My family loves our dog. We also really appreciate reading about other people who love their dogs. Today's Poughkeepsie Journal had a great article by Michael Woyton and video by Lee Ferris about the Dutchess County Fair's canine tent. We'll be heading to the fair soon and will be sure to check out the dogs having fun in the tent!
Speaking of dogs, the 13th annual Dutchess County SPCA Paws in the Park Petwalk is coming up soon -- Sept. 8 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Bowdoin Park in Poughkeepsie. We've had fun at this fund-raising event in the past. (The Dog gets to wear a spiffy big yellow bow because he came to us through the Dutchess SPCA.) You can keep track of our fund-raising progress through the box on this side of this blog. (pretty pathetic results so far but we did just register about an hour ago ...)
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Friday, August 17, 2007
Exciting foodie news!
The Hudson Valley Wine & Food Fest has announced this year’s celebrity chef demonstrator is Peter X. Kelly – who earlier this year bested Iron Chef Bobby Flay on the Food Network’s Iron Chef America show. I had written some blog entries at the time about this great chef competition!
Chef Kelly, who heads the Xaviers Restaurant group in the lower Hudson Valley, will share some of his cooking secrets with festival patrons during the festival. Check the Web site for details.
This year the wine festival takes place on September 8 and 9 at the Dutchess County Fairgrounds in Rhinebeck. We have a two-page guide to the fest (and some other great regional wine events) in the August issue of Hudson Valley Connoisseur magazine.
Chef Kelly, who heads the Xaviers Restaurant group in the lower Hudson Valley, will share some of his cooking secrets with festival patrons during the festival. Check the Web site for details.
This year the wine festival takes place on September 8 and 9 at the Dutchess County Fairgrounds in Rhinebeck. We have a two-page guide to the fest (and some other great regional wine events) in the August issue of Hudson Valley Connoisseur magazine.
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Stooges
I mentioned how much I enjoy bossa nova music in my post about how I am bringing my daughter to the Jonas Brothers concert tonight in Poughkeepsie. And I received this video. It's not so much about Good Life in the Hudson Valley but it's got something for everyone, and is too good not to share!
Steamboat days
I worked as a tour guide at Clermont State Historic Site during my school days, so I can vouch that it’s a very interesting (and scenic) place, full of connections to our nation’s early history.
This year Clermont is celebrating the 200th anniversary of the maiden voyage of Robert Fulton’s North River Steamboat, which took place on August 17, 1807 and included a stopover at Clermont’s own dock on the Hudson River. (In those days, the Hudson was called the “North River.” )
This weekend there is a two-day steamboat extravaganza at Clermont, on Saturday August 18, from 11 a.m. – 10 p.m. & Sunday August 19, from 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. Clermont's rolling hills along the Hudson will be full of steamboat demonstrations and steam vessel exhibitions, re-enactors, educational talks, vendors, and traditional music. A craft tent for children will instruct youngsters in crafts and skills of the steamboat era. A scavenger hunt and contests will be featured along with special tours, and costumed interpreters. And on Saturday the day ends with fireworks at sunset.
All this fun and excitement for a fee of just $7 per vehicle! Clermont State Historic Site is located off Route 9G, just north of Tivoli and the Dutchess-Columbia county border.
This year Clermont is celebrating the 200th anniversary of the maiden voyage of Robert Fulton’s North River Steamboat, which took place on August 17, 1807 and included a stopover at Clermont’s own dock on the Hudson River. (In those days, the Hudson was called the “North River.” )
This weekend there is a two-day steamboat extravaganza at Clermont, on Saturday August 18, from 11 a.m. – 10 p.m. & Sunday August 19, from 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. Clermont's rolling hills along the Hudson will be full of steamboat demonstrations and steam vessel exhibitions, re-enactors, educational talks, vendors, and traditional music. A craft tent for children will instruct youngsters in crafts and skills of the steamboat era. A scavenger hunt and contests will be featured along with special tours, and costumed interpreters. And on Saturday the day ends with fireworks at sunset.
All this fun and excitement for a fee of just $7 per vehicle! Clermont State Historic Site is located off Route 9G, just north of Tivoli and the Dutchess-Columbia county border.
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Boy band brothers
I’ll be going to see the Jonas Brothers perform at the Chance in Poughkeepsie on Thursday evening. The concert experience won’t be for me but rather for my soon-to-be-9 years old daughter, who has been talking about almost nothing else but this concert for the last few weeks. I'll be bringing her and her 9-year-old friend, and I hear a bunch of her other friends from school and camp will be also there (with parents in tow).
Radio Disney has been talking up the Jonas Bros nonstop, and playing their songs around the clock. From a parent's perspective, they're OK, in a non-threatening but still cool boy band kind of way. According to this story, Radio Disney's VP of programming considers them a "clean Green Day." To me they sound like Gin Blossoms meets early Squeeze.
Sean McMann has more info about JB promotional stuff on his blog.
My kid wanted to add: "Mom, everyone knows the Jonas Brothers. They did the Baby Bottle Pops commercial. And the Meet the Robinsons song." (The link goes to the video.) And even I -- the square mom whose idea of good music is listening to my old blues records and Brazilian bossa nova -- recognize their song Year 3000. Whew ...
Radio Disney has been talking up the Jonas Bros nonstop, and playing their songs around the clock. From a parent's perspective, they're OK, in a non-threatening but still cool boy band kind of way. According to this story, Radio Disney's VP of programming considers them a "clean Green Day." To me they sound like Gin Blossoms meets early Squeeze.
Sean McMann has more info about JB promotional stuff on his blog.
My kid wanted to add: "Mom, everyone knows the Jonas Brothers. They did the Baby Bottle Pops commercial. And the Meet the Robinsons song." (The link goes to the video.) And even I -- the square mom whose idea of good music is listening to my old blues records and Brazilian bossa nova -- recognize their song Year 3000. Whew ...
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
Show me the dough
The heck with low-carb diets -- did you know that small bakeries producing European-style artisan breads saw an 18 percent growth in sales between 2001 and 2003, at a time when Americans reduced their overall consumption of bread by 40 percent? That’s according to research compiled by the Small Business Development Center National Information Clearinghouse. So clearly -- most people haven’t lost their appreciation for good bread. (I’m not convinced, anyway, that bread made with a few top-quality ingredients is bad for us. It's not like that high-tech mass produced stuff made from an unpronounceable ingredients engineered for a long shelf life.)
In the August issue of Hudson Valley Connoisseur magazine, we spotlight three artisan bread bakers in the Hudson Valley: Downtown Breads & Bakeshop in Montgomery, Wild Hive Farm of Clinton Corners, with products made from freshly milled stoneground flour from locally grown grains and sold at the Amish Market in Hyde Park and Adams in Poughkeepsie, and Bread Alone, which bakes its products in Boiceville and sells them at its cafes in Woodstock, Rhinebeck, Boiceville and at regional food stores.
All the breads in the HVC feature were very different, and all of them were delicious. Most of them featured ingredients that were local and organic, too. And there are additional great bread bakeries in the Hudson Valley -- if we could have added more to our feature, Our Daily Bread in Chatham and the Alternative Baker in Kingston would also be included.
Speaking of Bread Alone, I see that its founder, Dan Leader, has a new book out this month: Local Breads: Sourdough and Whole-Grain Recipes from Europe's Best Artisan Bakers (Norton). I haven’t read it yet but it’s definitely on my to-do list!
In the August issue of Hudson Valley Connoisseur magazine, we spotlight three artisan bread bakers in the Hudson Valley: Downtown Breads & Bakeshop in Montgomery, Wild Hive Farm of Clinton Corners, with products made from freshly milled stoneground flour from locally grown grains and sold at the Amish Market in Hyde Park and Adams in Poughkeepsie, and Bread Alone, which bakes its products in Boiceville and sells them at its cafes in Woodstock, Rhinebeck, Boiceville and at regional food stores.
All the breads in the HVC feature were very different, and all of them were delicious. Most of them featured ingredients that were local and organic, too. And there are additional great bread bakeries in the Hudson Valley -- if we could have added more to our feature, Our Daily Bread in Chatham and the Alternative Baker in Kingston would also be included.
Speaking of Bread Alone, I see that its founder, Dan Leader, has a new book out this month: Local Breads: Sourdough and Whole-Grain Recipes from Europe's Best Artisan Bakers (Norton). I haven’t read it yet but it’s definitely on my to-do list!
Monday, August 6, 2007
In the pod
I bet I'm not the only person who has subscribed to The New Yorker magazine for the wonderful cartoons it publishes. Did you know that some of the artists whose work appears in that publication live locally? I always enjoyed seeing some of the magazine's cartoons mentioning Rhinebeck that were hung on the walls at Schemmy's, the casual restaurant/ice cream parlor/apparent New Yorker artists' hangout. (Schemmy's is closed now and the space houses Village Pizza.) I knew when we were first creating Hudson Valley Connoisseur magazine that I wanted to have our own cartoon. We were lucky to find Jennifer Axinn-Weiss, who creates the clever Gourmet Giggles you'll find only in HVC.
So I was excited to discover recently that The New Yorker is offering free downloadable animated versions of their cartoons as video podcasts. (I found them at iTunes.) Between my work and homelife, I have a very busy daily schedule and I am beginning to appreciate the value of podcasts. As a professional Word Nerd ;-), I get a kick out of Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips and I always find something of value in Garrison Keillor's The Writer's Almanac. For those times when I have some otherwise mindless chores (folding laundry) I adore NPR's Selected Shorts ("a celebration of the short story" read by noted actors). Now I finally can catch up with some of my favorite writers -- on my time!
Have any other really interesting podcasts to share? And does anyone know what became of the cartoons that used to hang in Schemmy's in Rhinebeck?
So I was excited to discover recently that The New Yorker is offering free downloadable animated versions of their cartoons as video podcasts. (I found them at iTunes.) Between my work and homelife, I have a very busy daily schedule and I am beginning to appreciate the value of podcasts. As a professional Word Nerd ;-), I get a kick out of Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips and I always find something of value in Garrison Keillor's The Writer's Almanac. For those times when I have some otherwise mindless chores (folding laundry) I adore NPR's Selected Shorts ("a celebration of the short story" read by noted actors). Now I finally can catch up with some of my favorite writers -- on my time!
Have any other really interesting podcasts to share? And does anyone know what became of the cartoons that used to hang in Schemmy's in Rhinebeck?
Friday, August 3, 2007
A busy weekend
I wish I could be in two (or three or four) places at a time this weekend.
MASS MoCA in North Adams, Massachusetts is an easy and enjoyable trip from the Hudson Valley. On Saturday evening (August 4), the arts center is presenting a Sing-A-Long version of the 1971 classic film, Fiddler on the Roof, complete with lyrics for those who have trouble remembering every line of If I Were A Rich Man or Matchmaker, Matchmaker. Watch a great film and sing along with everyone else. Does this sound like fun or what? Showtime is 8:30 p.m., tickets are $10 each. MASS MoCA members receive a 10% discount. Ticket info at www.massmoca.org.
Have kids who like horses? Saturday, August 4 is Kids Day at HITS Saugerties from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Green Heron Farm in Saugerties will be providing free pony rides! Other activities include a bounce house, a gigantic slide, face painting and a clown, as well as an arts and crafts area. There’s lots more – 10 riding rings’ worth of show jumping classes, which feature elite young riders and take place from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. There are also shopping opportunities in more than two dozen stores set up on the site with clothing, tack, fine jewelry, custom footwear, art, photography and custom HITS souvenirs -- and a variety of dining choices. Those interested in the behind the scenes of show jumping can watch the horse show farrier put new shoes on a horse and even tour the stables to see some of the horses and riders up close.
Admission is $5 for adults, which is donated to Family of Woodstock, Inc. Children 12 and under are admitted free. Parking for spectators is located at Gate E, which is directly across from the Kiwanis Ice Rink and is always free. Info at www.HitsShows.com
PS Famed Manhattan restaurant Tavern on the Green will cater a buffet lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the shaded VIP Pavilion at HITS Saugerties overlooking the Grand Prix and Main Hunter rings. Open both to horsemen and the general public, this special lunch will be available for $20 per person; a cash bar also will be available.
MASS MoCA in North Adams, Massachusetts is an easy and enjoyable trip from the Hudson Valley. On Saturday evening (August 4), the arts center is presenting a Sing-A-Long version of the 1971 classic film, Fiddler on the Roof, complete with lyrics for those who have trouble remembering every line of If I Were A Rich Man or Matchmaker, Matchmaker. Watch a great film and sing along with everyone else. Does this sound like fun or what? Showtime is 8:30 p.m., tickets are $10 each. MASS MoCA members receive a 10% discount. Ticket info at www.massmoca.org.
Have kids who like horses? Saturday, August 4 is Kids Day at HITS Saugerties from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Green Heron Farm in Saugerties will be providing free pony rides! Other activities include a bounce house, a gigantic slide, face painting and a clown, as well as an arts and crafts area. There’s lots more – 10 riding rings’ worth of show jumping classes, which feature elite young riders and take place from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. There are also shopping opportunities in more than two dozen stores set up on the site with clothing, tack, fine jewelry, custom footwear, art, photography and custom HITS souvenirs -- and a variety of dining choices. Those interested in the behind the scenes of show jumping can watch the horse show farrier put new shoes on a horse and even tour the stables to see some of the horses and riders up close.
Admission is $5 for adults, which is donated to Family of Woodstock, Inc. Children 12 and under are admitted free. Parking for spectators is located at Gate E, which is directly across from the Kiwanis Ice Rink and is always free. Info at www.HitsShows.com
PS Famed Manhattan restaurant Tavern on the Green will cater a buffet lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the shaded VIP Pavilion at HITS Saugerties overlooking the Grand Prix and Main Hunter rings. Open both to horsemen and the general public, this special lunch will be available for $20 per person; a cash bar also will be available.
Burger alert!
This is advance warning -- events at this winery (which has STUNNING views of the Gunks) are very popular so get tickets now.
Whitecliff Vineyard’s Red Wine & Grass-Fed Beef Gourmet Burger Celebration takes place on Saturday and Sunday, August 25th and 26th -- from 12 to 4 p.m. on that Saturday, and from 12-3 p.m. on that Sunday. Enjoy Whitecliff's wine, burgers from local grass-fed beef, sweet corn, and ice cream -- all products from Ulster County. Even the buns, cheese and pickles will be local! Two of Gardiner’s producers of grass-fed beef -- Brykill Farm and Kiernan Farm -- will be featured.
Whitecliff has one of the largest vineyards in the region and is known for complex dry wines that pair particularly well with a meal. The event will take place rain or shine under a tent at Whitecliff Vineyard, 331 McKinstry Road in Gardiner. Tickets are $25 a person, and are available by calling Whitecliff at 845-255-4613.
Whitecliff Vineyard’s Red Wine & Grass-Fed Beef Gourmet Burger Celebration takes place on Saturday and Sunday, August 25th and 26th -- from 12 to 4 p.m. on that Saturday, and from 12-3 p.m. on that Sunday. Enjoy Whitecliff's wine, burgers from local grass-fed beef, sweet corn, and ice cream -- all products from Ulster County. Even the buns, cheese and pickles will be local! Two of Gardiner’s producers of grass-fed beef -- Brykill Farm and Kiernan Farm -- will be featured.
Whitecliff has one of the largest vineyards in the region and is known for complex dry wines that pair particularly well with a meal. The event will take place rain or shine under a tent at Whitecliff Vineyard, 331 McKinstry Road in Gardiner. Tickets are $25 a person, and are available by calling Whitecliff at 845-255-4613.
Virtual penguin
Nearly every preteen in our Hudson Valley circle of friends and acquaintances has an account online with Club Penguin. I've heard them making plans to meet online at set times to give concerts (their virtual penguin characters can play instruments) and to play games like extreme sledding. My kid (who is normally no mouse potato) would play in the virtual Penguin world for hours if I didn’t set limits. (By the way, her laptop is secured in a way that prevents her from wandering off to explore other areas on the Internet – and I always am nearby when she is online!)
My favorite thing about Club Penguin is that my daughter looks forward to reading each online edition of the Penguin Times newspaper. When kids are reading the newspaper, they are unable to interact with each other or play games at the same time, so they really are focusing on what they’re reading. (They can see when other kids -- a.k.a. virtual penguins -- are reading the paper at the same time they are.) I see it as a great training tool to get preteens into the habit of reading a “real” newspaper on a regular basis.
So for my household, hearing that CP has just been purchased by the Disney company is big news. I like Club Penguin because (right now) it’s not very commercial (aside from the monthly membership fee.) It will be interesting to see how that plays out under Disney.
My favorite thing about Club Penguin is that my daughter looks forward to reading each online edition of the Penguin Times newspaper. When kids are reading the newspaper, they are unable to interact with each other or play games at the same time, so they really are focusing on what they’re reading. (They can see when other kids -- a.k.a. virtual penguins -- are reading the paper at the same time they are.) I see it as a great training tool to get preteens into the habit of reading a “real” newspaper on a regular basis.
So for my household, hearing that CP has just been purchased by the Disney company is big news. I like Club Penguin because (right now) it’s not very commercial (aside from the monthly membership fee.) It will be interesting to see how that plays out under Disney.
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