On Friday, March 29, at 6:30 p.m. at Gibson’s Bookstore in Concord, readers of all ages can meet LeUyen Pham, part of the multiple award-winning writer and illustrator duo of the newest Kitty-Corn story, Bubbly Beautiful Kitty-Corn. The book is the latest in the series illustrated by Pham. and authored by Shannon Hale (who will also be at Gibson’s). Pham, an illustrator and a writer herself, has inked more than 140 stories and received a Caldecott honor in 2020 for her illustration of Bear Came Along. In an interview, she spoke about the partnership, life as an artist, and the connections forged on book tours.
“When we started doing the Kitty-Corn series,” Pham said, “it was kind of an experiment between me and Shannon. We were talking about how writers and illustrators never get to come together to write books, it’s just the way the industry is designed.” Pham and Hale wanted to change that paradigm. “What if we didn’t have the medium of the editor in between and could we still come up with good stories?”
This was the genesis of the first Kitty-Corn book, a New York Times bestseller and Cybil’s Award Finalist.
“I was able to contribute as much to the story as Shannon did,” Pham said, “and vice versa with the illustration.”
Bubbly Beautiful Kitty-Corn, the fourth installment of the series, came about through a conversation during travel.
“I do believe we were running through an airport,” Pham recalled, “and I had mentioned how I really wished I could do a mermaid story. I don’t want to do just a typical mermaid story because I don’t know how to swim, and so it would have to be something where it was a mermaid, maybe, that couldn’t swim, and that was the seed for this particular story.”
Their friendship over the years through multiple collaborations allowed Hale to pen their newest story.
“She knew what I was trying to do or what my fear was behind that story, the fear of the water, and because she understood me so well … she pretty much wrote that one on her own and brought it back and I remember laughing, thinking that’s exactly the story I wanted to do, and that’s where Bubbly Beautiful came from.”
“You gotta be excited about what’s on the horizon and not where you currently are. You’re constantly trying to agitate the pool that you’re in because if you’re comfortable then you are doing something that you have already done before. Like, you always have to be slightly uncomfortable to be growing in some way.”
Pham enjoys the challenge of expanding a story through images from what an author has put into words. “I think that is why I like to illustrate manuscripts so much … because I really enjoy that process of picking a manuscript apart and figuring out why it works and what’s the story that’s being told and the alternate story being told.”
For Kitty-Corn, “I do everything digitally,” Pham said. “I made this specifically digital because it was a lot easier to communicate with Shannon that way.” Although computer-based illustration works perfectly for the series with Hale, who is based in Utah, Pham is partial to other forms. “My favorite medium is watercolor. If I could do every book in watercolor, I absolutely would,” and added, “I love to ink. I love, love, love, to ink.”
Most of her work is completed inside her home studio in California. While Pham shares the studio space with her husband, artist Alexandre Puvilland, who has worked on such feature films as Prince of Egypt and Mr. Peabody and Sherman, Pham looks forward to the promotional journey. “The part of the tour I like the best is actually spending time with the writer because they are usually my friend.” Pham is also a big fan of “going to bookstores and meeting with owners.”
“I always like to remember that at the end of my pen, that’s what’s happening. Every piece of art that gets created goes into the hands of one of these people,” whether it is a bookstore owner, librarian or teacher. “It makes me want to make sure I appreciate that process and that what they’re getting is the best of what I can offer.”
Shannon Hale and LeUyen Pham What: book launch author visit for Bubbly Beautiful Kitty-Corn When: Friday, March 29, 6:30 p.m. Where: Gibson’s Bookstore, 45 S. Main St., Concord More: gibsonsbookstore.com
Featured Photo: Shannon Hale and LeUyen Pham. Photo by Alex Puvilland.
March, April and May are good months to prune your fruit trees. Traditionally farmers pruned their fruit trees in March. I think they did so because they had less other work they could do at this time of year — it was too early to plant, weed or harvest. You can prune fruit trees any time of year without harming the trees, but since the snow is gone now, pruning on a sunny afternoon will give you a good excuse to be outside. Let’s take a look at how to do it.
First, you need good sharp tools: hand pruners, a pair of loppers, and a pruning saw. A pole pruner is also helpful, and you may want to use a 4- or 5-foot stepladder. Don’t buy cheap tools; they will not do a good job for long. Buy the best you can afford, and take good care of them. Pruners and loppers can be sharpened with a simple and inexpensive diamond-studded sharpener, but most pruning saws are not suitable for sharpening.
Pruning fruit trees is not complicated. Your goal is to thin out branches that clutter up the tree and shade out other branches. Every leaf should get direct sun at some point during the day. My pruning mentor told me that a robin should be able to fly through a mature apple tree without getting hurt.
The biggest culprits, and the most commonly ignored, are the water sprouts that pop up vertically from bigger branches. They are, by far, the most numerous new branches each year; they shoot straight up and new ones are just the thickness of a pencil. But ignored for a few years, they gain mass and produce lots of leaves. Get rid of them.
Water sprouts are partly a tree’s response to a need for more food for the roots. Trees that haven’t been pruned in years have many of these. After a heavy pruning, a tree may produce lots of water sprouts to replace food-producing branches that have been removed.
It is important to know where to make your cuts. Each branch has a “collar” at its base, a swollen area where it attaches to the trunk or a bigger branch. This is where the tree heals best and it should not be removed. Cut just past the collar. But if you cut too far out the branch being removed, you will be leaving a stub that can take years to rot away. Once the stub has rotted and fallen off, it can properly heal — but in the meantime it is a place where infections can occur.
I like to begin work on a tree by walking around it a few times and really looking at it: Are there dead branches? Are there big vertical branches that once were water sprouts? Do some branches head into the center of the tree? All of those culprits need to be removed.
I generally take out the dead branches first. I look for dry, flaking bark. Try bending the branch. A dead branch will crack and break instead of bending. For small branches you can scrape the bark with your thumbnail. If it shows green, it is alive; if not, it’s dead.
Then I look at the overall branching of the tree. It is quicker and easier to remove larger branches first, rather than making 50 small cuts on that same branch.
You should not remove more than 25 percent of the leaves on a tree in any given year. Leaves are the engine of the tree: they make the sugars that feed the roots and the beneficial microorganisms in the soil. They provide the energy that allows the tree to make flowers, fruit and seeds. I once pruned a mature apple with just three cuts. I removed three large problem branches, and each would have had hundreds of leaves, come spring. I had reached my 25 percent limit. The next year I was able to remove lots of smaller branches.
Pruning every year, or at least checking each tree each year, is a good plan. It is much easier to remove a small branch than one that is 5 inches thick. If you do need to remove a big branch, take steps to prevent it from falling prematurely and tearing the bark of the trunk. Do this by first making an under-cut a couple of feet from the trunk, but just go part way through the branch. Then, just past that cut, cut from the top all the way through. Most of the weight of the branch will fall to the ground, allowing you to make a cut through the branch just past the branch collar without risk of tearing the bark.
Other branches that need to be removed? Any branch that heads back through the middle of the tree. If two branches form a tight “V,” remove one of them. Otherwise they will grow together and “include” bark that will rot, and can rot the wood. If two branches parallel each other, one shades the other, so remove the least desirable branch.
Learn to identify “fruit spurs” on fruit trees. These are 2- to 6-inch spurs (branches) with buds on their tips. Each bud should produce several flowers and eventually fruit. Vertical branches have few fruit spurs; branches at a 45-degree angle to the trunk should produce many, at least when the tree is old enough to bear fruit. Newly planted trees might wait five years before producing fruit, so be patient!
Pruning is good for trees. Don’t think of it like surgery that removes an arm or a leg. Think of pruning as creating art: A beautifully pruned tree is a work of art, pleasing to the eye all year, especially in winter. Some fruit trees, like pears, will require lots of work every year if you want them to produce fruit low enough to reach from the ground. But all fruit trees will benefit from at least a little trim every year. Learn to enjoy this work and the benefits it offers.
Henry is writing just one gardening article per month this winter. You may reach him at [email protected].
The latest from NH’s theater, arts and literary communities
• Where’s my art? Mosaic Art Collective (66 Hanover St., Suite 201, Manchester) is placing a call for art for their new exhibit, “Rock, Paper, Scissors,” which will run from Monday, April 8, through Tuesday, April 30, with an artist’s reception to be held on Saturday, April 13, from 4 to 8 p.m. The exhibit serves as a metaphorical playground for artists to engage with diverse materials and techniques, according to a press release. The same release invites artists to explore themes related to environmental consciousness, sustainability, biodiversity, and the delicate balance between human existence and nature. For more information about how to submit a piece for the show, see the website or call 512-6209 or email [email protected].
• Where’s my movie? Red River Theaters (11 S. Main St. in Concord) will host a short film festival put on by Creative Guts, a 501(c)3 nonprofit that is devoted to promoting artists in the Granite State and received the 2023 New Hampshire Governor’s Arts Award for Creative Communities. Creative Guts is inviting independent filmmakers from New Hampshire and beyond to submit their short films to a new film festival, which will be hosted at Red River on June 11, according to a press release. The submission deadline is Tuesday, April 30. Films in any genre that are 15 minutes or under are welcome and there is no submission fee, although donations are accepted, according to the same release. Visit CreativeGuts.org.
• Where’s my play? The Derry Opera House (29 West Broadway in Derry) will be hosting The Majestic Academy of Dramatic Arts as they present Anastasia The Musical: Youth Edition Saturday, March 22, through Sunday, March 24. Majestic’s production will star the children and teens of The Majestic Academy of Dramatic Arts under the direction of Collette Foley with musical assistance by A. Robert Dionne, according to a press release. The show transports its audience from the twilight of the Russian Empire to the euphoria of Paris in the 1920s as a brave young woman sets out to discover the mystery of her past, the release said. Show times are Friday, March 22, at 7 p.m., Saturday, March 23, at 2 and 7 p.m. and Sunday, March 24, at 2 p.m. Tickets are $16 for adults, $14 for seniors 65 and above, and $12 for youth 17 and under. Tickets can be purchased by visiting or calling the box office at 669-7469, online at majestictheatre.net or at the door prior to the performance.
• Where’s my muse? The Bank of New Hampshire Stage (16 S. Main St. in Concord) will be graced by three powerhouse singers to honor the divas of rock on Thursday, March 14, at 7:30 p.m., according to a press release. Muse: Divas of Rock is headlined by Jacyn Tremblay, Lauren Rhoades and Karen Carr. Tremblay said in a statement, “This show brings together local and regional female musicians to celebrate the rock voices of past and present … honoring artists like Pat Benatar, Heart, Evanescence, Fleetwood Mac, Paramore, Alanis Morissette, and more!” Tickets are $39.75 online and will cost an additional $5 at the door. Visit ccanh.com.
• Where’s my Irish band? Stockbridge Theatre (44 N. Main St. in Derry) will host the Irish bluegrass band JigJam on Thursday, March 14, at 7 p.m. JigJam made its Grand Ole Opry debut in Nashville in March 2023 to critical acclaim and received a standing ovation from a sold-out crowd as they were joined by Garth Brooks, Trisha Yearwood and others, according to a press release. Tickets cost $25 to $30 and are available at stockbridgetheatre.showare.com or by calling the box office at 437-5210.
• Where’s my other Irish band? The Bank of New Hampshire Stage (16 S. Main St. in Concord) presents Waking Finnegan on Saturday, March 16. The New Hampshire-based band offers a fresh take on Celtic rock that combines the edge and drive of electric guitar with the soul and depth of the upright bass, topped with haunting accordion, fiery fiddle and powerful vocals, all tied together with rockin’ drums, according to a press release. Concert-goers should expect to hear some old favorites in a new way, according to the same release. Tickets online at ccanh.com are $18.75 for general admission, $35.75 for reserved balcony seating; both are $5 more at the door.
In the theater, a dramaturg is a person tasked with combing through stacks of plays in search of any that might be worth doing. Bedford Off Broadway’s Blame It On Beckett, running through March 17, explores what happens when an aspirant to that role collides with the cynical incumbent dramaturg of a nonprofit theater company.
Heidi Bishop, played by Abby Lefebvre, is the wide-eyed newly minted MFA disrupting the scattered coffee cup office world of Jim Foley, a role inhabited by Larry Watson. Jim brushes off Abby’s entry as “a meeting with Mary Poppins,” but when smitten company president Mike Braschi (Jeff Robinson) hires her as an intern, Jim’s life begins to change.
The play’s title is reference to the author of Waiting for Godot, and a dig at innocents like Abby who view theater as life’s highest calling while mistaking him as an exemplar.
“You’re too young to like Beckett,” Jim tells her early on, adding that she only thinks she does because a college professor filled her head with silly ideas.
Further, Jim has decided, via years of reading mediocre works, that there are no worthy new playwrights. Anything worth doing will come from a recognized name or someone with connections. “This office is where great theater goes to die,” he believes, and the dramaturg’s only job is to reject submissions as quickly as possible.
This is advice that Abby decidedly doesn’t heed. From there, the play rollicks forward.
The final character in the play’s quartet of actors is Tina Fike, played by Karyn Russell Merriman. Tina is the company’s star, a veteran playwright whose presence leaves Heidi tongue-tied. Tina and Jim’s connection is seemingly the reason he enjoys his job, as the two thrust and parry while completing her latest work — its success will be critical to all concerned.
Written by John Morogiello and directed by Joe Pelonzi and Declan Lynch, Blame It On Beckett is filled with funny lines. Many are Jim’s; Watson stands out as the play’s star. Nonprofit theater only exists, he complains at one point, to make do-gooders feel better about wasting their money, adding he’d like to see a play written by the NRA.
Jim’s back-and-forth with Abby is hilarious. Asked if her degree intimidates him, he replies, “The only thing that threatens me is that sweater.” However, Abby’s blend of guilelessness and ambition will complicate things for Jim and cause some serious moments in Act Two.
As it’s a play about an obscure job in a niche part of the theater world, some of Blame it On Beckett’s best touches are meta and self-referential. For example, one of the rejected scripts mentioned in the play was written by Morogiello. Another funny moment has Jim telling Abby that no one would ever consider turning their office discussion into a play (like the one they are currently acting in).
Another wonderful element is the many subtle references to Godot, like the company’s “big-name bait” Literary Manager who never comes to the office, the many cigarettes Jim futilely tries to light, the director of Tina’s play, and the employee who’s on maternity leave whom Abby hopes to replace. Like the invisible character in Beckett’s play, none arrive (or ignite). Of course, there’s also the mountain of scripts on Jim’s desk with no hope of seeing a spotlight.
It all adds up to a sophisticated romp that’s snarky, sharp and at times touching. However, the show is aimed at mature audiences, something Director Pelonzi stressed in a recent phone interview.
“There are definitely adult themes,” he said. “To be honest, though, we did clean up some of the language, because there are certain things that we can’t say on stage here. But it’s still pretty edgy. It’s definitely a lot edgier than the normal shows we do in Bedford.”
Blame It On Beckett When: Friday, March 15, and Saturday, March 16, 8 p.m., and Sunday, March 17, 2 p.m. Location: Bedford Old Town Hall, 3 Meeting House Road, Bedford Tickets: $15 ($12 seniors/students) at brownpapertickets.com Note: Not appropriate for children
Featured photo: Larry Watson and Abby Lefebvre in Blame It On Beckett. Courtesy photo.
I read a science fiction/martial arts novel once where the main character, in classic Kung Fu tradition, searches out a reclusive martial arts master and begs him to train him. The old man reluctantly agrees, on the condition that the young man doesn’t ask any questions. His main teaching method is to jump out, surprise his student, then beat him mercilessly with a stick.
Eventually the young man learns the most important lesson in martial arts — how to develop the instincts to avoid trouble.
Making pancakes is a little like that.
There are a few things you can do to improve your pancake-making — cooking over a relatively low temperature, for instance, so the surface doesn’t cook too quickly, leaving the inside under-done. Or letting the pancake batter rest for a few minutes before cooking it, to let the ingredients get themselves in the right frame of mind.
But ultimately, it comes down to developing Pancake Instincts. You won’t be able to really know, intellectually, when a pancake is ready to flip. It’s only after you’ve made three or four in a batch that you will get an instinctive feeling for when a pancake is ready to turn over. There’s an old piece of wisdom that the first pancake isn’t very good. There’s something to that; it will definitely not be your prettiest one.
Be kind to yourself and don’t get discouraged. You’ve got this.
As we move into maple season, our thoughts turn to pancakes. Here are a few to widen your pancake vocabulary.
Classic Pancakes. Photo by John Fladd.
Simple Straightforward, Classic Pancakes (With Blueberries If You Want Them)
Basically the King Arthur Baking Company recipe you’ll find at kingarthurbaking.com.
2 eggs, room temperature
1¼ cup (283 g) milk, also room temperature
3 Tablespoons (43 g) melted butter. Have you ever noticed that there is a measuring guide printed on the side of a stick of butter? It’s almost always calibrated in tablespoons; just count down three lines and cut through the stick with a sharp knife. Unwrap your pat of butter and melt it in the microwave.
1½ cups (180 g) all-purpose flour
¾ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 Tablespoons (25 g) sugar
Frozen wild blueberries, or unfrozen, or regular-sized ones, or chopped strawberries or mango — I’m not here to fruit-judge you; I just happen to like the frozen wild blueberries
Whisk the flour, salt, baking powder and sugar together. Set them aside.
In a stand mixer with a whisk attachment, or in your blender, beat the eggs, milk and butter together, until they are light and frothy.
Mix the dry and wet ingredients until just combined, then set the batter aside for 10 or 15 minutes, while you heat your skillet or pan over medium-low heat, until it seems hot enough. You can test it with a drop of batter, or a few drops of water. If the water dances around, or the micro-pancake cooks, the pan is ready.
When your pan is properly heated, drop a generous amount of butter, maybe a teaspoonful, into the pan. Many well-intentioned pancake enthusiasts will tell you, “Hey, if you’re using a nonstick pan, you don’t need to add extra butter; there’s already butter in the recipe.” At best, these people are over-thinking things. At worst, they are unhappy and want to deprive you of this small bit of pleasure, so you can keep them company in their discontent. There is nothing that you can fry that isn’t better fried in butter. This is a stand I will defend passionately. Do this for each pancake.
Spoon two to three tablespoons of batter into the butteriest part of the pan. If you are making blueberry pancakes, sprinkle the berries over the raw batter. They will thaw and warm up when you cook the other side of the pancake.
When the first side has cooked enough — it’s OK to lift a corner and peek; it isn’t cheating — flip it over and finish the other side, and fry it until it is the shade of golden brown that you like.
As you finish two or three pancakes and have them stacked on a plate, call the least patient person in your house to come get them. These are delicious warm and stacked, but even better still hot and crispy around the edges. True, your family will not all be able to sit together at a table with a checked cloth and take joy in each other’s company, but pancakes wait for nobody.
These are your classic, platonic ideal pancakes. They are rich and buttery — because you cared enough to add the extra butter — and ready for you to add even more butter and syrup.
(Yes, more butter. If you wanted to eat healthy, you’d be having half a tomato and some Swedish crispbread. You knew what you were getting into when you decided to make pancakes.)
A glass of cold milk is perfect to cut through the doughy sweetness.
Moroccan Pancakes. Photo by John Fladd.
Moroccan Pancakes (Baghrir)
These are hand-held crumpet-adjacent pancakes from Morocco. If you make them once, you’ll make them many times.
1½ cups (252 g) semolina flour
¼ cup (32 g) all-purpose flour
2 cups + 2 Tablespoons (474 g) water
2 teaspoons yeast
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
Add all the ingredients to a blender, and blend for a minute or so to get everything thoroughly mixed and to beat some air into the batter.
Leave the batter alone for 30 to 45 minutes, to give the yeast time to lighten it up.
Heat your pan over medium-low heat. When your batter has rested, pour enough batter into the pan to make a 4- to 5-inch pancake.
Wait.
This part takes patience. These particular pancakes are only cooked on one side. As your pancake cooks, bubbles will form on the surface and remain open. When the surface of the pancake has cooked all the way through — you’ll be able to tell by the color; if it’s still a little doughy inside, the surface will be a little bit yellow (from the semolina), and it will lighten in color when it has finished — and is covered with bubbles, remove it from the pan and finish its brothers.
These are excellent hot from the pan with butter, honey or jam — the holes are perfect for holding onto them — but they are good cooled down, too. They are a little yeasty and very slightly sweet. They are crispy on the bottom, and chewy, with a little extra texture from the semolina. These are very good for sharing with a friend over tea.
Orange Pancakes. Photo by John Fladd.
Simple Orange Pancakes
This is one of the easiest pancake recipes you will ever make. Don’t let its simplicity fool you; they are delicious and worthy of you.
Use your favorite pancake mix, but replace the milk or water called for with orange juice. Add the zest of an orange, and ½ to 1 teaspoon of orange extract.
As promised, these are deliciously orangey, but they’re not overly sweet. If you are generous with the butter or other fat when you fry them, you should get some crispy edges, which are one of the few, uncomplicated joys in this often exhausting world.
Dutch Baby. Photo by John Fladd.
Dutch Baby
This is a jumbo, pan-sized pancake that is useful for impressing people who underestimate you.
½ cup (60 g) all-purpose flour
2 Tablespoons sugar
½ teaspoon kosher or coarse sea salt
3 eggs, room temperature
¾ cup (170 g) milk, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 Tablespoons butter
Preheat your oven to 425ºF, with a medium-sized cast iron skillet on the center rack. You’re going to want the pan to be rocket-hot when you pour the batter in (see below).
In a small mixing bowl, mix together your dry ingredients — the flour, sugar and salt.
In a blender, purée the eggs until they are light and a little foamy.
Add the milk, flour mixture and vanilla, then blend again, until everything is well mixed.
Remove the skillet from the oven.
Here’s the thing: You’re probably not used to using a frying pan in the oven; no one is. Because you’ve learned, probably the hard way, to use a kitchen towel or an oven mitt to take something out of the oven, you’ll remember to do that. It’s after you’ve set it down on your stovetop and your brain has moved on to the next step that you’ll get annoyed that the skillet’s handle is in your way, and absentmindedly grab it to rotate the pan. The pan that is 425ºF hot. If you have any small children in your house, it is at this point that they will learn some fascinating new words.
Set the pan down, and melt the butter in it. It will sizzle and foam in a really satisfying way. Pour the batter into the hot pan.
Return the skillet to the center rack of your oven and bake for about 20 minutes (though you should start checking on it at about 15).
Take your giant pancake out of the oven when it is golden brown and a little puffy. Set it down on your stovetop, or your granite countertop — if you want to show off and you’re 100 percent positive it’s real granite — and garnish it with yogurt and fresh berries
This is an outstanding brunch dish. Instead of making 15 or 20 normal-sized pancakes to feed a few friends, you just have to make one. A Dutch Baby is the rare intersection of fanciness and comfort food. It tastes very much like a thick crepe, a little sweet and eggy, with a satisfying chewiness, without being tough.
Crepe Cake. Photo by John Fladd.
Crepe Cake
This is a Dutch Baby’s fancy sister. It is simply a pile of crepes layered with a cream cheese frosting. It’s one of those dishes that seems complicated, but if you follow the recipe carefully it will turn out well and you’ll be deservedly really pleased with yourself.
Crepes:
½ cup (114 g) water
1 cup (227 g) milk
4 eggs
4 Tablespoons butter, melted
1 cup (120 g) all-purpose flour
2 Tablespoons sugar
⅛ teaspoon salt
Frosting:
1 cup (2 sticks) softened butter
12 ounces (340 g) sweetened condensed milk (almost all of a 14-ounce can, without scraping down the sides)
8 ounces (1 package) cream cheese at room temperature
Add the crepe ingredients to your blender. This is weird, but you should do it in the order listed above: first the water and milk, then the eggs and melted butter, and then the dry ingredients. This keeps the flour from gelatinizing on the bottom of the blender jar. If you float the dry stuff on top, they will get pulled into the mixture smoothly and make you feel like a professional.
Turn off the blender and let the batter rest while you make the frosting.
With an electric mixer — either a hand mixer or a stand one — beat the butter and condensed milk together for a shockingly long time, seven to nine minutes, at the highest speed. After this time, the mixture will be very, very light and fluffy.
Cut off tablespoon-sized chunks of cream cheese and beat it into the butter mixture at a slightly lower speed, until it is thoroughly incorporated. Set it aside. It’s tempting to chill it in the refrigerator at this point, but you want it to be smooth, fluffy and spreadable when you put the cake together.
Heat a nonstick pan over medium-low heat. When it’s hot enough, grease the pan with butter. This is the only time you will do this. Yes, this is a violation of the Always Add More Butter rule, but crepes can be finicky; they seem to prefer not to be fried in extra butter. Who can understand the mind of a crepe?
Pour ¼ to ⅓ of a cup of batter into your pan. When it seems done — again, it’s OK to lift a corner and peek — flip it over and cook the other side. The easiest way to do this is to lift a corner with a spatula, then flip it with your fingers.
When it has cooked on both sides, transfer it to a sheet of parchment paper or a silicone mat to cool. Do not stack warm crepes together; it will be very difficult to separate them later. Once they have cooled, it’s fine to stack them, so you don’t run out of counter space. You should end up with 10 to 15 crepes.
When all the crepes have cooled, take a moment to feel good about yourself. Crepes can be really intimidating, but you have overcome them.
Choose a serving dish that you want to present this cake on, then place your Alpha Crepe on it. Frost the top of the crepe with your cream cheese frosting, starting from the middle and working your way out to the edges.
Stack your Beta Crepe on top of the first, and repeat the process. Keep doing this until you run out of crepes. Somewhere along the line you will find a particularly good-looking crepe. Save it for the top of the pile.You will probably have extra frosting left over at the end. Save it for French toast or something.
Chill your crepe cake for several hours in your refrigerator to firm up the frosting layers.
When you are ready to serve your crepe cake, run a sharp chef’s knife under hot water. This will help you make neat, non-squooshed cuts. It might help to stab the middle of the cake, then work your way down from there. Run the knife under hot water for each cut you make. If you want to be extra fancy — maybe you’re on a date or trying to show up your sister-in-law — garnish the plate with a few berries or mint leaves.
The two elements of this cake really make themselves known. The frosting is soft, sweet, and a little tart from the cream cheese. The crepes are eggy and really delicious, with a firm resistance when you bite through them.
In your heart, you always knew you were fancy.
Buckwheat Pancakes. Photo by John Fladd.
Old-School Traditional Buckwheat Pancakes
¼ cup (57 g) warm water
1½ teaspoons yeast
½ teaspoon sugar
1 cup (227 g) cold water
½ cup (60 g) all-purpose flour
1 cup (120 g) buckwheat flour
¾ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons molasses
2 Tablespoons melted butter or margarine
½ teaspoon baking soda, dissolved in ¼ cup (57 g) of water
Mix the quarter cup of water with the yeast and sugar. Set it aside for 10 minutes or so. This is called “activating” the yeast. The little granules of yeast that have been sleeping in your refrigerator, or in their little envelopes, have been taking a nap. This will wake them up and get them excited about fulfilling their destiny.
When the yeast mixture looks foamy and excited, mix it in a container with a cover with a cup of cold water, the flours and the salt. Mix them thoroughly, then cover the container and store it in the refrigerator overnight or, if you’re having Breakfast For Dinner, several hours before you plan to eat.
In the morning, remove the container from your refrigerator and mix in the rest of the ingredients.
Let the batter sit on your counter for half an hour or so, to come up to room temperature. The cold from your refrigerator has allowed the flours to build up a little bit of gluten — buckwheat flour doesn’t have much to begin with, so the all-purpose flour had to tutor it overnight — but it has also made your yeast sleepy again. Bringing the temperature back up will give the yeast a last chance to pump out some carbon dioxide and live life to the fullest one more time before facing the frying pan.
Heat a skillet or frying pan over medium-low heat.
Drop a generous blob of butter or margarine into the pan, and when it is thoroughly melted, scoop 2 to 3 tablespoons of batter into the pan. It will be light and unexpectedly stretchy. You might hear it sizzle a little bit, or you might be too busy kitchen-dancing to “Livin’ La Vida Loca.” Or that might just be me.
When a few bubbles have formed along the edge of the pancake and remained open, flip it and see if it is dark enough on Side A. If it isn’t, you might have to re-flip it for a few seconds, once the B Side is done. (This is one of those examples of building a pancake instinct we’ve talked about.) Stack them on a warm plate, covered with a kitchen towel until you’ve finished making the batch.
Eat these while they are still hot, with too much butter, and Bourbon Maple Syrup (see below).
These pancakes have a deep, rich, slightly sweet flavor. They give you a wholesome, hunkering down in a log cabin during a blizzard — or, in our case, Mud Season — feeling. The crispy edges play off the chewy interior in a way that can leave you quietly happy.
Are there other recipes for Buckwheat Pancakes that don’t take 10 hours of planning ahead? Absolutely. Will they taste as good? Maybeee? Will they fill you with pride and a feeling of accomplishment? It’s doubtful.
Bourbon Maple Syrup
Warm half a cup of dark maple syrup, then stir in a tablespoon of good bourbon. The sweetness of the bourbon is a good match for the maple and gives it a slightly boozy backbone.
Jenny Powers, Director of Science at the Springfield Museums in Holyoke, Mass., will present “Women of the Night Sky” at the Aviation Museum in Londonderry 27 Navigator Road in Londonderry, 669-4877, aviationmuseumofnh.org) today at 7 p.m. This is a sneak preview of some of the stories in a show Powers is developing for the Seymour Planetarium in Springfield, Mass., which she hopes will spark curiosity in girls and women about what lies beyond Earth’s atmosphere. Admission costs $10 per person.
Thursday, March 14
The Greater Souhegan Annual Trivia Night starts tonight at 6 p.m. (doors open at 5 p.m.) at the Souhegan Boys & Girls Club (56 Mont Vernon St. in Milford, 672-1002, ext. 110, svbgc.org) The cost is $45 per person and includes a buffet dinner. All proceeds from the event will benefit the Boys & Girls Club of Souhegan Valley and SHARE.
Friday, March 15
Catch Harry Borsh at the Tiny Loft Concert at Rambling House Food & Gathering (57 Factory St., Suite A, in Nashua, 318-3200, ramblingtale.com) tonight from 7 to 9 p.m. Borsh will perform an original blend of R&B, soul, funk and pop, according to the restaurant’s website where you can purchase tickets for $5.
Friday, March 15
The Peacock Players (14 Court St. in Nashua; peacockplayers.org) present Into the Woods Jr. starting tonight at 7 p.m. with shows running Friday through Sunday through March 24. Tickets cost $15 to $18 for adults and $12 to $15 for students.
Saturday, March 16
The Millyard Museum (200 Bedford St. in Manchester) will present a talk today at 11 a.m. on the Old Man of the Mountain, an enduring symbol of the Granite State, now 20 years since the landmark fell, according to their website. Free to attend.
Saturday, March 16
High energy punk/rock/reggae/hip-hop/pop band Crooked Coast will play at Angel City Music Hall (179 Elm St. in Manchester, 931-3654, angelcitymusichall.com) tonight at 10 p.m.. Tickets cost $15 and are available only at Angel City’s website. The show is 21+. Find more ticketed shows in our Concert listings on page 38.
Sunday, March 17
Strange Brew Tavern (88 Market St., Manchester; 666-4292, strangebrewtavern.net) is celebrating St. Patrick’s Day with a line-up of music that starts at 9 a.m. with Andy Happel and a line-up of eats that includes corned beef, Reubens, Guinness Meatballs, Guinness Stew and more. Find more St. Patrick’s Day fun in the story on page 33.
Sunday, March 17
The Free Range Revue, an LGBTQIA+-positive interactive stage show, will hit the BNH Stage (16 S. Main St. in Concord; ccanh.com) tonight at 8 p.m. (doors open at 7 p.m.). The theme this week will be “It’s Reigning Marvels.” Tickets cost $13.75 in advance, $18.75 at the door.
Save the Date! Monday, April 8 The SEE Science Center in Manchester (200 Bedford St. in Manchester, 669-0400, see-sciencecenter.org) will host a local community viewing for the Monday, April 8, partial solar eclipse at Arms Park (10 Arms St. in Manchester) from 2 to 4:30 p.m., weather permitting. SEE will have safe ways to view the eclipse, activities to explain eclipse science and music with WZID.
Featured Photo: Jenny Powers presents “Woman of the Night Sky”. Courtesy Photo.
