Tag: 210527

Becky Costello

Becky Costello of Londonderry is the owner of Owl Hill Preserves ([email protected], and on Facebook and Instagram @owlhillpreserves), a business she started in her home kitchen specializing in small-batch jams and jellies in a variety of unique flavor combinations. In addition to seedless raspberry jam and blueberry blackberry vanilla jam, some of her other offerings include maple peach whiskey jam, blueberry lavender jam, mint mojito jelly, apple pie jam and amber marmalade. You can contact her to place orders, or find her jams and jellies at Handmade In… (Pheasant Lane Mall, 310 Daniel Webster Hwy., Nashua); Recycled Creations Artisans Boutique (25 Main St., Wilton); the Manchester Craft Market (Mall of New Hampshire, 1500 S. Willow St., Manchester); Little Red Hen Farm & Homestead (85 Norris Road, Pittsfield); and Linda’s Less Traveled Treasures and Country Store (49 E. Broadway, Derry). Costello will also appear at the Brimfield Antique Show & Flea Market at the Deerfield Fairgrounds on May 29 and May 30.

What is your must-have kitchen item?
A wooden spoon, because you have to constantly stir.

What would you have for your last meal?
Pad Thai noodles.

What is your favorite local restaurant?
Pickity Place in Mason. I always like to go there with friends.

What celebrity would you like to see trying one of your jams or jellies?
Tom Hiddleston.

What is your favorite jam or jelly that you make?
My personal favorite is the blueberry lavender jam, because I just love the combination of flavors. I usually like it on an English muffin.

What is the biggest food trend in New Hampshire right now?
I would probably say food trucks. I’ve just noticed that they seem more prevalent now than they ever have been.

What is your favorite thing to cook at home?
Pizza. My husband is actually in the process of building us an outdoor wood-burning pizza oven.

Pineapple sage chicken
Courtesy of Becky Costello of Owl Hill Preserves (using her own pineapple sage jelly)
Using a whole three-pound chicken, put fresh sage leaves under the skin. Rub the outside with melted butter, olive oil, dried sage, thyme and rosemary. Cook for 45 minutes. Melt pineapple sage jelly in the microwave for about 30 minutes, then pour onto chicken and cook until brown and crispy.

Featured photo: Becky Costello

Flavors of Haiti

Chef Chris Viaud is on the far right. From the left is Chris’s brother Phil, Phil’s wife Sarah, their father Yves, mother Myrlene, sister Kassie, sister Katie and Chris’s wife Emilee. Courtesy photos.

Local chef, family present monthly Haitian dinner series

On New Year’s Day, Culture in Milford shared a piece of owner and chef Chris Viaud’s Haitian heritage through a menu special of soup joumou, a pumpkin-based soup also commonly referred to in Haiti as “freedom soup.” The response was so positive that Viaud decided to turn it into a dinner series, bringing his entire family together to present authentic Haitian dishes each month.

Ansanm, as the series is now known, gets its name from the word meaning “together” in Haitian Creole. Viaud, along with his parents, Myrlene and Yves, siblings Phil, Kassie and Katie, wife Emilee and sister-in-law Sarah all work together to present a menu of scratch-made Haitian items that are now prepared and served out of his other Milford restaurant, Greenleaf.

“As I’ve been growing as a chef, I’ve always had a desire to learn more about my heritage through food. I just had this innate feeling that I needed to do more and relate food back to the beginning for me, to what I grew up eating,” Viaud said. “The concept was also born out of a desire to bring my siblings and parents closer to learn more about the food, because in the coming years we’ll be sharing it with my daughter as well.”

Ansanm’s logo features an illustration of a hibiscus flower, the national flower of Haiti, along with the red and blue colors seen on the Haitian flag.

Viaud’s mother, Myrlene, with whom he has memories of helping out in the kitchen growing up, is the primary head chef of the series. Depending on the month, most dinners are served on the third or fourth Sunday, with online pre-ordering available a few days before. While the first few dinners were takeout only, the most recent one also had a dine-in option at Greenleaf.

Items have included griot (marinated twice-cooked pork) and poule nan sós (braised chicken in Creole sauce), each of which is often served with rice, plantains or pikliz, a spicy pickled vegetable slaw consisting of cabbage, carrots, onion and peppers. Diri djon djon, a rice dish made with black mushrooms that are native to Haiti, is another item recently added to the menu.

“Diri djon djon is the most iconic rice dish in Haiti, just because the mushrooms are so hard to find and are expensive,” Viaud said.

Other featured menu options are a potato and beet salad; chicken or mushroom and vegetable pate; and a Haitian-style spaghetti with peppers, onions and spices in a tomato sauce. Ansanm also offers a scratch-made pineapple upside down cake for dessert, as well as bottles of Cola Couronne, a tropical fruit soda known as the oldest manufactured soft drink from Haiti.

New dinner pre-orders are regularly updated through Ansanm’s website and social media pages.

“Seeing its growth has been tremendous,” Viaud said of the series. “We’ll definitely be doing some fun things this summer, like hopefully hosting a dinner outside with a steel drummer doing live Caribbean music.”

Ansanm
Visit ansanmnh.com or follow them on Facebook and Instagram @ansanm.nh for updates. Dinners are typically held during the third or fourth Sunday of each month, with all orders prepared and picked up at Greenleaf (54 Nashua St., Milford).

Feautred photo: Braised chicken with rice and peas, fried plantains, and pikliz. Courtesy photo.

The Weekly Dish 21/05/27

News from the local food scene

• More markets return: For the first time in two years, the Derry Homegrown Farm & Artisan Market is returning to 1 W. Broadway in Derry on Wednesday, June 2, from 3 to 7 p.m. The market always features a wide variety of produce, meats and other items from local vendors, in addition to live music, local art and more. It will continue every Wednesday through the end of September. The Canterbury Community Farmers Market will also hold its opening day on Wednesday, June 2, from 4 to 6:30 p.m. in the parking lot of the Elkins Public Library (9 Center Road, Canterbury), while the Weare Real Food Farmers Market moves outdoors for the first time this year on Saturday, May 29, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., at 65 N. Stark Hwy. in Weare. Visit canterburyfarmersmarket.com and wearerfm.com, respectively, or check out our coverage on southern New Hampshire summer farmers markets, which begins on page 20 of the Hippo’s May 20 edition.

• Grape expectations: Join LaBelle Winery for a ribbon cutting and grand opening celebration of its newest location at 14 Route 111 in Derry, set for Wednesday, June 2, at 3 p.m. There will be tours of the property, wine and food samplings and free rounds of golf for those who pre-register. LaBelle Winery’s new space, which has been opening in several phases over the past few weeks, includes a brand new restaurant concept called Americus, plus a retail market of prepared and made-to-order foods, multiple performance and event spaces and a nine-hole golf course. Plans are also in the works for the first Champagne house in New Hampshire to be built on the property. Visit labellewinery.com or check out our coverage on the new space in the Hippo’s May 6 edition, beginning on page 22.

• Support local eateries: The Boys & Girls Club of Central New Hampshire is once again going virtual for its annual Taste of New Hampshire this year, this time over the course of 12 days. From Tuesday, June 1, through Saturday, June 12, discounted gift cards for more than 40 local eateries will be available for purchase. You can purchase the gift cards or bid on auction items during those days, either paying $20 for a $25 gift card or $40 for a $50 gift card. The restaurants receive 100 percent of the proceeds, while the Boys & Girls Clubs benefit from the silent auction and sponsorships. Visit tasteofnewhampshire.com or search “Taste of New Hampshire” on Facebook for more details.

• Taking flight: Flight Coffee Co. of Bedford is moving to a new location in town, holding its final day of service at 30 Harvey Road on Saturday, May 29, and reopening at 290 Route 101 next to Wicked Good Butchah on Monday, June 7. “The time has come for us to leave our small outpost and take flight over to our new location on the corner of [Route] 101 and Wallace [Road],” read a May 16 post on the shop’s Facebook page. For nearly a decade Flight Coffee Co. has been a favorite spot in Bedford for its single-origin coffees, also offering teas, espresso blends and fresh doughnuts. Visit flightcoffeeco.com.

On The Job – Victoria Bombino

Victoria Bombino

Dental assistant

Victoria Bombino is a dental assistant at Simply Pediatric Dentistry & Orthodontics in Pelham, where she works alongside the dentist to provide dental care for children.

Explain your job and what it entails.

Understanding patient care, which means helping make the kids feel comfortable at the dentist; educating kids on the importance of good oral health; and working closely with [the dentist] Dr. Boulos doing frenectomies, fillings and anything relative to [dental procedures]; as well as customer service, making sure the dentist is a fun place to go to, and ensuring that parents feel good about the experience as well.

How long have you had this job?

I’ve had this current job for roughly four months now. I’ve been in the dental field for three years.

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

When I was younger, I didn’t like my smile, but I loved going to the dentist. I had the opportunity in high school to start [attending] a technical high school. It had [a] dental assisting [program] there, and that immediately drew my attention. I decided to try it out, and I’ve stuck with it ever since. I attended the University of New England for dental hygiene to continue [the education], but, due to Covid, I took a semester off, and that’s when I ended up landing a job here, as a dental assistant. … Ultimately, I would love to become a dentist.

What kind of education or training did you need?

[To be] a dental assistant, you need your high school diploma, as well as your radiology [training requirement], which is an additional course that you have to take. … You have to always stay up to date with the current technology and the best practices of dentistry. There are … certain procedures where we use certain [equipment], such as the Solea laser, that the dentist has to go [receive training] on, and then the dentist will show the assistants the right and wrong ways [to operate it]. … I’m still working [toward becoming] a Certified Dental Assistant; there are multiple other courses and certifications [required] to become a CDA.

What is your typical at-work uniform or attire?

For our work uniform, we wear scrubs with a water-resistant lab coat over it. … Advanced PPE for patient and team health is huge. We wear a Level 3 mask, and we wear a face shield over it when we’re working closely with a patient. We throw away our used masks every second that we can and put on a new one. I even wear a hair cap, just to make sure everything stays nice and safe for everyone.

How has your job changed over the last year?

Dental offices have always taken the highest level of safety precautions when it comes to personal hygiene, such as hand washing, and wearing PPE, so it has changed less than a lot of people might have guessed. We have [added] extra [precautions], though, such as reduced waiting room time and full sterilization of the dental rooms between each patient.

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

Individuals can be scared at the dentist, but it’s OK; try not to take it personally, and just comfort them as much as you can.

What was the first job you ever had?

My first job was at a prom dress store called Glitterati in Danvers, Mass.

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

Leave work at work.

Five favorites
Favorite book: Divergent by Veronica Roth
Favorite movie:Miss Congeniality
Favorite music: Country
Favorite food: Anything Buffalo
Favorite thing about NH: The scenery. Waking up and seeing all the trees never gets old.

Featured photo: Victoria Bombino

Treasure Hunt 21/05/27

Dear Donna,

I have accumulated several hundred marbles. I display them in jars but think it’s time to move them on. I haven’t purchased them in ages, so I’m wondering what the value might be today. Most are like the ones in the photos, with a few of what I call “fancy” ones.
Dan

Dear Dan,
Marbles were and are a very common collection to have. They bring such fond memories and are decorative (in jars like you have them).

Because there were so many machine-made marbles, most are very common and can be found in jars (canning size). You can pick them up at antique shops, flea markets, etc., most for around $15 to $30 a jar.

If you have been collecting for a while and haven’t had them seen by someone, my suggestion is to either have someone look at them or get a marble reference price guide. It’s important to just make sure some are not more rare, because then the values can rise up quickly. This isn’t tough to do when there are so many places to get the information today and great photos as well.

Let’s just say they are all common aside from what you think are fancy ones. You still have a treasure that should be easy to find a new home for.

Kiddie Pool 21/05/27

Family fun for the weekend

Photo courtesy of the New Hampshire Farm Museum.

A day at the farm

The New Hampshire Farm Museum (1305 White Mountain Hwy., Milton) is opening for the season on Saturday, May 29, and to celebrate, it’s hosting Dairy Day, where kids can learn how to make butter, ice cream and cheese, play farm games, go on a tractor-drawn ride and participate in a barn scavenger hunt with prizes. You are welcome to bring a picnic or buy lunch at the museum. The museum is open Wednesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. until Aug. 31. Admission is $10 for adults, $7.50 for seniors over 65, $5 for kids and teens ages 4 and up, and free for children under 4, museum members and active military service members. The special events for Dairy Day are included with the cost of admission. Visit nhfarmmuseum.org.

Fun with the Peanuts gang

The Derry Opera House (29 W. Broadway, Derry) is reopening this weekend with You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown, performed by the Kids Coop Theatre, on Friday, May 28, at 7 p.m. and Saturday, May 29, at 1 and 7 p.m. The Peanuts gang plays baseball, struggles with homework, sings songs and celebrates friendship in this show, based on the “Peanuts” comic strip by Charles M. Schulz. Tickets cost $15 and are available on a first come, first served basis. Visit kids-coop-theatre.org or find the event on Facebook to reserve your tickets.

Ocean celebration

Join Seacoast Science Center (570 Ocean Blvd., Rye) for eight days of fun activities and events created to celebrate World Ocean Day, which is Tuesday, June 8. From Tuesday, June 1, through Tuesday, June 8, take part in a variety of virtual and in-person events, including beach cleanup days, educational programs about marine life, a recycled arts contest, a virtual 5K run, tide pool explorations, trivia challenges and more. The events kick off with a beach cleanup from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.; you can download a DIY Cleanup toolkit at seacoastsciencecenter.org, then head to Creek Farm in Portsmouth at 4 p.m. to see the results of the cleanup. Visit seacoastsciencecenter.org for the full schedule and to register for events.

Featured photo: Photo courtesy of the New Hampshire Farm Museum.

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