Thursday, December 26, 2013

Bettering yourself for the new year

Pete Seeger’s nephew offering dulcimer course in Newton


By Taryn Plumb

 |  GLOBE CORRESPONDENT   
DECEMBER 26, 2013


Jeremy Seeger, nephew of the famous folk legend Pete Seeger, will teach a course about playing the dulcimer through Newton Community Education.

Appalachian dulcimers are long, slender and curvy stringed instruments that produce a simple, rustic, melodious sound.
Jeremy Seeger, a nephew of folk legend Pete Seeger, has dedicated his life to crafting and playing them. He’ll share his knowledge of and deep appreciation for the admittedly “underground” instrument in a session of classes at Newton Community Education starting next month.
“The dulcimer, if you play it traditionally, is very easy to get good sound out of,” explained Seeger, who splits his time between Newton and Rochester, Vt.
It’s just one of many classes offered at schools, libraries, and community centers across the region this winter, from cooking instruction in Southborough to yoga in Shirley to personal fitness in Acton.
In Seeger’s eight-week session, to begin Jan. 16 at Newton North High School and open to newcomers to the instrument, he will introduce the fundamentals of playing the dulcimer, including strumming techniques and how to tune and replace strings. The goal, Seeger said, will be to start out with basic melodies, and have each player build up a repertoire of songs, and even compose their own.
“Everybody has a yearning to make music,’’ Seeger said. “People can come in never having played it.”
With just three (and sometimes four) strings and a simple fret pattern, the dulcimer is typically considered one of the easier string instruments to play. Tradition calls for it to be played while it lays flat on the lap, with the right hand plucking or strumming, and the left fretting.
“One of the beauties of the instrument is there’s not a false note on it,” said Seeger.
Unless you’re a Joni Mitchell or Jean Ritchie fan, you may not be familiar with it; Seeger calls its culture robust but “real underground,” with roughly 250 dulcimer clubs across the country, and several festivals held throughout the year.
“I’d say it’s alive and well, and not easily commercialized,” he said.
So how did he get into it? He called it “totally intuitive,” fitting in with how he’s “wired” for music. He started playing in 1968, and soon began crafting his own dulcimers; he now sells his instruments to artists all over the world. He also builds and sells Qilauts, a sacred Eskimo drum.
“Even though I come from a musical family, music has never come easy for me,” he explained. “I had to really work at it.”
Which translates to his instructing style.
“I teach to people’s abilities and how they’re wired for making music,” said Seeger, who is soft-spoken and has a laid-back demeanor. “Some people are fast runners and some people are long-distance runners. It’s the same with music. Some of us are wired for very fast, intricate work, and for others, it’s all about putting your heart into it, and expressing it.”
Tuition for “Play the Dulcimer” is $111, plus a materials fee of $20; participants provide their own dulcimers (which can be ordered through Seeger or at Music & Arts in Newton Centre).
Other offerings by Newton Community Education include ukulele instruction, beekeeping, fitness boxing, improvisational acting, and Chinese brush painting, among many others. Visitwww2.newtoncommunityed.org for details and to register.

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Gardening during winter at Tower Hill in Boylston


By Taryn Plumb

 |  GLOBE CORRESPONDENT   
DECEMBER 26, 2013


Dot Green, a volunteer at Tower Hill Botanic Garden in Boylston, talked about the plants inside of The Orangerie to Kristin Mulvey of Shrewsbury (left) and Hannah Jackson of London, England.
JACKIE RICCIARDI FOR THE BOSTON GLOBE




Pretty as snow can be, the landscape enshrouded in it for months, devoid of plant life, can quickly become monotonous.

But, not to despair: There are other ways to get a little green in your life in the depths of winter.

Tower Hill Botanic Garden in Boylston, for instance, offers several educational, hands-on programs to get you interacting with plants and keep that green thumb of yours in shape in the offseason. (Not to mention that the location itself, with its views of Mount Wachusett and the reservoir, acres of gardens, indoor conservatories, and bouquet of smells and colors, is sure to perk you right up, whatever the weather has to deliver.)

“Gardens and gardening are really great for your overall well-being,” said education director Ann Marie Pilch, noting among the benefits are stress relief and exercise.

Also, don’t think of gardens as being solely relegated to the warmer seasons. If you plant them right, you can enjoy them all year long.
Such is the focus of a Feb. 1 workshop, “The Garden in Winter.” Holliston-based garden designers Jana Milbocker and Joan Butler will emphasize plants that have “winter interest,” Pilch explained, such as winterberry hollies with their bursts of red berries, evergreens with their “wide variety of texture and color,” “glowing” dogwood shrubs, and other trees with unique and varying barks.
The instructors will also discuss ways to lay out and group trees, shrubs and perennials to create the most dramatic effect.

“The garden can be a magical place in winter,” according to the course description.

Or, if you prefer, you can bring the outside in.

In a Feb. 8 class, “Flowering Branches,” Nancy Vargas of Southborough-based Le Jardin Blanc will focus on forcing cuttings, such as from forsythia or cherry trees, to bloom indoors.

“You can enjoy them as a pop of early spring,” said Pilch.

And it’s never too early to start planning for next season’s garden.

In “Hypertufa Planter Workshop,” also on Feb. 8, for example, participants will create their own planter from cement, peat moss and perlite that they can then use as an outdoor accent.

The March 29 “Healthy Lawns, and Lawn Alternatives,” on the other hand, will discuss various ways to maintain a lush expanse of grass with minimal environmental impact.

Meanwhile, “Life Cycle Gardening” on March 8 will highlight subtle changes that can make your garden easier to maintain as you age. One example, Pilcher said, is to choose lower-maintenance plants. “It’s all about how you can continue to garden as you grow older,” she said.

Ultimately, Tower Hill, which opened in 1986 and is operated by the Worcester County Horticultural Society, is underscoring health and wellness for “people, plants and the planet” throughout its programming next year.

Other events will focus on vegetable gardening, sustainable gardening, healthy cooking, yoga, meditation and tai chi. And guided garden tours are held Sundays throughout the year (weather permitting).

Classes range in cost from $15 to $80, and require reservations.

Visit www.towerhillbg.org for full details.


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Discover winter through Drumlin Farm


By Taryn Plumb

 |  GLOBE CORRESPONDENT   
DECEMBER 26, 2013


Drumlin Farm Teacher Naturalist Eleanor shares information on tapping maple trees with visitors during a nature walk about maple sugaring in New England.
Submitted/Drumlin staff

The world is a place to be explored — no matter the time of year.
Winter, as with each of the other seasons, provides its own distinctive gems and treasures that, through its wide variety of programs, the Drumlin Farm Wildlife Sanctuary in Lincoln strives to help visitors of all ages discover.
“Obviously the world looks a lot different now than it did back in September, or back in May, and that’s what we’re exploring,” said the Massachusetts Audubon Society property’s education manager, Kris Scopinich.
One such program that fosters this for teenagers is “Weekend Adventures Club: Exploring the Woods on Skis,” to be held Jan. 18 at Weston Ski Track. Participants will have the opportunity to cross-country ski for four hours — either with their own equipment or rentals from the facility — and analyze different landscapes swathed in white.
Similar adventurous programs for children and families include “Winter Explorers,” for ages 4 to 6 and running six weeks starting Jan. 23, and “Winter Explorations,” beginning Jan. 24, also running six weeks, and geared for the whole family.
Essentially, all examine what happens in various outdoor habitats in the colder months. “What do wetlands look like in the winter, what do forests look like, what do trees look like?” Scopinich said.
Another essential aspect, particularly after a batch of freshly fallen snow, is searching for animal tracks and other telltale signs of wildlife.
As Scopinich noted, “People are often surprised just how active wildlife is in the cold winter months.”
Equally important is what’s not around. For example, turtles hibernate underwater or in debris nearby; frogs and salamanders nestle underground; and many songbirds have migrated to warmer climates.
“Some animals are able to stick around, and have adapted to get through these cold winters,” Scopinich said, “others slow down their metabolisms, while others head south — and we’ll look forward to their return in the springtime.”
For adults, there are many classes and workshops at Drumlin on birding, digital photography, tree identification, and even making cheese.
“Generally, our programs are focused on what’s happening out in the natural world,” Scopinich said of the 206-acre property on South Great Road. “We’re just following the seasons.”
But the farm animals — sheep, chickens, goats, cows, pigs, and a pony, Midnight — require care, food, water, and space to roam year-round. Families can learn more about this process in such programs as “Caretaker for a Day,” for ages 10 to 14, on Jan. 20; “Winter Farm Family,” a six-week series starting Jan. 22; and the playful “Pigs and Blankets” on Jan. 24.
With each, both parents and children can see what’s going on in the barns, help out with chores, and learn about root cellars and sheep shearing.
Scopinich said it is important to get outside in the winter, not just to stay physically active, but to maintain emotional well-being. (And also get your daily dose of Vitamin D.)
“Definitely take the time to get outside and stay active and enjoy the natural world during this special time of year,” she urged.
For more details on programs, and to register, visit www.massaudubon.org.

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© 2013 BOSTON GLOBE MEDIA PARTNERS, LLC

Monday, November 25, 2013

The allure of magic

Young or old, they have that magic

Monday, November 18, 2013

Foodies have lots of choices outside Boston, too

Food, glorious food!


By Taryn Plumb |  Globe Correspondent 
November 17, 2013

Foodies generally know where to go: the hot spots, the new, the trendy. Boston, Providence, maybe Portland, Maine (or its sister city on the opposite coast). But here in Boston’s western suburbs, fans of fine food do not have to wander as far as they may think. There are plenty of established and new entries where you can get gourmet, exotic, home-grown, and handmade eats.
Visit Hudson and taste a pumpkin whoopie pie at the Harvard Sweet Boutique. Drive through Westborough and try some “kalbi” — beef short ribs — at Sapporo Korean Barbecue and Sushi. Settle in at the Oregon Club, a onetime speak-easy in Ashland, for one of its famed steaks. Or check our list of locally made foods you can buy in shops or online.

Former speak-easy with a modern flair

By Taryn Plumb |  Globe Correspondent 
November 17, 2013

The pans have seen a lot of beef — 90 years’ worth. Originally from Boston’s Omni Parker House, they sizzled up literally thousands of steaks over the course of the 20th century at the Oregon Club in Ashland, where they’re still in service to this day.
“They sit on the burner all night long,” said chef Chris Scanlon, who took over ownership of the restaurant, which served as a speak-easy during Prohibition, in 2009 with Judy MacLeod.
The continued use of the now-antique pans exemplifies the Oregon Club of the 21st century: embracing the past with modern flair, the owners say.
“We wanted to keep the great aspects of the Briascos’ era while also making it our own,” said MacLeod, a onetime waitress at the former private club that was owned and run by the Briasco family for eight decades. “They worked hard. They kept it simple. We want to carry on with that.”
It started 91 years ago when Giuseppe Briasco opened the Briasco Inn in a farmhouse on Oregon Road in Ashland. The rooming house served just two dishes — spaghetti and steak — and also operated as a speak-easy until the end of Prohibition in 1933. With limited liquor licenses available in town after America’s 13-year dry run, Briasco opted to transform his establishment into a private club (and with the transition came the name change).
“You couldn’t get in the door if you didn’t have their membership card,” MacLeod said.
Among the regular customers were Red Sox icon Ted Williams, Boston mayor and state governor James Michael Curley, and Louis Farley, a prominent Framingham judge and 30-year patron. It served as an escape for Farley’s family, who found it nearly impossible to go out in their hometown without being approached with some legal question or another, said MacLeod.
During its nearly 100-year run, it built up a reputation for its steaks, which are prepared the same way — and in the same carbon steel pans — today, along with other Briasco specialties such as spicy mushroom soup.
Scanlon, who attended the Cambridge School of Culinary Arts and has cooked professionally for 22 years, has added such items as pan-roasted cod and crispy duck confit to the menu, and experimented with offerings like cod puree, pork and duck terrine, and foie gras.
“There are any number of things that you can’t get in any other restaurant around here,” he said.
And, he said, his regular customers as well as foodie-types who venture west from Boston “are willing to try things they’re not used to.”

Chef Chris Scanlon cooks in the kitchen of the Oregon Club restaurant.
An old recipe book in the kitchen of the Oregon Club restaurant
Kayana Szymczak for The Boston Globe

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Gourmet baker hits sweet spot

By Taryn Plumb |  Globe Correspondent
November 17, 2013

Not many people have this on their resume: Sue George is a former software engineer and project manager who has become the owner and operator of a gourmet bakery.
Just over a year ago, the mother of two teenagers opened Harvard Sweet Boutique in a downtown Hudson storefront, building on the immense success of her Internet-based business of the same name.
“People are so excited to have a gourmet bakery in town,” said George, a Harvard resident who describes herself as self-taught in the kitchen. “There hasn’t been anything like it in many, many years, if ever.”
It began in 2007 as a small mail-order business that specialized in care packages full of sweet baked treats. But thanks to the Internet, it quickly grew into a nationwide opportunity, said George, who found herself creating packages for an array of corporate and nonprofit clients, including the Boston Celtics and Youk’s Kids, a charity founded by Red Sox player Kevin Youkilis (before he traded in his “B” for Yankee pinstripes).
Today, the care-package business continues to flourish, with customers of all types choosing from numerous flavors of brownies, cookies, truffles, toffee, and other goodies colorfully wrapped up, topped with a bow, and dispatched to their doors.
The bakery’s storefront, meanwhile, opened a year ago last month. Its pastry chefs create all manner of cakes, cookies, macaroons, gourmet cupcakes, brownies, scones, muffins, and sweet rolls, as well as seasonal specialties like pumpkin whoopie pies with maple cream cheese filling, and lunch items that include soups, fresh bread, and pizza.
“It’s all made from scratch, fresh ingredients,” said George. “I don’t cut corners, I never will. I want people to come in and say, ‘That’s the best scone I ever had,’ or, ‘That’s the best cookie I ever had.’ ”
George’s specialty is cookie batter, although she does not get around to doing much baking herself these days due to business demands. But as she was raising her children, she said, “I did tons and tons of baking for every event I could get involved in in my town.”
With the new retail space, she has also taken the opportunity to support other local food artisans she met through the years at various farmers markets. Currently on the shelves are items from Berlin-based Gracenote Coffee, Quinn Popcorn of Woburn (various flavors of organic microwave popcorn with bags free of chemical coatings and susceptors), Salt Traders in Ipswich, and Sweet Lydia’s of Lowell (gourmet marshmallows and handmade candy bars).
Ultimately, she said of the shop, “we are really a cool foodie destination. And the word is starting to spread. We get people who take a Saturday drive to come out here.”

The Harvard Sweet Boutique, which is celebrating its one-year anniversary in Hudson, is an example of suburban foodies making their mark.
Suzanne Kreiter/Globe staff

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Expanding horizon for Korean cuisine

By Taryn Plumb |  Globe Correspondent
November 17, 2013

Korean restaurants can be a hard sell in suburbia, Jay Chung acknowledges.
The country’s cuisine has not enjoyed the popularity of other Asian fare — such as Chinese, Japanese, or Thai — because often the food and the service are not “Americanized,” he said. The dishes themselves — how to order and how to eat them — can also be perplexing.
So the goal of his family’s restaurant, Sapporo Korean Barbecue and Sushi in Westborough, has been to make their traditional cuisine more accessible for Americans.
“People want to learn more about the food,” said Chung. “The majority of our diners have never tried Korean food elsewhere, but they keep coming back.”
His family came to the United States from Seoul in 1992; almost seven years ago they opened their East Main Street restaurant, with patriarch Moon Chung drawing on his culinary experience to serve as chef.
The town has been both supportive and willing to experiment with an unfamiliar cuisine. “The community aspect of Westborough is great,” said Chung. “It’s very tightknit.”
Korean food is often described as rich and bold, with staple ingredients including garlic, soy beans, red pepper paste, and sesame. Signature dishes include kalbi (beef short ribs) and bulgogi (beef rib eye), which are both marinated in soy sauce.
But perhaps the most well-known Korean dish, Chung said, is dolsot bibimbap , which literally translates to “stone pot” and “mixed rice”. Rice, vegetables — such as bean sprouts, carrots, and mushrooms — and beef topped by a raw egg are served up in a heated stone pot.
“It’s a very spicy Korean dish,” Chung said. “It comes out sizzling, and stays sizzling throughout the meal.”
Of course, Sapporo is also popular for its sushi offerings. Chung said the favored dish has become a bit like fast food in recent years, transformed to suit the Western palate (take, for instance, the introduction of the California roll).
So Sapporo strives to serve up sushi (or nigiri, raw sliced fish atop rice) the traditional way, which, as he described it, takes “someone who knows a lot about fish, a lot about rice, and the preparation, which takes years to learn. A lot of it is the care put into it.”
But the restaurantalso experiments with more creative contemporary offerings, including designer rolls with various ingredients, sauces, flavors, and textures.
For example, its Hawaiian roll, which combines shrimp tempura topped with spicy tuna, shaved mangoes, spicy mayo, and macadamia nuts.
“There’s a lot going on in that one roll,” said Chung. “You take one bite and you get all the flavors.”
Overall, Sapporo’s offerings are a blending of old and new.
“We have a little bit of both — the traditional and more of the modern,” said Chung.

Jay Chung and his family offer a mix of Korean dishes old and new, including the avocado ball

The "dolsot bibim bap" at Sapporo Korean Barbecue and Sushi in Westborough
Dina Rudick/Globe Staff

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© 2013 Boston Globe Media Partners, LLC

Thursday, November 14, 2013

Yes, you heard right: Cosmetic Acupuncture

Acupuncture offers holistic alternative to Botox

By Taryn Plumb |  Globe Correspondent  

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Removing the veil

Persian Visions: Contemporary Photography from Iran 

Taryn Plumb

University of Southern Maine Art Galleries

Area Gallery, Portland Campus
35 Bedford Street
Portland, Maine

Gorham Campus Center
37 College Avenue
Gorham, Maine

Through December 8 



A figure clothed in black paces back and forth in shin-deep snow, fruitlessly seeking protection under a flimsy umbrella.
Others pass this way and that, daring the elements. Our figure continues to wait — as do we — and the snow continues to fall, relentless, whipping and whirling in barren streets smothered in white. All we hear is the endless, eerie howling of the harsh wind.  
This several-minute-long video, “The White Station,” shot by Seifollah Samadian from the vantage point of an overlooking window, offers a completely unexpected view of Iran.
“Persian Visions” is the first contemporary Iranian photography to be displayed in the U.S., offering a view from insideout — rather than outside-in, such as Gilles Peress’ acclaimed “Telex Iran” — of a country considered by many in the west as once grand and opulent, now conflicted, exotic, foreign. Through its range of stark, abstract, cerebral and bold images, it strives to dispel these perceptions by presenting universal sensibilities while also offering commentary on modern life in a country with origins dating back 4,800 years.
For instance, take Esmail Abbasi’s “Generous Butcher,” which juxtaposes an antique-colored illustration of a classic Muslim story with a black-and-white close-up of a pencil snapped in half. As the story goes, a butcher sells tainted meats, then breaks his arm, only to have it healed by Imam Ali, a close relative of prophet Muhammad. The images side-by-side create a metaphor for freedom of expression in modern Iran, questioning who could restore it, and how.
Sadegh Tirafkan’s “Persepolis” also wrestles with the country’s tortured identity. Set against the ruins of the oncegreat capital of the ancient Achaemenid Empire, a man walks one way and back again across two screens. In both, all we hear is the incessant crunch of shoes on gravel. 
Sandwiched between the screens, two still photos show the same man standing still against the backdrop of the ruins, passers-by moving in a blur. Persepolis is a World Heritage Site and a major tourist attraction, and the artist implies that Iran’s identity is forever linked with the grandeur of its past.
 

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The time of Bread and Roses

FASANELLA’S LAWRENCE, A LABOR OF LOVE 

Taryn Plumb

Lawrence Heritage State Park Gallery 
1 Jackson Street
Lawrence, Massachusetts
Through December 16 

It seems only fitting that Ralph Fasanella was born on Labor Day. After all, the self-taught painter born to Italian immigrants dedicated his life to America’s working men and women. One of his many subjects was the city of Lawrence, which once hummed with working mills and was the site of the now-famous 1912 Bread and Roses strike.

During his many visits to the city in the 1970s, he crafted sketches of mill life and machinery that would form the basis for the large, colorful, richly detailed paintings that eventually made him famous (especially among the common man). With the 100th anniversary of his birthday approaching, many of his pieces have “come home,” so to speak, in an exhibit on display through Dec. 16 at the Lawrence Heritage State Park Gallery. 

Titled simply “Fasanella’s Lawrence,” the show features more than a halfdozen of his paintings and working drawings of machinery, as well as photographic prints of his paintings that were stolen over the years. The Lawrence show is a preface, of sorts, to other national exhibitions forthcoming, most notably “Ralph Fasanella: Lest We Forget,” from May 2 to Aug. 3, 2014, at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. 

Born in New York in 1914, Fasanella’s dedication to the working man’s cause was initially shaped by his parents — he would often accompany his father on his ice delivery route, and he also spent time with his activist mother as she fought for trade unions and against fascism, according to his 1997 obituary in the New York Times. 

Later, during the Great Depression, he worked as a truck driver and in garment factories; after serving in the Abraham Lincoln Brigade to support the Second Spanish Republic, he became highly involved in labor unions in the United States.  

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