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By TINKY WEISBLAT

The little church I attend in Charlemont is in transition, getting ready to look for a new minister. Right now, we are enjoying sermons from the Rev. Randy Purinton of Amherst.Randy is a delight. He is wise and funny, and he often manages to work a...

By TINKY WEISBLAT

When I was in graduate school, I taught a class called “American Women’s Fictions.” My students made their way through stories popular with American women.We started with “Charlotte Temple,” a 1791 novel about an English schoolgirl who is seduced and...

By TINKY WEISBLAT

Peter Stilla of Deerfield has had multiple careers. For much of his life, he was a journalist. This work included stints doing editorial work at the Greenfield Recorder and its sister paper, the Daily Hampshire Gazette.In 2000, he decided to attend...

By TINKY WEISBLAT

I appreciate that people who work regular jobs need three-day holiday weekends. For this reason, in 1968, George Washington’s birthday was moved from Feb. 22 to the third Monday in the month.Sadly, in my opinion, this means that the official...

By TINKY WEISBLAT

At this time of year, when the weather is still cool, baking is a pleasure … almost a necessity. Baked goods warm us up when we eat them. The word “calorie,” after all, represents a measure of heat. Moreover, the mere act of turning on the oven makes...

By TINKY WEISBLAT

Kathleen Nicoletti of Athol notes in her author biography that she loves reading to the children in her life. That joy is evident in her three new children’s books.At 70 pages, “Ruby the Ruthless” is the longest of the three. It also has the most...

By TINKY WEISBLAT

Harvey’s Restaurant and Cocktail Lounge on Avenue A in Turners Falls is a passion project for Evelyn Wulfkuhle of Greenfield.Wulfkuhle has been in the local restaurant business for more than two decades. She started at Green Fields Market in...

By TINKY WEISBLAT

Talking about food with Kyra Kristof of Forest Kitchen was a fascinating experience.Kristof is part artist, part social scientist, part cook, and all passion. She used terms I had never heard applied to food before.Kristof lives with her partner and...

By TINKY WEISBLAT

January is National Soup Month so I thought for this week I would make one of my favorite soups and share the story of its origins.Some home cooks don’t write down recipes at all. I was one of those cooks before I became a food writer. I would combine...

By TINKY WEISBLAT

The Green Palmers ChronicleBy Jon HuerAustin Macauley PublishersReaders of Jon Huer’s commentary in this newspaper may be surprised to see a slightly different side of the Greenfield writer in “The Green Palmers Chronicle.” Huer calls the novel “a...

By TINKY WEISBLAT

Like many American home cooks, I own more cookbooks than I can use.Over the years, hand-me-downs from family members, birthday gifts, and impulse purchases have brought more than 100 volumes to my kitchen shelves.When I decide to try preparing a dish...

By TINKY WEISBLAT

I adore old movies. As a small child, I appalled my mother by watching myriad black-and-white classics on television. She was afraid that this solitary pursuit would keep me from making friends.By the time I got my Ph.D. in American studies with a...

By TINKY WEISBLAT

I’m always lurking on the internet to spot food trends. It was thus impossible for me to resist what McCormick, the purveyor of spices and much more, calls the 2024 Flavor of The Year.I had been intrigued by the 2023 Flavor of The Year, a blend of...

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...