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By TINKY WEISBLAT

One of my favorite things about life in the country (perhaps life everywhere, but it’s more obvious in the country!) is that hardly anyone has just one occupation. I myself have six jobs. When I was first asked to be on the television program “Mass...

By TINKY WEISBLAT

Presidents’ Day is a relatively new holiday. It was established in 1971.February used to honor Lincoln and Washington separately on their birthdays. This omnibus holiday generously embraces all presidents, even the incompetent ones like James Buchanan...

By TINKY WEISBLAT

I have been acquainted with Jody Stewart for years. She is a fellow Hawleyite.I feel as though I only started to get to know her when I interviewed her recently about her new book of poetry, “This Momentary World” (Nine Mile Books, 160 pages, $16). I...

By TINKY WEISBLAT

“10,000 Days in the Woods: The Beginning”by H. Russell RichardsonDragon Brook PublishingIn 2019, Russ Richardson was hospitalized for a severe heart blockage. In the beginning of the Shelburne resident’s new memoir, he explains that he coped with the...

By TINKY WEISBLAT

I saw my first heart-shaped box of chocolates on Valentine’s Day when I was four. My father presented it to my mother, who gave me a piece. I swooned, both at the delectable taste and texture of the chocolate and at the romance of the whole idea.I...

By TINKY WEISBLAT

We have entered that gloomy time of year. Although the days are beginning to get longer and lighter, the landscape is snowy and icy. I find that nothing cheers me up in weather like this than the smell (and the taste) of bread fresh from the oven.One...

By TINKY WEISBLAT

“Delia”by Hans Rickheit and Krissy DornFantagraphicsI blush to admit this, but I had never read a graphic novel before opening the pages of “Delia.” It actually took me a few minutes to get used to the narrative form. Once I did, I was hooked on the...

By TINKY WEISBLAT

Happy Lunar New Year! We have just entered the Year of the Rabbit. As readers may know, the Chinese Zodiac comprises 12 signs. Each is assigned an animal, and the animals repeat in a 12-year cycle. This roughly corresponds to the time it takes Jupiter...

By TINKY WEISBLAT

“More Than Friends”Edited by Patti SmithLight PublishingI am old enough to recall that there were communes in our area in the late 1960s and 1970s. Indeed, these groups still exist to some extent. I am not old enough to have felt the siren call of...

By TINKY WEISBLAT

 Last week I wrote about National Soup Month and gave readers a simple soup recipe of my own. This week I return to the topic with an expert on soups I don’t make very often, those involving fish and seafood.That expert is Craig Fear of Southampton....

By TINKY WEISBLAT

January is National Soup Month. It was so designated in 1986 by the   Campbell’s Soup Co. as a promotional tool for its products.I am not precisely thrilled about the origins of Soup Month, but I endorse the general idea. When temperatures turn cold...

By TINKY WEISBLAT

Food fulfills many functions for human beings. It nourishes our bodies, giving us strength to face the world. It gives us a chance to express our creativity as we play with ingredients and recipes.To me, one of food’s most important purposes is to...

By TINKY WEISBLAT

When Ingrid and Nancy Rivas were about 12, relatives started teaching them to cook. The twin sisters grew up in El Salvador. They remember the flavors of their childhood… and above all, the love.“Our mother and grandmothers loved to cook,” Nancy Rivas...

By TINKY WEISBLAT

I know I have written a lot of late about comfort food … but we’re smack dab in comfort food time of year. So today, I’m tackling one of my favorite spur-of-the moment comfort foods.The late food editor and writer Judith Jones identified certain foods...

By TINKY WEISBLAT

Wells Corner Store on Main Street in Charlemont was dark for as long as I can remember. Perhaps it was dark when John A. Wells started selling dry goods in the building in 1877. Today the new Wells Provisions is full of light, thanks to the hard work...

By TINKY WEISBLAT

I planned to write today about a local restaurant — and I will visit that spot in another column — but I was distracted and entranced last week when I passed a farm stand that featured fresh local asparagus. I couldn’t wait to buy and cook some green...

By TINKY WEISBLAT

One of the reasons that I love writing about food is that ideas can come from just about anyone or anything I encounter.Childhood memories have spurred me to make my mother’s favorite casserole and my grandfather’s favorite fudge. Neighbors, friends...