Tag: 240104

In the kitchen with Chelsea Annett

A self-taught baker and a caretaker by nature, Chelsea Annett has a love for baking and cooking that sprouted when she was a young adult conversing with farmers and learning how to use seasonal ingredients. She was a special education teacher for 14 years before establishing Table, through which she provides baked goods and locally sourced, seasonally inspired food at farmers markets and now at her new location in Concord (55 N. Main St., Suite B), open Fridays and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

What is your must-have kitchen item?

My must-have kitchen item is a bench scraper. It has so many functions: cutting butter into dough, slicing and lifting dough and scraping the counter to clean up.

What would you have for your last meal?

I have way too many favorites to choose a last meal but probably freshly picked strawberries that are still warm from the sun or a perfectly ripened tomato. I feel like you can actually taste the sunshine.

What is your favorite local eatery?

My favorite local eatery right now is probably Sour Joe’s pizza. Greg, the owner, is another person with a passion working so hard to pursue his dream. And I love that he uses a sourdough crust. It’s unlike any other pizza around here.

Name a celebrity you would like to see eating in your restaurant?

I would love to see Erin French from The Lost Kitchen enjoying something I made. She has exquisite taste and is involved in her community of food growers and makers.

What is your favorite thing on your menu?

I always get asked [about] my favorite thing that I make. Right now I offer a galette on Saturdays that is pretty outstanding. It’s flaky dough that is folded around cheddar cheese and thinly sliced sweet potato and then we crack an egg over the top and bake it until it’s just set and top with a sprinkle of sea salt. The original favorite which is still at the top of the list is the brown butter chocolate chip cookie that is made with sourdough. It’s incredible.

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

I don’t really know what the biggest food trend in New Hampshire right now is. I tend to steer away from trends. I am interested in food that comes from someone’s heart and is their passion. That’s the best food. Not trying to be anything else.

What is your favorite thing to cook at home?

My favorite thing to cook at home is sourdough bread. I love all the components of it and I’m fascinated by the process.

Rosemary Shortbread
From the kitchen of Chelsea Annett

2 cups flour
2/3 cup sugar
1 Tablespoon fresh rosemary
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup cold butter
Maldon sea salt

Heat oven to 325°F. Pulse the sugar, salt and rosemary in the food processor. Add flour and pulse several times. Cut butter into small pieces and add to the flour mix. Pulse until the mixture looks like sand. Press dough into an 8” parchment-lined pan. Prick dough with a fork and sprinkle with Maldon salt. Bake until golden brown, 40 to 45 minutes.

Featured photo: Katie Pope of Confections by Kate. Courtesy photo.

Live free and dine

Gourmet takeout market and culinary school opens in Nashua

On Wednesday, Dec. 20, Hollis resident Karen Calabro opened the doors to Live Free and Dine, a gourmet takeout market in Nashua offering meals made with locally sourced ingredients and cooking classes for all ages.

Calabro knows first-hand how transformative healthy eating can be, having started her own journey to a healthier lifestyle 15 years ago by making healthier food choices and creating meals from scratch, resulting in a 152-pound weight loss. As a professional chef, she aims to bring healthy options to those in her community.

“During Covid I was watching how restaurant after restaurant was going under, how quality was going down … [due to] the product shortages and the fact that there’s less and less variety now to some extent ….’’ she said. “I make things from scratch and I live very close to the earth and I wanted to make [that] kind of food for other people as well. … I just felt like somebody who has a background in culinary as long as me who has so many friends who are just fabulous, fabulous chefs and all these really great farms around me, I thought, ‘Gosh, this is really a no-brainer for me.”

Working with local farms and stores, Calabro offers ever-changing seasonal breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert menus with vegetarian, vegan, dairy-free and gluten-free options that can be ordered a la carte in store or online for pickup. Items include Italian sausage, Korean candy pork belly, blueberry poppyseed pancakes, valhalla rose turkey, ginger molasses cookies, tiramisu, fruits of the forest pie and more.

Calabro’s professional journey in the food industry started when she was 13 years old, but her cooking experience dates back before that when she would help her mother cook in the kitchen for parties she would host.

“I [remember] as a child being the one in the kitchen doing the food and production with her by her side. … We would host parties for upward of 80 to 100 people. This was just the two of us and this is as a young child I learned knife skills.”

Knife skills are among the things Calabro will teach in her classes, beginning with rudimentary skills and tricks of the trade.

“I almost feel like people want to learn to cook a different dish and meal and everything, and that sounds romantic, but really it would be better for you to learn basic skills and [for me to show] you how to do those things and then [you can take] those skills back to the kitchen ,” she said. “It’s a professional culinary education, and you’re going to be working in a commercial kitchen that has commercial equipment.”

With safety in mind, classes for young children won’t have them working with anything hot or sharp, but will instead teach them how to measure, mix and combine ingredients while introducing them to the idea of making their own food.

With decades of experience, even working her way up to sous chef at the Torrey Pines Sheraton Grand in San Diego, Calabro says the creating Live Free and Dine has been a learning curve.

“The problem has been nobody has ever done this before, so we’re kind of trying to figure out how we can service people in the best way we can and what kind of food we can produce,” she said.

Live Free and Dine
Where: 650 Amherst St., Suite 6, Nashua
Hours: Wednesday through Friday, noon to 7 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The Weekly Dish 24/01/04

News from the local food scene

• Paint night at Spyglass Brewing: Paint a 16×20-inch canvas while enjoying a free drink included in the ticket price with All Ways Art at Spyglass Brewing (36 Innovative Way, Nashua) on Thursday, Jan. 11, at 6 p.m. Tickets are $45 and can be purchased at allwaysart.com.

• Winemaker’s dinner: Enjoy a winemaker’s dinner on Friday, Jan. 19, at 6:30 p.m. at Zorvino Vineyards (226 Main St., Sandown). A seasonal charcuterie and artisanal bread display with Vintner’s Select Semillon and Z Labs Chocolate Tangerine wine will be served at the welcome reception. The first course will be roasted winter squash grilled leek and Gruyere savory bread pudding with Zorvino Vineyards Gewurztraminer, followed by fig and pomegranate glazed “kurobuta” pork with Zorvino Vineyards Estate Grown Marquette for the entree. Dessert will be chocolate ganache and caramelized banana tart with Z Labs s’mores. Tickets are $85 and are available at eventbrite.com.

• Cookie decorating: Kate Soleau from Posy Cottage Cookies will be at Station 101 (193 Union Square, Milford) on Tuesday, Jan. 23, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. for a winter-themed cookie decorating class. All necessary supplies will be provided for you to take home a box of six or seven cookies. Station 101 also offers beer, beverages and snacks for additional charge. Tickets are $70 and can be purchased via eventbrite.

• Willy Wonka wine dinner: LaBelle Winery’s (14 Route 111, Derry) Vineyard Ballroom will be decorated with Willy Wonka-themed decor for their four-course Willy Wonka wine pairing dinner on Saturday, Jan. 27, from 6:30 to 9 p.m. The first course will be tomato, basil and smoked Gouda bisque paired with a fizzy lifting drink. For the second course, baby green beans, shaved Brussels sprouts, roasted squash, cranberries, farro, herbs and honey rosemary balsamic will be served with LaBelle Rose. The entree will include LaBelle Red Wine braised short ribs with whipped potato, roasted herbed carrots and demi glace, paired with LaBelle Malbec. Dessert will be blueberry crumble cheesecake with red wine blueberry and streusel crumble paired with blueberry pie martini. Tickets are $85 and can be purchased at labellewinery.com.

On The Job – Neva Cole

Museum communications director

Neva Cole is the communications director for the Children’s Museum of New Hampshire in Dover.

Explain your job and what it entails.

I get to promote all the awesome things that the Children’s Museum of New Hampshire offers, including its two floors of hands-on exhibits, field trip opportunities, classes, play-based learning and parent and educator resources.

How long have you had this job?

It will be nine years this June, 2024.

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

I previously worked at the Currier Museum of Art in Manchester as a communications specialist, but on top of that I work as a freelance graphic designer and illustrator, specializing in children’s books.

What kind of education or training did you need?

I went to Syracuse University for Illustration, then got an MFA from Lesley University. People joke a lot about how an art degree is pretty niche and you can’t do much with it, but in my experience it taught me to think outside the box and how important it is in any position to be able to prioritize quality work and creative problem-solving.

What is your typical at-work uniform or attire?

Well, working at a children’s museum definitely makes dressing for work fun. My favorite thing to wear is a dress decorated with dog drawings, rainbow leggings and T. rex earrings. And of course all staff dress up according to the season or holiday — the entire month of October is open season for costumes.

What is the most challenging thing about your work, and how do you deal with it?

Unfortunately, most of the work I do occurs behind a computer. But all of our staff, regardless of title, take time every day to get out from behind our desks and walk through the museum to interact with the guests, wave to babies, play trains with toddlers and offer help to parents and grandparents.

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

If only all 20-somethings could have the confidence of 40-somethings. At this stage of my career I know when to say no. I know when to admit I don’t know the answer to something, and that that’s totally fine.

What do you wish other people knew about your job?

Nonprofit work is so challenging and rewarding. I love what I get to promote and how it impacts the community. And I love that I get to be a part of something that I experienced as a kid and carry traditions forward for my own daughter.

What was the first job you ever had?

My very first job was a respite provider for a family with a child on the autism spectrum. I was 13 and I loved it. We would play games, run around his backyard, go for walks and play.

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

My ideas matter, and it’s important to speak up and speak out for the things you believe in. — Angie Sykeny

Five favorites
Favorite book: East of Eden by John Steinbeck
Favorite movie: The Princess Bride
Favorite music: Taylor Swift
Favorite food: Guacamole
Favorite thing about NH: The fall

Featured photo: Neva Cole. Courtesy photo.

Treasure Hunt 24/01/04

Dear Donna,

We have this very heavy block island. I am wondering what its value would be. We’re downsizing and won’t have space. Any help would be appreciated.

Thank you.

Amy

Dear Amy,

Your butcher block appears to be in great condition for approximately 100 years old.

The value of older butcher blocks is in their condition, style and size. Prices can vary from a couple hundred dollars to in the thousands.

The market for them is a bit tough. Weight is an issue, as is space. I think when you find a market for yours, the price range should be around $350. I hope you find it a new home, Amy. Thanks for sharing with us.

Kiddie Pool 24/01/04

Family fun for whenever

STEM fun

• The Children’s Museum of New Hampshire (6 Washington St. in Dover; childrens-museum.org, 742-2002) will hold a “First Friday Play Late” on Friday, Jan. 5, from 4 to 7 p.m. Admission is the usual price — $12.50 for everybody over 12 months old, $10.50 for 65+ — and go online to reserve the spot. The Friday evening play period will run first Fridays through May 2024, the website said. The STEAM activities of Science Friday also continue into the new year, with scheduled activities at 10:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m., during the morning (9 a.m. to noon) and afternoon (1 to 4 p.m.) play sessions.

• The SEE Science Center’s (200 Bedford St. in Manchester; 669-0400, see-sciencecenter.org) Free Storytime Science programming has moved to the Manchester City Library (405 Pine St. in Manchester; manchester.lib.nh.us). Kids ages 2 to 6 can join librarian Ms. Yvonne and the Center’s Ms. Becky for a storytime with STEM/STEAM themes and hands-on activities, according to the Center’s website. The next theme is Owl Moon on Wednesday, Jan. 10, at 10 a.m. Register with the library.

Storytime

• Looking for an excuse to visit the bookstore with your kids? Barnes & Noble Manchester (1741 S. Willow St. in Manchester; 668-5557) holds its weekly storytimes Saturdays (including Saturday, Jan. 6) at 11 a.m. led by Ms. Elizabeth in the children’s department.

Nature

• Beaver Brook Association (117 Ridge Road in Hollis; beaverbrook.org) has nature programs starting this week. “Natural Wonders Friday,” which will feature six classes 10 to 11 a.m. on Fridays, Jan. 5 through Feb. 9, is geared toward kids ages 1½ to 5 years old and their adults. The cost is $72 for a kid-adult pair (additional kids can be registered for 25 percent discount). Classes for homeschoolers will also start later in the month: A class for 1st through 6th graders will run for seven sessions Tuesdays, Jan. 23 through March 12, from 9 a.m. to noon, and a class for 7th through 9th graders will run for seven sessions Wednesdays, Jan. 24 through March 13, from 9 a.m. to noon. The classes cost $210 for the series.

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