White Hot

Local Food: Even if the little snow we've received quickly melts away, we're making winter white and hot! Steven's White Root Soup is made with all the best winter root vegetables available, kind of as a challenge to the rich gem colors of summer.  The earthy and flavorful blend of kohlrabi, similar in flavor to cabbage but milder and sweeter, along with parsnips, white beets and celery root from Pete's, are mixed with garlic and onions from Sandiwood Farm. Steven adds the slightly sweet Lake View white wine from Shelburne Vineyard, rich cream from Butterworks Farm and milk from Strafford Organic Creamery. A bit of heat comes from our dried peppers.  Steven tops the creamy and cozy soup with crispy onions to add a slight crunch to the winter warm up.

At the Bar: Remember our Sunday and Monday drink specials. Sunday, March 4th we offer a $2.50 pint of Trout River, a $4 glass of Boyden Valley Riverbend Red or Seyval Blanc.  Try the Elderberry Fizz, with Barr Hill Gin, Caledonia Spirits Elderberry Cordial, and ginger beer, offered for $5.

Around the Galaxy: Event season kicks off on March 6th at 7PM with Howard Frank Mosher and the World Premier of The Great Northern Express. Plan to meet your friends next door at Claire's for dinner and then spend a  rollicking evening with Howard Frank Mosher. Later in March, come to Galaxy for a Rural Post Letter Writing Soirée - details of these and other upcoming events here.

Music Notes: Tritium Well bring us their radioactive roots, rock and reggae on Thursday, March 1 at 7:00 for their inaugural performance.  Check out this quintet and support local music!

Local Events: This Wednesday, January 29 at 7:00pm, area townspeople are invited to a public gathering to explore the need to amend the US Constitution so as to provide that 'corporations are not people' and 'money is not speech' in the eyes of the law and our elections process. This matter is scheduled to be brought before the people of the towns of Hardwick, Craftsbury, Greensboro, Woodbury and Walden (and many others in Vermont) at this year's Town Meeting.  Please bring your questions, concerns and information to discuss and share! Discussion will be held at Gagnon's Video Store at #28 Mill Street. Contact them at 472-5285 for more information.

Reminders: We are open daily after 2:30 for coffee, bar service, and baked goods, and free WiFi, with dinner reservations available from 5-9, Sundays from 5-8. We serve our special Blunch menu Sundays from 11-2. Claire's is closed every Wednesday.

We appreciate it when you use cash or a check - credit card companies charge us a fee that really adds up. Thanks to many of you we have been able to significantly reduced those fees.

Click on the image above to get a closer look!

Head over Heels

Local Food: Drawing out the best aspects from all cuts of meat, Steven introduces a delicious and unctuous head cheese to the menu.  Using whole pig head and ears from Gopher Broke Farm and the trotters from Sugar Mountain Farm, Steven braises the meat in Sparkling Mead from Caledonia Spirits to intensify the tender, tasty bits.  The remaining broth, when cooled, transforms into jelly.  The jelly and meat is pressed together to form a kind of cold cut, which Steven then batters in breadcrumbs and fries to a crisp.  Served with a spicy mustard dipping sauce of brown mustard seed, Hill Farmstead Everett Porter and pickled rhubarb, the rich and flavorful head cheese is a tasty and unique way to start your meal.

At the Bar: Remember our Sunday and Monday drink specials. Sunday, February 26th we offer a $2.50 pint of Rock Art, a $4 glass of Boyden Valley Riverbend Red or Seyval Blanc.  Try Claire's Cranberry Cocktail, with Whiskey and Vermont Cranberry Company juice, offered for $5.

Around the Galaxy: Event season kicks off on March 6th with Howard Frank Mosher and the World Premier of The Great Northern Express. Plan to meet your friends at Claire's for dinner and a rollicking evening with Howard Frank Mosher.

Music Notes: Hardwick's own The Butterbeans join us Thursday, February 23 at 7:00.  Support local music and come down for a foot stompin' good time!

Local Events: New England's Indie/West-African Psychadelic Funk darlings Barika will perform at the Haybarn Theater at Goddard College on Friday, February 25th at 8:00.  Check out their mesmerizing blend of highly danceable polyrhythmic grooves mixed with ethereal dub-scape.  Percussionist Jane Boxall opens. Tickets are available at The Galaxy Bookshop.

Reminders: We are open daily after 2:30 for coffee, bar service, and baked goods, and free WiFi, with dinner reservations available from 5-9, Sundays from 5-8. We serve our special Blunch menu Sundays from 11-2. Claire's is closed every Wednesday.

We appreciate it when you use cash or a check - credit card companies charge us a fee that really adds up. Thanks to many of you we have been able to significantly reduced those fees.

Click on the image above to get a closer look!

Sweet Shallots for Valentine's

Local Food: The Lovinskys at Eastview Farm in East Hardwick brought us their bumper crop of Prisma shallots this year, a true labor of love. They start their shallots from seeds sown in early March in soil blocks, then transplant the seedlings into richly prepared soil in May for a fall harvest.  Growing like garlic, with multiple cloves and paper skin, their flavor is much more sweet and mild. Shallots became common in European cuisine after they were introduced from the ancient Levantine city of Ascalon.  Steven oven roasts the "queen of the sauce onions" (according to The Joy of Cooking) with the slightly sweet East Shore Vineyard Traminette to make a spicy butter sauce to accompany the ribeye from Snug Valley Farm, as well as the mussels.  Shallots also add a nice mellow kick to the crab bake with celery root, lemon thyme crumbs and remoulade.

At the Bar: Remember our Sunday and Monday drink specials. Sunday, February 19th we offer a $2.50 pint of Otter Creek, a $4 glass of East Shore Vineyard Traminette or Cabernet Franc.  Try our Whiskey Apple Fizz, made with whiskey, Champlain Orchards apple cider and ginger beer, offered for $5.

Around the Galaxy: The event calendar is filling up - stay tuned at www.galaxybookshop.com. Event season kicks off on March 6th with Howard Frank Mosher and the World Premier of The Great Northern Express. Plan to meet your friends at Claire's for dinner and a rollicking evening with Howard Frank Mosher .

Music Notes: Flat Top Trio joins us this Thursday, February 16 at 7:00.  Support local music and enjoy the tunes of this Bluegrass/Americana group!

Local Events: A family friendly Contra Dance and dessert potluck is this Saturday, February 18 at 7:00 at Sterling College in the Dunbar Dining Hall. Ned Houston will be calling.  All are welcome!

There are still reservations available for Valentine's Day dinner!  Woo your sweatheart or celebrate your friends and family by making dinner reservations now.

Reminders: We are open daily after 2:30 for coffee, bar service, and baked goods, and free WiFi, with dinner reservations available from 5-9, Sundays from 5-8. We serve our special Blunch menu Sundays from 11-2. Claire's is closed every Wednesday.

We appreciate it when you use cash or a check - credit card companies charge us a fee that really adds up. Thanks to many of you we have been able to significantly reduced those fees.

Click on the image above to get a closer look!

Plenty of Polenta

Local Food: According to Punxsutawney Phil, we have another six weeks until spring, but Steven's rustic polenta will help keep us cozy along the way. Inspired by cornmeal from Butterworks Farm, Steven's recipe slowly cooks it along with milk from Strafford Organic Creamery. To this he adds lightly salted and cultured butter from Vermont Butter & Cheese Creamery, red peppers from Pete's, and places this on a base of onions and garlic from Sandiwood Farm. Pete's kohlrabi is roasted and flavored with onions, sunchokes from Arctic Acres and rutabaga from Blackwell Roots to accompany the creamy polenta, along with a layer of tomatoes Steven preserved last summer.  The plate is topped with Landaff cheese, which comes to us from the Erbs of Landaff, New Hampshire, by way of aging in the cellars of Jasper Hill, lending a bright buttermilk tang and savory brown butter notes. The polenta is then baked to a hot, golden goodness.  Look for it on the menu later this week!

At the Bar: Remember our Sunday and Monday drink specials. Sunday, February 12 we offer a $2.50 pint of Wolaver's and a $4 glass of East Shore Vineyard Traminette or Cabernet Franc.  Try our Rubacuori, made with Green Mountain Organic Vodka, Caledonia Spirits Sparkling Mead, Vermont Cranberry juice and ginger liqueur, offered for $5.

Around the Galaxy: Thanks to everyone who came by to warm the bookstore on Friday evening and to DJ Lesson One for creating a great atmosphere. New books are arriving daily. For those of you reveling in Winter, get lost in The Snow Child, a novel by Alaska writer Eowyn Ivey. For those of you looking ahead to Spring, Galaxy has The Beginner's Guide to Growing Heirloom Vegetables. The Science of Yoga, just out and much in the news this week, has arrived at Galaxy and is also available as an ebook.

Music Notes: Jay Ekis joins us this Thursday, February 9 at 7:00.  Support local music and be sure to catch the songs that Anaïs Mitchell says "get in your blood and make their way to the heart before you notice what's happening."

Local Events: Vermont winemakers are hosting a statewide Wine and Chocolate Weekend on February 11 and 12 in honor of Valentine's Day.  Caledonia Spirits and Winery will be open both days from 12-5pm.  Joining them are Magic Spoon Bakery of Hardwick, Eden Ice Cider of West Charleston and Jasper Hill Farm of Greensboro. For more information call Caledonia Spirits and Winery at 472-8000.

Valentine's Day approaches, so plan to woo your sweatheart or celebrate your friends and family by making dinner reservations now.  Tell us why you love Hardwick on the Claire's Facebook page, and you will be entered to win Valentine's dinner for two! Thank you to the many folks who have already participated- we love hearing what you have to say!

Reminders: We are open daily after 2:30 for coffee, bar service, and baked goods, and free WiFi, with dinner reservations available from 5-9, Sundays from 5-8. We serve our special Blunch menu Sundays from 11-2. Claire's is closed every Wednesday.

We appreciate it when you use cash or a check - credit card companies charge us a fee that really adds up. Thanks to many of you we have been able to significantly reduced those fees.

Click on the image above to get a closer look!