Editor

Food

Thanksgiving, Part II: Talking Turkey with the Professor of Wine

When you hear Michael Albin of Hudson Wine Merchants expound on wine, his alter egos—writer, musician, former English professor—are all in evidence.  His descriptions of his various offerings, their strengths and potential pitfalls, are impassioned and detailed, and his greatest delight seems to be in finding the perfect

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Arts

The Glory & The Grandeur: Antiquities Gallery Opens in Hudson

When the present is uncertain, it can be comforting to look to the past, particularly to a great and distant era.  Which is why no period in human history will ever supplant "the glory that was Greece, the grandeur that was Rome" as a reliable wellspring of revivals.

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Arts

Celebrating the Life and Legacy of Jacques Kaplan in Kent

Jacques Kaplan, the pioneering art dealer in Kent, CT, was a larger than life figure.  A one-time Fifth Avenue furrier, who collaborated on coats with artists such as Frank Stella in the go-go sixties, he ran his Paris-New York-Kent Gallery in a caboose by Kent'

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Community

Dan's Diary: Guilt-Free Mail Order

If you're like us, you want to support local businesses this holiday season, but sometimes it's conscience vs. convenience, and all you want to do is order from a catalog or website. You can shop online guilt free at Blue Q, the Pittsfield-based company that

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Food

Thanksgiving: Give Thanks for Top-Notch Take-Out

Anybody planning on serving raw celery next Thursday?  Didn't think so.  The ante has gone up since the simple times portrayed at left.  Today's Thanksgiving dinner is a much more ambitious enterprise, which is why it begs for at least partial takeout. Cooking a turkey is

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Parties

The Bold Ones: Celebrating Sol LeWitt at Mass MoCA

Fashion seemed to be on many peoples' minds on Saturday at Mass MoCA's gala opening of Sol LeWitt: A Wall Drawing Retrospective. Some guests wore bright stripes in homage to the artist, while others wore basic art-world black so as to not clash with the painted

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Style

Post Thanksgiving Mega-Sale: A "Traditions" Tradition

If you love luxury linens, you already know Traditions, though you may not realize it.  The drool-inducing bedding in the Neiman-Marcus, Orvis, Charlotte Moss, and Horchow Collection catelogs?  Traditions. The irresistible matelasse coverlets on the shelves at Classic Country in East Chatham and at all the Hammertown Barn

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Parties

A Silent Auction Ends with a Bang

Before the deluge, the night was weirdly warm.  Which could also describe the action inside the house at Hammertown Barn on Saturday, November 15.  Culminating a week of on-line silent auction bidding, attendees came bent on winning.  With continued federal and state support looking less likely by the day,

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Parties

A Fête for the Festival of Trees at the Berkshire Museum

Remember when every city, big and small, had at least one great department store with holiday windows and decorations that set the mood for the season? Alas, the great department stores are practically extinct, but the Berkshire Museum's 24th annual Festival of Trees is like several city blocks

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Food

A Vodka That's Local to the Core

First, you grow the apples.  Then you turn them into cider.  Then you take a lot of cider—five gallons more or less—add yeast, put it into a shine-y copper contraption that looks like something out of Willie Wonka, let it ferment, and after a few days of

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Food

Thanksgiving, Part I: The Beginnings

Part I is not when I discuss the Pilgrims, or the native Americans, or the various inaccuracies we've all been taught about the first Thanksgiving. It's not that I don't care about the origins of my favorite holiday;  rather, there's too much

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Community

Berkshire Museum's Festival of Trees Goes Green

It seems as if every school and not-for-profit group in the Berkshires is participating in the 24th annual Festival of Trees, which has an "eco-savvy and eco-fabulous" theme this year. There will be more than 200 trees on display made from sustainable, earth-friendly

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