BostonZest

Public Alleys Can Be Beautiful

There are hundreds of public alleys in Boston.

Many of them have been reduced to little more than parking lots.

But, here and there you will find a spot of beauty and grace. Like this lovely spot of color in Alley 428 in the Back Bay.

Many city homes only look out on alleys.

Think of the fortunate neighbors who have this view instead of one of graffiti, trash cans, and parked cars.

In the historic districts, there are guidelines that should preserve the gardens and improve the look of the alleys as buildings are presented for review of repair and construction projects.

If you'd love to have a reason to explore the high notes of alley life, watch for the garden club tours in the spring. We'll remind you when the time comes.

The Beacon Hill, Back Bay, and South End all offer peeks into some of the private gardens that are found off these alleys. Beacon Hill also has an annual Art walk that sometimes takes you in and out of the alleyways.

This time of year, peek down the alleys to find your own foliage highlight.

Details:

South End Garden Tour

www.southendgardentour.org

Beacon Hill Garden Tour

www.beaconhillgardenclub.org

Beacon Hill Art Walk

www.beaconhillartwalk.org

Back Bay Garden Club

www.gardenclubbackbay.org

Here's a flickr search showing more typical photos of Boston's Public alleys

http://www.flickr.com/search/?s=int&w=all&q=Boston+%22public+alley%22&m=text

Pumpkin Tart in a Cornmeal Crust- A Best Bite

Today we introduce "Best Bites," a new category on BostonZest.

We'll cover food we've enjoyed in a bite-by-bite, dish-by-dish, and item-by-item way.

This week's best bite was a pumpkin tart in a cornmeal crust we had from the Hardwick Center Cooking School stand at the Copley Farmers' Market this week.

The corn added a sweet, toasty taste to the crust. The pumpkin was fresh flavored and not too sugary. While the little cut outs used to top it off were both attractive and delicious.

Details:

Hardwick Center Cooking School and Bakery
46 Barre Road, Hardwick MA

www.hardwickcookingschool.com

Copley Square Farmer's Market

Open through November 25
(Open Nov.11)

Tuesdays and Fridays
11:00 am to 6:00 pm

Fenway Studio Open Studios - Free Event

Each year we eagerly await the weekend when the artists of the Fenway Studios open the doors to this landmark building to lovers of art and architecture.

Artist, Nan Hass Feldman, allowed me to visit her studio, while she hung her work for the upcoming event.

Nan's walls were bursting with colorful paintings, and the room was full of wonderful northern light. It was a pleasure to photograph her and her studio.

(The second photo is of Nan, on her stairway with one of her paintings behind her. The artwork shown in other photos is all hers. For more photos from this tour please click here- Fenway Studio's Gallery)

This studio has a typical layout. You enter onto a balcony half a story above the main space. As described by the AIA Guide to Boston by Susan and Michael Southworth, the building has "A  skip-floor" corridor system that allows cross ventilation..."

From here you overlook a room with a 14 foot ceiling and 12 foot windows.

Under her balcony, Nan has a tiny kitchen, bath, and sleeping area for those times when she chooses to stay in the city.

As you'll see in most of the studios, art is everywhere. Do poke around if the artist encourages it. You may find the perfect piece for your home in a stack leaning against a wall or in a box on a table.

You might also ask whether a different version of a particular piece exists. A sketch, a print, or an alternative perspective of a work may be at hand.

It is that kind conversation and communication that Nan is looking forward to this weekend. " I love the interaction and sharing between artist and the public," she said.

Our Fenway Studio's tour plan is to concentrate on one floor each year. And then return to other floors to revisit our favorites from years past.

That allows us to spend a little time meeting each artist and really looking at their work and their work space.

These are all studios that the artist can live in or at least stay in overnight when they wish. It's fascinating to see how these creative people have tucked so much into their tiny spaces.

And, while I was invited to take photographs by Nan, I always ask before I raise my camera in any person's private space.

Enjoy the Building Too

Take a little time to enjoy the treasure that is the building designed by the firm Parker Thomas and Rice in 1905. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1998.

From the Friends of the Fenway Studios website, we learn:

"Historically, the Fenway Studios building is closely associated with the Boston School of painting. It came to be built because early in the 1900s, many of Boston's best-known artists lost their studios and life's works in a disastrous fire at the Harcourt Studios on Irvington Street in Boston, and many barely escaped with their lives.

Fenway Studios was designed so that every one of the 46 studios would have north-facing windows, 12 feet high. The interior plan, with 14-foot high ceilings, was inspired by the 19th century atelier studios in Paris, where many of the original artists had studied. The building, of classic Arts & Crafts design with clinker brick exterior, is located on Ipswich Street in the Back Bay."

Details:

To lean more about the art of Nan Hass Feldman visit her website.

www.nanhassfeldman.com

Here are links to help you learn more about, support and help protect the Fenway studios.

Fenway Studios
30 Ipswich Street,
Boston, MA 02215

www.friendsoffenwaystudios.org

Thursday, October 23 - 6 pm to 8 pm - Slide Lecture by Brad Bellows, Architect, “Fenway Studios' Place in Boston's Architectural History.” Champagne and sweets served. $10.

Saturday 25th - 11 am to 5 pm - Studios open to the public free of charge

Sunday 26th - 11 am to 12:15 pm - Studios open to the public free of charge

Here is the full link to my Fenway Studio's photo gallery:

http://bostonzest.smugmug.com/gallery/6338719_87fbE#400273693_CtpZJ

Other Opinions:
http://www.yelp.com/biz/fenway-studios-boston

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fenway_Studios

http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=-2094705724&ResourceType=Building

Holiday Cards to Support Pine Street Inn

Photo © 2007. Mick Timony, all rights reserved

(Editor's note: We're proud to feature this photo by BostonZest contributor, Mick Timony.
We asked Mick to tell our readers how his photo came to be on a holiday card that will support Pine Street Inn when you purchase it.

And, as Mick suggests, this is certainly a year when we should all try to spend our holiday cash where it will do the most good.)

How This Photo Became a Holiday Card to Support Pine Street Inn
by Mick Timony

I took this photograph on a Saturday in December. It was one of those cold crisp days, and Liz and I were taking the dogs out for a walk before the sun set and it got dark. We crossed the street, and I realized how beautiful the sunset was and I dashed back home to get my camera (an aging Canon s200).

This is either the first, or second photograph I took of the sunset and it got dark quickly after this any other pics I took are much darker and not as good. I didn't realize how good the photograph turned out until I copied it over to my PC and viewed it on a full sized screen, and how well it captured the colours and the lights on that chill winter's evening.

This pic is on flickr and has attracted over 6,000 views. A friend suggested I enter it into the Boston Globe's 2008 Winter Wonderland contest where it came in 24th. Someone at the Pine Street Inn saw it and thought it would make a good greeting card to help them raise funds.

The Globe e-mailed me, said the Inn was interested, and gave me the contact info of Jocelyn at the Inn. I didn't hesitate in letting them use my photograph for their cards. Most nights when I walk my dogs I see the Pine Street Inn van on Commonwealth Avenue helping and feeding the homeless, and trying to convince them to come in out of the cold or the rain.

There are a considerable number of homeless in the city, and with the current economic problems there will probably be more people on the streets this winter and less money donated. I think that every additional penny the Pine Street Inn can get will be well needed and used this winter. I am more than happy to be able to help them, with a photograph that took me a few moments to take that may end up helping to save someone's life this winter

Details:

Direct link to purchase the card on the Pine Street Inn site.

Links to a copy of the photograph on flickr and to a copy on the boston.com are at:

http://timony.com/mickzblog/2008/10/17/support-pine-street-inn/

Foliage at Your Feet

As autumnal colors creep into the area, your impulse is to look up at the trees and enjoy big swaths of color.

Try looking down. Discover the beauty of individual leaves that have fallen to the ground.

Even a leaf that has landed face down can be the centerpiece of a foliage vignette.

This red maple leaf was covered with morning dew. The moisture created small magnifying beads that accentuate the natural form.

The pile of leaves under it adds texture.  The yellow, bronze and browns accentuate the dewy leaf's color and show the stages of leaf transformation as the season progresses.

Prints of this photograph will be available in my gallery later this week.Click on the email me link in the right hand column for more information.

Hank and Ainsley

Ainsley, the whippet, recently moved to the Back Bay from the Fenway and is getting to know the neighborhood dogs.

Hank and Ainsley were giving one another some careful, first sniffs as I snapped this shot.

Tails were wagging low and ears were back showing that they were both a tad unsure of one another.

Savor a Sliver of Berkswell Cheese

Berkswell Cheese is too good to give up, even as its price rises to a luxury level. When I saw a newly cut wheel at Westland Whole Foods this week, I decided it was treat time.

When we first discovered this cheese, we would buy wedges. Now, we buy slivers. Once it was plunked down on a cheese tray. Now we serve it alone as "one perfect cheese."

There's an advantage to savoring a small slice. We think about each bite and enjoy its rich, deep, sheepy goodness. We sniff and taste for the hints of pineapple that the cheese experts at Formaggio Kitchen and Neal's Yard Dairy describe.

What does it taste like?

Some writers compare it to a fine Pecorino but I haven't found that yet. In fact, this description has me researching Pecorinos to see if I can find a lower cost substitute for Berkswell when I'm preparing a cheese tray.

The experts also try to convince me that this is a great cooking cheese. At $40 a pound, I think I'll save Berkswell for the total concentration of an evening when we nibble it accompanied by a dram of Irish whiskey. 

What to enjoy with Berkswell

The Artisianal Cheese site gave me the whiskey idea. They suggest that you, "Pair this cheese with Syrah, a sweet white such as Riesling, or your favorite glass of whiskey." For the whiskey I suggest Red Breast or Tillamore Dew. The butterscotch notes of these will complement the milky, caramel  undertones of the cheese.

Official Descriptions

Here's the official description of the cheese from the Neal's Yard Dairy site.

"Berkswell is made at the Fletchers’ beautiful 16th century red brick and sandstone farmhouse, which has been in the family for six generations. The cheese is named after the nearby village of Berkswell and although it’s only about 5 minutes from Coventry, the farm is firmly in the country. The Fletchers began milking sheep in 1989 and started making cheese not long afterwards. Linda Dutch has been making cheese with them for over 15 years and is now their main cheesemaker. Berkswell tastes rich, sweet, fruity and nutty. Sometimes with a fruity acidity that reminds us of pineapples, sometimes creamy and biscuity, but the flavours are always, long, deep and mouth-filling. The texture can be slightly grainy and depending on age varies from quite firm to moist and relatively soft."

Here's more information from the Cowgirl Creamery library of cheese. (An excellent cheese resource)

"When former dairy farmer Steven Fletcher first dipped his hand in the cheesemaking trade, he made Berkswell -- his raw sheep's milk cheese -- using a Caerphilly recipe. However, with Fletcher's careful cultivation and commitment, Berkswell eventually developed a unique character of its own. Today, the dense and rich cheese is more like a very delicate Pecorino or Manchego than the ancient Welsh cheese."

Details:

The farm where Berkswell is made has their own site
www.sheepscheese.com

Here is the importer, Neal's Yard Dairy

http://www.nealsyarddairy.co.uk/thecheeses.html#

Other Opinions:

Artisanal Cheese

http://www.artisanalcheese.com/departments.asp?dept=1095

Cheese.com

http://www.cheese.com/Description.asp?Name=Berkswell

Formaggio Kitchen

http://www.formaggiokitchen.com/shop/product_info.php?products_id=1146

Cowgirl Creamery

http://www.cowgirlcreamery.com/prodinfo.asp?number=BERKS

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 Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2013 Penny & Ed Cherubino  

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