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By TINKY WEISBLAT
“When Being a Nurse Was Fun”by Ann WattStillwater River PublicationsJust about everyone comes into contact with nurses at some point, and just about everyone likes them. It’s hard not to admire people whose mission in life is to be competent and...
By TINKY WEISBLAT
The days are beginning to get shorter, but I won’t worry about that yet … because mid-summer is tomato season. I wait for this season all year long.I simply can’t bring myself to eat fresh tomatoes in the winter. (I do still consume salsa and dishes...
By TINKY WEISBLAT
This past weekend family and friends of the late Mary Kay Hoffman gathered at the Hawley home of Mary Kay and her husband, Earl Pope, to remember her. Mary Kay died in February at the age of 78.As many readers probably know, Mary Kay was a mover and...
By TINKY WEISBLAT
“Madame Monarch” by Sylvia Wetherby Haley’s, 30 pages, $12“It’s Okay to Be Sad” by Kathleen Nicoletti Haley’s, 54 pages, $12.95Haley’s Publishing recently released two appealing, colorful books for young people.“Madame Monarch,” by Sylvia Wetherby of...
By TINKY WEISBLAT
A friend who enjoyed the Tomato Soup Cake I featured in this column a couple of weeks ago presented me with a book as a gift: the just published “Baking Yesteryear” by B. Dylan Hollis (DK, 256 pages, $32).If you’re a social media fan, you may be...
By TINKY WEISBLAT
Area farmers are having a tough time. As many readers may know, Governor Healy recently announced the establishment of the Massachusetts Farm Resiliency Fund.That and other helpful resources have been identified by CISA, the local hero folks. To find...
By TINKY WEISBLAT
I’m immersed this week in the 1920s. Pianist Jerry Noble and I are getting ready for a concert on Saturday called “Fascinating Rhythm: Songs in the Air a Century Ago.” We’re trying to recreate some of the sounds of that fascinating decade.Part of my...
By TINKY WEISBLAT
Haley’s Publishing recently released two fun, colorful books for young people by the imaginative author and illustrator Elizabeth Lindgren of Orange.The first, “Curse of Cairn Castle,” follows the adventures of Beetle Beane as she battles for the...
By TINKY WEISBLAT
This year the weather seems to be waging a vendetta against farms and orchards here in western Massachusetts. Extreme cold in the winter and spring canceled many area fruits in the bud. Excessive rain in the summer has flooded quite a few...
By TINKY WEISBLAT
How do I love zucchini? Let me count the ways…I know zucchini don’t always come in for a lot of praise. In fact, I tend to think of them as the fruitcake of summer. And I rush to defend them just as I always defend fruitcake.At Christmas the fruitcake...
By TINKY WEISBLAT
I’m celebrating July 4 a little late this year… on July 5, to be exact. By July 4, I don’t mean Independence Day. I celebrated that on the weekend with the traditional flags and fireworks. I mean Caesar Salad Day.In addition to being consecrated to...
By TINKY WEISBLAT
The musical comedy “Pajama Game” always appeals to me. As far as I know, it is the only musical that revolves around a labor dispute.Adapted from the novel “7 ½ Cents” by Richard Bissell, this 1954 show revolves around the fight for an hourly pay...
By TINKY WEISBLAT
Sarah Voiland of Red Fire Farm in Montague is extraordinarily busy right now.“We are harvesting and packing out food at the same time as planting, at the same time as weeding,” she told me in an interview last week. Voiland, her husband, and their...
By TINKY WEISBLAT
Most Father’s Day food articles revolve around what to serve to one’s father on this day. For many of us, however, serving our father is impossible. It certainly is for me. My father, Abe Weisblat, has been dead for almost 25 years.Nevertheless, I...
By TINKY WEISBLAT
In recent years, we have been told that beef and dairy cattle are in part responsible for global warming. They emit methane, mostly through belching.Lynne Pledger of Shelburne Falls tells a different story. “People have gotten the message, which has...
By TINKY WEISBLAT
I went to graduate school in East Tennessee many years ago – so long ago, in fact, that the Dollywood theme park (actually, theme parks, plural; there are apparently several related parks) in Pigeon Forge didn’t exist.Pigeon Forge was a small town...
By TINKY WEISBLAT
Hawlemont School in Charlemont is justly renowned for its pioneering H.A.Y. program. H.A.Y. stands for Hawlemont Agriculture and You. Taking inspiration from its rural surroundings, the school teaches elementary-school students the basics of...
By TINKY WEISBLAT
Despite the recent spate of films featuring older heroines in search of adventure (“80 for Brady” comes to mind), the average bookshelf doesn’t have a lot of stories revolving around people in late middle age. “The Road Towards Home” (Lake Union...
By TINKY WEISBLAT
I rejoice that local asparagus is with us once more. Asparagus is my favorite vegetable bar none. I love it so much that I purchase asparagus even in the winter, when it comes from far away.Even so, each spring when our local asparagus comes into...
By TINKY WEISBLAT
Andrew Lam of Longmeadow has many vocations. He is a retina surgeon and teaches ophthalmology at the University of Massachusetts Medical School.Before he went to medical school, he trained as a historian – and he continues to write historical books...
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