Thanksgiving: Thank Heaven for Top-Notch Take-Out
The ante on Thanksgiving dinner seems to go up every year. Trust us; that bird being served by the sweet little old granny in Norman Rockwell’s iconic Freedom From Want hadn’t been brined, nor was it glazed with Grande Marnier. We’d also lay money that she wasn’t about to return to the kitchen to fetch a steaming bowlful of maple-pumpkin polenta. Even accomplished cooks need all the help they can get preparing this greatest of all American feasts, and the region’s chefs stand ready to lend a hand. The quality and range of their take-out offerings boggles the mind and whets the appetite.
Style: Post-Thanksgiving Mega-Sale a Tradition at "Traditions"
For 32 years, Traditions, the luxury linens wholesaler headquartered in Claverack, has conducted a mega-sale on the Friday and Saturday after Thanksgiving. Though discounts of up to 75% are promised, in fact, samples that were made to be photographed for such high-end catalogs as Neiman-Marcus and Charlotte Moss might sell for as little as one-tenth of their intended retail price. “Loyal customers wait for it,“ says Pamela Kline, the company’s founder, who admits that watching expensive merchandise leave the outlet at such bargain prices is “painful for me. I know how much I paid for it.“
From our Archives: Heritage Breed Turkeys at Turkana FarmsTurkana Farms raises and sells all manner of fruits and vegetables, but the thing that makes it unique is its heritage breed turkeys, guinea fowl, chickens, beef, pork and lamb. But for their virtue at table, these ancient breeds would no longer exist. Since this story first ran last January, we’ve experimented further with roasting heritage turkeys, and our revised technique is even easier. |
Kids: A Nutcracker in Every Nook & CrannyOne of the most reassuring and enduring holiday traditions is taking children to see The Nutcracker, which always fills them with a sense of wonder. Tchaikovsky’s classic is being performed in multiple locations in all four counties of our region this year by the Berkshire Albany Ballet, the Nutmeg Ballet and the New Paltz Ballet. And there are plenty of early shows so it’s easy to take even the youngest children. |
Art: A New Gallery of Classical Art and ArtifactsIs Hudson ready for a gallery that sells serious antiquities and neo-classical art, such as this cast of a larger-than-life 2nd-century B.C. head of Zeus, the original of which is the pride of the Sala Rotunda in the Vatican Museum? Tom Swope, best known hereabouts as a one-time real estate agent and early champion of Hudson gentrification, has returned to his roots as a specialist in our culture’s beginnings. |
Music: Next Summer at TanglewoodIt may seem early to you to be thinking about concerts on the lawn, but not to the folks who run Tanglewood who just announced the 2009 schedule, which inlcudes the return of James Levine (conducting an all Tchaikovsky program on opening night) as well as Diana Krall for July 4th, and four—count ‘em—nights in a row of James Taylor during the last week of August. |
Spirits: The Perfect Thanksgiving WinesPaige Orloff, The Bountiful Harvest blogger, paid a call on Michael Albin of Hudson Wine Merchants to find out what to serve with turkey besides Zinfandel and Riesling. He offered a plethora of suggestions at pleasing price points. |
Art: A Memorial Show Honors Jacques KaplanJacques Kaplan, who ran the influential Paris-New York-Kent Gallery in Kent, CT, was legendary as a furrier in New York in the 1960s, as a gallery owner in Kent from 1984 to 2006, and as a mentor to, and champion of, scores of artists. On Saturday, November 22, the Bachelier Cardonsky Gallery is hosting a reception for its new exhibition, A Memorial for Jacques with 100 Artists, which celebrates the life of the dealer who died this summer at the age of 83. |
