Weekly Food Photo Contest: This week’s winner: Alex Barron of Easthampton

Alex Barron of Easthampton prepared this piyaz (a bean salad or meze in Turkish and Persian cuisines) with kale, tomatoes and dill from Mountain View Farm. The beautiful robins-egg-blue bowl was handcrafted by Ida Barron at Easthampton Clay.How to...

‘It’s not as hard as it looks’: Stompin’ Boots weekly line dances and classes rapidly growing in popularity

By ALEXA LEWIS

When Shellie Stone went to Nashville two years ago, she was intoxicated with the city’s quintessential culture of  music and dancing, and immediately took to the dance floor. Stone, who had been line dancing for fun since attending her first class...

Around and About with Richard McCarthy: Handling our devices: Or, are our devices handling us?

By RICHARD MCCARTHY

When I was a teenager, among the last things in the world I thought would render me uncool and out-of-it when I got older was technology. In fact, I don’t remember ever using, or even coming across the word “technology,” except my knowing MIT stood...

Speaking of Nature: Become a part of the background: Reasons why you can, and should, take up nature bathing

By BILL DANIELSON

Sometime back in the 1980s, in response to increased urbanization and technological development, the government of Japan decided that it was a good idea for people to turn off their electronics and get back to nature. Thus it was that the concept of...

The long view: Reflecting on 30 years in local journalism

By STEVE PFARRER

In the early 1990s, I answered an ad for a reporting job at the Gazette. I had editorial experience — I’d worked as a copywriter, a copy editor, and a proofreader — and I liked writing, but I’d never worked for a newspaper, unless you counted a few...

Book Bag: ‘Pickett’s Dream’ by Christopher Carlisle; ‘Like Father, Like Son’ by Lesléa Newman; ‘Sabor Judío: The Jewish Mexican Cookbook’ by Ilan Stavans & Margaret E. Boyle

By STEVE PFARRER

Pickett’s DreamBy Christopher CarlisleAustin Macauley PublishersChristopher Carlisle, at one time the Episcopal chaplain for the University of Massachusetts Amherst, later co-founded Cathedral in the Night, a Christian outdoor service and community in...

Weekly Food Photo Contest: This week’s winner: Betsy Feick of Florence

Betsy Feick grew these gooseberries in her plot at Grow Food Northampton's Organic Community Garden. “I rinsed them, cleaned off the stems and flower ends and they are ready for the freezer,” she said. “Eaten plain, they burst in your mouth, sweet and...

There is a Season with Molly Parr: A veggie recipe I can’t not share: Garlic-marinated fried zucchini inspired by an ancient Roman Jewish dish

By MOLLY PARR

I go back and forth with sharing this recipe for garlic marinated zucchini. On the one hand, it’s extremely delicious, especially served with some slices of thick sourdough and fresh mozzarella. It takes time to salt, fry, and then marinate, but it’s...

A history of satire, lampoons and lawsuits: Rockwell Museum celebrates Mad magazine’s 72nd year with first major retrospective

By DON STEWART

“Working for Mad means never having to grow up.” John Ficarra, Mad magazine editor-in-chief 1985-2018The Norman Rockwell Museum’s current exhibit provides a nostalgic voyage for Baby Boomers, a gold mine for pop historians and a wellspring of ideas...

The Beat Goes On: Friends and fellow musicians reunite at the Iron Horse, an outdoor summer music series resumes in Hatfield, and more

By STEVE PFARRER

When folk rockers Eavesdrop and singer-songwriter Grayson Ty come to the Iron Horse on June 28, the fellow Valley artists won’t just be sharing the bill: They’ll be celebrating a reunion of sorts, looking back to the night a little over eight years...

Corn stalk fiddle gets its moment: History and music meet this weekend for ‘Corn Stalk Fiddles: Soundscape & Place in 19th Century Hadley’

By PAIGE HANSON

Today and tomorrow, June 28 and 29, in the Hadley Public Library at 7:30 p.m., the Hadley Historical Society and the Porter-Phelps-Huntington Museum will be presenting “Corn Stalk Fiddles: Soundscape & Place in 19th Century Hadley.”The show will be...

Speaking of Nature: Introducing the Alder Flycatcher: After 27 years of waiting, the bird finally allowed itself to be photographed

By BILL DANIELSON

This week I have the rare pleasure of introducing you to a new species for the first time. After 27 years of reporting on my observations, I have finally acquired a photograph that I think is worthy of such an introduction. I have been exploring the...

‘Janet Planet’ comes into orbit: Annie Baker’s debut film, about to open in Valley, features performances and input from some area residents

By STEVE PFARRER

After generating some local news in 2022 when scenes were filmed in a number of locations around the Valley, “Janet Planet,” the debut film by celebrated playwright Annie Baker, is set to make its debut in Amherst and Greenfield on June 27.The movie,...

Staying busy in summer: Pioneer Valley Jazz Shares stages new concert series in July

By STEVE PFARRER

Fresh on the heels of Django in June, Northampton’s annual celebration of jazz manouche and Django Reinhardt, Pioneer Valley Jazz Shares has organized its own summer jazz series for July, both to say “thank you” to supporters and to give local...

Valley Bounty: From seed to vase: At Passalongs Farm and Florist in Florence, Adrienne Bashista grows and designs custom floral arrangements

By JACOB NELSON

“In a different life, I think I would have been an artist from the beginning,” says Adrienne Bashista, owner of Passalongs Farm and Florist. “I wasn’t forbidden from a career in art, it just didn’t occur to me. But now in my 50s, I’ve realized what I...

Weekly Food Photo Contest: This week’s winner: Herman Fong of Florence

Herman Fong of Florence got this colorful “Cranberry Celebration” cake from Lemon Bakery in Amherst. Fong describes it as “a lemon layer cake featuring cranberries, cranberry curd, and buttercream frosting, decorated with macarons.”How to enter: Snap...

Stairway to heaven in your own backyard: Summer concerts in the Valley for classic rock enthusiasts

By PAIGE HANSON

Last week in Northampton, Lez Zeppelin, an all-female Led Zeppelin tribute band, rocked the stage at Iron Horse Music Hall, bringing an electric and mesmerizing performance to the packed audience.“We are just true to the spirit of the band, which is...

Colorful visions from Brazil: Eric Carle Museum hosts first U.S. exhibit of Brazilian artist and children’s author Roger Mello

STEVE PFARRER

The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art has displayed the work of dozens and dozens — or more likely hundreds — of illustrators and writers over the years, in solo exhibits and group shows.Among them have been a fair number of artists from other...

Arts Briefs: Lots of theater in Northampton, Indian poetry and music in South Hadley, and more

Pulling at the roots: Plays cover 3 centuries of city history — againNORTHAMPTON — Last August, Historic Northampton presented a new way of examining some chapters of city history by staging three short plays at the museum, including two that took...

Only Human with Joan Axelrod-Contrada: Marching to a ‘Different Drum’: Is Living Apart Together the future of relationships?

By JOAN AXELROD-CONTRADA

Linda Ronstadt’s 1967 song “Different Drum” came out during a time of changing gender roles in our country.While the commitment-phobic Peter Pan had long garnered praise as a ladies’ man, the woman who bucked expectations of domesticity got saddled...