known this would happen and thought out in advance what to do. There’s no such thing as planning behind.

Virgo (Aug. 23 – Sept. 22) Philip Green nodded, not in agreement with the comfortable words, but in affirmation of his own estimate of the job ahead. It would be flabby, lifeless, unless he found some special approach to it. Instinct, experience, past failures as well as past successes, all helped him now in his quick appraisal. You’ll find the right approach.

Libra (Sept. 23 – Oct. 22) ‘Committees.’ The certainty of future boredom, of wasted listening, laced his depression with resentment. Get out while you can.

Scorpio (Oct. 23 – Nov. 21) The editor told him where, and they shook hands with a touch of formality, as if each suddenly remembered he didn’t know the other well. You can strengthen old relationships and make new ones at the same time.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22 – Dec. 21) Soon he was striding along as if he were hurrying to a specific place at a specific time. Actually he was walking only so that he could think more rapidly about the new assignment. … His mind … darted in new directions, hunting possibilities, exploring, rejecting. You’re just full of ideas this week.

Capricorn (Dec. 22 – Jan. 19) The shyness of the outsider came over him. … Working at home was the setup he’d asked for, but it would be wise, now that he was on the staff, to come in every day until he got to know some of these editors and writers. At once the idea disturbed him. Socialize at your own pace.

Aquarius (Jan. 20 – Feb. 18) In the two weeks since he’d become a resident of New York, he had passed the stage where he had to watch two successive street signs to see whether he was headed uptown or down. Get to know your surroundings.

Pisces (Feb. 19 – March 20) He wandered about the wide, tall-ceilinged room in which their own furniture and books looked so different from the way they had in the house in California. When the extra bookshelves were built in and the rest of his books taken out of the stacked cartons, it would be a pleasant room; he would like working in it. A little interior design could work wonders.

Aries (March 21 – April 19) At his desk, he had ordered himself to think about the assignment, but like a fractious child, his mind had refused to comply. Try clearing your head between assignments.

Taurus (April 20 – May 20) On assignment, he was never shy about meeting and interviewing people, but to make new social contacts was another thing. Your skills may vary with the context, but you still have skills.

The Music Roundup 20/06/18

• Get some ’cue: Enjoy outdoor dining with music from Austin McCarthy in an oasis whose opening marks the semi-official start of summer. As Jimmy Buffet sings, “Thank God the Tiki bar is open, thank God the Tiki torch still shines.” McCarthy is an easygoing singer songwriter with a list of covers ranging from Grateful Dead to City & Color, along with some tasty originals. Thursday, June 18, 4 p.m., KC’s Rib Shack, 837 Second St., Manchester. For reservations, go to facebook.com/kcsribshack.

• Funny man: Veteran standup Robbie Printz was inspired by attending an Eddie Murphy show to break into comedy, deciding to parlay a childhood spent making up his own SNL skits into a career telling jokes. He’s appeared on Comedy Central and A&E’s venerable Evening at The Improv, and won the Boston Comedy Fest. Printz headlines an 18+ show with Carolyn Plummer and Pat Collins. Friday, June 19, 8 p.m., Amherst Country Club, 72 Ponemah Road, Amherst. Tickets $20 at playamherst.com.

• Party down: Offering another sign of revival, The Trichomes play the first show since lockdown at a venue with “live music” right there in its name. Dubbed a Dirty Thirty Birthday Bash for someone named Cheeze, the event requires mask-wearing and Jewel will cap capacity at 30 percent. The Newmarket-based headliners are an eclectic bunch, moving between funk, rock and jazz with ease. Friday, June 19, 7 p.m., Jewel Music Venue, 61 Canal St., Manchester. Tickets $10 at the door.

• Good times: Born in Florida, raised on blues and gospel, Pete Peterson is a fixture on the regional scene, both solo and with Rhythm Method and Family Affair, bands that include his daughter Yamica. The seasoned musician’s set list includes a mixture of soul, classic rock and rhythm & blues. He appears at the Salem location of a restaurant chain that’s lately gone all in on live music. Saturday, June 20, 6 p.m., T-Bones Great American Eatery, 311 South Broadway, Salem. Call 893-3444.

• Country sound: Recently celebrating her first album, April Cushman performs acoustic songs on a Concord bar and restaurant’s patio. The self-described “hillbilly songwriter” released In a Small Town on June 12; it was engineered by Nashville producer Colt Capperrune. The title song pays tribute to Swanzey, where Cushman grew up, and local spots like Jeanne’s Family Diner. Thursday, June 25, 5 p.m., Cheers NH, 17 Depot St., Concord. More at facebook.com/aprilcushmanmusic.

Treasure Hunt

Dear Donna,

I have a couple of hangers I’m looking to find out more about. They say ‘The Belmar Mfg Co.’ I thought they were very interesting when I bought them at a local thrift store. Any information and a value would be helpful.

Nichole from Weare, N.H.

Dear Nichole,

They are sweet hangers, and having the advertising papers still on them is amazing for the time that has passed and having been used. The Belmar Co. goes back to the late 1800s in Canton, Pennsylvania. They have quite the history in Canton as being one of the largest industries for a long period of time.

Who would think hangers could have such history? This company was owned by a woman first and started in a barn. The hangers were first made just for men’s trousers, then women’s as well. The value would be in the $20-to-$30 range each. I found others in this range that were in bad condition. But I’m not sure how strong the collectible level is for hangers these days. The history is good and that counts for something.

Donna Welch has spent more than 30 years in the antiques and collectibles field, appraising and instructing, and recently closed the physical location of From Out Of The Woods Antique Center (fromoutofthewoodsantiques.com) but is still doing some buying and selling. She is a member of The New Hampshire Antiques Dealer Association. If you have questions about an antique or collectible send a clear photo and information to Donna at [email protected], or call her at 391-6550 or 624-8668.

Stay in the loop!

Get FREE weekly briefs on local food, music,

arts, and more across southern New Hampshire!