GINGER & CLOVE CAFE P. 10
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JUNE 24 - JUNE 30, 2021
Local experts discuss the delicious variations of this BBQ favorite
INSIDE: CRAFT BREW FEST ON THE BEACH
JUNE 24 - JUNE 30, 2021
VOL 46 NO 11
Advertising Staff Charlene Nichols
Above and on the cover: Sean Hopkins of Hoppy’s Cantina in Amesbury, Mass.
Seacoast Scene Advertising Sales Manager (603) 625-1855, Ext.126 Charlene@seacoastscene.net
Editorial Staff
COVER STORY 4 Ribs!
Editor Meghan Siegler msiegler@hippopress.com Editorial Design Tristan Collins Contributors Michael Witthaus, Matt Ingersoll, Angie Sykeny, Jennifer Graham, Jeff Mucciarone, Michelle Pesula Kuegler
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COVER
Shane’s Texas Pit. Courtesy photo.
By Matt Ingersoll
mingersoll@hippopress.com
A menu staple of many barbecue restaurants and mobile caterers, pork ribs are served up in a variety of styles and cuts. The options become even more customizable if you’re grilling or smoking ribs at home. “A rack of ribs has all the things you want,” said Jayna Todisco Coulon, a member of the Northeast Barbecue Society and founder of A Mazie Q, a New Hampshire-based barbecue competition team. “It’s a finger food that’s not going to give you any issues with dryness or anything if you cook it correctly.” From the types of cuts available to the regional styles and cooking methods associated with ribs, local experts discuss this barbecue favorite’s many variations and provide their own tips and tricks for how to cook them yourself.
Cuts and styles
When it comes to pork ribs, depending on where you go, you’ll encounter either baby backs or spare ribs. The difference between the two is where they are on the animal’s body — spare ribs are located on the belly side, while baby back ribs are closer to the spine. “The flavor from each particular set of ribs is different,” said Shane Pine, owner of Shane’s Texas Pit in Hampton. “Baby backs … have a higher meat cap on top of the bone, so that’s mostly where the flavor comes. With the spare ribs, there’s more meat in between them. … We tend to gravitate toward the spare ribs, because they just have a much higher moisture content, especially once the ribs start releasing it and allowing those juices to flow into the meat.”
You might come across the term “St. Louiscut ribs” on restaurant menus too — this refers to spare ribs that have been trimmed down, the cartilage tissue from the breast plate area removed, according to Sean Hopkins of Hoppy’s Cantina in Amesbury, Mass. This results in a more uniform rectangle-shaped cut of meat that can be more forgiving on the grill or in the smoker. One rack of ribs will generally have around 12 individual bones, and some restaurants will give you the option to order them by the full rack or half rack, as well as third or quarter racks. How the ribs are sauced and rubbed will vary depending on that regional style of barbecue. “Kansas City style is a lot more tomato-based in the sauce and the rub, and then Central Texas style is going to be a lot heavier on the salt and pepper,” said Clay LaForte of Big Rig BBQ, a mobile barbecue caterer based in Amesbury, Mass. At Smoke and Cream in Somersworth, chef and owner Tristan Maher said St. Louis-cut ribs are rubbed with a mix of salt, pepper, paprika, onion powder, garlic powder and brown sugar roughly 24 hours before they are smoked using a local hardwood like elm or oak. With a rub containing mostly salt and pepper only, Pine said Texas style is all about attempting to achieve the same barbecue flavor by the cooking process. Even within the state of Texas, there are distinct regional variations depending on where you go. “The farther south you go from Austin, the more influence you have from Mexico,” he said. “There are ribs, but the stars of the show are definitely going to be brisket and lamb.”
SEACOAST SCENE | JUNE 24 - JUNE 30, 2021 | PAGE 4
Picking your meat
If you want to cook your own ribs, local butcher shops and some livestock farms will sell them by the rack or the pound — and there are indicators you can look for before you buy. “Don’t be afraid to look for white strands of fat, because that’s where the flavor is going to come from,” LaForte said. Todisco Coulon said that one of the biggest things she looks out for in ribs are called shiners, or exposed bones as a result of the meat being trimmed down too much. “You want a meatier rib,” she said, “because a bone sticking out is going to disintegrate when it cooks, and so you’re not going to get as much
meat.” All racks of ribs will start out with a thin membrane on their underside, and there are different schools of thought for either removing it or leaving it on before you cook the meat. Some say removing the membrane will improve the taste and texture of your ribs, while for others, it helps for the meat to retain more moisture. “I pull it off, because it will never break down no matter how long you cook it,” Maher said. “If there’s less fat on the back of it, then it’s easier to pull back. You can get your finger in between two pieces and it’s just this thin little layer that you peel off. Sometimes I’ll get a dry paper towel to help hold on to it.”
For the sauce: 1 cup barbecue sauce Courtesy of Jayna Todisco Coulon, a member of ½ cup light agave, real maple syrup or honey the Northeast Barbecue Society and founder of (optional) A Mazie Q, a New Hampshire-based barbecue competition team Remove membrane on the back of the ribs by using a butter knife to lift up and a paper towel 2 racks of spare ribs to hold and pull off. Simply cut off the meat that extends on the top part of the bone. Add rub to For the rub: back and front of ribs and let sit for at least half 1 cup turbinado sugar an hour. You know your ribs are ready when ½ cup paprika the rub is completely absorbed and the ribs 4 tablespoons chili powder look wet. Add ribs to grill over indirect heat. 3 Tablespoons fresh ground cumin The temperature should be around 250 to 275 2 Tablespoons fresh ground pepper degrees. Ribs should cook until you’ve reached 2 Tablespoons kosher salt an internal temperature of 200 to 205 degrees. 1 Tablespoon granulated garlic Ribs are done when meat recedes from the bot1 Tablespoon granulated onion tom of the bone by almost a half inch. Remove 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper from heat. Let ribs rest for about 10 minutes, 3 Tablespoons MSG/Accent seasoning then glaze with barbecue sauce and place back (optional) on the grill, just long enough to set the sauce (about 10 minutes). Basic barbecue ribs recipe
This list includes Seacoast-area eateries where you get a ready-to-eat plate of pork spare ribs or baby back ribs, as well as catering companies available for hire that offer ribs on their menu. For the at-home barbecuer, local butcher shops, farms and corner markets selling by the rack or by the pound are included here as well.
Sean Hopkins of Hoppy’s Cantina in Amesbury, Mass
Some brands of cryovaced ribs, like Chairman’s Reserve, are sold with the membrane already pulled off. The Prime Butcher in Hampstead, for instance, sells both baby back ribs and St. Louis-style ribs produced by this brand. Butchers will also sometimes sell pre-marinated or pre-rubbed racks of ribs, or you can get your own rub or marinade to save on prep time. “If you can imagine it, we can do it,” Prime Butcher store manager Billy Steeves said. “We also run a smoker here three days a week, usually on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, so we’ll sell ready-to-eat smoked half racks and full racks.” At Joe’s Meat Shoppe in North Hampton, you’ll find both baby back and St. Louis ribs sold by the rack, which you can get dry rubbed or marinated before you buy. “Typically, people will just buy them fresh here, but sometimes for a lunch special I’ll cook racks of baby backs and we’ll smother them in barbecue sauce,” owner Jennifer Kutt said. If you regularly buy pork, beef or chicken, you may have noticed a sharp price increase lately. A wide-scale labor shortage in the meatpacking industry caused by the pandemic, along with high feed costs, are among the factors to blame, Steeves said. “Ribs have really been climbing in the last six weeks to two months now,” he said. “We’re up probably 60 to 70 percent. It’s a big number, but ribs are still one of the cheaper things you can buy. … St. Louis [ribs] are usually pretty significantly cheaper than baby backs.”
Firing it up
A good rub for ribs doesn’t need too many diverse ingredients to do its job — Todisco Coulon said it’s a good idea to taste-test it for sweetness. If it’s too sweet, it can burn too quickly and leave the ribs with a bitter taste, in which case you’d want to cook at a bit lowerlevel heat. “You want to make sure that you don’t let the rub sit too long before you cook it, because the salt will draw the moisture out of the ribs,” LaForte said. “A half hour to an hour won’t kill them, but if it’s a really long time, you’re going to have a super dry rib.”
• Beach Deck BBQ & Grill (207 Ocean Blvd., Seabrook, 814-1562, find them on Facebook) offers barbecue ribs on its dinner menu, available in half-rack or full-rack sizes. • Big Rig BBQ (bigrigbbq.org) is a mobile catering service based in Amesbury, Mass., that specializes in smoked meats, including St. Louis-cut spare ribs and baby back ribs. Find them at Brewery Silvaticus (9 Water St., Amesbury, Mass.) several dates this summer. • Catalano’s Market (207 Ocean Blvd., Seabrook, 760-2836, catalanos-market.business.site) carries a wide selection of Dom’s brand marinated meats, including ribs. • Christopher’s Third Street Grille (16 Third St., Dover, 740-0044, christophersthirdstreetgrille.com) offers barbecue baby back ribs, available in half-rack or full-rack sizes, seasoned, slow-roasted and finished on open flames with a chipotle barbecue sauce. • The Farm Bar and Grille (25 Portland Ave., Dover, 516-3276, farmbargrille.com) offers house-smoked St. Louis-cut ribs. • Fiddlehead Farms Marketplace (451 High St., Somersworth, 749-9800, fiddleheadfarmsmarket.com) has a variety of meat options available, including baby back ribs. • Goody Cole’s Smokehouse and Catering Co. (374 Route 125, Brentwood, 679-8898, goodycoles.com) offers St. Louis-cut pork ribs that are dry-seasoned and slow-smoked, available as quarter-rack, half-rack or fullrack plates.oint BBQ & MEAT’ery (114 Calef Hwy., Epping, 679-5700, bbq.huntspoint.com) offers quarter-rack, half-rack or full-rack-sized St. Louis-cut ribs, as well as rib plates. • Joe’s Meat Shoppe (229 Atlantic Ave., North Hampton, 964-6152, joesmeatshoppe. com) has a wide variety of cuts of pork available, including baby back ribs, which are sold by the rack. Each rack weighs about 1 1/4 to 2 pounds, according to owner Jennifer Kutt. • Kellie Brook Farm (1024 Portsmouth Ave., Greenland, 702-0342, kelliebrookfarm.com) has a variety of products available to order online, including spare ribs. • Master McGrath’s (8 Batchelder Road, Seabrook, 474-3540, mastermcgraths.com) offers barbecue spare ribs on its starters menu. • McKinnon’s Market & Super Butcher Shop (2454 Lafayette Road, Portsmouth, 559-5714, mckinnonsmarkets.com) offers a wide selection of meats, including baby back ribs. Curbside pickup is available daily from 10:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. • Mitchell Hill BBQ Grill and Brew (50 N. Main St., Rochester, 332-2537, mitchellhillbbq.com) offers ribs available in third-rack, half-rack or full-rack sizes.
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Where to get pork ribs
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You don’t need a smoker to produce great flavor and texture in your ribs, either. An approach to ribs that’s geared toward beginners is known as the “3-2-1 method,” or cooking low and slow at around 220 to 225 degrees for a total of six hours. “It’s three hours in the smoke chamber, then you wrap the ribs in foil and put them back in for two more hours,” said Dan DeCourcey, an award-winning competitive barbecuer and the owner and pitmaster of Up In Your Grill, a food trailer and mobile caterer that travels the Granite State. “Some people like to add some pats of butter, maybe a little honey or a few tablespoons of apple juice, and basically that creates a braising liquid inside the wrap.” After the two hours wrapped in foil, the meat should start to pull back from the bone and be very tender. The final step of the 3-2-1 method involves applying a slather of barbecue sauce and cooking unwrapped again, this time for one final additional hour. “You can follow the 3-2-1, but then there’s a million variations thereof,” DeCourcey said. “It’s such a rough guide … and after a while you start to learn what to look out for.” Other optional techniques you can apply to your ribs include what’s called a binding agent, or an ingredient like mustard that you can add to help your rub stick on to the meat.
Are they done yet?
You can generally tell when ribs are ready
Shane’s Texas Pit Courtesy photo.
when they gently pull away from the bone. If you use a thermometer, the internal temperature should be around 200 to 205 degrees. “What I’m looking for is how they feel when I pick them up and how much the meat recedes from the bottom bone,” Todisco Coulon said. “Ribs that fall off the bone are overdone.” Hopkins said there are multiple “tests” you can perform to check the doneness of your ribs. A toothpick, for example, will slide into the meat easily, and you can test it in a few spots to check the variations in thickness and fattiness. Then there’s the “bend test,” which involves either picking your rack of ribs up either on the end or in the middle, or taking a pair of tongs and lifting it from one side of the rack. “You want it to bend nicely. If it doesn’t bend enough, it’s underdone,” DeCourcey said. “If the meat starts to crack a little bit, it’s probably just about right.”
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CAR TALK
No soul searching required to replace older Kia Dear Car Talk: I currently have a 2012 Kia Soul, which I bought (used) to get something higher up off the road than my old Mazda 3. I live with my mother, who has a 2011 By Ray Magliozzi Toyota Camry. We’re talking about going to one car, this year or next, and Mom is fine with it being another (used, but newer) Soul, since I’ll be doing more of the driving than she will. And I’ll be doing all the night driving. I have no problem with the Soul, but I was wondering if there were other options I should be considering that are similarly high up (or not low, at least), and in the same ballpark on cost. We do want four doors, but don’t need anything much bigger than the Soul (or it will be harder to get into the garage). Do I want something else, or do I just want a 2020 Soul, and if the Soul, which one? — Caroline
that everywhere he went, people would roll down their windows and yell “Ah, Soul!” at him. We like the Soul, too, Caroline. It’s compact, gets good mileage, is easy to get in and out of, easy to see out of, and it makes excellent use of its interior space. So, if you like the Soul, there’s no reason we can think of not to get a newer one. Kia redesigned the Soul in 2020, and unfortunately, we’ve seen mediocre reliability reports on the brand-new one. Previously, up through 2019, reliability was very good. So I’d look for a 2019. If you can find a Plus trim level, that’ll include the 2.0-liter engine, which produces about 160 horsepower. That’s plenty for this car. More importantly, on the Plus, you can get the “Primo” option package -- hey we don’t name this stuff, we just write about it -- which includes crucial safety equipment like automatic emergency braking and blind spot warning. So, as long as you can find one with all that safety equipment (I wouldn’t buy a car these days without it), a Soul should be a good sole vehicle for you When the Soul first came out, my late and Mom, Caroline. brother test drove one for a week. He came Dear Car Talk: back raving about how much people loved I have a question for your MIT engineerthe car. I asked him how he knew. He said
ing team. Many people where I live in California leave their empty rooftop bike/surfboard/ kayak racks on their cars all the time. They’re either too lazy to remove them, they think they might use them again soon or they just like the coolness vibe these carriers give off. What is the fuel economy hit for doing this? Even more important to us here in the Golden State: When we’re not carrying anything and we don’t take down those mounting bars and carriers, how many more grams of pollutants are we spewing per mile? Are we looking at a 1 percent or a 10 percent effect? What about empty behind-the-SUV bike carriers mounted into the trailer hitch? Are those as bad? Or is it significantly less of an impact to be behind the vehicle rather than on top? Thanks for any solid information. — Cliff Well, we didn’t have to go to our lab at MIT to answer this question, Cliff. Consumer Reports did some testing and has the answer. They found the fuel economy loss is as low as 2 percent and as high as 19 percent, depending on the type of car and type of equipment carrier.
Sedans are naturally more fuel efficient than SUVs, due to their shape and lower stance. And when CR put just a roof rack on a Nissan Altima traveling at 65 mph, it cost the Altima an 11 percent fuel economy penalty. When CR added a cargo carrier to the roof rack, mileage dropped 19 percent! They also tested a 2019 Toyota RAV4. Since SUVs are already shaped like refrigerators, fuel economy is worse to start out with but dropped less during testing. The RAV4 saw only a 2 percent drop from the roof rack alone and a 13 percent drop when the cargo pod was added. The bike rack that attaches to a tow hook behind the car did less damage to the car’s fuel economy, averaging a 2 percent-3 percent loss when not carrying bikes. While they didn’t test the corresponding increase in pollution these rack and carriers cause, you can assume that pollution is roughly proportional to fuel use. So, for the purposes of shaming your Sierra Club member neighbor, I think you can use those same numbers. Needless to say, we recommend removing your surfboard, bike and Bactrian camel carriers when they’re not in use. If you’re afraid your outdoorsy image will take a hit, go old school and slap on some bumper stickers. Visit Cartalk.com.
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FOOD
AT GINGER & CLOVE CAFE Less than a year after Cassy Vasquez moved to the Seacoast from the Seattle area to be closer to her family, she and sister Angelica Spinelli have opened their own breakfast and lunch restaurant. Ginger & Clove Cafe (881 Lafayette Road, Hampton, 601-6077, find them on Facebook) opened earlier this month in the former Wilbur’s Family Dining space, and it’s a true family affair — Vasquez and Spinelli share ownership, while their brother Anthony and sister-in-law Hannah helped build the bar. Both sisters have been in the hospitality industry for more than a decade, dating back to when they lived in New Orleans. According to Vasquez, the name Ginger & Clove is a nod both to her mother’s and her sister’s naturally red hair, but also to the menu’s elevated concept. Items include specialty or build-your-own omelets, as well as hash bowls, salads, sandwiches and wraps, and pancake or French toast entrees loaded with all kinds of specialty sweets. Ginger & Clove also offers a selection of breakfast cocktails like bellinis, bloody marys and mimosas, and works with Blue Harbor Coffee Co. for its coffees, which are roasted in Hampton. The Scene recently caught up with Vasquez to talk about Ginger & Clove’s concept and some of her personal recommendations. How long has Ginger & Clove Cafe been around? [June 7] was our opening day. I just moved here this past August. … This is our first restaurant and it has been a learning process, to say the least. We started with an empty space and we have since transformed it little by little into something we never thought would be possible. What makes Ginger & Clove Cafe unique? We really wanted to create a relaxing vibe that wasn’t so fast-paced … [and] serve a quality product that people are
Courtesy photos.
going to come back for. I like to say and spinach, so it’s very colorful. It that we’re not just trying to sell food, comes with two eggs and toast. but we’re trying to sell an experience where people feel special. What is something everyone should try? What is your favorite thing on your I tell everybody to try our corned beef menu? hash, or to choose one of our sweeter I have a sweet tooth. My favorite thing options. is the Praline French toast. [Praline is] a decadent candy that is commonly What celebrity would you like to see served in New Orleans, and we creat- eating at Ginger & Clove Cafe? ed a sauce to kind of mimic it. … The Adam Sandler, only because he is sweet potato hash bowl is another one from New Hampshire and I think that of my favorite dishes. It has sweet pota- would be kind of cool to have someto, bacon and ham for a little bit of salt, body famous who is also local. and then mushrooms, peppers, onions
SEACOAST SCENE | JUNE 24 - JUNE 30, 2021 | PAGE 10
What is an essential skill to running a restaurant? I really believe that being personable is really important, because one experience can make or break a place. You also need to be smart and pay attention to food costs and little details like monitoring portions. What is your favorite thing about being on the Seacoast? I really like the small-town feel of this area. Everyone has been super supportive and wants us to be successful, which is awesome. — Matt Ingersoll
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Are you in a breakfast rut? Tired of eating a bowl of cereal or a couple pieces of toast? I have a recipe that will turn your breakfast eating routine upside down. Allow me to introduce PB&J sweet potatoes. No, sweet potatoes aren’t a shocking breakfast dish, but the way in which they are prepared probably is. When you think of sweet potatoes at breakfast, they’re most likely served as home fries or incorporated into hash. With this recipe, the sweet potatoes are the base and star of the dish. This six-ingredient dish can be made in about 10 minutes. If you either (a) microwave the sweet potatoes while completing some sort of morning chore or (b) bake them the night before while making dinner, you’ve taken prep time down to five minutes or less. Not only is this a quickly made breakfast, it also is incredibly healthy. Plain sweet potatoes, topped with lightly sweetened yogurt, and fresh strawberries — with this dish you’ll have a serving of veggies and half a serving of fruit to start your day. But wait, there’s more! Besides being quick to make and healthy, it also is a fun dish to eat. Rather than assembling the dish, serve the sweet potatoes with the toppings on the side. Dip slices of sweet potato in the peanut butter yogurt. Top a bite of sweet potato with a strawberry. You get the idea. Try this dish and breakfast boredom will be a thing of the past.
.99 Lobster Roll
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Twin Grilled Pork Chops - $11.99 Served with Mashed Potatoes & Veg
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Burger Night - $8 Regular & Specialty Burgers
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Taco Tuesday - $3 Tacos All Day Ladies Night - 8PM-Close 1/2 Price Drinks for the Gals
TRY THIS AT HOME PB&J sweet potatoes
& Golf Ho
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For a Dozen Wings
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Spaghetti & Meatballs - $9.99 Served with Garlic Bread
PB&J sweet potatoes Serves 2 1 9-ounce sweet potato 3/4 cup plain Greek yogurt (I used nonfat) 2 Tablespoons peanut butter powder 2 teaspoons granulated sugar 3 Tablespoons almond milk (I used unsweetened, almond flavor) 8 strawberries Scrub sweet potato, and pierce multiple times with a fork. Cook in microwave for 5-6 minutes on high or until fork tender. Remove, and set aside to cool slightly.
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SEACOAST SCENE | JUNE 24 - JUNE 30, 2021 | PAGE 12
Courtesy photo.
Michele Pesula Kuegler has been thinking about food her entire life. Since 2007, the New Hampshire native has been sharing these food thoughts and recipes at her blog, Think Tasty. Visit thinktasty.com to find more of her recipes.
Combine yogurt, peanut butter powder, and sugar in a small bowl, stirring until smooth. Slowly add milk, 1 tablespoon at a time, until you reach desired consistency. Hull and dice strawberries. Sprinkle strawberries with a pinch of sugar, if desired. Slice sweet potato in half. Serving options: Spread peanut butter yogurt on cut sides of sweet potato and sprinkle with strawberries. Serve each sweet potato half with the toppings on the side, and allow the diners to choose each bite combination!
FOOD
BEACH & BREW Craft beer on the beach First Beach and Brew Fest at Hampton
90
POINTS
With 92 craft breweries currently operating in New Hampshire (versus only 60 in 2017, according to the Brewer’s Association), local breweries have taken the state by storm. Riding this popularity, Hampton’s first-ever Beach and Brew Fest aims to bring together myriad breweries in an afternoon-long summer tasting festival. The Beach and Brew Fest, happening from 1 to 6 p.m. on Saturday, June 26, will offer tastings from 19 craft breweries at Hampton Beach State Park. The Hampton Area Chamber of Commerce worked together with Smuttynose Brewing Co. to organize the event. “Smuttynose came to us with the idea of having a co-sponsored event on the beach,” said John Nyhan, president of the Hampton Area Chamber of Commerce. “We looked into it and thought it’d be a great idea. We then connected with the New Hampshire State Parks because we needed their property, and they’ve given us permission through a special permit to hold the event.” With a ticket to the event, attendees receive access to try any drink being offered by the 19 breweries, live music played by reggae band Redemption, four private food trucks, a cornhole tournament and a variety of other games and events scattered throughout the festival grounds. “Smuttynose was very good in identifying nearly 20 beer crafters mostly from New Hampshire,” Nyhan said. “It’s a tasting so we’re not selling any beer — it’ll be a beer craft tasting.” The Beach & Brew offers a great opportunity for local breweries to get their name out there, with an amalgam of locals and tourists expected to be in attendance at the event. For Scott Thornton, founder of Great Rhythm Brewing Co. in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, bringing his brewery to the event was a nobrainer. Thornton said they happily accepted when Smuttynose extended an invitation. “This is the first event we are taking part in since prior to the start of the pandemic,” Thornton said. “It feels like we’re trending toward life as normal again and we’re happy to get back out there and see everyone.” Great Rhythm plans to bring three distinct drink options to the Beach & Brew: Tropical Haze, Perpetual Gruven and Fruit There It Is. While their Tropical Haze beer showcases their take on the New England IPA, their Perpetual Gruven, brewed with 100 percent German Pilsner malt and hops, presents a unique Kölsch style ale. Their third option, Fruit There It Is, which they typically only
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have available at the brewery, is a sour ale double fruited with peaches, tangerines, pineapples, cherries and milk sugar. Thornton said events like the Beach & Brew give smaller local breweries a phenomenal opportunity to grow their brand and make new customers while simultaneously giving the public the chance to try a plethora of different beers, all in one location. “Events like this really help put our community on the map for craft beer and further promote New Hampshire as being a craft beer destination,” Thornton said. “We have a lot of great breweries in New Hampshire, and letting people from far and near experience the variety and quality of beer this state has to offer in one space is truly a unique and fun experience.” “I think it’s going to be a lot of fun,” Nyhan said. “The whole craft beer breweries are becoming a very popular thing; people enjoy a variety of different beers and this is an opportunity for them to come and enjoy the beach along with having a variety of different beers to taste and also experiencing live entertainment and some very interesting food trucks.” General admission runs from 4 to 6 p.m., while the (sold-out) VIP access lets attendees in three hours beforehand at 1 p.m., providing them with a diversity of exclusive beer not being offered to general admission along with a chance to meet the brewers. Nyhan also said that VIP ticketholders will receive “some little presents and some little extra special things.” VIP tickets sold out quickly after the event was announced, he said. Tickets are $35 for general admission and can be purchased on Eventbrite. Attendees must purchase their tickets before the event and be 21 years of age or older. — Caleb Jagoda
Available at your local NH Liquor & Wine Outlet
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DRINKS WITH JOHN FLADD
Grouse
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Market opens at 9am. Restaurant opens at 11am. Open Tues-Thurs until 8; Fri-Sat until 8:30; Sundays until 8. Closed Mondays.
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SEACOAST SCENE | JUNE 24 - JUNE 30, 2021 | PAGE 14
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open seven days a week serving breakfast lunch and dinner.
As I left the house for my weekly outing to the flea market, the nightingale-like voice of my wife called out after me. “Don’t buy anything stupid!” This advice seemed misguided to me for two reasons: (1) buying something stupid is the whole point of a flea market, and (2) after 19 years of marriage, the idea that I could refrain from that kind of stupidity is optimistic to the point of fantasy. To my credit, I kept a cool head for the first 20 minutes or so of browsing. But then I found this beauty — a tapered glass decorated with a grouse. You can tell, because it is labeled as such: “Grouse.” In much the same way as some people talk about making eye contact with a puppy at an animal shelter and instantly bonding, the Grouse Glass and I shared an instant emotional intimacy. It fluttered its way into my heart. Which is how Grouse Glass came home with me. Now, at this point, you are probably expecting a rambling story about my spirited defense of Grouse Glass to my wife, or a pun on the fact that “grouse” rhymes with “spouse,” but you will be disappointed, because I snuck it into the house when she was busy and hid it in with the other glassware in our dining room. Now, Grouse Glass is mine and I am its and a practical matter needs to be sorted — to wit, what to drink from it. A brief internet search for grouse-themed cocktails was unexpectedly successful. As it turns out, there are a number of whiskeys named after grouse — Famous Grouse, Naked Grouse, etc. — largely connected to the image of tweedy aristocrats shooting them. In consequence, there have been a number of cocktails named after them. I took a recipe that was weird as snake sneakers to begin with and started playing with it. I ended up with something that is solidly good but that no self-respecting grouse would have anything to do with.
grouse glass, a rocks glass will do. Garnish and serve on a plate with Fig Newtons. OK, you’re going to have to have a little faith on this one. The original recipe called for infusing a grouse-named whiskey with kettle corn. I tried it — and it was fine — but it was understated, and this does not seem to be an understated drink. I got to thinking, “The corn idea is solid, but is there a way of giving it some oomph?” Hence, the Doritos. Stay with me; we’ll get through this together. The fig syrup is the secret star here. The whiskey hits your palate first, followed by the — believe it or not — somewhat subtle Doritos flavor, but the fig aftertaste is what makes this drink really interesting. It leads to a second sip, then a third. The bitters keep it from being too sweet, and the Tabasco adds a tiny amount of zing that keeps it from tasting a little flat. Self-respect is overrated.
Doritos-infused whiskey
Combine one 1-ounce packet of Nacho Cheese Doritos and 6 ounces of Irish whiskey in a small jar. Seal and store someplace cool and dark for Grouse With No Self-Respect one week, shaking it twice per day. Strain and bottle it. (Don’t stress about how This is based on a drink called the Dirty Bird. I have made a great number of changes little whiskey you end up with. You like whisand substitutions. Clearly the Grouse is not the key; it turns out that Doritos like whiskey. only one lacking in self-respect. They deserve a little something for the sacrifice they have made. 2 ounces Doritos-infused Irish whiskey (See below. No, really. It will be OK.) Fig syrup ¼ ounces dry sherry — I used amontillado Combine two parts fig jam to one part water 1/3 ounce fig syrup (see below) in a small saucepan over medium heat. 3 dashes (30 drops) cardamom or AngostuBoil until the jam is as dissolved as possira bitters ble. Depending on what brand of jam you are 1 dash (10 drops) Tabasco sauce using, there may or may not be chunks of fig left, after it is syruped. Mix all ingredients in a mixing glass with Strain and bottle. Don’t worry about any ice. Stir until thoroughly chilled and a little tiny fig seeds — that’s what helps keep this diluted. figgy — but actual chunks of figs would probPour everything, including the ice, into ably be off-putting in the final cocktail. a chilled Grouse Glass. If you do not have a — John Fladd
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BOOK REVIEW
Hour of the Witch, by Chris Bohjalian (Doubleday, 400 pages)
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I do love me some Chris Bohjalian, but I had forgotten how riled up I get by his stories, which always focus on some aspect of social injustice. Such is the case with his newest release, Hour of the Witch. This piece of historical fiction centers around a young woman, Mary Deerfield. who lives with her abusive and alcoholic husband in 17th-century Massachusetts. Mary is much younger than her husband. She is worldly, having come from England with her parents, is well-spoken and wellread, and she speaks her mind. Boy, does she speak her mind. After five years of marriage Mary is barren but not devoid of sexual desire. The guilt from that makes even her question her worthiness — a bad situation that is soon made worse. After hitting her on several occasions, Mary’s husband impales her hand with a fork (the three-pronged tool of the devil), after which Mary moves back in with her wealthy parents and decides to divorce her husband. Not unheard of at the time, but certainly not considered the norm. It wasn’t exactly the best time in history to stand up to male oppression, especially when women around you were being tried as witches. But Mary would rather take her chances with the courts because she knows her husband is wrong. Because we are privy to Mary’s reasoning we understand why she makes the decisions she does. Her community, a male-dominated society, does not. Instead of people understanding that she is abused, it is far easier to think that her husband has his hands full with such a strong-willed young woman. Surely Mary deserves any kind of “fatherly correction” that is administered to her by her husband. And besides, while her husband does tend to drink a bit, he’s such a nice guy. Mary tries to ease a deathly ill young boy’s agony by administering herbs; people use that to call her a witch. Mary finds those three-pronged forks planted in her garden and after confronting her servant and husband makes the decision to replant them, in the hopes that maybe they can make her fertile, because why not give it a try? She is
clearly a witch. Mary is damned if she does and damned if she doesn’t. And when Mary tells her side of the story of her abusive situation, she is doubted and called a liar and sinner — traits of a witch or certainly a woman who deserves to be punished. Many of her neighbors end up siding with the husband, praising him for putting up with a woman who doesn’t know her place. Eventually the divorce proceedings turn into a full witch trial with the very real threat that Mary might hang from the gallows for the crime of not wanting to be married to an abusive monster. Hour of the Witch is a hefty book — at 400 pages you’ll want to set aside time to read it — but the plot moves so quickly and the details are so realistic that you will find yourself sailing through the story. Bohjalian is known for doing a tremendous amount of research for each of his books, and the effort shows in this one. It’s convincingly written and it reads like a current story about abused women — how they are doubted, mistreated and made to feel like they are at fault for the actions of others. On one level, reading Hour of the Witch can be depressing — it felt to me like very little has changed since 1662 — but on another level it’s a skillfully written story worth the read. Put it on your list. A — Wendy E. N. Thomas
FILM REVIEW
Luca (PG)
A young sea creature explores land and makes friends in Luca, an animated Pixar movie about a lot of things that I would lump in the “growing up” category.
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I think Luca double feature er Pixar movie kid to an older
might be part of a good with Inside Out, anothabout moving from little and more aware phase of
life. Where that movie was focused on the internal mechanics of that process — what does it feel like to grow and change and accept sadness and bittersweetness as part of life — Luca feels more like the external mechanics of growing up, learning to take chances but also take care of yourself, be a part of your family but still separate from your family, find friends who share your values, stand up for what you know is
FILM REVIEW CONT.
right and make things right when you make a mistake. How to approach and operate in the world feels like the broad ground covered in Luca. Luca (voice of Jacob Tremblay) is a young sea creature (picture a water dragon crossed with a sea monkey but in bold tropical colors) who lives with his family in the bright sapphire-blue waters off the Italian coast. He spends his days herding the family’s flock of sheep-like fish — at least that’s what his mother (voice of Maya Rudolph) and father (voice of Jim Gaffigan) think he’s doing. His grandmother (voice of Sandy Martin) sees the gleam of curiosity in his eyes when she tells stories of visiting the human town on land where sea creatures, when dry, transform to look like people. When Luca finds a few human items that have fallen off a fishing boat, he is intrigued. He meets Alberto (voice of Jack Dylan Grazer), a fellow kid sea creature and collector of all manner of human stuff. Hesitantly, Luca follows Alberto to the surface. After Luca gets the hang of walking with legs, he and Alberto spend time hanging out on a small island where Alberto lives, building rickety but (briefly) ride-able Vespa-like contraptions and dreaming of the day when they can get a cherry-red scooter and ride off together to see the world.
Soon, however, Luca’s parents find out what he’s been doing and they’re terrified and angry — humans have a long history of killing sea creatures, and land is no place for someone like Luca, who turns blue and green anytime water splashes on him. To keep him safe, they say, they’re sending him to the deep with weird, seethrough uncle Ugo (voice of Sacha Baron Cohen). Luca is definitely not interested in a life eating passing bits of whale carcass and listening to Ugo’s stories in the dark, so he takes off. He and Alberto decide to go where they’re certain Luca’s parents will never look — the human town. The human town, which is called Portorosso (on, as the Disney Wiki explains, the Italian Riviera; circa, based on music and television snippets, maybe 1950s-early 1960s?), is a bright and sunny place with a disturbing amount of fish-spearing imagery. The boys get a glimpse of a real Vespa, a thing of beauty owned by the boasting, bullying teen Ercole (voiced by Saverio Raimondo). Ercole turns his viciousness on Luca and Alberto when a ball Luca kicks accidentally hits Ercole’s scooter. Before Ercole can dunk them in the town fountain (which would make their sea creature secret visible to all), they are rescued by Guilia (voice of Emma Berman), a plucky red-haired girl who is Ercole’s
fiercest competitor in an annual triathlon. Guilia has never won, in part because she has always competed alone in the swimming/pasta-eating/biking competition and tends to spend the bike ride puking, but she is determined to end Ercole’s reign of kid-terror. The race comes with prize money — money, as Alberto and Luca figure out, that can be spent on a not entirely decrepit used Vespa — and the three kids decide to team up and work together to try to beat Ercole. Luca is a truly beautiful movie with lots of bright sunny colors, both in the rendering of the sea creatures and in the richly illustrated vacation poster settings. It’s fun — with a sense of adventure and a kind of boisterousness that isn’t Peter Rabbit 2-style jokey but does keep the energy up. Luca’s thoughtfulness doesn’t weigh down its funness. And there is a lot of deeper thinking going on here. As much as the blowhard Ercole is the movie’s main antagonist, the movie’s true villain is probably something like fear — fear of people who are different, fear of the unknown, fear that keeps you from standing up for someone. Learning how to deal with different types of fear and how to respond is the real quest that Luca goes on. He easily faces the parentinstilled fears of going to the surface, but other kinds of fears prove harder to navi-
gate. There is also a bit about learning to be yourself and make decisions for yourself, not just following what parents or friends want but also figuring out how to make your own way while still keeping your parents and friends close. It’s a lot of stuff, some of it rather subtle, to be happening in one cartoon that’s not quite two hours long, but I feel like Luca does a good job of setting the scene for the things it’s putting out there for moviegoers to consider (moviegoers of all ages; as much as Luca and Inside Out are about kids, I always feel like there’s a good bit to consider for parents as well). The movie leaves you with good feelings and plenty to talk about without presenting pat answers to big “how to live life” questions. Luca feels like a more subdued kind of Pixar movie than, say, the big extravaganza-like franchises of Toy Story or Cars. But it has that quality of a really good storybook, with lots of elements that will stick with you long after the movie is over. A Rated PG for rude humor, language, some thematic elements and brief violence, according to the MPA on filmratings. com. Directed by Enrico Casarosa with a screenplay by Jesse Andrews and Mike Jones, Luca is an hour and 36 minutes long and distributed by Walt Disney Studios on Disney+. — Amy Diaz
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SEACOAST SCENE | JUNE 24 - JUNE 30, 2021 | PAGE 17
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Genre-bendingly acoustic and deeply rooted in their New Hampshire home, Bitter Pill has a message for fellow Granite Staters: Support local artists. “There’s a lot of inspiration and a lot to be heard; are you celebrating the community?” band founder Billy Butler asked recently. “I’ve been around the world but there’s something to be said for realizing what you have at home. There’s great work being done in your neighborhood.” Originally formed to play the soundtrack for a production of Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus at Players’ Ring Theatre in Portsmouth, their music is arresting, offbeat and sometimes macabre. The torture-tinged romp “Conned,” from their 2020 album Desperate Times on the New Hampshire State Line, is a good example of the latter. Butler, who founded the group with daughter Emily and her boyfriend Mike McKay, has mounted plays and made music on the Seacoast for years. In the late ’90s he produced The Wall at The Music Hall, and in 2018-19 he served as artist in residence there, working with the Portsmouth Symphony Orchestra. On June 27, Bitter Pill — which also includes guitarists Tomer Oz and Jon McCormack and drummer Dave Hamilton — will appear there for the first time ever, playing outside of the venue as part of the Music Under the Arch series. “I have a special place in my heart for that place,” Butler said. “To hang out and play there is going to be awesome.” Emily Butler agreed. “Growing up and being able to go backstage while Dad worked there, running around the theater as a little kid. … Now I’m going to play there,” she said. “It will be really cool.” The show comes at the end of a difficult year for full-time artists like Billy Butler. “Performing is what I was doing since before Emily was born, and overnight that was gone,” he said. “We did play three or four gigs last year, and we all got tested
before each one. The last time we all got together was in September at 3S Artspace, which was awesome. … Then it was silence until May 1, our first gig of 2021.” Though they completed the new album and began mixing it just as lockdown started, the record’s title isn’t a commentary on Covid — they came up with it the previous year. It’s bookended by a pair of timely songs, though. There’s “A Whiskey, an Oxy, and a Couple of Percs,” a commentary on addiction. “Especially in New Hampshire,” Billy Butler said. “It’s been hit really hard with opioids, fentanyl, heroin — and alcoholism, which is something we don’t talk a lot about.” De facto title track “Desperate Times” is an electrified romp that captures their selfdescribed “rhythm & bluegrass” quite well, as it pokes at the democracy of misery and contemporary craziness where “a housewife micro-dosed / and found the meaning of life.” Weirder still is a growing trend they were swept up in recently when someone on the internet began selling tickets to one of their shows. The problem: It was a free concert. Billy Butler messaged the perpetrator, who replied in “very broken English” and was indignant with him for harshing his scam. “He literally [wrote] ‘your such bastard’ and blocked me,” Billy Butler said. “It’s just evil.” “People are so desperate to see shows; it’s happening all over. It’s because people are tired of sitting indoors,” Emily Butler said, adding that she does see a silver lining. “People are figuring out how to be social creatures again, and this is a great opportunity to re-enter. I hope everyone jumps on that.” — Michael Witthaus Bitter Pill
When: Sunday, June 27, 5 and 7 p.m. Where: The Music Hall Arch, 28 Chestnut St., Portsmouth Tickets: $60 two-person-limit table, $120 four-person-limit table, $180 sixperson-limit table at themusichall.org
CR’s The Restaurant 287 Exeter Road 929-7972 Hampton The 401 Tavern 401 Lafayette Road 926-8800 Ashworth by the Sea 295 Ocean Blvd. 926-6762
L Street Tavern 603 17 L St. 967-4777
The Galley Hatch 325 Lafayette Road 926-6152
Bogie’s 32 Depot Sq, 601-2319
The Goat 20 L St., 601-6928
Sea Ketch 127 Ocean Blvd. 926-0324
Community Oven 845 Lafayette Road 601-6311
Hampton Beach Sea Shell Stage
Shane’s BBQ 61 High St., 601-7091
Newmarket Stone Church: Marvel Prone with Long Autumn, 9 p.m. Portsmouth The Gas Light: Max Sullivan, 7:30 p.m. The Goat: Isaiah Bennett, 9 p.m. The Striker: Tom Boisse, 9 p.m.
Seabrook Castaways: live music, 5:30 p.m. Red’s: Midnight Sound Society Trio, 7 p.m. Friday, June 25 Hampton Bernie’s: Alex Anthony Band, 8 p.m. CR’s: Steve Sibulkin (guitar), 6 p.m. The Goat: Rob Pagnano, 9 p.m. L Street Tavern: live music, 7 p.m. Logan’s Run: live music, 8 p.m. Sea Ketch: Lewis Goodwin, 1 p.m. Sea Shell Stage: Club Soda, 7 & 8:30 p.m. Wally’s: Woodland Protocol, 9 p.m. WHYM: Chris Powers, 5:30 p.m. Newmarket Stone Church: Organically Good Trio, 6 p.m.
Wally’s Pub 144 Ashworth Ave. 926-6954
Logan’s Run 816 Lafayette Road 926-4343
Bernie’s Beach Bar 73 Ocean Blvd. 926-5050
Thursday, June 24 Hampton Bernie’s: Parmalee, 8 p.m. CR’s: Barry Brearly (guitar), 6 p.m. The Goat: Haley Chic, 9 p.m. L Street Tavern: live music, 3 p.m. Sea Shell Stage: Martin & Kelly, 7 & 8:30 p.m. Shane’s: live music, 5 p.m. Smuttynose: Rob & Jody, 6:30 p.m. Wally’s: Fat Bunny Duo, 9 p.m. WHYM: music bingo, 6 p.m.
Smuttynose Brewing 105 Towle Farm Road
WHYM Craft Pub 853 Lafayette Road 601-2801 Newmarket Stone Church 5 Granite St. 659-7700
Portsmouth Gas Light: Justin Cohn, 7:30 p.m. Gibb’s Garage Bar: trivia, 8 p.m. The Goat: Chris Toler, 9 p.m. Grill 28: live music, 6 p.m. The Striker: Michael Troy, 7 p.m., Don Severance, 9 p.m. Thirsty Moose: Sugarbabies, 9 p.m., Munk Duane, 9 p.m. Seabrook Chop Shop: Leaving Eden, 7 p.m. Red’s: Radioactive, 8 p.m. Saturday, June 26 Hampton Ashworth: Honey Bees Trio, 4 p.m. Bernie’s: LuFFKid, 8 p.m. Community Oven: Max Sullivan, 5 p.m. The Goat: Jonny Friday Duo, 9 p.m. L Street Tavern: live music, 3 p.m. Sea Ketch: Matt Jackson, 1 p.m.
North Hampton Locals 215 Lafayette Road 379-2729 Portsmouth The Striker 15 Bow St., 431-5222 The Gas Light 64 Market St. 430-9122 Gibb’s Garage Bar 3612 Lafayette Rd.
Sea Shell Stage: Rico Barr Jump ’n’ Jive, 7 & 8:30 p.m. Smuttynose: Maxi Sullivan, 1 p.m., SumX4, 6:30 p.m. Wally’s: Madball, 9 p.m. WHYM: Steve Haidaichuck, 5:30 p.m. Newmarket Stone Church: Trichominia, 2 p.m. Portsmouth Gas Light: Paul Warnick, 2 p.m.; Sean McCarthy, 7:30 p.m. The Goat: Brett Wilson, 9 p.m. The Striker: Brick Yard Blues Duo, 7 p.m., Max Sullivan, 9 p.m. Thirsty Moose: Mattson, 9 p.m., Sam Hastings, 9 p.m. Sunday, June 27 Hampton Ashworth: live music, 4 p.m.
The Goat 142 Congress St. 590-4628 Grill 28 Pease Golf Course, 200 Grafton Road 766-6466 The Statey 238 Deer St., 431-4357 Thirsty Moose 21 Congress St. 427-8645
CR’s: The Joy of Sax, 4 p.m. The Goat: Isaiah Bennett, 9 p.m. L Street Tavern: live music, 1 p.m. Logan’s Run: Max Sullivan, 1 p.m. Sea Ketch: live music, 1 p.m. Sea Shell Stage: BARZ Band, 7 & 8:30 p.m. Shane’s BBQ: Max Sullivan, 5 p.m. Smuttynose: Mica Peterson Duo, 5:30 p.m. Wally’s: Over the Bridge, 9 p.m. WHYM: Chris Lapointe, 1 p.m. Newmarket Stone Church: Sunday Services Brunch w/David Gerard, 10 a.m. Stone Church: Marjorie Sennett and The Broken Home Boys, 3 p.m. Portsmouth Gas Light: Chris Lester, 12:30 p.m.; Lewis Goodwin, 6 p.m. The Goat: Rob Pagnano, 9 p.m.
Seabrook Castaways 209 Ocean Blvd. 760-7500 Chop Shop Pub 920 Lafayette Road 760-7706 Red’s Kitchen + Tavern 530 Lafayette Road 760-0030
The Striker: Kate Redgate, 7 p.m. Seabrook Castaways: live music, 5:30 p.m. Red’s: Hunter Stamas, 11 a.m., Yuri Furi, 4 p.m. Monday, June 28 Hampton Bernie’s: MB Padfield, 7 p.m. The Goat: Maddie Ryan, 9 p.m. Sea Shell Stage: One Bar Heater & Scott Brown and the Diplomats, 7 & 8:30 p.m.
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SEACOAST SCENE | JUNE 24 - JUNE 30, 2021 | PAGE 19
& , e v o L , Peace
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at the
BEACH BUM FUN HOROSCOPES All quotes are from Why Not Me?, by someone to bike over from the finish line and Mindy Kaling, born June 24, 1979. tell you the outcome. Still better than golf. Capricorn (Dec. 22 – Jan. 19) Maybe it’s Cancer (June 21 – July 22) For my birth- because I’m such a rule-breaker, maybe it’s day last year, McDonald’s sent me a sweet because I’m so down-to-earth, or maybe it’s stack of $10 gift cards. If you follow me on because you spent money on this book and I any kind of social media you will see that I’m don’t want you to return it, but I have decidconstantly eating McDonald’s…. I go regu- ed to share my beauty secrets with you. You larly enough that the woman at the Crescent will learn some great down-to-earth beauty Heights & Sunset McDonald’s gives me ranch secrets! and buffalo sauce packets for my McNuggets Aquarius (Jan. 20 – Feb. 18) I’ve attendwithout me having to ask. I think McDonald’s ed some pretty glamorous events over the was hoping I would share my gift cards with years…. I’m sorry to say that these parties my cast and writers, but I don’t. It’s up to you are actually a little bit of a letdown. … the how much you share. best thing that happens is, say, you get a gift Leo (July 23 – Aug. 22) Remember that bag with some Lara Bars in it. It’s OK, you’ll kid who showed up forty-five minutes early to at least enjoy the Lara Bars. the SATs with eleven pencils and a huge black Pisces (Feb. 19 – March 20) I was also coffee? That was me. Don’t forget erasers. slowly discovering that I had nothing in comVirgo (Aug. 23 – Sept. 22) One of my very mon with any of these girls except that we worst qualities is how impatient I am, but it’s were all excited to see the Nagano Olympics actually very helpful when I am rewriting. It’s on a big TV. A small thing can bring friends all about context. together. Libra (Sept. 23 – Oct. 22) I eat hot sauce Aries (March 21 – April 19) When I on approximately 70 percent of my meals. was on The Office, I was the perfect kind of Learning about new hot sauces is the least famous: a little bit famous. Remember more expensive way to improve my quality of life. is not necessarily better. You can easily boost your quality of life. Taurus (April 20 – May 20) Though I am Scorpio (Oct. 23 – Nov. 21) … I’ve nev- extremely young, I am old enough to rememer understood the compliment ‘effortless.’ ber Must-See TV. You want to be where … What’s so wrong with effort, anyway? It everybody knows your name. means you care. Effort will be rewarded. Gemini (May 21 – June 20) In high Sagittarius (Nov. 22 – Dec. 21) If you’ve school I had been cast as a rag-picker/ never watched a crew race, this is how it goes townsperson/vagrant in eight consecutive down: once the boats appear, you scream plays. Why would I think I could be anyloudly for nine seconds until they disappear thing more than part of an ensemble of out of view. Then you wait forty minutes for anything? Because you can.
SUDOKU
Fill in the grid so that every row, every column, and every 3x3 box contains the digits 1 through 9. Answers will appear in next week's paper.
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SEACOAST SCENE | JUNE 24 - JUNE 30, 2021 | PAGE 20
NEWS OF THE WEIRD BY ANDREWS MCMEEL SYNDICATION
If you can’t beat ‘em, eat ‘em
What to do with all those 17-year cicadas blanketing the eastern half of the country? Sarah Dwyer of Chouquette Chocolates in Bethesda, Maryland, is coating them in chocolate and selling them as exotic treats, Reuters reported. She calls them delicious. “When you combine the chocolate, the cinnamon and the nuttiness of the bugs, it really gives you that holiday feeling of when you’re walking around a big city and they’re roasting nuts on the sidewalk, that cinnamon smell, it’s really what it tastes like,” Dwyer said. She and her employees gather the bugs from trees behind the business and put them in paper bags, which they place in the freezer. Then the cicadas are boiled and crisped in an air fryer. “I did go to pastry school in Paris to learn my dipping technique,” Dwyer said. “I’m pretty sure no one thought I’d be using it on cicadas.”
Florida
An entrepreneurial real estate buyer got more than he bargained for in Brooksville, Florida, when he bought a municipal building for $55,000 in April. The building sits underneath the town’s water tower, and when Bobby Read went to the county to get an address for his new building, he discovered he had also bought the large structure. The Associated Press reported that the community-minded Read transferred the tower back to Brooksville through a war-
ranty deed in May. City Manager Mark Kutney Sweet revenge said a bad legal description of the property was Kristen Bishop, 33, and Sophie Miller, 26, to blame for the snafu: “We’re human. Some- were strangers from Texas until late March, times we make a mistake.” when Miller called Bishop to reveal that both women were dating the same man, “Adam.” At first, Bishop didn’t believe Miller’s tale, but Bright idea When an unnamed 18-year-old found herself soon the facts came to light, and the two women locked out of her home in Henderson, Nevada, cooked up a plot for revenge. The Scottish Sun on June 15, she followed the example of a cer- reported that Bishop and Adam had planned a tain right jolly old elf and tried to enter the home vacation to Turkey for early April, which was through the chimney, United Press Internation- just a few days after the revealing phone call. al reported. Henderson firefighters posted on When they landed in Istanbul, Bishop told him Facebook that the woman became stuck “just that she knew what had been going on; Millabove the flue,” and they used a rope system er met them at the airport, and the two women to pull her to safety. She was uninjured (except abandoned Adam, whom both had met on the dating app Hinge. Bishop had changed all the maybe for her pride). reservations in his name to Miller’s. “His jaw dropped when he saw [Sophie],” Bishop said. Awesome! Up for auction in Toronto, Ontario, Cana- “We became friends quite quickly after we met da, is a painting that was purchased in a South up,” Bishop said of herself and Miller. “We River thrift store for $4.09 by an unnamed buy- really bonded over the eight-day trip, and it’s er. After buying the painting, NPR reported, by far the happiest thing out of this unfortunate the purchaser noticed the artist’s signature on situation, that I found a great friend.” the back, with a date of 1997. Canadian auction house Cowley Abbott has identified the Suspicions confirmed The Dutch owners of a 61-year-old Noah’s painting as “DHead XLVI” by rock superstar David Bowie, who died in 2016. It’s part of a Ark replica and the British Maritime and Coastseries of 47 pieces of art Bowie made between guard Agency are locked in an “impossible 1995 and 1997. As of press time, bids were up stalemate” over the huge vessel, which has been docked at Ipswich, England, since November to $38,100. 2019. The MCA declared the 230-foot-long ark not to be seaworthy, so it cannot sail, the Ips-
wich Star reported, and the owners have been fined 500 pounds each day. For their part, the owners say the boat, home to a biblical museum, was always categorized as a “non-certified floating object.” British Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has been called in to intervene.
For the birds
A nature camera disguised as a piece of bark in the Nizhne-Svirsky Nature Reserve in Russia fell victim to a persistent woodpecker, United Press International reported. A black woodpecker named Zhelna, looking for insects in the wood, pecked at the camera for several days until it broke, reserve workers posted on Facebook. The device has been removed for repairs.
Update
News of the Weird reported on March 12 that Alexandr Kudlay, 33, and Viktoria Pustovitova, 28, from Kharkiv, Ukraine, had handcuffed themselves together for three months to test their fraught relationship. On June 18, Reuters reported that the experiment was a failure. Kudlay and Pustovitova had their shackles cut off on national television, with Kudlay admitting that “We are not on the same wavelength, we are totally different.” Pustovitova tearfully admitted, “I think it will be a good lesson for us, for other Ukrainian couples and couples abroad not to repeat what we have done.” Visit newsoftheweird.com.
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SEACOAST SCENE | JUNE 24 - JUNE 30, 2021 | PAGE 21
BEACH BUM FUN JONESIN’ CROSSWORDS BY MATT JONES
“Just Ir-ish” — oh, whatever Across 1 Concession stand drinks 6 Tugs 11 Shot in the arm 14 Authoritative decree 15 “You’re ___ and don’t even know it” 16 Need to square up with 17 Compliant “Transformers” director? 19 Milliner’s product
20 Printer refill 21 Coast-to-coast vacation, maybe 22 “(You’re) Having My Baby” singer Paul 23 Sheepish sounds 24 Orchestra woodwinds 25 Beach atmosphere 28 Sapphire novel on which the film “Precious” was based 29 T, e.g.
30 Allowed past the door 35 “Lara Croft: ___ Raider” 36 Showing little emotion 37 Roman emperor after Claudius 38 Mixed vegetables ingredient, maybe 40 Laundry day target 41 Distant lead-in 42 Car accessory 43 ___ pastry (eclair basis) 45 Five-iron nickname 48 Architect Ludwig Mies van der ___ 49 Casino customer 50 Bearded zoo animal 53 Intent 54 Pop soloist familiar with the Egyptian underworld? 56 “Don’t text and drive,” e.g. 57 Optimal 58 Come together 59 RR stop
60 Teacher’s summons 61 Printer refill
6/17
R&R 6/17
Down 1 Big rig 2 Mythological deity with two ravens 3 Nickname for Nixon 4 German grumble 5 Illuminated, as at night 6 “Big Three” conference site of 1945 7 “To reach ___, we must sail ...” (FDR quote) 8 “Dona ___ pacem” (Mass phrase) 9 Hold onto 10 Mess of a spot 11 Unfortunate tractor inventor? 12 Up 13 Software versions still being tested 18 At any point
22 Kind of ballot 23 Potato chip flavor 24 In circulation 25 They haven’t flown for 18 years 26 Self-help Internet site 27 Disappointing “Save Me” singer-songwriter? 28 File on a phone 30 “What am ___ do?” 31 Mail motto word 32 “F9” actor/producer Diesel 33 Reggae Sunsplash adjective 34 Taboo 36 Biol. or ecol. 39 Prom piece 40 Foments 42 Pest greeting 43 Vegas game with rolls 44 Raise, as a flag 45 Battle royale 46 George Peppard TV series, with “The” 47 Mode of fashion 49 “I’ll ___ my time” 50 Hang on tight? 51 “Last ___” (The Strokes song) 52 Tablet owner 54 Prefix with information 55 ___ nutshell
SUDOKU
Fill in the grid so that every row, every column, and every 3x3 box contains the digits 1 through 9. Answers will appear in next week’s paper.
Puzzle A
Puzzle B
Sudoku Puzzle A answer from pg 21 of 6/17
Sudoku Puzzle B answer from pg 21 of 6/17
SEACOAST SCENE | JUNE 24 - JUNE 30, 2021 | PAGE 22
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