BostonZest

Balki, A Very Pawsh Terrier

Meet Balki, he's the official greeter, product tester, and director of quality control at the new Pawsh Dog Boutique.

The shop is located just a few paw paces off Newbury Street  at 31 Gloucester.

Balki's human staff, Mike and Nancy, opened the shop because, "We had a bone to pick with the Back Bay. Soon after we brought Balki (our seven-week old Boston Terrier) home we realized three things:

1. Dogs are taking over the Back Bay,
2. There was nowhere within walking distance to buy food, treats, toys and unique accessories, and
3. In an area that has a boutique for just about everything, there was a glaring omission. So we set out to fill that void with a chic boutique offering a variety of healthy, practical and fun options for dogs and their owners. Pawsh was born."

Balki is happy they did. He works hard tasting treats and welcoming his pals (both two-foot and four-foot) to his store. He's such a good neighbor that he even leaves a water dish on the front steps for busy dog friends who don't have time to come inside for a drink

Details:
Pawsh Dog Boutique & Salon
31 Gloucester Street, Boston MA

www.pawshboston.com

It's Cold Enough to Curl a Rhododendron

How cold is it? In Boston today, it was cold enough for the rhododendron leaves to begin to curl.

Rhododendron can be used as a natural thermometer if you learn the signals their leaves are giving you.

In this photo taken midwinter the leaves were beginning to tighten into their most protective roll.

Garth Wedemire over at www.rhododendron.org says, "Leaves of rhododendrons respond to cold by first drooping...then curling up.

• At temperatures above freezing, the leaves extend at approximately right angles from the stems.
• Just below freezing, the leaves droop downwards...but remain flattened.
• At 25° or thereabouts...the leaves droop and curl, and by 20°, they are curled so tightly that they look like green pencils. Once the temperature drops below 20°, they can't curl up much tighter, and only a non-living thermometer will do."

He says this is a defensive reaction designed to prevent moisture loss from the leaves. These plants will show some drooping and curling in extreme heat as well.

Details:

www.rhododendron.org

Here's the page with Garth Wedemire's article.

http://www.rhododendron.org/news/plantsv10n3.htm

Here's a selection of books for city gardeners with small spaces.

Phillis Wheatley Has an Admirer

It would seem that Miss Phillis Wheatley has an admirer. Over the past few months, her statue on the Boston Women's Memorial has received a series of small gifts.

Today, she was found holding a bottle of perfume. She has also been provided with a Teddy Bear, a sweater, scratch tickets, flowers, and a handful of pennies.

"Born in West Africa and sold as a slave from the ship Phillis in colonial Boston, she was a literary prodigy whose 1773 volume Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral was the first book published by an African writer in America," is the description of this woman from Boston history from the city's website.

We'll update this to let you know more about the secret gifter.

Details:
http://www.cityofboston.gov/women/memorial.asp

Keeping Warm in a Boston Winter

Yesterday, on a Beacon Hill corner, a shivering young woman asked, "How do you stand this cold?" She was from Alabama, here caring for a hospitalized family member.

My quick answer was, "Silk long-johns and layers of cashmere."  When the light changed and we parted ways, I realized just how true that quip was, and what a difference those items have made in my cold weather walks.

Unless you are oblivious to the cold (like the guy in this photo from last winter), you're feeling the sudden change in temperature over the past week.

Silk long underwear is a great first layer for a personal insulation system. Not only will it help when you're outside, it will also allow you to drop your thermostat a few degrees at home. It keeps you warm, but it also breathes so it's not uncomfortable when you are inside a warm place. There are dozens of types with shorter lengths that work for dresses and skirts as well as slacks.

Gilda Radner once said, "I base my fashion taste on what doesn't itch."  I like that thought and I like cashmere because it doesn't itch. What's more, layers of cashmere seem to keep me warmer than the bulk of other fabrics.

A couple of years ago I bought a cashmere zipper cardigan for Ed. He raved about it as a warm layer. Last year, looking for something like that for myself, I found a black cashmere hoodie. That has become a treasured part of my winter defense. I wear it over cashmere turtlenecks and zip or unzip it to suit my needs throughout the day. This season I bought two more hoddies on sale at Lord & Taylor.

I also had a warm hat on yesterday; the young woman didn't. I wear hats so often that one neighbor said he almost didn't recognize me without one. Since my hat didn't cover my ears, I had a pair of 180s on as well. (They even make 180s with headphones built in.)

My cashmere wardrobe continues with thin gloves (Filene's Basement) that are perfect for these early season days, but will also fit under mittens when the weather becomes totally unreasonable in January. And, my coat collar is held in place with a cashmere scarf (Filene's again.)

Yes, cashmere can be expensive, but I shop sales and take care of the items I buy.  What's more, I don't have the time or space to deal with a big wardrobe. I prefer having a few good, classic items to having the latest clothing fad.

Here are links to some of my favorite warm layers.

Silk long johns

Cashmere hoodie

Cashmere sweaters

180s ear warmer

Some Farmers' Markets Open Until Thanksgiving

 Despite today's windchill, the farmers were still outside City Hall ready to serve up fresh and local products. A few area markets are open through next Wednesday for Thanksgiving shopping. Some farms have special bulk bag specials on item that you'll need for holiday cooking.

This is the time of year to stock up on a few favorites items to take you through the winter. I hoard honey and fresh jams. I'll tuck more meat from Stillman's and few favorite baked goods in my freezer. And, I'll pick up enough winter squash, garlic, and fresh shallots to take me through the next few weeks.

If you want pies for the holiday, from a market baker, it would be wise to call ahead to order them. Contact numbers for the farms and specialty vendors are on the Federation of Massachusetts Farmers' Markets link in details below.

Details:

From the Federation's website, here's a list of the Boston area markets that are still open.
www.massfarmersmarkets.org

• Boston City Hall Open Mon. and Wed. until Nov.26th
• Boston Copley Square Open Tue. and Fri. until Nov.25th
• Central Square, Cambridge open Mondays until Nov.24th
• Davis Square, Somerville open Wednesdays until Nov.26th
• Charles Sq. Cambridge; Fridays open until Nov. 21, Sundays open until Nov.23

Inside Out: The Museum School Art Sale

Have you ever walked into a major art gallery and wished you had discovered the artist before the price for the work was out of your reach? 

(Image : Derrick Te Paske, Hollow Vessel, 2008. Black cherry wood and applied acrylic modeling paste. Courtesy of the artist.)

This week the School of the Museum of Fine Arts (SMFA) encourages you to do just that with "Inside Out: The Museum School Art Sale." The show opens tomorrow and continues through the weekend. Attendance is free.

This event is one of those special Boston treasures that we try to share with BostonZest readers. It's the School's annual art sale and fundraiser for student scholarships. This is the event that used to be called the December Sale. It now has a new name and dates.

What continues is its tradition as the largest public art sale in New England. In 2007 more than $1.1 million in art found patrons and a new home through this event.

InsideOut brings together a diverse range of fine art with more than 4,000 pieces, by approximately 800 artists. Art is rotated, as items as sold, so you may want to visit the sale more than once in the next 5 days.

Media includes contemporary paintings, prints, drawings, ceramics, art objects, photographs, video and sound pieces, jewelry, sculpture, and more. Prices start as low as $5, but the largest selection of art is priced at $100 and up.

You'll see and may consider purchasing the work of:

• Current students (undergraduate and graduate levels) and recent graduates.
• Celebrated SMFA alumni such as Jim Dine, Ellsworth Kelly, and Mike and Doug Starn.
• Up-and-coming Boston-based artists such as Reese Inman and Rachel Perry Welty.
• Internationally known faculty members like María Magdalena Campos-Pons.
• Affiliated artists like Chuck Close, Julian Schnabel, and Kiki Smith.

Take this opportunity to find a holiday gift for yourself or someone else. This is a year when we all need to support local artists.  At InsideOut, you'll also be supporting the future of visual arts since proceeds benefit both the artists and SMFA student scholarships.

(Image: Nicole Kita, making tangible gestures (keith), 2007. Linoleum print and chine colle on coloraid paper. 6x9 inches. Courtesy of the artist.)

Details:
School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
230 The Fenway, Boston, MA

Hours
Wednesday, November 19, 12–8 pm
                  Opening Celebration: 5–8 pm
Thursday, November 20, 12–8 pm
Friday–Sunday, November 21–23, 12–6 pm

Here's a link to complete information about the sale:

http://www.smfa.edu/News_Exhibitions/Index.asp

This Is A Chicken Soup Week

Falling temperatures and a head cold make this a perfect chicken soup week. Traditional chicken soup is often recommended for colds. I think a soup with an Asian twist, full of the healing properties of ginger and garlic, is even better. That's what I made.

My chicken soup is based on Ming Tsai's master chicken broth recipe. A link to that is in details below. Cut the recipe in half if this quantity is more than you need.

Since I love to add my own touches I tossed in a piece of lemongrass (chopped in two-inch sections and bruised with the back of my chef's knife) a couple of cloves of garlic, the tops of two leeks and a quarter cup of Chinese cooking wine.

I buy my chicken bones at Whole Foods. They're often found in a freezer case near the meat department. If you don't find them, ask the butcher, they may be in a back room freezer.

For this batch, I added a whole chicken to the stock pot, once the bones where thawed, and simmered it for 35-45 minutes. Then I removed it, checked the thigh joint to be certain it was cooked, let it cool enough to handle, and stripped the meat from the bones.  I refrigerated the meat for the final soup and returned the bones to the pot.

I also did my prep work for the final soup while I prepared the vegetables for the stock. As long as I was chopping, I cut up three stalks of celery, three carrots, a large onion, the white of two leeks, a few sprigs of parsley, thyme, and a couple of scallions. Once my stock was done and the fat removed, I simmered the carrots, celery and onion in three quarts of the stock until tender, and then added the reserved chicken, thyme, parsley, and scallions and simmered for a few minutes more to warm the chicken.

If you would like a trusted source to learn more about the healing properties of herbs, botanicals and other products, I suggest the Memorial Soane Kettering Cancer site. I like the way they lay out the information and I even like the alert agreement they make you click on before you get to their details about an item.

http://www.mskcc.org/mskcc/html/11570.cfm

Details:

Ming Tsai's Master Chicken Stock is at this link.

http://www.ming.com/simplyming/showrecipes2003/recipe10182003.htm