As I left the house for my weekly outing to the flea market, the nightingale-like voice of my wife called out after me.
“Don’t buy anything stupid!”
This advice seemed misguided to me for two reasons: (1) buying something stupid is the whole point of a flea market, and (2) after 19 years of marriage, the idea that I could refrain from that kind of stupidity is optimistic to the point of fantasy.
To my credit, I kept a cool head for the first 20 minutes or so of browsing. But then I found this beauty — a tapered glass decorated with a grouse. You can tell, because it is labeled as such: “Grouse.”
In much the same way as some people talk about making eye contact with a puppy at an animal shelter and instantly bonding, the Grouse Glass and I shared an instant emotional intimacy. It fluttered its way into my heart.
Which is how Grouse Glass came home with me. Now, at this point, you are probably expecting a rambling story about my spirited defense of Grouse Glass to my wife, or a pun on the fact that “grouse” rhymes with “spouse,” but you will be disappointed, because I snuck it into the house when she was busy and hid it in with the other glassware in our dining room. Now, Grouse Glass is mine and I am its and a practical matter needs to be sorted — to wit, what to drink from it.
A brief internet search for grouse-themed cocktails was unexpectedly successful. As it turns out, there are a number of whiskeys named after grouse — Famous Grouse, Naked Grouse, etc. — largely connected to the image of tweedy aristocrats shooting them. In consequence, there have been a number of cocktails named after them.
I took a recipe that was weird as snake sneakers to begin with and started playing with it. I ended up with something that is solidly good but that no self-respecting grouse would have anything to do with.
Grouse With No Self-Respect
This is based on a drink called the Dirty Bird. I have made a great number of changes and substitutions. Clearly the Grouse is not the only one lacking in self-respect.
Ingredients:
2 ounces Doritos-infused Irish whiskey (See below. No, really. It will be OK.)
¼ ounces dry sherry — I used amontillado
1/3 ounce fig syrup (see below)
3 dashes (30 drops) cardamom or Angostura bitters
1 dash (10 drops) Tabasco sauce
Mix all ingredients in a mixing glass with ice. Stir until thoroughly chilled and a little diluted.
Pour everything, including the ice, into a chilled Grouse Glass. If you do not have a grouse glass, a rocks glass will do.
Garnish and serve on a plate with Fig Newtons.
OK, you’re going to have to have a little faith on this one.
The original recipe called for infusing a grouse-named whiskey with kettle corn. I tried it — and it was fine — but it was understated, and this does not seem to be an understated drink. I got to thinking, “The corn idea is solid, but is there a way of giving it some oomph?” Hence, the Doritos.
Stay with me; we’ll get through this together.
The fig syrup is the secret star here. The whiskey hits your palate first, followed by the — believe it or not — somewhat subtle Doritos flavor, but the fig aftertaste is what makes this drink really interesting. It leads to a second sip, then a third. The bitters keep it from being too sweet, and the Tabasco adds a tiny amount of zing that keeps it from tasting a little flat.
Self-respect is overrated.
Doritos-infused whiskey
Combine one 1-ounce packet of Nacho Cheese Doritos and 6 ounces of Irish whiskey in a small jar.
Seal and store someplace cool and dark for one week, shaking it twice per day.
Strain and bottle it. (Don’t stress about how little whiskey you end up with. You like whiskey; it turns out that Doritos like whiskey. They deserve a little something for the sacrifice they have made.
Fig syrup
Combine two parts fig jam to one part water in a small saucepan over medium heat.
Boil until the jam is as dissolved as possible. Depending on what brand of jam you are using, there may or may not be chunks of fig left, after it is syruped.
Strain and bottle. Don’t worry about any tiny fig seeds — that’s what helps keep this figgy — but actual chunks of figs would probably be off-putting in the final cocktail.
Nashua couple Paula Norena and Jonathan Laureano opened Tostao’s Tapas – Bar (170 Main St., Nashua, 577-1111, tostaostapasbar.com), a downtown eatery offering authentic Spanish tapas and cocktails, in the spring of 2019. Natives of Colombia and Puerto Rico, respectively, Norena and Laureano took over the former WineNot Boutique space in late 2018, installing a brand new kitchen and creating a menu that borrows styles from Europe and across multiple Latin American nations. Popular items include the beef, chicken or cheese empanadas, the paella, the coconut shrimp, and arepas, a dish popular in Colombia and Venezuela that Norena described as similar in appearance to a pancake, but made of corn.
What is your must-have kitchen item?
The tongs.
What would you have for your last meal?
Bandeja paisa. It’s a traditional plate from Colombia with rice, beans, egg, pork belly, chorizo and corn cake. It has everything on one plate.
What is your favorite local restaurant?
Casey Magee’s [Irish Pub in Nashua]. Their chicken wings are great.
What celebrity would you like to see coming into Tostao’s Tapas – Bar?
I would say maybe Marc Anthony. I love his music, so that would be nice.
What is your favorite item on your menu?
I love steak, so my favorite thing would be the carne asada. I also love the ribs sancocho, which is a special that we throw on the menu in the wintertime. I can eat it every day.
What is the biggest food trend in New Hampshire right now?
Right now, I see that empanadas are everywhere. We didn’t used to see them in every restaurant but now everybody seems to have them. … We have Colombian empanadas on our menu, which has a dough that is made of corn.
What is your favorite thing to cook at home?
Jonathan loves lasagna, so when I get to cook for my family, I like to do a homemade chicken lasagna.
Stuffed cheese arepas (corn cakes) From the kitchen of Paula Norena of Tostao’s Tapas – Bar in Nashua
2 cups pre-cooked white cornmeal 4 ounces part-skim mozzarella, cut into 8 cubes 2½ cups lukewarm water 1½ teaspoons kosher salt ¼ cup vegetable oil, or as needed
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Stir water and salt together in a large bowl. Add the cornmeal into the water until a soft dough forms. Divide the dough into 8 golf ball-sized balls and pat each into a patty. Place a cube of mozzarella in the center of each patty. Fold the dough over the cheese to cover it. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-low heat until simmering. Cook the corn patties until golden brown, about 5 minutes on each side. Bake the patties until their edges are crisp and golden, about 10 minutes.
Featured photo: Paula Norena of Tostao’s Tapas – Bar in Nashua
Merrimack resident and retired dog handler Mark Threlfall headed to Tarrytown, New York, earlier this month to serve as a breed judge at the Westminster Kennel Club’s 145th annual Dog Show — his third time judging the all-breed purebred conformation competition. It’s the longest nationally televised live dog show and second-longest continuously running sporting event in the U.S., following the Kentucky Derby. Threlfall, who handled the Best in Show winning dog at the show in 1993, talks about what it’s like to work with top dogs.
What did you do as a judge at the WKC dog show? I was one of probably about 40 breed judges. [Breed is] the first level of judging: Dogs compete with other dogs of their same breed. We select one dog as the Best of Breed winner, and that dog goes on to compete in his variety group. I did sporting dog breeds — they’re what I judge the most, and I enjoy them — like Irish setters, German wirehaired pointers, German shorthaired pointers, Gordon setters and black cocker spaniels. I [chose] one [dog] in each of those [breeds] to come back that night and compete in the sporting group. It keeps narrowing down from there in a process of elimination; four dogs [in the group] would be placed and the dog that wins first place would go on to compete for Best in Show.
What is your experience with dog shows? My first job in high school was a job in a kennel in Amherst, and from there, when I got out of high school, instead of skipping off to college, I went to work for the handler who showed the dogs for that kennel. It was supposed to be just a gap year, but that turned into four years of working for him. Then I went on to work for a couple who were handlers and very famous people in the sport in Southport, Connecticut, for five years. After that experience, I decided it was time to go out and show dogs of my own. As a handler, you do basically the same thing a horse trainer does for [racing] horses to get them ready for a race, but for dogs. Then, you’re not only the trainer, but you’re also kind of the ‘jockey,’ because you’re the one who brings them into the ring and shows them.
What do you look for when judging the dogs? Every breed has what’s called a ‘standard’ — a complete word description of every physical attribute of a perfect dog in that breed. It tells you how big it is, what kind of coat it has, what colors it can have, the [body] structure and everything from the length of the nose to the length of the head. You judge the dogs against their breed’s standard — you aren’t judging them against each other — and then you pick the dog that you feel most closely approaches perfection as described by its breed’s standard. By the time Best of Show is judged, you’ve got seven dogs in the ring that are all excellent examples of their breed, and what it comes down to then are those little intangibles. The dogs seem to know and understand that they’re in a show and that it’s a big deal, and you can just tell that they’re into it. They get all happy and excited and bubbly. It’s hard to describe, but it’s more about the performance, that little bit of magic a dog has going on that day that makes it catch your eye.
How does one become a dog show judge? We’ve all spent many years in the sport and around purebred dogs. … To judge for the American Kennel Club, you have to pass a test on the breed. Then the American Kennel Club has what they call ‘field representatives’ who work for the club and will come watch you in your first several [judging] assignments to see how you do, kind of as a hands-on test of [your knowledge of] the breed. Then, if they think you know what you’re doing, they’ll give you regular status [as a judge] for that breed.
How did you get called to judge the WKC dog show? They have a committee that selects the judges. Basically, they look for people who … have a good reputation of being fair and knowledgeable of the breeds that they’re judging. … Everybody hopes they get invited; it’s the biggest and best show. It’s a really big deal and a thrill for us [judges], like the Academy Awards or something.
What is your favorite part of judging a dog show? There’s nothing like finding a new great dog. There are [dog show] magazines where the owners advertise if their dogs had big wins and things like that, so when you go into the ring, you probably know several of the dogs. When you find an unknown one that you think is a really wonderful dog and is better than any of the others, that’s what’s really exciting.
• Greekfest Express coming to Manchester: Volunteers and members of Assumption Greek Orthodox Church (111 Island Pond Road, Manchester) are preparing to host a modified version of Greekfest, its popular two-day Greek food festival typically held in late August. Greekfest Express, a revised one-day drive-thru version of the festival, is scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 28, according to information from the church’s most recent online newsletter. The menu will feature many of the same Greek dishes that have been staples at previously Greekfest events, as well as at the church’s drive-thru food festivals held at the church over the past year — attendees can expect pastichio, half-roasted chicken, Greek meatballs, gyro plates, and desserts like baklava and loukoumades (fried dough balls). More details are expected to be posted online soon. Visit foodfest.assumptionnh.org.
• Beer & Wine: There’s a new local spot to get your favorite craft beers, wines and meads. Beer & Wine Nation opened on June 12 in Merrimack’s 360 Shopping Plaza (360 Daniel Webster Hwy.), according to a press release. The store features one of the largest selections of beer, wine and cigars under one roof in the area, including more than 2,000 craft and domestic beers, and more than 1,300 wines from around the world. There are also more than 300 ready-to-drink canned cocktail varieties and canned natural and organic wines, plus a selection of regularly stocked beers, wines and meads from New Hampshire. According to the release, the owners of Beer & Wine Nation have also been operating the Quick Stop at the Crossroads Mall in Londonderry for the past decade. They plan to open a second Beer & Wine Nation store in North Conway and to offer delivery services out of the Merrimack store soon. Visit beerandwinenation.com or follow them on Facebook and Instagram @bwnmerrimack to keep up with new product arrivals.
• Farm-fresh produce: Groh Farm (135 Temple Road, Wilton), a biodynamic farm in western Wilton, held the grand opening of its new farm store on June 20, where you’ll find a variety of greens, peas, turnips and other produce. According to executive farmer Julien Brooks, the store is open regularly on Tuesdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The site was the first location for the Temple-Wilton Community Farm and is now under the direction of Matt Pearson, a biodynamic farmer with three decades of experience. “It’s been over a year of work, but now we’re finally producing enough to sell,” Brooks said in an email. Other produce that will be available seasonally will include French breakfast radishes, cucumbers, peppers, heirloom and mixed cherry tomatoes, summer squash, and various herbs and edible flowers. Additionally, Brooks said the farm is launching a food trailer called Homegrown, which will be sourcing foods from different parts of New Hampshire, serving hot meals and some deli-style options. The food trailer will be operating on Saturdays only. Groh Farm also joined the roster of the Milford and Peterborough Farmers Markets last week. Visit grohfarm.com.
Sara Ann Hiland-Alanis is a registered nurse and International Board Certified lactation consultant. She owns her own practice, Nourish Holistic Lactation Support, in Bedford.
Explain your job.
I help families feed their babies. I help breastfeeding moms with breastfeeding concerns; moms who are pumping milk for their babies; and bottle-feeding families, feeding either breast milk or formula, if they’re struggling.
How long have you had this job?
I’ve been doing this for nine years and opened the business in 2017.
What led you to this career field and your current job?
I was a registered nurse, and after the birth of my first child I had a lot of struggles with feeding. There wasn’t a lot of support available at that time. I started going to a local moms group, and one of the group leaders was a lactation counselor. She’s the one who got me interested in helping moms and babies. After the birth of my second child — at that time, I had started working as a registered nurse with families and maternity and NICU — I had a lot of trouble with feeding him as well. I met with a lactation consultant in a private practice. … She’s the one who made me really fall in love with the profession. … I [opened Nourish] because there’s a different level of autonomy and investment in caring for patients in the community outside of the hospital umbrella. I think the care is much more personalized and available.
What kind of education or training did you need?
I have a bachelor’s degree in nursing, and … [for] the board certification [in lactation consulting], I had to complete a year of lactation-specific education, 1,000 hours of hands-on clinical experience as a mentee and sit for the board exam.
What is your typical at-work uniform or attire?
Business casual, something comfortable.
How has your job changed over the last year?
I think that, with all the Covid restrictions, families have become more reliant on care obtained outside of hospitals and doctors’ offices. More families are now seeking care outside of that realm and private practice care.
What do you wish you’d known at the beginning of your career?
I wish I’d had more clinical knowledge. Clinical knowledge is something you’re always getting, because every single case teaches you something, but, of course, you can’t really go into it already knowing that.
What do you wish other people knew about your job?
I wish people knew I existed. I don’t think a lot of families know there’s feeding support out there, and I don’t think a lot of pediatricians, midwives and in-practice doctors refer [patients to a lactation consultant] as often as they should. I’m a vested member of the medical community; I have extensive knowledge in infant feeding, both breast and bottle. I can really … make a difference in a family’s overall child-rearing experience.
What was the first job you ever had?
I was a nanny.
What’s the best piece of work-related advice you’ve ever received?
There aren’t a lot of us [lactation consultants], so I didn’t really get any advice on how to do this. If I was giving advice to someone who wants to be a lactation consultant, it’d be that they can do it. It takes a lot of work and a lot of time, and more goes into it than people would expect, but it’s a wonderful and fulfilling career.
Five favorites Favorite book: I don’t like reading; I can’t sit still that long! Favorite movie: Dirty Dancing Favorite music: Country Favorite food: Strawberry shortcake Favorite thing about NH: The seasons
Mrs Smith’s Quality Crested Geckos at the New England Reptile Expo. Courtesy photo.
Slithering Sunday
Take the whole family to see creepy crawly creatures at the New England Reptile Expo on Sunday, June 27, from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the DoubleTree by Hilton Manchester Downtown (700 Elm St.). There will be more than 180 vendor tables and more than 75 breeders with thousands of reptiles, amphibians, arachnids and more. Pre-purchased admission tickets are required, and some time slots were already full as of Tuesday, June 22. The cost is $10 for adults, $5 for kids ages 7 to 12 and free for kids under 6. Visit reptileexpo.com.
Music, magic & motion
And the Kids Coop Theatre performs Bring It On: The Musical on Friday, June 25, and Saturday, June 26, at the Derry Opera House. Inspired by the movie, this musical is filled with cheering, plus the complexities of teens navigating friendship, jealousy, betrayal and forgiveness. All seats are $15 and seating will be assigned in advance to maximize social distancing. Masks will be required for all patrons, staff and performers. Purchase tickets on the events Facebook page or visit kids-coop-theatre.org.
And watch dancers live on stage as the Movement Box Dance Studio performs its recital “Movement in Motion” at the Capitol Center for the Arts (44 S. Main St., Concord) on Saturday, June 26, at 1 p.m. Tickets cost $30. Visit ccanh.com.
Magician BJ Hickman performs a family-friendly magic show at the Palace Theatre in Manchester on Wednesday, June 30, and Thursday, July 1, at 10 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. The show is part of the Children’s Summer Series. The next show in the series is Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, performed by professional actors, on Tuesday, July 6, Wednesday, July 7, and Thursday, July 8, at 10 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. each day. Tickets for all shows are $10. Visit palacetheatre.org or call 668-5588.
Play ball!
The New Hampshire Fisher Cats are on the road this weekend, but the team will return to Northeast Delta Dental Stadium (1 Line Drive, Manchester) for a six-game homestand against the Portland Sea Dogs, beginning Tuesday, June 29 and through Sunday, July 4. All game start times are at 7:05 p.m., and promotions will include a Jonathan Davis bobblehead giveaway on July 1, meet-and-greets and autograph signings with local stars of the hit series North Woods Law before the game on July 2, and Atlas Fireworks shows each night from July 2 to July 4. Tickets start at $8 for a “pod” of two seats. Visit nhfishercats.com.
All natural
Spend the day out in nature at Beaver Brook Association (117 Ridge Road, Hollis) which has more than 35 miles of maintained trails, open every day from dawn to dusk. The trails cut through diverse landscapes, including forests, fields and wetlands and are home to a variety of wildlife. Admission is free. A number of different trail maps and accompanying guidebooks with pictures for identifying wildlife are available on the website. Call 465-7787 or visit beaverbrook.org.
The New Hampshire Audubon’s McLane Center (84 Silk Farm Road, Concord) is now open to visitors, featuring live animals and exhibits, including the Reptile Room and raptor mews, and a Nature Store. Admission is free. Hours are Tuesday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The trails and gardens at both the McLane Center and the Massabesic Audubon Center (26 Audubon Way, Auburn) are open daily from dawn to dusk with no admission fee. Call 224-9909 or visit nhaudubon.org.
Featured photo: BubbleMania! at the SEE Science Center. Courtesy photo.
I have no idea what these are. They look like they were attached to something at one time. They are bronze and about 3 inches. Can you identify what they are? Thanks for your help and expertise. Judy
Dear Judy, Sometimes things can be difficult to appraise from just photos. I think they should be seen by an appraiser in person for an accurate value. But for now, let’s get you to work.
You’ll want to look for any unusual markings, signatures, etc. To determine whether they are bronze, they should be heavy and noticeably so. It could be a spelter metal (a mix of metals with a bronze finish), They should be solid, not hollow, as well. And you also need to figure out what they were attached to. Were they bookends? Were they screwed to the thing they were attached to or was there an epoxy of some sort?
Now that you know what you need to figure out, I can give you some information that may help. They have faces like foo dogs (common Asian figures). They are crude (which means not a lot of intricate detailing). I do think they could have been some kind of bookends. If they are bronze it would carry a higher value, and even more so if they are signed as well. I think, though, that you have just a piece and not the whole pie, so determining a value will be tough. But take them to someone to see and they should be able to answer all of those questions.
As the song goes, it’s “summertime, and the livin’ is easy!” Well, not really. Yes, I’ve planted my 53 tomato plants, 200 onions and more, but there is still plenty to do. Let’s look at a few chores you might want to do this weekend.
Your tomatoes need support. If they lie on the ground or even on a nice bed of straw they are more prone to diseases. They need air and sunshine to stay healthy and to ripen up sooner.
I like wire tomato cages as supports. I recommend getting the biggest cages possible: 54 inches tall with four support legs instead of three. They are expensive but last for many years. Right now your tomatoes are short and standing up on their own. But if you wait too long they will be much more difficult to install. Do it now!
If you grow a lot of tomatoes and don’t have the budget to buy nice cages, you can tie them to wood stakes. Get one-inch hardwood “grade stakes.” Five-footers are best because you need to push at least a foot into the ground. Tie the plants to the stakes with something soft: strips of old sheets work well, or pantyhose. If you use string it may bite through the stems when they are loaded with fruit. You will need to add more ties as the plants get taller.
As your tomatoes get mature, you may notice that lower leaves are turning brown. This is probably early blight, a common soil-borne disease. It is not fatal but reduces your fruit production. You can minimize by doing two things: cut off affected leaves, and mulch the soil to minimize splash-up. Grass clippings, leaves or hay will help. They also keep the roots more moist in dry times.
If you are growing carrots or beets, this is a good time to thin them. You really should thin them by the Fourth of July. It is tedious work, which is why many seed companies are selling “pelleted’ carrot seeds. These are seeds that are coated with a clay covering to make them larger and easier to plant an inch or so apart. Beet seeds are actually seed clusters: several seeds are in each “seed.” So even if you spaced them carefully, they need to be thinned.
If you planted potatoes, now is the time to look for potato beetles, or their eggs on the underneath side of the leaves. The egg masses are bright orange and easy to spot. Scrape off the eggs into a jar of soapy water. If you see the beetles or their larvae eating the leaves, get them into the water, too. By reducing their population now you will reduce their exponential increase in numbers.
This is a good time to plant parsnip seeds because they need warm soil to germinate. Keep in mind that the seeds do not keep well, so do not plant last year’s seeds. Most garden centers probably still have parsnip seeds because they are not a terribly popular crop. But they store well over the winter — just leave them in the soil. I love them as an early spring treat: just boil them up, then serve them with butter and maple syrup. Yum! And don’t get discouraged if they take 2 full weeks to germinate; they are very slow.
I am eating lettuce from my garden that I planted early in the spring. That means it is time to plant some more seeds. Lettuce bolts when the summer gets too hot, which means that it elongates (reaching for the sky) and turns bitter before flowering and producing seed.
But there are summer varieties that are heat-resistant. Of the butterhead lettuces, try Skyphos or Buttercrunch bibb. Oakleaf lettuces such as Magenta do well, and a romaine called Jericho does well in heat. Read the packages well or study a catalog.
Plant mid-summer lettuces where they get morning sun and afternoon shade if you can. You can also use shade cloth to protect against strong afternoon rays. Perhaps you can plant seeds in six-packs to get them going, then transplant them in your tomato patch where the big plants provide some shade.
Pesto season is coming up in August, so plant some more basil by seed if you don’t already have enough planted. I like planting seeds in small pots to get them well established before planting them in the garden. But if you want a lot for pesto, dedicate a 6-foot row and plant plenty of seeds. They will do fine, even if a bit crowded.
Look around your garden now to see what you forgot to plant. For me this year, it was dill. No matter. I shall plant some by seed, and it will grow vigorously in the heat of summer.
If you have run out of space in the garden, think about creating a raised bed for those last-minute plantings. Most garden centers sell metal corners to help you build your own raised beds, even if you aren’t a carpenter. Not only that, your local lumber yard will cut the boards to your specifications at no extra charge. All you need is a cordless drill and some outdoor screws to put a bed together in no time.
Don’t forget a few annual flowers in your vegetable garden to attract bees and butterflies. Most garden centers still have plenty of flowers that are in bloom and ready to plant. Just remember to tease the roots apart before planting now, as the little cells are often root-bound. So get outside, and get busy. It’s summer!
Featured photo:Hand pick Potato beetles and look for orange egg masses on underneath side of leaves. Photo courtesy of Henry Homeyer.
Information from the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services
Covid-19 news
Gov. Chris Sununu began the state’s Covid-19 briefing on June 17 by announcing it would be the final weekly scheduled press conference. Future briefings will be held on an “as-needed basis.”
Due to a continued downward trend in positive cases and deaths from Covid-19 in New Hampshire, state epidemiologist Dr. Benjamin Chan announced during the press conference that the state will be updating its guidance for face mask use. “We are now recommending that asymptomatic persons, that’s people who do not have symptoms or are not showing symptoms of Covid-19, can choose to go without face masks in most indoor and outdoor locations, particularly lower-risk settings,” he said. Businesses and organizations can still require face masks for people to enter their facilities, and, under federal regulations, health care facilities still require them as well. “As the numbers continue to decrease, the goal is to be able to pull back on use of some of these mitigation measures, particularly over the summer, when use of some things like face masks may be more difficult,” Chan said.
Dr. Beth Daly, Chief of the Bureau of Infectious Disease Control of the New Hampshire Department of Health & Human Services, also announced that the state will no longer conduct contact tracing for Covid-19 exposures in community settings outside of people’s homes. “We will still continue to require quarantine for people who live in the same household as a person with Covid-19,” she said, “and we’re going to continue to respond to any suspected outbreaks.”
Plummeting unemployment
Last week the May 2021 jobs report was released by New Hampshire Employment Security, showing that the state’s unemployment rate has dropped below the pre-pandemic unemployment rate of 2.7 percent in March 2020 to 2.5 percent now. According to a press release, it is one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country and one of the lowest in the history of the Granite State. As part of its effort to help rebound from the highest levels of unemployment during the height of the pandemic, New Hampshire Employment Security has already held 21 virtual job fairs that have connected 8,702 job-seekers with 862 employers. “Such low unemployment rates are no accident, but are the result of a continued effort to provide businesses with the flexibility needed to grow, while providing individuals with the incentives and resources needed to return to work,” Gov. Chris Sununu said in a statement after the May report was released.
DMV update
Last week an update of a comprehensive review of the state Division of Motor Vehicles was released, showing some of the steps that the DMV has taken since the review was issued in 2019.
The review was ordered after the crash in Randolph that killed seven members of the Jarheads Motorcycle Club and the revelation that a backlog within the Massachusetts DMV system had led to a failure to suspend the license of the truck driver at fault, according to a press release. To ensure that New Hampshire would never be in a similar situation, the review provided short-term and long-term recommendations to improve its processes. One of the recommendations that was fulfilled earlier this month was implementing the State to State Verification Service, making New Hampshire the 34th state to use that service, which helps facilitate the exchange of convictions with other states, the release said. Other improvements include ensuring that processing times have remained current and without backlog; creating an Electronic Exchange of Records with Massachusetts, for notifications related to convictions and withdrawals; implementing the Commercial Driver Disqualification system, which allows the DMV to initiate immediate disqualification of commercial drivers and/or commercial motor carriers; online ticket payment and online not guilty pleas. According to the release, the DMV is also in the process of rolling out Online Motor Vehicle Record Requests and E-Crash and E-Ticketsystems to local police departments so that more of the tickets and accident reports received by the DMV will be electronic.
Help for students
Students whose learning was negatively impacted by the pandemic will find help in the YES! Program, according to the New Hampshire Department of Education. Last week the department announced that it will use $2 million of the Governor’s Emergency Relief Fund from the CARES Act to support the program, which will provide direct relief to families in need in the form of scholarships. “Student academic performance data coming out of the pandemic will be different than normal,” Commissioner of Education Frank Edelblut said in the release. “Some students thrived in pandemic learning, especially through strong home supports and the exercise of greater individual agency in their own education. Other students had difficulty accessing their education, often because of a lack of appropriate resources or an instructional model that was not conducive to their learning needs.” He said the YES! Program will engage students based on where they are and help them flourish without being stigmatized. There are three categories for scholarships, according to the release. In Category 1, eligible students are public school students who are at or below 400 percent of the federal poverty level or with a disability. The scholarship amount is $1,000 and can be used for tutoring provided by department-certified educators or special education therapies and services provided by department-certified special education teachers or licensed therapists. In Category 2, eligible students are private/non-public school students (new or current) who are at or below 250 percent of the federal poverty level or with a disability. The scholarship amount is $5,000 and can be used for tuition and fees at department-approved private schools. In Category 3, eligible students are private/non-public school students at or below 400 percent of the federal poverty level, and they will receive $2,500 for tuition and fees at department-approved private schools.
The New Hampshire Telephone Museum in Warner will open its 2021 program series on Friday, June 25, with a virtual discussion that will explore whether privacy is dead. According to a press release, there will be online discussions each month, and the museum is also featuring a special exhibit on railroad communications. Visit NHTelephoneMuseum.org for details on virtual programming and in-person visits.
The Brentwood portion of Route 125 will be dedicated as the Officer Stephen Arkell Memorial Highway at a July 1 ceremony. According to a press release, U.S. Sen. Maggie Hassan, Congressman Chris Pappas and Gov. Chris Sununu will be at the ceremony, which will be held at Swasey Central School at 6 p.m. and is open to the public. Arkell was shot and killed in 2014 after responding to a domestic dispute; he was a member of the Brentwood Police Department for 17 years, the release said.
Club Richelieu of Nashua will host a ceremony on Thursday, June 24, at 11 a.m. in Renaissance Park (Le Parc de la Renaissance Francaise) near the Nashua River on Water Street to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the statue that depicts a French-Canadian textile mill worker, and her son. According to club president Eric Drouart, the event will also highlight a new mural in the park with the portraits of eight Franco-American personalities, several of whom were active in fundraising for the statue.
Local experts discuss the delicious variations of this BBQ favorite
Nothing says summer barbecue quite like a plate of melt-in-your-mouth pork ribs, and while it may take another year before the return of Merrimack’s Great American Ribfest, there are still restaurants, food trucks and trailers all across the state serving up ribs in a variety of styles. The options become even more customizable if you’re grilling or smoking ribs at home.
“Ribs are what I think of when I think of barbecue. They’re one of the most well-liked foods and tend to be what’s going to lure people into the hobby,” said Jayna Todisco Coulon, a member of the Northeast Barbecue Society and founder of A Mazie Q, a New Hampshire-based barbecue competition team. “A rack of ribs has all the things you want. It’s a finger food that’s not going to give you any issues with dryness or anything if you cook it correctly.”
From the types of cuts available to the regional styles and cooking methods associated with ribs, local barbecue experts and butchers discuss this staple’s many variations and provide their own tips and tricks for how to cook them yourself.
Pork barbecue ribs from Georgia’s Northside in Concord. Photo by Matt Ingersoll.
Cuts and styles
When it comes to pork ribs, depending on where you go, you’ll encounter either baby backs or spare ribs — the difference between the two is where they are on the animal’s body, said Dan DeCourcey, an award-winning competitive barbecuer and the owner and pitmaster of Up In Your Grill, a food trailer and mobile caterer based in Merrimack.
“Spare ribs are going to be on the front, on the belly. They are going to be flatter and meatier, and they also tend to be fatter,” DeCourcey said. “The baby backs are near the loin area. They are smaller and more curved, and they tend to be leaner because they are not on the belly side. … The baby back ribs basically connect to the spine, and the spare ribs connect to the breast bone.”
You might come across the term “St. Louis-cut ribs” on restaurant menus too — DeCourcey said this refers to spare ribs that have the cartilage tissue connecting to the breast bone removed, resulting in a more uniform rectangle-shaped cut that can be easier to grill or smoke.
One rack of ribs will generally have around 12 individual bones, and some restaurants will give you the option to order them by the full rack or half rack, as well as third or quarter racks.
How the ribs are sauced and rubbed is going to vary depending on that regional style of barbecue. Kansas City style, for instance, is characterized by a much thicker and sweeter sauce, usually containing ingredients like molasses, brown sugar or honey, as well as sugar in its rubs. Memphis and Texas styles are more known for their dry rubs — the difference there being that Texas is much more narrow with their ingredients, while rubs in Memphis will be more complex.
“Down in Texas, they love salt and pepper and just keeping it really simple, whereas Memphis might have more paprika and cumin and all sorts of other stuff going on,” DeCourcey said.
Over at KC’s Rib Shack in Manchester, owner and co-founder Kevin Cornish said he considers his pork spare ribs to be more of a Memphis-style.
“There are certainly some places in Memphis that will sell their ribs sauced, but Memphis style is definitely known for a dry-rubbed, seasoned rib,” Cornish said. “We cook what we call untrimmed spare ribs, so we serve the whole rib together rather than a St. Louis cut.”
Smokeshow Barbeque in Concord, which is all about Texas style, according to owner Matt Gfroerer, offers smoked ribs cooked low and slow with sauces on the side.
“A lot of places will do a rib plate, but what we do is we weigh everything out as close as we can and you pay [for] exactly what you get,” Gfroerer said. “You’ll find that more in Texas as well.”
Georgia’s Northside, also in Concord, nearly always has pork ribs that can be ordered from of its “Meat & Three” menu, according to chef and owner Alan Natkiel. In Londonderry, Greg LaFontaine of the Smoke Shack Cafe said his pork ribs are seasoned St. Louis cuts that can be ordered as a half rack or full rack.
Simple spare ribs recipe Courtesy of Kevin Cornish of KC’s Rib Shack in Manchester
1 full rack of untrimmed spare ribs
For the dry rub: 3 Tablespoons brown or white sugar (or 1½ Tablespoons of each)
For the barbecue basting spritz: 3 cups apple juice 1 cup apple cider vinegar ½ cup barbecue sauce Season your ribs generously on both sides with rub, shaking off the excess. Cook in a preheated 250-degree smoker, or in the oven on a wire rack over a sheet pan. Cook for about two and a half hours. At two and a half hours, spritz the top, then spritz every half hour until ribs are done (about three and a half to four hours). Ribs are done by testing the tenderness of the meat — you can do this by twisting between the third and fourth largest bones. The meat should begin to release easily from the bones. Finish off on the grill for a few minutes, adding sauce if desired, or cut up and serve as they are with sauce on the side.
Picking your meat
If you want to cook your own ribs, local butcher shops and some livestock farms will sell them by the rack or the pound — and there are indicators you can look for before you buy.
“Like any meat, you want to try to find the right marbling. Big giant monster chunks of fat are going to be too much,” DeCourcey said. “It’s also nice if the bones of St. Louis ribs are straighter … because it makes it easier to cut.”
Todisco Coulon said one of the biggest things she looks out for in ribs are called shiners, or exposed bones as a result of the meat being trimmed down too much.
“You want a meatier rib,” she said, “because a bone sticking out is going to disintegrate when it cooks, and so you’re not going to get as much meat.”
All racks of ribs will start out with a thin membrane on their underside, and there are different schools of thought for either removing it or leaving it on before you cook the meat.
“I generally find that they have a better bite if you pull the membrane off,” DeCourcey said. “The easiest way to do it is you use a butter knife, get a little bit under a corner and then use a paper towel and peel it back. You get better at it over time. Sometimes they are difficult and other times they’ll just come right off at once and you feel like a pro.”
Cornish, on the other hand, said he now likes to leave the membrane on the rib.
“I totally am a firm believer that it helps the rib retain moisture. I think we were peeling it off and it was just another place for moisture within the meat to escape,” he said. “I find that, after it’s cooked for three and a half hours in the smoker, you really don’t notice it’s there.”
Some brands of Cryovaced ribs, like Chairman’s Reserve, are sold with the membrane already pulled off. The Prime Butcher, with separately owned locations in Windham and Hampstead, sells both baby back ribs and St. Louis-style ribs produced by this brand.
Butchers will also sometimes sell pre-marinated or pre-rubbed racks of ribs, or you can get your own customizable rub or marinade to save on prep time.
“If you can imagine it, we can do it,” said Billy Steeves, store manager of The Prime Butcher’s Hampstead location. “We also run a smoker here three days a week, usually on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, so we’ll sell ready-to-eat smoked half racks and full racks.”
If you regularly buy pork, beef or chicken, you may have noticed a sharp price increase lately.
A wide-scale labor shortage in the meatpacking industry caused by the pandemic, along with high feed costs, are among the factors to blame, Steeves said.
“Ribs have really been climbing in the last six weeks to two months now,” he said. “We’re up probably 60 to 70 percent. It’s a big number, but ribs are still one of the cheaper things you can buy. … St. Louis [ribs] are usually pretty significantly cheaper than baby backs.”
Fire it up
Ribs from the Smoke Shack Cafe in Londonderry. Courtesy photo.
A good basic rub to use if you’re starting out with ribs, according to Cornish, is equal parts salt, pepper, paprika and either white or brown sugar, and about half the amount of garlic powder and onion powder.
“A lot of times I’ll tell people to take this wherever they want to go with it,” he said.
But you don’t need too many diverse ingredients for the rub to do its job — Todisco Coulon said it’s a good idea to taste-test it for sweetness. If it’s too sweet, it can burn too quickly and leave the ribs with a bitter taste, in which case you’d want to cook at a bit lower level heat.
“I would rub it down 20 minutes to an hour in advance,” she said. “It will look like the rib will have absorbed the rub. It will almost look wet to you, and that’s when you know you’re ready.”
You don’t need a smoker to produce great flavor and texture in your ribs, either.
“If you know your way around a gas grill, you can actually pull off some pretty darn good ribs, especially if you start to incorporate things like smoke tubes or smoke boxes,” DeCourcey said. “You can buy wood pellets, throw them in the smoke tube and then chuck them on the edge of the flame, and they’ll smoke. … Or you can even take tinfoil, throw some wood chips in there, wrap them up and poke holes in it.”
DeCourcey said an approach to ribs that’s geared toward beginners is known as the “3-2-1 method,” or cooking low and slow at around 220 to 225 degrees for a total of six hours.
“It’s three hours in the smoke chamber, then you wrap the ribs in foil and put them back in for two more hours,” he said. “Some people like to add some pats of butter, maybe a little honey or a few tablespoons of apple juice, and basically that creates a braising liquid inside the wrap.”
After the two hours wrapped in foil, the meat should start to pull back from the bone and be very tender. The final step of the 3-2-1 method involves applying a slather of barbecue sauce and cooking unwrapped again, this time for one final additional hour.
Other optional techniques you can apply to your ribs include what’s called a binding agent, or an ingredient like mustard that you can add to help your rub stick on to the meat. Adding a spritz of something like water, apple juice or apple cider vinegar periodically as the ribs are cooking can also help them to further retain more moisture, Gfroerer said.
“You can follow the 3-2-1, but then there’s a million variations thereof,” DeCourcey said. “It’s such a rough guide … and after a while you start to learn what to look out for.”
Are they done yet?
You can generally tell when ribs are ready when they gently pull away from the bone. If you use a thermometer, the internal temperature should be around 200 to 205 degrees.
“What I’m looking for is how they feel when I pick them up and how much the meat recedes from the bottom bone,” Todisco Coulon said. “Ribs that fall off the bone are overdone.”
Cornish said he’ll often twist between two of the larger bones on the rack as a test.
“If I feel that the meat is starting to kind of separate and pull apart, then I know it’s pretty close to done,” he said. “You want it to basically come clean off the bone when you take a bite.”
Then there’s the “bend test,” which involves either picking your rack of ribs up either on the end or in the middle, or taking a pair of tongs and lifting it from one side of the rack.
“You want it to bend nicely. If it doesn’t bend enough, it’s underdone,” DeCourcey said. “If the meat starts to crack a little bit, it’s probably just about right.”
But as DeCourcey has discovered, some of his customers prefer fall-off-the-bone ribs.
“Even with some of my regulars, I’ve learned that they like fall-off-the-bone, and if I know they’re coming, I’ll leave some on for them for a little longer,” he said.
Where to get pork ribs
This list includes local restaurants where you get a ready-to-eat plate of pork spare ribs or baby back ribs, as well as catering companies available for hire that offer ribs on their menu. For the at-home barbecuer, local butcher shops, farms and corner markets selling ribs by the rack or by the pound are included here as well. Do you know of another local business not on this list? Let us know at food@hippopress.com.
• 603 Smoke’n Que (603bbq.com) is a Merrimack-based barbecue catering company offering a variety of smoked meats, including St. Louis-cut ribs.
• The Alamo Texas Barbecue & Tequila Bar (99 Route 13, Brookline, 721-5500, alamobarbecue.com) offers half racks of baby back ribs that come with two sides and either traditional or candied jalapeno cornbread.
• Arnie’s Place (164 Loudon Road, Concord, 228-3225, arniesplace.com) offers dry-rubbed, slow-cooked St. Louis-cut spare ribs, available in quarter-rack, half-rack or full-rack sizes and served with cornbread and your choice of two additional sides.
• Backyard Brewery & Kitchen (1211 S. Mammoth Road, Manchester, 623-3545, backyardbrewerynh.com) offers baby back ribs in its house “bar-b-brew” sauce, served with fries and a pickle slaw.
• Big Kahunas Smokehouse (1158 Hooksett Road, Hooksett, 935-7400, nhkahuna.com) offers smoked pork ribs, available in half-rack or full-rack sizes, with your choice of two sides and a signature sauce like spicy Caribbean barbecue, pineapple habanero or Bali sweet soy sauce.
• Boogalow’s Island BBQ (boogalowsbbq.com) is a Danville-based food truck and mobile catering service offering a variety of authentic Jamaican and backyard barbecue options, including dry-rubbed and slow-smoked pork ribs.
• Border Brewery & Barbecue (224 N. Broadway, Salem, 216-9134, borderbrewsupply.com) offers St. Louis-cut ribs over smoked bacon macaroni and cheese on its barbecue menu.
• Brookford Farm (250 West Road, Canterbury, 742-4084, brookfordfarm.com) offers pasture-raised pork spare ribs that can be purchased at the farm store or online.
• Brothers Butcher (8 Spit Brook Road, Nashua, 809-4180; 142 Lowell Road, Hudson, 577-1130; brothers-butcher.com) offers plain or chipotle barbecue baby back ribs that are priced by the pound.
• CJ’s Great West Grill (782 S. Willow St., Manchester, 627-8600, cjsgreatwestgrill.com) offers a one-pound rack of smoked barbecue ribs that’s served with fries, coleslaw and baked beans. The ribs can also be ordered as part of a barbecue combo sampler plate, along with your choice of smoked brisket, pulled pork, barbecue chicken or beef tips.
• Concord Beef & Seafood (75 S. Main St., Concord, 226-3474, find them on Facebook @concordbeefandseafood) offers marinated and unmarinated baby back ribs, sold by the rack.
• Derry Restaurant & Pizza (111 W. Broadway, Derry, 432-2107, derryrestaurantandpizza.com) offers half racks or full racks of barbecue baby back ribs. They can also be ordered as part of a combo plate with barbecue chicken breast.
• The Flying Butcher (124 Route 101A, Amherst, 598-6328, theflyingbutcher.com) has a wide selection of pork options available for purchase, including baby back ribs.
• Gauchos Churrascaria Brazilian Steakhouse & Butchery (62 Lowell St., Manchester, 669-9460, gauchosbraziliansteakhouse.com) offers a variety of meats, including full racks of baby back ribs, that can be ordered online. Orders placed before noon will be ready for pickup or local delivery that day beginning at 4 p.m.
• Georgia’s Northside (394 N. State St., Concord, 715-9189, georgiasnorthside.com) offers barbecue pork ribs served with three fresh market sides that change daily, as well as add-on sauce options like barbecue, smoked jalapeno mustard and Parmesan peppercorn ranch.
• Grill 603 (168 Elm St., Milford, 213-6764, grill603.com) offers St. Louis-cut ribs on its dinner menu, dry-rubbed with its signature spice blend, slow-smoked and served with house macaroni and cheese and fresh coleslaw.
• Heritage Corner Market (1380 1st New Hampshire Turnpike, Northwood, 942-9963, heritagecornermarket.com) has various cuts of pork available for sale, including marinated ribs.
• Hickory Stix BBQ (hickorystixbbq.rocks) is a Londonderry-based food trailer and mobile catering service offering multiple barbecue options, including half-rack or full-rack-sized St. Louis-cut ribs.
• J&B Butcher (259 E. Main St., E. Hampstead, 382-0999, jandbbutcher.com) offers several cuts of pork, including racks of baby back ribs that are sold by the pound.
• KC’s Rib Shack (837 Second St., Manchester, 627-7427, ribshack.net) offers third-rack or half-rack-sized pork spare ribs, available with cornbread and two additional sides of your choice. The ribs can also be ordered as part of a combo plate with pulled pork, barbecue sausage chunks, Texas beef brisket or bone-in chicken breast, as well as in bulk, by the half rack, third rack or full rack.
• Lemay & Sons (116 Daniel Plummer Road, Goffstown, 622-0022, lemayandsonsbeef-bbq.com) offers a variety of fresh meats, including ribs, out of its specialty store, The Steak Out.
• McKinnon’s Market & Super Butcher Shop (236 N. Broadway, Salem, 894-6328, mckinnonsmarkets.com) offers a wide selection of meats for sale, including baby back ribs.
• Messy Mike’s Barbecue & Catering Co. (messymikesbbq.com) is a Derry-based mobile food trailer and catering service offering multiple slow-cooked barbecue options, including St. Louis-cut ribs available in half-rack or full-rack sizes. Find them most Thursdays through Sundays, from 11 a.m. until they are sold out, in the parking lot of Rockingham Acres Greenhouse (161 Rockingham Road, Derry).
• Mike’s Meat Shoppe (1009 Upper City Road, Pittsfield, 435-0002, find them on Facebook) offers several cuts of meat available on any given day, including full racks of spare ribs and baby back ribs.
• Mr. Steer Meats (27 Buttrick Road, Londonderry, 434-1444, mrsteermeats.com) offers a variety of specialty meats for sale, including house marinated and baby back ribs
• Paradise Farm (468 Center Road, Lyndeborough, 345-0860, paradisefarmnh.com) offers a variety of pasture-raised pork products, including spare ribs. Find them at the Milford Farmers Market every Saturday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 300 Elm St.
• Parker’s Maple Barn (1349 Brookline Road, Mason, 878-2308, parkersmaplebarn.com) offers a half rack of maple baby back ribs that’s served with two eggs, home fries and toast.
• Porkside Farm (10 French Pond Road, Henniker, 748-3767, porksideathenniker@gmail.com) offers a variety of its own pork products, including spare ribs. Find them at the Concord Farmers Market every Saturday from 8:30 a.m. to noon near the Statehouse on Capitol Street. Phone or email orders are also accepted.
• The Prime Butcher (201 Route 111, Hampstead, 329-7355; 58 Range Road, Windham, 893-2750; primebutcher.com) offers multiple cuts of pork, including both baby back and St. Louis-cut spare ribs, sold by the pound either marinated or unmarinated.
• R & J Texas-Style BBQ on Wheels (183 Elm St., Milford, 518-0186, rjtexasbbqonwheels.com) offers a variety of barbecue options, including racks of ribs with your choice of sides.
• Ranger’s BBQ (rangers-bbq.com) is a Nashua-based food trailer and mobile catering service offering a variety of slow-cooked barbecue options, including dry-rubbed ribs that come in quarter-rack, half-rack or full-rack sizes, served with your choice of a side and homemade sauce. When they’re not catering for a private event, Ranger’s BBQ can be found on Daniel Webster Highway in Nashua, near the Tyngsboro, Mass., state line, on weekends.
• Smoke N’ Butts BBQ (smokenbuttsbbq.com) is a mobile food trailer and catering service specializing in smoked meats, including dry-rubbed pork spare ribs, available in quarter-rack, half-rack or full-rack sizes. Find them on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, outside of The Farmer’s Wife (20 Main St., Candia).
• Smokehaus Barbecue (278 Route 101, Amherst, 249-5734, smokehausbbq.com) offers half- or full-sized slabs of baby back ribs, that come with bread and your choice of two sizes, like collard greens, hush puppies, french fries and macaroni and cheese.
• Smoke Shack Cafe (226 Rockingham Road, Londonderry, 404-2178, smokeshackcafe.com) offers St. Louis-cut pork ribs that are available in half-rack or full-rack sizes, each of which comes with your choice of two sides. The ribs can also be ordered as part of a combo plate with another meat, like brisket, pulled pork, pulled chicken or Italian sausage.
• Smoke Shack Southern Barbecue & Ice Cream (146 King St., Boscawen, 796-2046, ss-bbq.com) offers quarter-rack, half-rack or full-rack-sized baby back rib plates that are served with cornbread and one or two additional sides. The Smoke Shack also operates concessions at New England Dragway (280 Exeter Road, Epping) and New Hampshire Motor Speedway (1122 Route 106 N, Loudon).
• Smokeshow Barbeque (89 Fort Eddy Road, Concord, 227-6399, smokeshowbbq.com) offers slow-smoked pork ribs, with three different sauces available on the side and additional sides available a la carte.
• Tim’s Drunken Sauces and Rubs (timsdrunkensauces@gmail.com, find them on Facebook) is a mobile food trailer offering a variety of barbecue options, including ribs. Find them at 244 Elm St. in Milford most Tuesdays through Sundays, as well as at a few local breweries.
• Up In Your Grill (upinyourgrill.com) is a Merrimack-based food trailer and mobile catering service specializing in a variety of meats, including slow-smoked Kansas City-style baby back ribs. When he’s not catering or prepping for a private event, Up In Your Grill owner and pitmaster Dan DeCourcey posts on social media where he’ll be vending roadside. Dates vary — follow him on Facebook @upinyourgrill for updates.
• Wicked Good Butchah (209 Route 101, Bedford, 488-5638, wickedgoodbutchahnh.com) offers a variety of specialty cuts of meat, including baby back ribs.
• The Wine’ing Butcher (16 Sheep Davis Road, Pembroke, 856-8855; 28 Weirs Road, Gilford, 293-4670; 81 Route 25, Meredith; wineingbutcher.com) offers a variety of specialty cuts of meat, including tender baby back ribs.
Featured photo: Ribs from the Up In Your Grill food trailer, based in Merrimack. Photo courtesy of Dan DeCourcey.
