Editor

Wellness

At Sruti, Strength Training for Body and Serenity for Mind

Between eggnog-fueled family feuds, latke hangovers, and strangely competitive Secret Santa exchanges, peace of body and soul can be in short supply during the holiday season.  But take heart, weary reindeer. Chances are that Sruti Berkshire Yoga Center in Great Barrington—part fitness mecca, part spiritual hub, part community

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Food

One Smart Cookie: Lisa Newmann's Snack Revolution

Photo by Ginny Hussey In September, food entrepreneur Lisa Newmann of Housatonic was called upon to give a speech in Palm Springs, California. The topic, while not addressing global climate change or the gritty situation in Gaza, was an important one, one that has quickly become Newmann's life

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Food

Potato Celery Root Skillet Cake

Berkshire native Alana Chernila, local politician, mother of two, and author of the new cookbook, The Homemade Pantry: 101 Foods You Can Stop Buying & Start Making (Clarkson Potter), dispenses change and cooking ideas to readers and friends. She shares her peak-of-the-season recipes with Rural Intelligence to

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Parties

A Colonial Thanksgiving with Bidwell House Museum

Fiona Breslin reports from Monterey.Guests walked a quiet, candlelit path towards the Bidwell House Museum, Saturday, November 24, for the New England heritage landmark’s Colonial Holiday Thanksgiving Fundraising Party. The event was held in the enchanting 1750s parlors of former house resident, Reverend Adonijah Bidwell, with evening proceeds

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Community

Bunny Williams Opens Her House for Historic Holiday Tour

Bunny Williams is used to greeting hundreds of people in a single day as they troop through her famous Falls Village garden that she opens for charity events several times every summer. The New York-based interior designer lets visitors poke their noses inside her Adirondack-style pool house as

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Food

AgriCulture: In Grateful Memoriam

AgriCulture bloggers Peter Davies and Mark Scherzer are the owners of Turkana Farms in Germantown, NY. This week Peter writes. It is with a great sigh of relief that Mark and I find ourselves the day after Thanksgiving restoring order to the house and farm. The intensely deadline oriented nature

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Arts

Simone Felice's Happy Days

It's been eight months of traversing the globe for musician Simone Felice, all in support of his eponymous, moody folk debut album. Even so, the singer-songwriter-author and Catskills resident says he’ll approach his December 7 performance at Helsinki Hudson, the first of two back in

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Parties

Big Names at Housantic Valley Association Benefit

Dale Stewart reports from Washington, Connecticut.More than one hundred exuberant bidders had their pick of a well-curated mix of local artisanal crafts and high-end auction items at the 22nd annual benefit auction for the Housatonic Valley Association at the Washington Montessori School in Washington, Connecticut, on Sunday,

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Parties

Let There Be Light! Opening of Berkshire Museum's Festival of Trees

Rachel Louchen reports from Pittsfield. The Berkshire Museum’s 28th annual Festival of Trees is, for many, the official kickoff of the holiday season. This year's theme, Myths and Magic, was a sparkling sight to all who entered the museum to see it completely transformed into a winter

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Food

AgriCulture: Talkin' Turkey

AgriCulture bloggers Peter Davies and Mark Scherzer are the owners of Turkana Farms in Germantown, NY. This week Mark writes. It is that time of year when major transitions take place at the farm. We have been harvesting vegetables all summer but now it is time for the major fall

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Food

Reaping the Winter Harvest

It used to be that this was a nation of farmers: From our Puritan forebears eking out a life on the unforgiving land to patriotic families planting victory gardens to aid in the war effort. Everywhere you looked, even in the urban nooks and crannies, the land yielded its riches

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Style

Thrifty Chic: New England Girl

“It all started with an end table, then an armoire, and it just blew up. I’m so lucky, I can’t keep my head on straight,” Nicole Goncalves, aka the New England Girl, marvels as she surveys her design studio in an 1800's barn just outside of

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