Author: Kacie Cotter-Harrigan
The Christmas Eve Feast
Hello my Foodie Friends!
Our most relished Christmas treasures come with the decorations, the scents of pine, the sounds of music and jingles, and for many, what happens in the kitchen. Many of our holiday traditions begin in the kitchen. We hold tight to our families’ holiday traditions, especially when it comes to food. There are foods such as; roasted chestnuts, savory smoked ham, fruity cakes, specialty cookies, and eggnog that we hold to as popular holiday traditions. These iconic foods are vital to holiday menus and are fully ingrained in the culture of the holiday, as they tend to be eaten solely during this time of the year.
Coming together to celebrate the holidays becomes a time of giving. It is a time to be with your family and show your gratitude and appreciation of what you have. This holiday season, we may be more challenged than others in spending the holidays with those that we love. As we prepare for our smaller gatherings, I reminisce on some of my favorite Christmas Eve’s spent with those that are still with us, and some that I have lost in recent years.
Through out the decades that have gone by, many of my memories include family and friends who cooked up incredible holiday feasts. I reflect on the Christmas traditions of mine and Paula’s Italian families in which the Christmas Eve Feast cannot be overlooked. In meeting my wife four decades ago, our first Christmas Eve together was spent at her parents’ home celebrating the Feast of Seven Fishes with all of the fish dishes presented that evening. Paula’s family was more traditional than mine, probably because my Dad was Irish so we had a little of each. I watched with a calm expression as my wife ate and relished the marinated fresh anchovies as part of the antipasto. Jumbo shrimp, baked clams, and fried calamari were also part of the first course, which, I ate too much of. Next an array of dishes began to come out of the kitchen. These included: the seafood salad, which is a combination of crab, shrimp, calamari, and lobster with celery, olive, and parsley in citronette, the Baccala salad with salted cod tossed with sweet cherry peppers, capers, and olives in a lemon dressing, and then the octopus salad, also known as Inslata di Polipi. This is where I stopped and stared at the cut up octopus tentacles sitting in front of me and I loudly proclaimed that, well, “I love Fried Baccala” and politely said I must have some. There are many ways to serve fish during the feast. Some people include as many as 12 or 13 dishes, including mussels in spaghetti, fried calamari, anchovies, sardines, whiting with lemon, scungilli, lobster fra diavolo, capellini with tuna sauce, branzino, sole, and shrimp scampi, or linguini with clam sauce.
Meanwhile back at my house my Mom was cooking an Irish feast for my Dad of Roast turkey and stuffing, clove-studded baked ham, crispy goose fat potatoes, steamed Brussels sprouts, buttery sweet carrots, crispy parsnips, cranberry sauce, bread sauce and gravy.
The holidays are about getting together and having a good time. It is about enjoying yourself and the people you are with. Cooking for the people you love is a gift in itself. Hold onto the traditions that have been created by generations past; or create your new ones. Enjoy your holiday season. Stop by Compliments to the Chef; your Neighborhood Kitchen and Cutlery store located at 33 Railroad Place to help you with your holiday gifts and culinary needs. We hope that 2021 brings many blessings, laughter, health, and happiness to you and your families. Remember my Foodie Friends; “Life Happens in the Kitchen” –
Happy Holidays to all of our Foodie Friends!
Take Good Care,
John & Paula
Cold-Hardy Grapes Yield Soul-Warming Wines
The Fossil Stone Vineyard bottles of wine almost seem to glitter on display tables at the Saratoga Farmers’ Market: The golden hue of La Crescent, the ruby glow of Marquette, the fiery dark pink of their Rose, a blend of the two.
Fossil Stone is among the market’s newest vendors, joining in late August. But for owners Michael and Kelly Spiak making wine is not new. Their journey, like much of farming, is all about having a passion and the patience to transform that passion into products.
For Michael Spiak, passion began while traveling through New Zealand with the military. “New Zealand was blanketed with vineyards, which I had a strange fascination with,” he says. “I loved everything about them … the posts, the vines, the grapes, and of course the wine.”
He and his wife Kelly owned land in Greenfield Center. They decided in 2006 to try growing grapevines. Their first wines came from vines planted in 2009, and they began selling wine in 2014. Today, Fossil Stone consists of more than 3,000 wines and a winery barn. A tasting room is set to open next summer.
The Spiaks grow cold-hardy French hybrid grapes developed by University of Minnesota viticulturist Peter Hamstead to produce LaCrescent – a crisp white with hints of apricot – and Marquette – a smooth medium-bodied red with hints of cherry and plum. They also craft a Rose from a 30-70 blend of Marquette and LaCrescent.
“It is darker than most Roses,” says Spiak, “but don’t let that fool you. It behaves very much like a Rose.”
At Fossil Stone, winter is a time to craft wines before the growing cycle begins in late February when vines will be pruned prior to bud break in late April/early May. The grapes grow through late summer and are harvested in fall.
Fossil Stone wines pair well with many winter farmers’ market offerings, such as beef brisket. “I used to work for the Saratoga North Creek Railroad as a locomotive engineer,” Michael Spiak recalls. “The chef on board used our Marquette to make a wine reduction and poured it over a broiled brisket and then paired it with our Marquette.”
“It was delicious.”
The Saratoga Farmers’ Market is open Saturdays from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.. Find us online at saratogafarmersmarket.org, follow us on Facebook and Instagram, and subscribe to our weekly e-newsletter: www.saratogafarmersmarket.org/weekly-newsletter.
St. Rose Says Hello to Budget Cuts, Goodbye to Arts (Again)
As part of a multi-year attempt to balance their budget, the College of Saint Rose approved a plan to close 16 bachelor’s, six master’s degree, and three certificate programs.
“It is no secret that weighty financial challenges are pressing on colleges and universities throughout the country. The higher education sector is in a period of real transformation. We are being proactive by making hard decisions now, as painful as they are,” said Interim President Marcia White.
HISTORIC CUTS
To reduce academic expenses by $5.97 million, programs in the School of Arts and Humanities will be particularly hard hit. Others on the chopping block include programs in the Education, Business, Mathematics and Sciences departments.
These closures will eliminate 33 of the College’s tenured and tenure-track faculty positions by December of next year. Eight visiting faculty contracts will not be renewed.
Earlier this year, the College made an additional $8 million in administrative and staff expense reductions.
ORPHANING A VIBRANT ARTS COMMUNITY
Estimated to directly affect only 14% of students currently enrolled at Saint Rose, the larger impact of these cuts will change the educational landscape of the entire region.
“Their arts programs fueled the community in such a number of ways – they were the center of the arts community here. It will fundamentally change the arts ecosystem of the Capital Region that St. Rose was a part of,” said Elizabeth Dubben.
“So many professional artists, designers, and arts educators across the state have gone there. It is such a high-quality, rigorous program and very accessible,” she said.
Dubben, who earned her BFA from the College in 2005 and Masters in 2009, has emerged as a powerhouse in the local art world. Her impressive resume includes founding Albany’s Amrose Sable Gallery, serving as the Saratoga Arts Exhibition Director, currently the Executive Director of Collar Works, and the Entrepreneurial Artist Initiative Coordinator and Lecturer at Skidmore College under Arts Administration.
SQUEEZING OUT THE ARTS
This is the second time in five years budgetary cuts at Saint Rose have dealt a devastating blow to their arts programs.
“The arts programs are always the first to get cut. This is a question of; what are the priorities of our society? We have no problem consuming the arts. In hard times especially, everyone gravitates towards the arts, but artists still struggle to be valued and paid fairly and equitably for their work,” said Dubben.
Combining a rigorous, quality, arts education with the business acumen necessary to make it a financial success is Dubben’s specialty, and she is grateful for the arts appreciation she’s experienced in her various roles within this passionate community.
“When students are connected to arts programming, their outcomes across the board are better. It helps improve their critical thinking, test scores, their mental health and so much more. The benefits are connected across curriculums,” she said.
FIGHTING HITS CLOSE TO HOME
While these cuts may take a while to be felt in the larger community, they hit especially close to home for Dubben, not only because of her arts career, but also because her husband, Rob O’Neil, a Saint Rose photography professor for decades, will be one of those looking for a new job.
“Thankfully, there’s a little bit of time to figure out what the next step for us is. There’s a big grieving process that he and his fellow colleagues are going through now. It was such an incredible program and it’s impacting so many people’s lives. It’s a big loss for our community,” said Dubben.
So, what’s the best way to help conserve the arts in your community?
“Buy from local artists. Shop small. Contribute to the arts. Put a little bit of money behind your desire to elevate and conserve them. Show artists with your wallet that you value them,” she said.
Life and Death of a Ballston Patriot
The last week of the year 1843 was a difficult time for Ballston farmer Uriah Gregory. On December 29, Uriah lost his beloved wife, Tamer, his partner of more than sixty-five years, with whom he shared a life in the earliest days of the new nation.
Uriah Gregory was not a man who would be remembered as one of the leading figures in Saratoga County but his story is noteworthy because he was no doubt typical of thousands of other men who lived in this remarkable period in American history. Thanks to the story told to one of his granddaughters on a cold, gloomy January day near the end of his life, along with pension records and other source material, we are able to preserve a view into life in the earliest years of the settling of Ballston.
Uriah Gregory had moved with his father and other family members from Wilton, Connecticut in the spring of 1776, most likely to Dunning Street (Malta) where his uncle, Michael Dunning, Sr. was an early founder. In July, 1777, just as General Burgoyne’s invasion was nearing its climax, he took a mortgage on his first farm, probably somewhere near where the Ballston Center church now stands.
Along with many others in the path of the British, Uriah left the area and returned to Connecticut. Previously Uriah had seen militia service, first in New York City with Connecticut forces in the spring of 1776, and the following year in the 13th Albany Militia searching for Tories. Now back in Connecticut, he volunteered to serve as a sergeant with the Connecticut militia of Latimer’s Regiment being sent north to reinforce the American forces under General Gates seeking to block Burgoyne from reaching Albany.
Arriving on the first day of the battle at Saratoga (Sept. 19, 1777), “I went right into the hottest of the battle, where the bullets were flying all around me …the troops being dreadfully cut to pieces.”
Although it is unclear whether he participated in the second day at Saratoga (Oct 7), Uriah did witness the surrender of Burgoyne’s army later that month.
Tamer was a daughter of Hannah Rowland, who had recently married Michael Dunning, Sr., and she and Uriah wed in early 1778. Notwithstanding the ongoing dangers of the war, the pair set about the arduous work of building a life on the frontier. Uriah remembered an incident from those early years that no doubt caused a great strain on their relationship:
My wife had a beautiful set of China, which she had placed upon a shelf against the wall of our frail house. I was dragging one day when the drag hit a stump, and it fell against the house, knocking them all to pieces. This was a great blow to us as well as grief to my wife, as there was not another piece of earthen ware in the whole country.
Still there at the time of the British raid on Ballston in October, 1780, once again the couple, along with a new baby, removed themselves from harm’s way. By 1783 they were back in Ballston again, where they raised eight children and spent the remainder of their days. In 1792 they took a mortgage on land near the Mourningkill Creek and over the years built their new home which still stands on the corner of Charlton Rd. and Goode St.
After the war, Uriah served his community throughout much of his life rising in the state militia to the rank of Lt. Colonel of the 32nd Regiment in 1803 and serving as a justice of the peace in Ballston for many of the years between 1800 and 1820. He most likely was one of the veterans who attended the fiftieth anniversary of the Fourth of July in 1826 in Ballston Spa and In 1832 he applied for and was granted a pension for his Revolutionary War service.
According to his granddaughter, Uriah was vigorous until his very last days and just a few weeks prior to his death he is said to have driven a horse six miles to break it. Uriah bore his final illness “with Christian and soldier-like fortitude,” and on October 2, 1844, at the age of 90, the old Patriot left this earth and was buried next to Tamer and two of their children in Briggs Cemetery on Brookline Road in the Town of Ballston.
Matt Grumo is an amateur historian who is retired from GE. For the past twenty-five years he has lived in the home originally built by Uriah Gregory in Ballston and has enjoyed researching the family of this early Ballston settler and Revolutionary War pensioner. He is currently finalizing a book to preserve this history for future generations. Matt can be reached via email at mattg47@verizon.net
Checking In with Blue Streaks All-Time Leading Scorer
The absence of a live audience is weighing heavily on college players this year, including local basketball superstar Catherine “Dolly” Cairns.
While aggressive and noisy jeering can sometimes be unsettling, it can also be what motivates a team toward victory. Boisterous cheering from the crowd can boost players’ performances and turn the sport into a joyful experience for everyone.
“In high school, I knew most of my fans and everyone in the stands. This year it feels so different because there are no fans,” she said.
To help maintain COVID-19 safety precautions, spectators are not allowed at games this season.
HOME-GROWN SUPPORT KEEPS ME GOING
Before she graduated from Saratoga Springs High School, Cairns became the Blue Streaks all-time leading scorer.
Cairns began playing varsity basketball in the middle of her 7th grade year and earned a record-breaking 2000+ points in her career. After being highly sought-after by recruiters, she is now playing NCAA Women’s Division 1 basketball for the University of Rhode Island and the Atlantic 10 Conference.
Hearing from her high school coaches and others in the high-school program makes her day.
“It’s really nice because it makes me happy,” she said.
Her biggest fans during her freshman year at college are her parents.
“My parents keep me going. We’re best friends and talk every single day. That home-grown support means the world.”
{loadmoduleid 268}
TAKING IT DAY-BY-DAY
During this unpredictable time, when two games have already been cancelled and the rest can only be penciled-in, building trust has become essential.
“It’s the mental part that’s the hardest for me. Not knowing if someone in Tier 1 will test positive, I just have to take everything day-by-day and not be able to look forward to anything,” said Cairns.
The Rhody Rams record is showing this uncertainty – they are currently 0-4. With teamwork however, Cairns thinks things could still turn around.
“The biggest thing is having support around me. I work with great trainers every day, supportive coaches and teammates who have each other’s backs,” she said.
In a recent game against the University of Maine, Cairns put in a strong start and a solid 40-minutes of play.
“My goal is to win. It hasn’t been going well yet here, but I still have hope.”
GETTING THE KINKS OUT
Cairns is hopeful that the URI team will be able to iron out the kinks.
“We have some things to figure out but I have a lot of trust in my coaches that they can make this change happen for us. My goal (and the rest of the team’s goal) is that we want to win and to play the best that we can,” she said.
If anyone has proven that when things seem impossible, it doesn’t mean they are, it’s Cairns.
“It can only get better. We’re in the middle of the hardest part right now. Slowly, it’s going to get better and there’s not going to be as much adversity.”
Comfort Foods for Christmas
Short days, long nights, and frigid wind chills characterize our winter holidays, even without a pandemic. This kind of weather offers an excuse to forgo extensive meals and focus on what is elegantly simple: dishes that require few ingredients and few steps to prepare. With foods from our local farmers, elegance is easy.
Think roast chicken. Pick up a half or whole chicken at the Saratoga Farmers’ Market, fresh or frozen. If frozen, thaw. If fresh, immediately wrap the breast and wing in aluminum foil and roast in an open pot at 450 degrees for 15-18 minutes. Remove the pot from the oven, cool the oven down to 325 degrees, unwrap the foil, put a lid on the pot, and continue cooking for an additional 15-17 minutes a pound, usually about 50 minutes for a three-pound chicken. You can add salt and pepper, lemon, herbs, or any other seasonings to the chicken beforehand. But farm-raised chicken is delicious as is.
While the chicken is cooking, consider adding mashed potatoes. Wash potatoes and scrub skins of debris. Boil until soft or cook in an instant pot. Then, melt butter or heat oil in a stovetop pot. Add potatoes, and mash until they’re of a consistency you like. Salt, pepper, herbs, and milk can enhance the flavor.
Carrots, turnips, and beets tossed in oil and seasoned with salt and pepper can roast nicely as your chicken cooks. Or try boiling these nutritious root vegetables on the stove until fork tender and tossing in a half or quarter head of cabbage toward the end.
Finally, try onion soup. Warm 5-6 cups of chicken stock (or any other meat stock or vegetable broth) in a soup pot. While the stock is simmering, thinly slice about five medium-sized onions. Cook with oil or butter in a skillet at medium-low heat until the onions have caramelized, about 25 minutes. The key is to get the onions soft but to stir often so they do not stick to the pan. Turn the heat down and add a tablespoon of flour. Toss well, then add to simmering stock, stirring gently to dissolve the flour. Serve with toasted bread and sliced cheese.
The Saratoga Farmers’ Market is open Saturdays from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Find us online at saratogafarmersmarket.org, follow us on Facebook and Instagram, and subscribe to our weekly e-newsletter: www.saratogafarmersmarket.org/weekly-newsletter.
What Goes Around Stays Around
Hello my Foodie Friends!
When I was a young boy the holiday season was my family’s favorite time of year. Of course my parents used it to its full potential to keep three boys and two girls in line. Our biggest thrill was the chance to go downtown and peek into the storefront windows seeing the latest toys and letting Santa, Mom, and Dad know what we wanted under the tree. For myself and my brothers, it was especially hard to refrain from becoming the Three Stooges avoiding our usual antics and teasing of each other. If we didn’t get along then we risked getting nothing and my Dad was a man of his word. We also loved this time of year because Mom and Dad became a dynamic team and focused on our happiness instead of the day-to-day problems they faced with finance issues that were typical of the middle class back then. It seemed like Mom and Dad knew every shop owner by their first name and all the shop personnel always fussed over their children. Shopping downtown was a magical event for us. The snow covered trees, merchant’s store fronts decorated with animated figures, holiday lights, decorations, and music. Each of us would run free to pursue the treasures that we wanted from Santa. We loved every store. For us a clothing store was a place that kept us from the toys. However, the clothing store mom loved was located on the top floor of one of the downtown buildings and you needed an elevator to get to it. An ELEVATOR!!! Do any of you remember what the older style elevators were like? It was like a carnival ride. It even had an elevator operator (what I wanted to be when I grew up). Several of our downtown buildings in Saratoga Springs still have the old style elevators. At the end of our shopping day, we would have a wonderful meal as a family, sitting exhausted filled with memories that would last a life-time.
We would like to thank all of our Foodies for shopping Local this year! Shopping locally helps you connect with the people in your community and learn more about what is going on around you. When people come in my store during the holidays they call out to me and exclaim; “Hello John, we are some of your Foodie Friends!” Economically, spending money locally, gives back to the community. Shopping should be an enjoyable experience with interactions that leave us feeling good versus feeling like we have to do a chore. I find that’s far more likely to happen when I’m patronizing local independent businesses. Learn and experience product quality and durability, getting expert advice without having to waste time doing your own research. Aside from the experience, physical contact with an item makes people feel more certain about a purchase decision. When you go to a store, you know what you’re getting. The price is there. There’s no shipping fee. You can see the item, hold the item, and get the instant gratification you desire from buying the item. Savor the sights, sounds and smells of the season while shopping. During the holidays the shops are filled with festive decorations, sounds and smells. When you step through the doors and hear “Jingle Bells” or “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” playing throughout the store, you can’t help singing along as you walk around. I think we all need this type of cheer considering the current times we are challenged with.
This holiday season; visit our beautiful city of Saratoga Springs and all of the unique shops within the city for those special treasures. Make it an event where you actually spend time with people (and not the computer) to select those special gifts to give.
At Compliments to the Chef, we have really cool tools for your favorite foodie. Having the right tools to prepare your recipe is the key to making a pretty good dinner a great one. It’s much easier to cook when you are equipped with high-quality utensils that make your job as fun and easy as possible.
Paula and I look forward to the holidays every year with our children. Unfortunately, due to COVID – we will not have our son with us who lives in California. This is a sacrifice many of us are making this holiday season. Cherish your moments together and stop by and fulfill your holiday culinary needs at Compliments to the Chef, your Neighborhood Kitchen and Cutlery store located at 33 Railroad Place, Saratoga Springs. This holiday season; shop local and nab those ideal gifts for the ones you love. Remember my Foodie Friends, “Life Happens in the Kitchen.”
Take Care,
John & Paula
State of Winter Sports
After completing a successful Fall Season, the start of Winter sports this week has area high schools navigating another new set of challenges.
“It was a season that was successful for the Suburban Council across all the sports. The stance the entire league took was to protect the season. It was not intentionally more strict than what anyone else was doing. We took all the guidance from the State and local agencies, and used our professional judgement to do what we felt was the right thing to do,” said Nicholas McPartland, Athletic Director for the Saratoga Springs City School District.
HIGH-RISK SPORTS POSTPONED INDEFINITELY
On Friday, the New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA) announced the postponement of all high-risk sports until authorization is granted by state officials.
The New York State Department of Health has determined basketball, boys’ lacrosse, competitive cheerleading, football, ice hockey, volleyball, and wrestling to be high-risk.
On Dec. 11, it was announced that high-risk winter sports would begin on Jan. 4. The increase in COVID-19 infection and hospitalization rates across the State however, has now postponed the start-date of high-risk sports indefinitely.
OTHERS GIVEN THE GO-AHEAD
Low- and moderate-risk sports began practices this week.
In Saratoga Springs, these include bowling, girl’s gymnastics, Alpine and Nordic skiing, and boys’ varsity swimming/diving (modified is not being offered at this time due to a lack of swimming pool availability).
“While preventative measures have been put in place in our school, we are still working through some of the hurdles that have come up. For the indoor sports, there is inherently a little bit of risk involved, but we felt it was important to salvage the opportunity to have these, as so many other opportunities have been lost for our kids this year,” said McPartland.
VIRTUAL MEETS & NO STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS
Safety concerns associated with increased travel, venue capacity limitations, and social distancing restrictions has also led NYSPHSAA to cancel the 2021 Winter State Championships.
“When examining the feasibility of Winter State Championships, it became apparent that travel and overnight accommodations would create a unique challenge for our member schools,” said Dr. Robert Zayas, NYSPHSAA Executive Director. “At this time, we must prioritize maximizing student participation without a focus on championship events.”
Echoing this sentiment, as well as the desire to protect local businesses, families, and others in the community, school-to-school competitions will be adjusted accordingly.
Bowling and swimming meets will be held virtually until at least Jan. 31. While the details of the girls’ gymnastics matches are still being determined, competing teams will likely have staggered start times to allow for equipment cleaning and sanitizing.
The start of the Fall 2 Season in March, and the 2021 NYSPHSAA Spring State Championships remain scheduled at this time.
