Arts & Entertainment
A number of years ago, I planted my first vegetable garden on the Vineyard. One of the first things I put in the ground was kale. As the other vegetables barely limped along, the kale plants produced heartily and provided us with many family meals, giving me hope that maybe one day I might find success as a vegetable gardener after all.
Parsnips, celery root and house-made bacon swam alongside the “usual suspects” in Matthew Safranek’s clam chowder at the 27th Great Chowder Contest in Edgartown on Saturday.
Mr. Safranek, a chef at Atria, joined 10 other contestants in the annual Christmas throwdown, a fundraiser for the Red Stocking Fund that has been sponsored by radio station WMVY for the past 10 years.
With the cold, dark days of winter on the way, Edgartown just lost one source of solace: Espresso Love, one of the few year-round places in town to get a latte and a muffin, closed for the winter Monday.
Owner T.J. McManus said that the restaurant, which serves food, and seasonally wine and beer along with the titular espresso, will close until the spring for needed repairs and renovations. The floors need to be replaced and the roof needs to be fixed, he said, and improvements are slated for the counters and the kitchen.
In 1999 Marsha Winsryg traveled to Africa with her two daughters. In Victoria Falls in Zambia they passed through the Mukuni village, which had a bustling craft market.“The people are all wood carvers and famous for it,” said Ms. Winsryg. “It’s all they do, but nobody makes a living from it. They just can’t sell enough.”
As part of Christmas in Edgartown, the Island Theatre Workshop will be showing How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and Frosty the Snowman at the Whaling Church. Note, this is not a live performance but a screening of the actual television classics.
The show takes place on Sunday, Dec. 9, beginning at 4 p.m.
With the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy and the northeaster that followed still readily visible, it seemed like I should include some books that spoke of severe weather to my annual list of the best nautical books.
A must-read hurricane piece is The Eye of Edna by E. B. White. This essay is included in his book The Points of My Compass. I just looked up the book on Amazon out of general interest and noted that a 2000 edition is selling at $155, but hopefully can be found cheaper elsewhere.
