Tag: 261001

What was missing was a bakery

Sugar Street Buns keeps it local in Milford

“We are a bun bakery,” said Alyssa Guzman, the owner and head baker of Sugar Street Buns in Milford. “We [make] four to five different buns every month. We will always have our original cinnamon bun, and then we do one or two other specialty sweet items. Right now we’ve got a peanut butter and jelly bun and a fluffernutter bun. We always have two savory options for the people who don’t like things too sweet. It is our same sweet dough that we use, but it’s got a savory filling. So, right now, we have a ham and cheese — it’s Swiss cheese with Dijon mustard and Black Forest ham. And then we have a spinach and artichoke bun, which is one of my favorites. It has spinach, artichoke, mozzarella, parm — all the good stuff.”

Guzman is originally from southwest Florida but moved to the Northeast about three years ago, she said.

“My fiancé and I started out in Boston. We wanted to try something different. He’s originally from Connecticut. He wanted to come back this way. I’ve never experienced seasons. So we took a leap and moved to Boston. I worked at the Four Seasons for a year, but the city was not for me. We wanted to settle down, buy a house somewhere. I had never ever been to New Hampshire. And my fiancé was like, “Oh no, I think you’re really going to like New Hampshire. And he was right.”

“We came to see a house,” Guzman continued. “We ended up loving the house; we bought the house. And it’s two minutes away from the Oval. And after we put an offer in on the house we came to Sunday’s [Ice Cream Shop] in the Oval. We got ice cream. And we’re sitting here. And we’re like, this is absolutely perfect. This downtown area is adorable. But what they’re missing is a bakery. Why doesn’t Milford have a bakery? They had a bunch of restaurants and bars, but what it was missing was a bakery.”

Guzman’s bakery on the Oval in Milford has been open for just over a month.

“This is now our fourth week.” she said “And we have had a line every single weekend and sometimes even on Wednesdays when we open up during the week. It’s unbelievable.”

One of Guzman’s goals for the bakery has been to reflect the local community, she said. “We had to build the entire space. So it was a retail space, and it was all carpet. My kitchen is downstairs in the finished basement, but it wasn’t finished all the way to what I needed. So I had to create the whole kitchen downstairs, and then upstairs I totally transformed it with the help of all of the community people. I take a lot of pride in my shop and the fact that just about every single thing from the shop is local — my plumber, my electrician, my carpenter who made all of my tables, I had two artists do all of the paintings and paint my case and my walls and do this beautiful, beautiful art. And I try to keep it going with my coffee. It comes from Union [Coffee Co. in Milford]. My tea comes from 27 Teas in downtown Manchester. And we’re slowly starting to have all of our food come from local people. Right now I’m switching my cheeses to a local sheep farmer and I’m super excited about that. But it’s little things like that and I’m trying to bring the community into what I am doing and try to keep it as local as possible.”

Sugar Street Buns
Where: 227 Union Square, Unit 1, in Milford
Hours: Wednesdays through Fridays, 7 a.m. to 1 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. According to Sugar Street Buns’ Facebook page, the bakery will be closed for the owner’s wedding and reopen for Pumpkinfest on Friday, Oct. 9.
More: sugarstreetbuns.com

Featured photo: Courtesy photo.

Showing off chocolate from near and far

Annual expo returns to Manchester

Tickets are on sale online for the annual Chocolate Expo in Manchester, happening Oct. 11.

“This is Year 4 for the Chocolate Expo in Manchester,” said Cristy Bergeron-Charest, “but this is our 20th year of producing events.” Bergeron-Charest works for Baum Image Group, the company that puts on the Expo.

She said that after so many years of staging events her company has learned that an important aspect of staging an expo for something as popular as chocolate is providing something for everybody.

Many of the people who attend chocolate expos just love chocolate, she said, and want to learn about new chocolate products.

“New Hampshire favorite Van Otis Chocolates is joining us this year, and Loon Chocolate as well, but we also have a lot of vendors that are coming up from New York and Long Island as well joining us. We have [French macaron maker] Mariela’s Bakery, which is coming up from Rhode Island. We have a vegan and dairy-free chocolatier, [but] we’ve got Bacon Bites, who has been on Food Network, and he has dark chocolate-covered bacon, milk chocolate-covered bacon. He’s got some great pairings with bacon and chocolate that you would never think go together. We have Vivilicious, which is coming up from Massachusetts, and she has Brazilian chocolate, beautiful truffles, delicious truffles. Worldwide Chocolate is our sponsor; they’re out of Rochester, New Hampshire, and they provide chocolate from around the world. But you have small businesses. La Nef out of Maine; her chocolate wrappers have a digital downloadable MP3 — you can digitally download their music from their chocolate wrappers.”

Other chocolate fans are interested in the technical side of chocolate making, Bergeron-Charest said.

“For the Chocolate Expo,” she said, “we’re always interested in the new trends, and trends are changing for sure. And we find that sourcing your chocolate locally is one of them. We have some chocolate makers that actually have chocolates made in Paris that come to the Chocolate Expo. These are chocolates you’re not going to find everywhere else. And they’ll tell you how it’s sourced. They’ll tell you the process of turning beans into bars. Loon Chocolate is very informative. He actually takes the stage at our Chocolate Expo event and he tells you about making chocolate from global to local. He’ll take the stage and guests can ask questions and ask, ‘How is this chocolate made? Where do you source it from?’ Companies like Villakuyaya, who joins us, all of her chocolate is sourced in Ecuador. Vivilicious, her chocolates for her tasty bonbons are actually sourced in Brazil. So we’re finding that people really are liking that, you know, instead of going to a store and just buying chocolate off the shelf. Our guests are loving that you get to sit there and buy a chocolate from a chocolate maker that’s at the event that two days before made their chocolate themselves.”

Other people come to enjoy the spectacle, Bergeron-Charest said. “We have the cast from the movie The Sandlot from the ’90s, and they’re coming, meeting fans, signing autographs, and then you get to sample chocolate. There’s an 11-pound chocolate-smash; volunteers are called upon to come up on stage and smash it open and then share it with the audience. We have a balloon scavenger hunt for kids. We have a world-renowned balloon twister who has larger-than-life balloon sculptures. And our guests can take photos with the balloon sculptures — they’re 10, 12 feet tall.”

The Chocolate Expo
Where: DoubleTree Expo Center, 700 Elm St., Manchester
When: Sunday, Oct. 11, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Tickets: Timed-entry tickets are $20 for adults and $10 for children 5-12. Children under 5 are free. Online “Late-Day Special” tickets are $10 per person, for admission after 4 p.m. Online only VIP tickets are $30 for adults and $15 for children, which includes early preview admission at 9 a.m., plus priority admission at any time. Tickets at the door are $30 for adults, and $15 for children. Visit thechocolateexpo.com/nh-doubletree-expo-center-tickets.
More: A list of vendors is available at thechocolateexpo.com/vendors-new-hampshire.

Featured photo: Courtesy photo.

The Weekly Dish 26/10/01

• Book club with wine: Wine on Main (9 N. Main St., Concord, 897-5828, wineonmainnh.com) will host its next book club night Thursday, Oct. 1, from 6:30 to 8 p.m. October’s book is murder-thriller The Last Time We Saw Her by Jaclyn Goldis. There will be a guided discussion by local writer and author Jocely Winn, a wine tasting of four wines inspired by the book, light snacks and more. The cost is $33.85 through Wine on Main’s website.

• Pies at Stone Mountain: Stone Mountain Farm (522 Laconia Road, Belmont, 731-2493, stonemtnfarm.com) will hold its fifth annual apple pie baking contest on Saturday, Oct. 3, from 10:15 a.m. to 1 p.m. All entries must be two-crust apple pies, cooked in disposable foil pans. They must be all apple, without other fruits or fruit juices. Prizes will be $100 for first place and the Golden Apple Trophy. Second place is $50 and third place is $25. To enter text Cindy at 731-2644 with your name and phone number or send a message through Facebook.

• Bringing in the grapes: Black Bear Vineyard (289 New Road, Salisbury, 648-2811, blackbearvineyard.com) will celebrate its annual harvest from noon to 5 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 3, and Sunday, Oct. 4. Watch as freshly picked grapes are brought in and processed through the crusher-destemmer, and see them transformed into fresh juice for future wine. Enjoy live music and explore a market of local vendors. Bring a chair and come early. Visit blackbearvineyard.com.

• Chili and beer: The annual Powder Keg Beer & Chili Festival will take place in Swasey Parkway in downtown Exeter on Saturday, Oct. 3, with general admission at 1 p.m., noon for VIP ticket holders, according to powderkegbeerfest.com, where you can purchase tickets.

• Sunshine Supper: The Bookery (844 Elm St., Manchester, 836-6600, bookerymht.com) will host the Second Annual Sunshine Supper Series Dinner Saturday, Oct. 3, from 7 to 9:30 p.m. Harper’s Eden Catering will serve seasonal, story-driven dishes inspired by sunshine, warmth, and the beauty of gathering around the table. Tickets are $100 each through the Bookery’s website. Part of the proceeds will support Project Sweet Peas (projectsweetpeas.com), which supports NICU and bereaved families.

• Boot and tassels cake decorating: Make Sweet Art (978-300-0494, linktr.ee/MakeSweetArt) will hold a Western-themed hands-on guided cake decoration party Sunday, Oct. 4, from 1 to 3:30 p.m. at The Farm and Flower (4 Maple Knoll Drive, thefarmandflower.com). Included in each ticket is instruction for all skill levels, a prebaked cake, colored buttercream, and essential decorations and tools. There will be instruction and demonstration in piping, fondant, and other decorating techniques. Tickets are $78 through Make Sweet Art’s website.

• Sushi and Soju: Local Street Eats (112 W. Pearl St., Nashua, 402-4435, local-streeteats.com) will present an evening of SUSHI + SOJU: ROLL. SIP. SEOUL., An Interactive Sushi Rolling + Soju Experience, Wednesday, Oct. 7, from 6 to 8 p.m. This will be an interactive night where you’ll learn the art of sushi-rolling while sipping your way through perfectly paired soju cocktails. Tickets are $96.81 through the Local Street Eats website.

Kiddie Pool 26/10/01

Family fun for whenever

Hands-on fun

• The Girl Scouts of the Green and White Mountains will hold The Expo on Saturday, Oct. 3, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the NH Sportsplex, 68 Technology Drive in Bedford, according to a press release. The day will feature performances, workshops, exhibitors with hands-on activities and more, many with a focus on STEM, the arts or the outdoors. “Take advantage of over 75 family-oriented exhibits with hands-on activities. See amazing stage shows, investigate new technology in our STEM Zone, fire an arrow at a target, meet a superhero, and so much more,” according to girlscoutsgwm.org. Admission costs $10.

Fall excitement

• Charmingfare Farm in Candia will hold its annual Pumpkin Festival Saturday, Oct. 3, and Sunday, Oct. 4, and Saturday, Oct. 10, through Monday, Oct. 12. Pick a pumpkin from the pumpkin patch, take a tractor- or horse-drawn wagon ride, meet costumed characters, enjoy a children’s corn maze, watch a juggling and comedy show and listen to live music, according to visitthefarm.com, where you can purchase tickets to a specific time during the two weekends.

• Rochester Main Street will hold its Spooktacular & Pumpkin Patch on Saturday, Oct. 3, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. in Central Square in downtown Rochester, according to rochestermainstreet.org. Kids can pick and decorate a pumpkin, participate in a trunk-or-treat, listen to live music (with performer Sean Fell), play games and more, the website said.

• Squam Lakes Natural Science Center, 23 Science Center Road in Holderness, will hold Grandparents Day on Saturday, Oct. 3, when “grandchildren ages 16 and younger will receive free admission when accompanied by a grandparent,” according to a press release. In addition to the Live Animal Exhibit trail, the center will feature Up Close to Animals presentations at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., the release said. “Grandparents Day will also feature a special offer in the Howling Coyote Gift Shop. Grandparents accompanied by a grandchild can buy one and get one free of a featured stuffed animal, while supplies last,” the release said. See nhnature.org for admission information.

Movie time

• Merrimack Parks and Recreation will screen Toy Story 5(2026) on Saturday, Oct. 3, at 7 p.m. in Wasserman Park, 116 Naticook Road in Merrimack, according to merrimackparksandrec.org

What would Molly Stark wear?

See fashions from the past and more at MHA show

Kristy Ellsworth is preparing to strip to her underwear for history.

As director of education for the Manchester Historic Association, Ellsworth is excited about “Whose Revolution Is it Anyway?,” a day of historic presentations at the Millyard Museum on Oct. 3, focused on life in Revolutionary-era Derryfield, New Hampshire. Ellsworth’s presentation, “Undressing History: 1776 Edition,” will focus on the clothing likely worn by one of New Hampshire’s most famous founding mothers, Molly Stark.

“I will be getting dressed head to toe from my stockings and shift to my gown and hat,” Ellsworth said. “And we’ll have a slideshow talking about the different types of clothing, the process of making clothing, the value of clothing, how the war with England affected the clothing choices of colonists here in Derryfield. And then I will get dressed from head to toe in person, so people will get to see, A, how long that takes, [and] B, the structure of the clothes. Afterward, we’ll put the clothes out and they can look at them and see how they’re constructed. They’re all hand-sewn. This is the second time we’ve done this type of program. We did 1850s a few months ago, and it was wildly popular. So hopefully it will be again. “

Ellsworth said that while she will start her presentation in period under-clothing, by modern standards it is pretty modest.

“I will be in my underwear, yes,” she said, “But I wear less at the beach.” She said that a woman like Molly Stark makes a good subject for the study of 1770s fashion. “She was middle class at a time when there actually was a true middle class. She was still in a position where she did hard labor often.”

Unfortunately for modern scholars, few of Stark’s actual items of clothing still exist, Ellsworth said. “She certainly could have afforded some nice things. She still would have had that sort of Yankee frugality where the things she owned were very precious to her. And we do at the Historic Association have a small collection of her things, but unfortunately she was part of a very big family and a lot of those things probably got flung to the far corners of the Earth unidentified. We have a few of her pockets, we have one of her gowns, we have a pair of her shoes, a few of her personal jewelry items like earrings and a hair bracelet. But a lot of the research comes from other primary sources of women of similar age, social status, and geographical location.”

This sort of hands-on approach to history represents a change of focus from the days when historians spent much of their time memorizing treaties and analyzing speeches by men in white wigs. At Saturday’s event for instance, Ellsworth said, “we have two lectures, [but also] hands-on activities, docent-led program, and live demonstrations like butter-churning. We have a children’s story time, and then as a separate paid admission we have an American Girl Doll Tea Party, 1776, in which the guests, with their parents — every guest has a paid ticket — will get to bring their dolls to the museum and we’ll have a tea party from the 1700s, including Shrewsbury cakes and apple tartlets, tea, cream, and activities just for the children and families that are participating in that event.”

Ellsworth said she is a fan of the historically themed American Girl Dolls. “We’ve been doing [events with] them for 10 years,” she said. “I really like exposing young children to hands-on history in a relatable way. We use them [the dolls] a lot in our school programming, in our public programming. We use them for adults, children, boys, girls, because they are small enough that you can make the items for them pretty cost-effectively, but they are large enough that they can actually see how things are constructed, they can touch the items, whereas so many of the things in our collection we can’t let people handle.”

“Whose Revolution Is It Anyway”
When: Saturday, Oct. 3, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Where: Manchester’s Millyard Museum, 200 Bedford St., Suite 103, Manchester, 622-7531, manchesterhistoric.org.
More: Lectures and presentations, with the exception of the American Girl Tea Party, are free with admission to the Museum. Visit manchesterhistoric.org/event/whose-revolution-is-it-anyway.

Featured photo: Previous “Undressing History” presentation. From the museum’s Facebook page.

Treasure Hunt 26/10/01

Hi, Donna,

I have an old reel-to-reel tape recorder and tapes that belonged to my husband. He passed away many years ago. I think it’s about time I passed it along to someone who would use it or at least appreciate it. Are there people who would be interested or collect these old things? Any information you could provide would be helpful. I don’t want to just trash it.

Thank you.

Carol

Dear Carol,

I’m sure there are people out there who would want to try it!

Unfortunately there isn’t a big market for common styles of these recorders. I also think you will have to find the right person to market it. If it’s in working condition the value is in the $30 range — to the right person!

I would still give it a chance to find a new home. Also making yourself feel better about throwing it in the trash, I would donate it to a thrift store and let it take its chance.

Thanks Carol, for sharing with us. Good luck finding a new home for your recorder.

Donna

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