Local Food: Warm, crispy and sweet, Crab Cakes are the perfect start to your meal. Steven combines Maine crab meat with his own version of Old Bay Spices, as well as bread crumbs from spelt, eggs, mayonnaise, mustard and a dusting of cornmeal. Served atop lightly sauteed shaved Brussels sprouts and lentil sprouts, with a touch of tart cider syrup and a dollop of mustard dressing, and a tantalizing bite of smokey bacon. Adding to the textures of the dish are juicy fried green tomatoes. Steven finishes his version of this classic dish with a tartar sauce he's cooked up.

Claire's is happy to host your holiday party. Call Veronica at 472-7053 to book your business or pleasure celebration.

Around the Galaxy: Our Judith Jones event has been moved to Tuesday, December 8th. This gives you more time to buy the book and try out the recipes before our visit with Judith!

Music Notes: Claire's will be closed this Thursday. We will be open for business Friday at 2:30 for coffee and bar service as well as sweets, dinner starting at 5:00

Local Food: A dry cure is the secret to Steven's tender pork chop. He brings the distinctiveness of Maine Sea Salt to pork loin from Winding Brook Farm, and then lets the two hang out for a couple of days before they hit the grill. The tangy and complex chutney is the perfect juxtaposition, with a dozen spices, caramelized red onions, garlic, cider, apples, green tomatoes and raspberries. Roasted potatoes and Brussels sprouts round out the dish. Try it with a glass of award winning Marquette, a dry red wine from Lincoln Peak Vineyard in New Haven, VT.

Around the Galaxy: Allison Hooper's book In a Cheesemaker's Kitchen has finally arrived. We had a special preview event at Claire's featuring recipes from the book in August to celebrate 25 years of the Vermont Butter & Cheese Company. This beautiful and affordable book emphasizes cooking with simple ingredients and tells the story of a wonderful company that has achieved success through a vital link with local farms.

Music Notes: Thursday night we welcome Town Wide Yard Sale, and what some have called their "freak folk" stylings, for a return visit.

Local Events: Saturday from 9-3 is the annual Alternative Giving Fair at the UCC in Greensboro, featuring artisan products to benefit the Four Seasons of Early Learning.

The Jeudevine Library features a showing of A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving in the children's room at 3 pm on Monday.

Local Food: With winter officially only a few weeks away, Steven helps keep it at bay with a few of summer's jewels out of the deep freeze. His Strawberry Dark Chocolate Pudding Cake sets a gooey center inside a rich chocolate cake. Studded with chunks of strawberries, it's topped with a scoop of Strafford Organic Creamery strawberry ice cream and finished with a drizzle of strawberry caramel sauce.

Around the Galaxy: Food writer and editor Judith Jones has been featured in a variety of articles since the publication of her new book, The Pleasures of Cooking for One. The New York Times Sunday magazine recently explored her farm in Stannard, where she raises cattle, and the Burlington Free Press adds details about the book, Judith's life, and recipes. The Galaxy and Claire's welcome Judith for a special reading and book event on December 1. Watch for details!

Music Notes: This Thursday, Dave Keller joins us for his first return engagement since the initial days of summer. Come in to enjoy his soulful, sweetly gritty and intense music - he reports he had a blast last time. http://davekeller.com/

Local Events: Join the Hardwick Area Transition Towns on Sunday from 2-5 at the Green Mountain Tech & Career Center for a Brainstorming Community Get-Together to create an Energy Descent Action Plan. For more info contact Mary Gagnon at mgagnon@vtlink.net or Gagnon's Video, or visit Transition Vermont to learn more about the efforts around Vermont.

Also on Sunday, Chip Troiano screens Viet Nam: The Reconciliation at 7PM at St. John Episcopal Church in Hardwick. Call Chip at 533-7712 for more information.

Local Food: As native to Vermont, cranberries offer the crispest sweet and tart flavors available. Ours come from Vermont Cranberry Company in East Fairfield, who grow full flavored berries that brighten any dish. Steven accents savory dishes with a tart cranberry apple chutney and uses their breezy sharpness to balance sweet desserts. Cranberries also have their place in our bar, where we feature cranberry margaritas made with VT Cranberry Company's cranberry juice.

Music Notes: Our good friend Jeremy Raboin is back this Thursday night at 7:30. Check out his webpage at http://www.myspace.com/jeremyraboin

Local Events: Wednesday, the Greensboro Free Library celebrates Vermont Reads with an afternoon of Japanese children's songs designed for parents and children alike.

Maggie Neale brings her insights into art as well as her inspirations and techniques to the Art House Gallery in Craftsbury Common as part of their Artist Talks on Art, Friday from 6:30 to 7:30, with a reception to follow. For more information, call 586-2545.

Local Food: You don't have to be from the South to love green tomatoes! Steven taps into the flavors of this not-yet-ripe gem to feature it in a spicy soup with tomatillos, and in a chutney that provides a little tart sweetness to accompany the pâté made from chicken liver and duck rillettes. He even has fried green tomatoes served alongside crab cake.

Around the Galaxy: Thursday afternoon from 1:15 to 2:30, Hazen Union's poetry class hosts a reading of student work. Local poets are invited to join in as well. Poetry moves to Stardust in Craftsbury for a Friday night Ghoulish Poe-try Slam from 7 to 8:30.

Music Notes: Welcome the Rustbucket Brothers, an accoustic version of Vermont's own Rusty Romance, this Thursday night for their first visit. Learn more about their blend of honky tonk and old school rock'n'roll at http://www.rustyromance.com/.

Local Events: Halloween is the 10th Annual Haunted Library at the Jeudevine Library, from 5 until 8 and featuring mythical animals, treats, and games.

Local food: Steven's find this week is the husk cherry, which he adds to sweet and savory dishes. Related to the tomatillo, it has been described as a cross between the sweet tartness of strawberries and the mellow acidity of tomatoes. Try this unique fruit in the raspberry pear upside down cake or in a chutney served with the pork chop with maple mustard glaze, roasted potatoes and brussels sprouts. Later in the week, you'll find husk cherries in the chicken molé.

Around the Galaxy: Amy Kolb Noyes is in the house! Tuesday night at 7 the Vermont writer and photographer will talk about her new book, Nontoxic Housecleaning, as well as demonstrate how to make one of the cleaning products. Bring your own spray bottle or container!

Music Notes: Come by Thursday after 7:30 to welcome the return of local back porch music favorites Copper Kettle, with their fiddle, dobro, washtub base, kazoo and guitar.

Local Events: Jeudevine Music School benefit concert this Friday evening at the Hardwick Townhouse features David Budbill's poetry, jazz, steel drums, and the Bleuttes Sauvage quartet. More information is available at 472-5913.

Hardwick Area Transition Towns opens the doors of four energy innovating homes on Saturday, including solar, straw bale construction, masonry stoves, wind and more. Tours start at 8:45 am. For more information, call 472-6185 or email nancyn@together.net.

Local Food: Apples can be found throughout the menu this time of year. Steven uses the versatile fruit in sweet and savory dishes including Moroccan spiced butternut squash soup with apples and leeks; beet, apple, pear and arugula salad; chicken roasted with apples and bacon and a cider blue cheese sauce. Don't forget the gingerbread with caramel apples, hot cider and Vermont's Pomme de Vie apple brandy.

Around the Galaxy: The 24 Hour Read-a-Thon starts Friday at 4 pm and continues through Saturday. Pick up a registration sheet and pledge sheet before Thursday at the bookstore.

Music Notes: Blue Fox, Montpelier's well traveled blues man, journeys to Hardwick so we can enjoy what Seven Days calls his "deep-lazy-growly-sexy" vocals and guitar work described as "ultra strength." Find Blue Fox on myspace.

Local Events: Sunday, October 18, is a busy day! Enjoy an evening pumpkin walk on the Hardwick Trails, lined with 350 lighted pumpkins carved by students at the elementary school. There will be a bonfire, donuts and cider, and a friendly witch. Bring your flashlight to the Hazen School parking lot at 6 pm. Or, if your interests involve energy efficiency, come the the Button Up Vermont workshop at the Craftsbury Library at 6:30, and learn how to improve your home's energy efficiency.