Happy Holidays from Claire's

and best wishes for a prosperous New Year

Join us in opening Claire's in 2008
- Steven, Kristina, Linda, & Mike

A Thanksgiving Toast

As you plan your family's Thanksgiving feast and enjoy the arrival of winter, we send you warm wishes of good cheer and spirits - suitable for sharing! Watch for more flavors, ideas, and news from Claire's during the holiday season.

Vermont Hot Buttered Rum (10 servings)

4 ounces unsalted butter from Vermont Butter and Cheese Works, allow to soften

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon grated nutmeg
Pinch mace
½ teaspoon dried ground ginger
Pinch ground cloves
Pinch salt
1 cup light brown sugar

Blend the sugar and spices together into the butter until the mixture is creamy.

½ cup dark maple syrup
Bottle dark rum
½ gallon apple cider or hard apple cider, brought to a boil

Spoon the butter, spice, and sugar mixture unto 10 mugs. Fill each mug about 1/3 with rum, and distribute the maple syrup equally. Top off the remaining half of each mug with the hot apple cider.

Hardwick "Revival" Now a Regional Trend

The Boston Globe today features an article on creative economies and the revival of small communities throughout New England, but with a special focus on Hardwick...


For struggling N.E. towns, revival is a work of art
Galleries, music seen luring newcomers

By Sarah Schweitzer, Globe Staff October 31, 2007

HARDWICK, Vt. - What to do about Hardwick?

This Northeast Kingdom village fell into a deep slump decades ago with the shuttering of its granite factories, leaving a hard-edged downtown of rowdy bars, an X-rated movie theater and troubleseekers. Ideas came and went; little changed. So there was ample skepticism when a band of residents proposed righting Hardwick's woes with an infusion of artists. The town, some said, had enough struggling souls.

But the group persevered. They raised $260,000 to refurbish the opera house. Its reopening in 2003 is credited with spurring other changes: An art gallery opened last spring in a former meat locker, wine tastings were inaugurated in a downtown park over the summer, a bistro featuring an Alsace-trained chef is opening in February. While Hardwick still looks the part of a dowager, with run-down Victorian homes and empty storefronts, many in town, including a growing circle of newcomers, say the town has a toehold on cool.

To continue reading:

http://www.boston.com/ae/theater_arts/articles/2007/10/31/for_struggling_ne_towns_revival_is_a_work_of_art/?page=1

Local Artist Finds Pixie Dust in Hardwick

CD Release Party a Success for Claire's Singer Songwriter Kristina Michelsen

A full house gathered at Positive Pie in Montpelier a week ago to applaud the release of Kristina Michelsen's new CD, Pixie Dust. In addition to being a partner in Claire's who will be running the bar and dining room with our chef, Steven Obranovich, Kristina has been celebrated locally for her music and performances. Now her friends and fans from near and far can bring her music home to enjoy her unique voice and lyrical songwriting.

You can purchase Pixie Dust at a variety of locations, including Buffalo Mountain Co-op and Galaxy Books. Kristina is also available online, for purchase or listening, with selections from the CD at the following sites:

http://cdbaby.com/cd/kristinamichelsen

http://www.myspace.com/kristinamichelsen


Claire's CSR - Buy Yours While They Last

Sales of the Claire's Community Supporter Restaraunt (CSR) coupons continue. Only 50 were made available in . To purchase your $1,000 CSR, email newvermontcooking@yahoo.com or contact anyone on Claire's team.

Each CSR provides 40 $25 dining coupons - enough for four years of dining - spendable ten months of each year - only one per month - you pick the months it applies - unused certificates expire.

Harvest What You Sow

There's no better way to celebrate the Harvest than to share with others. Locally, the Northeast Organic Farmer's Assocation of Vermont will help you share our harvest with those in need Thursday, October 4.

Shop at Buffalo Mountain Co-op, dine at the Highland Lodge or Beyond the Garden, or travel down the road to Positive Pie or the Co-op in Plainfield. A portion of the day's sales - and at restaurants and markets around Vermont - will benefit the Vermont Farm Share Program, which assists low-income Vermonters in purshasing CSA "shares" from local farms.

Check out the program and complete list of participants:

http://www.nofavt.org/annual-events/share-the-harvest.php

Given recent news locally and from afar, it is important to expand the availability of CSA shares for local organic farm products. Just last week, the Vermont Department of Health issued an advisory about the recent recall of beef products from out of state. On Sunday, the New York Times published a detailed article about the "boom and bust" interactions in corn and ethanol markets, which have raised the cost of basic staples around the world while luring farmers into a questionable reliance on corn.

Times Argus Story about the Department of Health Advisory

www.timesargus.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007709280320

New York Times, Ethanol's Boom Stalling as Glut Depresses Price

Local Harvests

Local eaters and producers are gearing up for the first Local Food Day, Saturday, Sept. 22.

Lini Wollenberg, director of the Center for Sustainable Agriculture at UVM, advocates for recognition of a Local Food Day from the state, but with or without government certification, this year's local celebration will go ahead as planned. Farmers and food businesses, as well as eaters and foodies, will mark the day with events across the Green Mountain State. Watch for a schedule in the local paper or at the market.

"Edible" Magazines for Local Eating

Organizing nationally while thinking and eating locally... a new model to promote local food traditions in an increasingly interconnected world? Take a look at Marian Burros New York Times story this week about the latest food magazine phenomenon.

August 29, 2007
How to Eat (and Read) Close to Home
By Marian Burros

NO one would ever mistake Edible Brooklyn for Edible Atlanta, though both are quarterly food magazines that share a corporate parent and a typeface. But the story titles in the latest issue of the Brooklyn version might flummox Atlantans. There is, for example, “Fresh Kills,” about a live poultry market in Williamsburg, and “Late Night Nosh,” which is self-explanatory, at least in New York City.

Meanwhile Edible Atlanta provides its readers with recipes for corn pudding and ways to cook kudzu, the bedeviling weed that has taken over the South. That story begins with a joke:

“How do you plant kudzu? You throw it and run.”

That line probably won’t play in Bay Ridge. But do Atlantans know that kudzu, free for the taking, can be substituted for grape leaves, kale or spinach? Or that you can make jelly from kudzu blossoms?

What began five years ago as one publication that tried to tell the citizens of Ojai, Calif., everything they ever wanted to know about the food and wine in their community has turned into a network of 33 Edible magazines across the country. Each of them offers readers culinary news tailored to where they live.

The company is spreading like kudzu, maybe faster. Seven more magazines are coming by the end of the fall, from Aspen to San Diego, not to mention Toronto. Negotiations for 12 others next year are in the works.

To continue reading, click on the permalink below:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/29/dining/29maga.html?ex=1346126400&en=ce6588e8b1d24770&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

DON'T FORGET! Sign up for Claire's CSR Coupons while they last!