Editor

Community

Hudson On My Mind

Scott Baldinger is a writer whose work has appeared in Harper's Bazaar, The New York Times and other publications. He has been living in (and taking pictures of ) Hudson for  six years. This piece appeared previously in a slightly altered form on Melissa Stafford's website, Hudson

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Food

Tropical Butternut Bisque

On a snowy day, this soup reflects my locavore’s craving for the  Caribbean — coconut with a touch of fiery ginger and cayenne pepper  party with butternut’s sweet silky texture. The Berkshires and Hudson Valley produce  fabulous butternut squash, and happily the local stuff is still around. Roasting it

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Parties

A Magical Midwinter's Night of Music at The Mahaiwe

Before the Mahaiwe Center for the Performing Arts opened in 2005, you had to wait for summer to hear the superstars of classical music perform in the Berkshires. So it was appropriate that Emanuel Ax volunteered to play a tribute concert on January 2 in honor of Lola Jaffe, who

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Food

AgriCulture: The Carnivore's Dialectic—Food for Thought

Just before the holiday break, Peter Davies of Turkana farms in Germantown wrote about eating heritage breeds in order to save them (to refresh your memory, please scroll down).  Enid Futterman, editor of the periodical, Our Town in Claverack, NY, wrote to Peter and his partner Mark Scherzer to express

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Community

Greetings, Neighbors! Our First Annual Holiday Poem

Season's greetings, County Kin Let the merriment begin! Happy Hanukah, Merry Christmas Is it local? That's our litmus. The arts and farms help define us So much driving, the only minus. True, this is a magic region It's rural life that we believe in

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Food

AgriCulture: The Road to Turkana, Part II

Peter Davies and Mark Scherzer are the owners of Turkana Farms in Germantown, NY. This week Peter writes: A few days after Thanksgiving, a doctor from Washington State left a message on my answering machine: "I saw those turkeys in The New York Times a couple of days ago

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Community

"Along Route 7" with Photographer Stephen Donaldson

"I love Route 7," says photographer Stephen Donaldson. "It's not only the history of our region, it's the history of our country. It's the road the defines western New England."  Stretching from  Norwalk, CT, on the Long Island Sound to

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Food

Last Minute Latkes for Locavores

You don't have to be Jewish to enjoy these potato pancakes, using local apples, parsnips, onions, sour cream and potatoes—if you can find them. (I had trouble, but don't get me started; I'm proof that it's not always easy to practice

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Parties

A Night of Art to Be Reckoned With in North Adams & Pittsfield

MASS MoCA is the North Pole of the Rural Intelligence region, and you never know what the elves in North Adams will produce next. On Saturday December 12, in the football-field sized gallery known as Building 5, the museum unveiled an installation called Gravity Is A Force To Be

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Parties

The Wandering Eye: Clermont Christmas

The Wandering Eye, aka Carey Maloney, wandered into our Parties section from his usual perch in Style, to report on the goings on this season at Clermont, the Livingston property that is now a New York State historic site. Beginning in 1728 (281 years and seven generations ago…), there have

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Food

AgriCulture: Food Production and Health Care

Peter Davies and Mark Scherzer are the owners of Turkana Farms in Germantown, NY. This week Mark writes: Just when I think I have things somewhat figured out, along comes someone with a whole new angle to set me to rethinking. Several weeks back, I speculated that perhaps the family

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Parties

Hollywood on the Housatonic

Cultural correspondent Bess J. M. Hochstein reports from Lenox: When it comes to luring film productions to the area, the Berkshire Film and Media Commission (BFMC) takes its cue from real estate agents in citing the three most important factors: location, location, location. That was the message delivered to the

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