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Holiday favorite turned on its ear; well-loved authors at Misty Valley; St. Luke's Christmas celebration

Holiday favorite turned on its ear; well-loved authors at Misty Valley; St. Luke’s Christmas celebration

Totally Scrooged! one man show in Grafton It’s open season on the holiday season as comic actor Pickles Reese unloads both barrels and blows the doors off tradition in histour d’ farce Totally Scrooged!  This saucy solo sendup of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol is presented one night only, at 7:30 p.m. Friday Dec. 14,  at […]

Cranberry scones for your sweetheart

Cranberry scones for your sweetheart

By Jim Bailey theyankeechef.blogspot.com As many of you know, I am a strong advocate for Breast Cancer Awareness for personal reasons and  even more so during the holidays. Everybody is somebody’s sweetheart and that mantra holds true for those who have died from this terrible disease. I have certain ways to remember the loved ones […]

Overture to Christmas kicks off with kids' crafts and carolers

Overture to Christmas kicks off with kids’ crafts and carolers

Alight snow fell over Chester on Saturday, Dec. 1, the first day of Overture to Christmas, now in its 27th year.  Following an elfish breakfast at the American Legion, children and parents packed tables at Chester-Andover Elementary School to paint pottery ornaments, create lace and bead candy canes and decorate Christmas cookies. The St. Luke’s […]

Opera Theatre seeks audience singers for Noye's Fludde

Opera Theatre seeks audience singers for Noye’s Fludde

Opera Theatre of Weston artistic directors Nan Nall and Lise Messier will present a new production of Noye’s Fludde by Benjamin Britten at the Paramount Theatre in Rutland and at the Weston Playhouse in January.  Britten arranged three well-known hymns for this opera to be sung by the “congregation” to underscore the drama unfolding on […]

Impressive poached pear in pastry with fig sauce

Impressive poached pear in pastry with fig sauce

By Jim Bailey theyankeechef.blogspot.com Here’s a great break from tradition, yet traditional because of the use of figs. Many of us have only gotten close to figs in one way, and that is eating Fig Newtons. Many may think that’s how figs taste. In essence, yes. But, in reality, figs are so much more fragrant […]

Briefs: Whiting Library raffle; St. Luke's Annual Tea and Sale; new exhibit at VTica

Briefs: Whiting Library raffle; St. Luke’s Annual Tea and Sale; new exhibit at VTica

Local woodworker Albert Williams has donated a cherry wood children’s table and chairs set to the Whiting Library to be raffled off to help meet the library’s year-end budget goals. It can be seen at the library, located at 117 Main St. in Chester. Tickets are $5 each and are available at the library, from […]

Fragrant lamb for a special Christmas dinner

Fragrant lamb for a special Christmas dinner

By Jim Bailey http://theyankeechef.blogspot.com/ There aren’t many times when I can ‘meat’ out recipes with lamb as the central theme, but thank goodness, Christmas is one. I have repeatedly extolled my love of this meat and, during the holidays, I love to show people just how easy it is to prepare fragrant lamb. If I […]

Family Center Thrift Shop formally opens

Family Center Thrift Shop formally opens

The Chester-Andover Family Center’s Thrift Shop officially opened its new doors last Tuesday, Nov. 20 to the cheers of the many volunteers who had spent the last few months readying the building, which in its lifetime had housed three restaurants — Putney Pasta, Azteca and Curtis’ BBQ — before being purchased by the charitable organization […]

Giving thanks ... to the chef

Giving thanks … to the chef

By Becki Trudell The Thanksgiving holiday is centered around a huge meal and, of course, family. But with the big meal comes hours of preparation — and a great, big mess. Peeling potatoes, chopping onions, basting a turkey and the inevitable dirty pans and soiled tablecloths are not likely to put a damper on your […]

Chester not on winners list of Prettiest Painted Place

Chester not on winners list of Prettiest Painted Place

Chester is not among the winners of the Paint Quality Institute’s Prettiest Painted Places in America Competition. Chester made the first cut – from nearly 200 places to 60 finalists, but was not among the 12 winners (one from a small town and one from a large town in each region) nor the nine nominees […]

Briefs: Gov. Kunin to speak twice in Chester; Senior luncheon; Specker concert; Santa photo funder for TARPS; interim pastor at St. Luke's; volunteer drivers sought

Briefs: Gov. Kunin to speak twice in Chester; Senior luncheon; Specker concert; Santa photo funder for TARPS; interim pastor at St. Luke’s; volunteer drivers sought

Former Vermont Gov. Madeleine Kunin will speak twice in Chester on Sunday, Nov. 18, first at the First Universalist Parish Stone Church at the 9:30 a.m. service, then, at 2 p.m. as Misty Valley Books’ final Vermont Voice 2012, also at the Stone Church in Chester’s Stone Village. After serving as a Vermont state legislator […]

Intimate and cozy: Pork tenderloin for Thanksgiving

Intimate and cozy: Pork tenderloin for Thanksgiving

By Jim Bailey theyankeechef.blogspot.com This recipe is great for an intimate dinner for two or a cozy meal for three. Of course you can prepare this savory and sweet pork dish for more, but be forewarned, it may require a little more effort than you care to give. A Yankee Thanksgiving Pork Tenderloin At the […]

7th graders fundraise to aid Hurricane Sandy victims

7th graders fundraise to aid Hurricane Sandy victims

The 7th grade class of Green Mountain Middle School is holding a “Every Penny Counts” fundraiser to help the victims of Hurricane Sandy, the largest Atlantic Hurricane on record that tore through the East Coast in late October. The “superstorm” killed more than 100 people, destroyed hundreds of homes and left millions without power. The […]

Put the spice into rice pudding with candied ginger

Put the spice into rice pudding with candied ginger

By Jim Bailey theyankeechef.blogspot.com I have a recipe written by my grandmother, four times removed, for Apple Whitpot.  Although I have followed her recipe and loved it, I created my own adaptation, which I think you will enjoy immensely, especially with the holidays coming up. Apparently my ancestor meant to write whitepot, missing the “e.” […]

Going bananas with a Brazilian Banana Cake

Going bananas with a Brazilian Banana Cake

By Jim Bailey One of my favorite indulgences is anything banana. So I went to the store the other day and bought 3 lbs. of bananas with not one recipe in mind. I just wanted to make something with them that is easy, visually exciting and above all, deliciously luscious. I remembered my father showing […]

Archer Mayor kicks off Vermont Voices, Evensong at St. Luke's, Rural Vermont storytelling

Archer Mayor kicks off Vermont Voices, Evensong at St. Luke’s, Rural Vermont storytelling

Archer Mayor, Vermont’s favorite mystery writer and raconteur, returns to Chester to kick off Misty Valley Books’ Vermont Voices 2012 series at 2 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 4.  Accompanying Mayor will be his new – and 23rd – Joe Gunther tale, Paradise City, which unfolds in Vermont, Boston and Northampton. Each year in November, Misty Valley […]

On to savory with salmon pops

On to savory with salmon pops

By Jim Bailey I  know, I know. … Another lollipop! But it really wasn’t the lollipop theme that had me hooked. It was the fact salmon was on sale, so being a Yankee … Well, you know the rest. Salmon has been and always will be an integral part of our New England heritage, even […]

Stone Village featured in national history magazine

Stone Village featured in national history magazine

C hester is in the national spotlight for the fourth time* in slightly more than a year, this time with a photo-heavy, 6-page article on the Stone Village, running in the December edition of Early American Life. (Click photos to enlarge) The 42-year-old history magazine covers “everything before 1850 in America,” says its publisher, Tess […]

Briefs: Operation Christmas; Halloween for kids, adults; 5th annual outerwear drive; cooking classes & governor exhibits Chester artist's work

Briefs: Operation Christmas; Halloween for kids, adults; 5th annual outerwear drive; cooking classes & governor exhibits Chester artist’s work

Operation Christmas shoebox decorating A workshop to decorate shoeboxes and make toys and games for Operation Christmas Child will be held in Willard Hall at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, 313 Main St. in Chester, from 1 to 8 p.m. Friday, Oct. 19. Children must be accompanied by an adult. Refreshments will be available. Come for […]

Something old is now something new in a lollipop pumpkin pie

Something old is now something new in a lollipop pumpkin pie

By Jim Bailey As a child I ate pumpkin pie, but begrudgingly. It wasn’t because I didn’t enjoy the taste, it was just a little bland for my sweet tooth. But “in the day,” when food was put in front of you, you ate it. Having aged slightly, I enjoy the aroma of clove-scented baked […]