The Cutting Edge

Local Food: There is one thing that Californians who settle in Vermont miss the most - the artichoke. Notoriously prickly and stubbornly finicky about climate, the artichoke is actually a type of thistle that has resisted cultivation outside Mediterranean zones. Steven grew the vigorously defensive but delicious buds as a boy in his mother's community garden, so you can imagine how his mind started to work when he read in the Times Argus about cutting edge Vermont farmers who, this summer at least, have had success with artichokes. Finding a nearby source at Harvest Hill Farm in Walden, Steven halves each artichoke for baking, carefully removes the choke, and fills with a blend of herbs from Rowan Farm and ricotta cheese from Maplebrook Farm, with toasted bread crumbs on top. Served with crispy croutons to dip along with the tender artichoke leaves, the plate is finished with a rustic relish of grilled pepper and eggplant from Pete's Greens.

Around the Galaxy: Leon Thompson returns to The Galaxy Bookshop for a lively discussion about where to find the Real Vermont. His book, Not Too Awful Bad: A Storyteller's Guide to Vermont, is a humorous guide to travelling the state, from the perspective of a native Vermonter. Leon Thompson is a graduate of Lyndon State and writes for the St. Albans Messenger. Come to Galaxy Tuesday at 7PM for a fun evening of exploring Vermont.

Music Notes: We are pleased to welcome back The Rustbucket Brothers this Thursday at 8:00. Support local music and dance to their rootsy American country and rock.

Local Events: Stop by Claire's between 2:30 and 4:00 on Tuesday, August 17 as the Craftsbury Chamber Players rehearse. Enjoy bar and coffee and service and baked goods as well.

Don't forget about Kingdom Farm & Food Days, a regional celebration of food and agriculture hosted by High Mowing Seeds, the New England Culinary Institute and the Center for an Agricultural Economy on August 21 and 22. New this year is a bike tour hosted by the Craftsbury Outdoor Center on Saturday, a great opportunity to work up an appetite for all the great food that the weekend features.

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. Please note we have extended our Summer Sunday dinner hours and will seat guests until 9:00 pm. We serve our special Blunch menu Sundays from 11-2. Claire's is closed every Wednesday.

We appreciate it when you reserve a table with us, as it helps us plan a relaxed and hospitable experience for you and all our guests. To show our appreciation, when you call, email, or stop by to make a reservation, you will be entered into our weekly drawing for a $20 gift card for your next visit.

Bienvenidos!

Local Food: Tomatillos offer a cool and tangy respite to this summer's immigration debate. A staple in Mexican and Latin American cuisine, tomatillos are actually a cousin to the gooseberry and grow just as well in our cool climate as they do in tropical zones, with their own papery husk that protects the fruit inside. Tomatillos burst out of their husks, ready to harvest, at about the same tomatoes are just blushing, so they are often combined together to make the perfect salsa. The crisp, tart tomatillos from Rowan Farm are the perfect addition to Steven's variation on salsa, garnishing hush puppies, a staple from the Southern US. Though the green variety is the most familiar, tomatillos can break open their husks to reveal bright green, yellow, orange and even purple.

Around the Galaxy: If you need new ideas or inspiration for all the summer bounty, check out Galaxy's bookshelves for titles such as From Asparagus to Zucchini: A Guide to Cooking Farm-Fresh Seasonal Produce, Eating Well in Season, The Farmers' Market Cookbook, and a Galaxy bestseller, Dishing Up Vermont: 145 Authentic Recipes From the Green Mountain State. On Tuesday, August 17th Galaxy welcomes Leon Thompson for an entertaining read on Vermont.

Music Notes: All the way from Columbus, Ohio, Andrew Graham & Swarming Branch will join us with their acoustic folk and jazz on Thursday, August 12 at 8:00. Don't miss them at Langdon Street Cafe on Wednesday, August 11 at 8:00.

Local Events: As part of the Route 15 Festival, The Heart of Vermont Chamber will be sponsoring the 1st Annual Million Dollar Duck Race on Saturday, August 14 at 9:00am. Adopt a duck and be entered to win a variety prizes. The race will benefit the Heart of VT Chamber of Commerce and refurbish the Hardwick Welcome Center.

And coming up on August 21-22, Kingdom Farm and Food Days: two days of tours, workshops, food, music and festivities to celebrate Vermont food and agriculture! Organized by our next door neighbors at the Center for an Agricultural Economy, this year's event will be the biggest yet. New this year is a 25 mile bike tour of the area organized by the Craftsbury Outdoor Center on Saturday. Find out more here.

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. Please note we have extended our Summer Sunday dinner hours and will seat guests until 9:00 pm. We serve our special Blunch menu Sundays from 11-2. Claire's is closed every Wednesday.

We appreciate it when you reserve a table with us, as it helps us plan a relaxed and hospitable experience for you and all our guests. To show our appreciation, when you call, email, or stop by to make a reservation, you will be entered into our weekly drawing for a $20 gift card for your next visit.

Summer Gold (and Red and Green and Purple)

Local Food: Finding just the right varieties of tomato, which often love long, hot, dry summers, can be a challenge for Vermont farmers. But over the years our farmers have tried out different cultivars and means of cultivation to produce today's wealth of local colors, shapes, sizes, textures, aromas, and flavors. Steven takes advantage of the selection from Pete's Greens and Hazendale Farm for a tomato salad that is redolent of summer. He slices them into a rainbow of colors and mixes them with haricots verts and merlot lettuce from Mystic Morning Farm in Greensboro, along with feta cheese from Bonnieview Farm for a bit of creamy tang and salt. Dressed in a vinaigrette with summer savory and basil from Rowan Farm, the salad is an array of textures and summer flavors. For crunch, some garlic chips from Michael Waring are sprinkled on top.

Around the Galaxy: On Tuesday, August 3rd at 7P.M. Zoe FitzGerald Carter will visit Galaxy to talk about her book Imperfect Endings. Zoe and her family have summered in Greensboro for many years. Her book is a memoir of the year in which her mother - tired of living with Parkinson's Disease - decided that she wanted to end her life, and that she wanted her three daughters to help her. The Boston Globe says, "An engaging and insightful tale of familial love, understanding and forgiveness, shot through with a surprising amount of wit." Join us in welcoming Zoe on Tuesday at 7.

Music Notes: Abby Jenne and the Enablers return this Thursday, August 4 at 8:00. Support local music and the acoustic rock/Americana originals from this band featuring fiddle, bass, pedal steel, guitar and drums.

Local Events: August's First Friday Artist Talk at The Art House in Craftsbury on August 6th from 6:30-7:30 will feature Per Courtney and his hand crafted furniture, guitars and jewelry. Contact the Art House to reserve your spot for this popular event.

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. Please note we have extended our Summer Sunday dinner hours and will seat guests until 9:00 pm. We serve our special Blunch menu Sundays from 11-2. Claire's is closed every Wednesday.

We appreciate it when you reserve a table with us, as it helps us plan a relaxed and hospitable experience for you and all our guests. To show our appreciation, when you call, email, or stop by to make a reservation, you will be entered into our weekly drawing for a $20 gift card for your next visit.

In the Thick of It

Local Food: The bushy bean vines thriving in Steven's home garden are one indication we are in the thick of summer. Steven brings in the white and purple beans from home and uses them alongside others from Mystic Morning Farm and Pete's Greens. Quick fried in a Switchback beer batter with garlic scapes, zucchini, broccoli and cauliflower, and served with basil aioli, the beans maintain their crunch and earthy flavor. You will also find them with the ribeye, mixed with French fries. They have their place on the Sunday Blunch menu as well, with the curry vegetable and tofu hash served with a fried egg.

Around the Galaxy: Come to Galaxy on Tuesday evening, July 27, at 7 to welcome Garret Keizer. Garret will read from and discuss his sixth book, The Unwanted Sound of Everything We Want. Garret was a guest on the Colbert Report earlier this month, and his book has been favorably reviewed among several recent books about noise and silence. Learn more about Garret at his website and then come meet him at Galaxy on Tuesday.

Music Notes: Nicole Carey and Handmade Blues join us this Thursday, July 29 at 8:00. Nicole Carey will play her originals on acoustic guitar, joined by guitar flat picker Mike Schmidt and Carrie Cook on washtub.

Local Events: The Vermont Fresh Network Farmers' Dinner at Caledonia Spirits in Hardwick celebrates local food on Friday, July 30 at 6:00. Lauren Bowes, a student from New England Culinary Institute, will create the menu to feature products from Vermont Fresh Network members like Vermont Soy, Greenfield Highland Beef, Pete's Greens, Caledonia Spirits and Honey Gardens Winery, Jasper Hill as well as High Mowing Seeds, and others. Contact Todd Hardie at 802-472-8000 for reservations or more information. Tickets are $40 plus tax.

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

We appreciate it when you reserve a table with us, as it helps us plan a relaxed and hospitable experience for you and all our guests. To show our appreciation, when you call, email, or stop by to make a reservation, you will be entered into our weekly drawing for a $20 gift card for your next visit.

McKibben Writes Hardwick

If you haven't had a chance to pick up the latest issue of Yankee Magazine, the July/August edition is available online with Bill McKibben's article about Hardwick. Bill paints a vivid portrait of what's been brewing, starting with "livestock mortality composting" and moving on up the food chain. In just a few pages, you get not only a picture of one Vermont town and the dynamics in and on the ground, but also from the article a sense of what it takes to make this system work, and how unique it is among the many and varied efforts to restore a sense of community to our food ways.

Of course, you should as well stop and appreciate Tim Zeltner's illustration for the story (above) at Vermont Yankee.

Sweet Dreams of Youth

Local Food: Remember those summer days of your youth, when you refreshed with the fizzy sweetness of a root beer float? Starting this week, we'll bring back those bygone days in a cool pint glass filled with black raspberries from Hardwick's Larry Brochu, strawberries from Hazendale Farm and Pete's Greens, and raspberries from Jen Boucher, blended together and mixed with vanilla ice cream from Strafford Organic Creamery. To finish, Steven adds our homemade dry seltzer to put the pop in the fizz without the syrupy sweetness of root beer, and yellow plums from Champlain Orchards are sprinkled on top to add a punch of sunshine. It's the perfect balance of summer sweet fruit, cool ice-cream, and bubbles. And you can add a small shot of your favorite spirit (over 21 only, of course).

Around the Galaxy: From the newly revised classic Putting Food By to the brand new Put 'em Up! A Comprehensive Home Preserving Guide for the Creative Cook, Galaxy has a shelf full of books to help you preserve the summer bounty through the winter. Please join us for our next event, Tuesday, July 27th, when we hear Garret Keizer discuss his new book, The Unwanted Sound of Everything We Want.

Music Notes: Flatpick guitarist and Radio Ranger Mark Struhsacker returns Thursday, July 22 at 8:00. Support local music and enjoy his traditional fiddle tunes and bluegrass instrumentals.

Local Events: Join High Mowing Seeds on their monthly Trials Field Walk on Wednesday, July 21 from 4-6. This tour will focus on cucumbers, beets, carrots, cabbages, herbs, snap beans, okra, artichokes and fava beans.

Local Art: We welcome an exhibit of works by Vermont artist Vanessa Compton's July 20 through Monday, October 4. Vanessa incorporates the subconscious realm of dreams and nightmares into her artwork. Join us for an artist reception at Claire's on Monday, July 26 from 4-6.

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

We appreciate it when you reserve a table with us, as it helps us plan a relaxed and hospitable experience for you and all our guests. To show our appreciation, when you call, email, or stop by to make a reservation, you will be entered into our weekly drawing for a $20 gift card for your next visit.

The Reds are Coming!

Local Food: The return of the Cold War in a spy swap with Russia brought back memories of the Red Scare, but our local Reds - luscious strawberries - have been lying low because of this year's unusual weather, with some farmers experiencing a late frost that delayed the harvest. Pete's Greens and Hazendale Farm supply us with the sweet earthy berries, and with a lusty red color, their strawberries soak up attention. But they also balance well off savory and sweet preparations as featured players. Steven includes strawberries alongside a crab cake to add a bright tone and sweetness to the greens, sorrel vinaigrette and bacon lardons that accompany it. At Blunch on Sunday, you find them with spiced cornmeal and rye pancakes, honeyed ricotta, and Caledonia Farm maple syrup. For dessert, they are mixed with their red cousin, the cherry, on top of the mascarpone cheesecake and they star on the berry upside down cake. And who could forget about a summertime favorite, Steven's praline ice cream sandwich with vanilla and strawberry ice cream, topped with strawberries. We're also working on strawberries for our cocktail menu. Stay tuned.

Around the Galaxy: On Tuesday at 7P.M. Vince Feeney will talk about the history of Irish immigrants in Vermont and his book Finnigans, Slaters and Stonepeggers. Everyone is welcome and the event is free.

Music Notes: Hardwick residents Jeanne Segretto Miller and Josh Gould, aka The Butterbeans, perform this Thursday at 8:00. With Jeanne on fiddle and vocals and Josh singing, playing guitar, mandolin and banjo, you won't want to miss this hometown hoedown featuring blues and swing.

Local Events: Vermont Migrant Farmworker Solidarity Project will host a viewing of the new documentary Silenced Voices and the animated feature Neighbors at the Hardwick Town Hall on Wednesday, July 14 at 7:00. Following the death of Jose Obeth Santiz Cruz in a farming accident in Vermont in December 2009, his family must come to terms with his death and share stories about the causes, effects and experiences of migration. For more information visit their website.

Along with the Craftsbury Chamber Players and Greensboro Music series, the Unadilla Theater in Marshfield has started its summer season.

We hope you will join us on your way to or from any of these events that flavor our summers in Vermont.