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Handful of summer: Readers say fireworks, holding hands, gardening and outdoor concerts make season all the sweeter

Jul 04, 2010

By: Register Staff

NOTE: Some of the New Haven Register’s Facebook friends added to this story. ‘Like’ us on Facebook to help expand upon future stories. Or follow us on Twitter.

By Jim Shelton, Register Staff
jshelton@newhavenregister.com

Milagros Bonilla of New Haven is taking summer into her own two hands.

It’s quite a pair of fistfuls. She’s got some beach sand in there, some charbroiled food off the grill and even a festive sparkler.

“The best part of summer that I wish I could hold in my hands (and) have in my heart, is the Fourth of July,” Bonilla writes, via Facebook. “The fireworks, beach, grilling hot dogs and hamburgers, but most of all how almost the whole United States kicks their shoes off and celebrates in one big and united family.”

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What recovery? Consumers feel no economic relief.

Jul 03, 2010

By: Register Staff

NOTE: Some of the New Haven Register’s Facebook friends added to this story. ‘Like’ us on Facebook to help expand upon future stories. Or follow us on Twitter.

By Cara Baruzzi, Register Business Editor
cbaruzzi@newhavenregister.com

The recession may technically be over, but to many consumers it sure doesn’t feel that way.

Over the past several weeks, the Register has asked readers to share their views on the economy. With some indicators showing an economic rebound is under way, does the average consumer feel things are getting better? If not, how valid is a technical “recovery” if real people don’t feel things are improving?

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Lord, please help with the guilt that accompanies going out to eat

Jul 03, 2010

By: Register Staff

By Rick Sandella
Features Editor

Call it a sign of the times or whatever you’d like, but for some reason there seems to be a small measure of guilt that accompanies going out to dinner these days — which is a problem this time of year when we all like to dine out more.

That nagging inner voice warns “you should be saving more,” goes on to ask “do you really need to spend $100 on dinner, on a weeknight?”

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READER PHOTOS: Snapshots of the great outdoors

Jul 03, 2010

By: Register Staff

Nothing preserves moments in nature quite like photographs. Through various social media, we invited a number of photographers, many of whom have shared their images in the Sunday Register Living section before, to submit their favorites and share a few thoughts as well. Here today are our first offerings. Readers are invited to continue to send their nature photos and comments to features@newhavenregister.com or post them on our Facebook fan page, www.facebook.com/newhavenregister

Ben Kuropat, Guilford
Like most everyone else, I’ve been spending a lot of time thinking about the BP crisis in the Gulf of Mexico. How can you avoid it? Its devastation can be seen everywhere, 24/7. I guess that on some level that’s good. We should be forced to see the mess we’ve made. It now overshadows every photography outing I go on. I go from being broken-hearted over the mess we’ve made of our home to being just plain angry at … whom? BP, of course. Our federal government, who is supposed to be watching out for us, certainly. And us, all of us, because we evidently don’t care where we get our oil “fix.” We just want it. We are addicted to oil and evidently are willing to turn a blind eye as to where and how we come by it. So, this is the result. The ecosystems in the area most affected may never rebound, and life as we know it in the gulf region is forever changed. Scenes like this one, above, although common throughout all coastal areas of the United States, have forever changed for me. I’ll never be able to look at shorebirds and not think of pelicans covered in oil and dying. This photo was taken shortly after the crisis in the gulf began, before the full impact was realized. I made the photo at Race Point Beach, part of the Cape Cod National Seashore, a federally protected resource. The great black-back gull is the largest gull on the East Coast.

“On June 13, Phil Asprelli and I went on a seabird and whale-watching trip, sponsored by the New England Coastal Wildlife Alliance, leaving from Plymouth, Mass., on the whale-watching ship Tails of the Sea, operated by Captain John Whale Watching and Fishing Tours. It was a foggy day and once we left the harbor, the fog lifted as we got to the eastern side of the tip of Cape Cod. We saw lots of humpback whales and Atlantic white-sided dolphins, but only three species of seabirds: greater shearwater, sooty shearwater and Wilson’s storm-petrel. Around 2 p.m., the fog came back in and we headed back to the dock. On the way back, in the middle of the fog between the tip of Cape Cod and Plymouth Harbor, the boat slowed down and stopped. Next to us was a gray seal with a dogfish in its mouth and a gull waiting for some scraps. The seal then went about the process of skinning the fish which was still alive.”

“I bought my house in 1999, and it included a large pond. Ever since I moved in, I have been fascinated by the diversity and quantity of wildlife that the pond draws. The house is only one block from the Boston Post Road. This is not exactly a tranquil pond located on a farm far out in the country. We have noise from I-95, Metro-North and the Post Road all day and night long. Yet even with the more than occasional un-muffled motorcycle that rattles the windows, the critters continue to visit.”

Aside from this family of Canada geese, Carl has photographed great blue herons, turtles, egrets, turkeys and more at his pond.

A neurotic and a caveman keep them laughing at LWT this summer

Jul 03, 2010

By: Register Staff

By Dan Hajducky
Register Intern

NEW HAVEN — Stand-up comedy has been a genre often dominated by abrasive speech and sometimes shocking language. However, as the summer theater season arrives, two comedians that have been successful in taking the anti-shock comedy route are set to take stage at Long Wharf Theatre in one-man shows.

Steve Solomon will be performing “My Mother’s Italian, My Father’s Jewish & I’m Still in Therapy” from Tuesday through July 18, and from Aug. 11-22, Paul Perroni will be performing Rob Becker’s “Defending The Caveman” at Long Wharf Theatre.

Imagine that Arthur Fonzarelli hit middle age and Sybill somehow took control of his body; that’s Solomon in a nutshell. Solomon takes the audience back to his childhood growing up in Brooklyn with culture pulling from both sides, in opposite directions, of the family tree. Solomon imitates close to 30 characters, almost flawlessly, in this prequel to “My Mother’s Italian, My Father’s Jewish & I’m in Therapy.” The first show Solomon did, the aforementioned “… I’m in Therapy” ran for almost two years in New York (one of the longest-running one-man shows in history) and helped Solomon win awards such as Best New Play from Broadway.com and Audience’s Favorite Play from BroadwayWorld.com.

Chatting by phone, Solomon said, “New Haven audiences are some of the most sophisticated audiences you can find. (I would say) better than Broadway; it’s Middle America at its best.” The past two times Solomon has performed in New Haven, the shows have sold out, and will likely do the same this time.

“People come back three or four times in a single run,” Solomon said. “When they leave the theater, they all say ‘I can relate.’”

Rob Becker’s “Defending The Caveman” is the longest running one-man show in Broadway history. In New York, “Caveman” had more than 700 performances; the second-longest-running solo show in Broadway history had less than 400. Considering Broadway’s been around since the 18th century, that’s a pretty significant laurel.

The first production of “Defending The Caveman” was in 1991, and since then, it has been performed to overwhelmingly positive reviews in more than 45 countries and in 30 different languages — all of which obviously understand that yes, men and women are different.

In February 2006, Becker stopped performing “Defending The Caveman”; two years earlier, he had started training a group of nine actors to take over the performing duties simply because there was such a demand for the play. One of those nine, Paul Perroni, is taking the stage in New Haven. Perroni, who looks as if could be Ray Romano’s son, has been playing New York and Las Vegas for the last three years. This will be his first time in New Haven.

Perroni said, “I’ve performed (this show) in an intimate venue before, and what I liked most about that setting is that you can really make the performance a personal thing between you and the audience.”

“What I do know, having performed ‘Caveman’ now for over two years all over the country, is that couples are laughing at the universal funny stuff we all do, nudging each other in recognition, seeing themselves in the characters Rob created. I am privileged to bring (those characters) to life every night,” Perroni went on to say.

Perroni also said, “The reason why (‘Caveman’) is such a comic phenomenon, and has had such longevity, is because the content is still just as true today as it was when Rob first wrote it. It will (still) be true many years down the line.”

Tickets for “My Mother’s Italian, My Father’s Jewish & I’m Still in Therapy” are $40, and tickets for “Defending The Caveman” are $32, available by calling Long Wharf at 203-789-4282 or online at www.longwharf.org.

Dan Hajducky is a student at Southern Connecticut State University.

SUMMER READING: We and our readers have a lot to suggest

Jul 03, 2010

By: Register Staff

NOTE: Some of the New Haven Register’s Facebook friends added to this story. ‘Like’ us on Facebook to help expand upon future stories. Or follow us on Twitter.

By Donna Doherty,
Register Arts Editor

I’ve already unashamedly admitted that I’m not a snob when it comes to summer reading — or reading in any season for that matter. If my friends like a book, if it’s set in Nantucket, if it expands on recent political headlines, scandals, or what have you, in terms I can understand, I’m in.

Yes, I have sworn to read “War and Peace” for at least eight summers now. That hasn’t happened, but it’s still on the to-do list.

It seems our readers have been a tad more ambitious than I. We’ve asked them to tell us what books they’d recommend to read or are planning to read this summer, and we heard from them via Facebook and e-mail. With their contributions and mine, there’s enough to get us through the fall.

With review copies of summer books coming in around April or so, I’ve had a chance to get an early start on the best of the beach books and chick lit that’s just been released: Nancy Thayer’s “Beachcombers,” Jane Green’s surprisingly poignant “Promises To Keep.”

Not chick lit by any means, Anna Quindlen’s “Every Last One” is a stunner, probably her best yet. Sue Miller’s “The Lake Shore Limited” is getting billed as a “9/11 book,” but it really isn’t; don’t let that keep you away.

To get into the spirit of this holiday, Marla R. Miller has written a fascinating bio called “Betsy Ross and the Making of America,” and TV and radio personality Diane Smith’s latest, “Season of Connecticut,” is out in time for summer, but meant as “A Year-Round Celebration of the Nutmeg State.”

Register Facebook friend Danielle Smith has been ambitious, and plans to keep up the pace. She also gets that summer reading doesn’t have to be about new releases.

“So far I have read ‘Have a Little Faith’ by Mitch Albom (I highly recommend this!). I am currently reading ‘Buy Ketchup in May and Fly at Noon,’ a guide to the best time to buy this, do that and go there, by Mark Di Vincenzo; ‘The Ditchdigger’s Daughters’ by Yvonne S. Thornton, M.D. (I highly recommend this!).

She plans on reading: Anne Tyler’s classic “The Accidental Tourist” Elizabeth Berg’s “What We Keep,” (noting that “This is the only novel by Berg I have not read yet”); “Lost and Found” by Carolyn Parkhurst (“she also wrote the ‘Dogs of Babel’ which I read several years ago) — and many others, I hope!”

Kathie Hurley writes, “This is so out of character, but with the economy crashing and burning around us, I decided to take a summer course entitled ‘Right Relationships and Economic Justice,’ so I’m reading books such as: ‘Freakonomics’ and ‘Myth of the Rational Market: A History of Risk, Reward and Delusion on Wall Street’ and putting myself … to sleep! … ”

Yes, the world is a crazy place. That’s why I read “Game Change” by John Heileman and Mark Halpern, the book about the 2008 presidential campaign. And I didn’t just go right to the still-unbeliev-able-to-me salacious John Edwards scandal. The Hillary Clinton-Barack Obama recounting takes up most of the book, and it deserves it.

Harriet V. Harris of West Haven has raised the bar for all of us.

She writes via e-mail: “I like biographies, but haven’t found many satisfying ones lately. Instead, I’ve turned to historical novels, and I found a wonderful one in ‘The Sheen on the Silk,’ a story about 13th-century Byzantium.

“When politics get mixed in with religion, centuries-long enmities can result.” A view of the novel can be found here.

Her eclectic likes include David McCullough’s biographies, and the contemporary autobiographies “Jane Fonda — Her Life So Far,” Queen Noor’s “A Leap of Faith” and Fara Palavi’s “An Enduring Love.”

She added, “More recently I was looking at baseball books, which I used to love, but they were terrible. And I was mightily disappointed in ‘Lion of the Senate,’” she said, referring to the Ted Kennedy biography.

She might want to go with Betty Lee Saum’s pick:

“I just finished ‘True Compass’ by Edward M. Kennedy. This book brought back many memories of our country’s troubles and accomplishments in Ted Kennedy’s lifetime. I believe every student of politics should read this man’s memoirs of his family’s and his own activities. It is a sincere interpretation of the important role he accepted in our government during his lifetime.”

And I might also suggest to those baseball lovers like Harriet and other sports lovers who appreciate a well-turned phrase, “The Only Game in Town: Sports Writing from The New Yorker,” edited by the magazine’s Pulitzer Prize-winning editor David Remnick. Roger Angell on baseball, John McPhee on just about anything — the best.

While I was disappointed in Patrick McEnroe’s “Hardcourt Confidential: Tales from 30 Years in the Pro Tour Trenches,” others may appreciate this insider’s look at professional tennis. It wasn’t inside enough for me, and the structure bothered me.

Herb Galewitz of Orange reinforces the notion that what’s old and valued is worth pursuing, when he e-mailed to note:

“While clearing out my book collection, I came across ‘Pastiche and Prejudice’ by A. B. Walkley, published in 1921.

“Walkley was an English drama critic and an erudite wit. This is a collection of short satirical pieces about Shakespeare, Dr. Johnson, audiences, first night, ballet, etc., and a parody of Henry James that is delightful.

“He makes S.J. Perelman’s work look like a schoolboy’s jottings, and I hold Perelman in high esteem.”

Janet Keto of Milford loved Barbara Kingsolver’s “Prodigal Summer” (“I enjoyed the story and learned a few things about ecology, nature and relationships.”) and called Anthony Bourdain’s “A Cook’s Tour” “a great culinary adventure around the world boldly experienced by this often irreverent author. Loved the humor!”

She’s currently caught up in Elizabeth Gilbert’s “Eat, Pray, Love” and plans to read both Pat Conroy’s “Beach Music” “because he tells a story in beautiful prose,” and my last year’s fave “summer” book, Pulitzer Prize winner Richard Russo’s “That Old Cape Magic” “because I heard him do a reading from this book … and immediately put it on my list.”

Literary Coalition board member Susan Monroe and her sister Lisa submitted two fine lists:

From Susan: “One Drop: A Story of Race and Family Secrets” by Bliss Broyard; “Kafka Was the Rage” by Anatole Broyard; “Who Walk in Darkness” by Chandler Brossard; “Barbara Jordan: A Self-Portrait” by Barbara Jordan and Shelly Hearon, “Barbara Jordan: American Hero” by Mary Beth Rogers; “Self-Taught: African American Education in Slavery and Freedom.

From Lisa: “Becoming: Meditations for the Ministry Minded” by Mae D. Williams; “Road to Barrister” by Yusef Poole; “The History of White People” by Nell Irvin Painter; “A Pictorial History of the Negro in America,” ed. Langston Hughes, Milton Meltzer and C. Eric Lincoln; “The Fire Next Time” by James Baldwin;

On both lists: “Made by Hand: The Search for Meaning in a Throwaway World” by Mark Frauenfelder.

There might be enough reading here to get us to next summer.

Donna Doherty may be reached at 203-789-5672.

New York’s Catskills a restaurant nirvana

Jul 03, 2010

By: Register Staff

By Stephen Fries
Special to the Register

Many people ask me how I became involved in the hospitality industry and food. I thought it was time to write about the area of New York — the Sullivan County Catskills — where it all began. Think of the movie “Dirty Dancing.” Like thousands of high school and college students, I worked at several of the famous resorts of the Catskills. These resorts were known for the tradition of good eating and plenty of it, too!

Only a little more than two hours from New Haven, the Sullivan County Catskills is the area I call my country escape. This part of the southern Catskill Mountains nestles up alongside the Delaware River. Here you will find a beautiful landscape, dotted with pristine lakes, rivers and mountainside retreats. If you are into historic covered bridges, you will find those, too.

The Catskills town of Bethel, N.Y., played host to the legendary Woodstock music festival in 1969. Today, the site is known as Bethel Woods Center For The Arts, a full scale concert venue and world-class tribute museum showcasing the Woodstock era. While here, experience the local arts, kayaking, fly fishing, hunting, hiking, boating, golf and great music. Getting back to nature is easy with the Beaverkill River, the birthplace of American fly-fishing, pristine lakes, watching bald eagles and driving through the lush mountainous countryside.

The area is home to many artists, writers and entertainers who say the area’s tranquility sparks their creativity. They appreciate the simplicity of country life. As I get onto Route 17, I, too, feel the tranquility and a calming feeling.

Most of the grand resorts of the past are gone. You might remember Grossinger’s and The Concord. The popularity of second homes, quaint bed and breakfasts, Monticello Casino and Raceway, as well as Bethel Woods have given rise to an eclectic food scene. As a New Haven foodie, I felt compelled to share some of my Sullivan County food haunts with you, and have you join me “On The Food Scene With Steve.”

Catskill Harvest Market, a gourmet grocery in Liberty (845-292-3838), features fresh food and garden products from Sullivan County and surrounding communities. Select your picnic foods including artisanal cheese, bread, meat, preserves and local produce, or enjoy eating in the cozy cafe.

Flour Power Bakery, an artisan bakery in Livingston Manor, (917-747-6895), has some of the best breads and pastries I have eaten outside of New York City. The ciabatta is the best I have had in all of my food travels. The French Toast Squares, the best bread pudding I have ever had is a recipe that JR Rowley wanted to share with you. Rowley, who was a food stylist in Manhattan, and his wife, Denise, a prop stylist, moved to the area from New York City and missed the pastries and breads that were plentiful in the big city. So they started simple — baking and taking their goodies to local farmers markets and then opened the bakery. Mostly organic flours, sugars, milk, local farm eggs, pure butter, alum-free baking powder and real vanilla are used in their creations. Local orchard berries in season at the farmers markets are what you will find in the pastries. The bakery offers savory food as well. Some of my favorites are the bread puddings and ruggelach, soups and quiche.

The Rolling River Café Bar, Gallery & Inn is an eclectic and funky restaurant. Chef Rob Rayevsky is also a children’s book illustrator.

Rolling River Café Bar, Gallery & Inn: in Parksville (845-747-4123) is the reincarnation of a small, one-family home into an eclectic and funky restaurant with a cuisine from many of Rob Rayevsky’s travels, including Russia, where he was born. Yes, there is a rolling river that adds to the ambiance to this rustic restaurant. The restaurant business is new to Rob and his wife, Kim, who co-author children’s books. Rob is also an accomplished children’s book illustrator, “Aesop’s Fables” being one that is renown. The couple’s goal was to bring these ingredients together in their establishment, cooking up a blend of food, art and music. If you visit, you will see they have accomplished that goal. The Rayevskys shared the recipe for one of the popular dishes, Rolling River Andouille sausage.

Fat Lady Cafe: Judith Maidenbaum, a psychoanalyst by day, is the pioneer that made the small “ghost town” of Kauneonga Lake (845-583-7133) into the restaurant hub of Sullivan County. After a complete renaissance, the tiny lake-side resort town now boasts four restaurants and is a nightlife hub, two miles from the original Woodstock site. With two large decks overlooking the lake, the amicable and witty Judith greets her guests, who enjoy full-course dinners or light fare from an extensive menu. With her passion for baking, you won’t be disappointed with the changing dessert menu. Check out the recipe for peach cake.

Benji & Jake’s: Adjacent to the Fat Lady and the second restaurant to open in Kauneonga Lake, the 20-something brothers created a brick oven gourmet pizza restaurant overlooking beautiful White Lake (845-583-4031). Prior to building this beautiful two-story brick structure, complete with two decks overlooking the lake, bar and music venue, the guys test-marketed their pizza. They built a brick oven pizza oven on the back of a small trailer and sold it at local farmers markets. Their pizza was well received, so they created a place that recreated the vibrancy of their childhood memories of vacationing on the lake. They are always cooking up an inventive pizza. On a recent visit, the Green Dream Pizza (shallots, cilantro, avocado, lime juice, cheese and red sauce) or Shrimp Scampi were the specials. Pizza isn’t the only menu item. Their repertoire of dinners include fresh trout, free-range chicken and seared tuna. And for dessert, try the dessert pizza or gelato. Later entries to the lake-front restaurant scene are Luzon Station and Michele’s Lakeside 55. All four of these restaurants offer docking for boats and spectacular views. Check them out for your pre- or post-Bethel Woods concert dining pleasure.

Café Yiasou in Liberty (845-292-3152) has the best Greek food outside of Greece, since owner and chef George Poulos brought his family recipes with him from the small town in Greece where his father owned a small taverna. Poulos is a gracious host who knows his guests by name. Fresh grilled fish, which George fillets for you, an abundant Greek salad and one, if not two, of the daily homemade desserts make a meal you won’t forget. Try the best coconut cream pie or baklava you have ever had. Poulos asked me to share his recipe for Baklava.

The Bake House, located on the roof top deck of the Fat Lady Cafe, is where Jane Axamethy sells her small-batch artisan breads and pastries as well as at many of the farmers markets. Jane, who baked her way through college, is proud to be part of the food scene in Kauneonga Lake. Her German ancestors were bakers in the 1920’s and Jane followed that tradition, though she has degrees in biology and art. Her pepperjack cheese and ham croissants and fresh fruit scones are my favorites. Jane uses organic flour and locally grown products. Check out the recipe for the scones.

If you’re looking to slow down your life in the fast lane, pack your bags and head to the Sullivan County Catskills for the perfect getaway. I look forward to hearing about your trip to this country escape.

Ben Franklin speaks

Jul 02, 2010

By: Register Staff

The Register is not alone in taking on the Ben Franklin Project. The project extends to all daily newspapers in the Journal Register Company, including one of our sister news organizations in the Philly, Pa area, The Times Herald. Ben Franklin himself recently took some time out of his busy schedule to sit down with The Times Herald and talk about this bold new experiment we’ve named after him.

Send us your photos

Jul 02, 2010

By: Register Staff

Got news? Photo it! It’s not too late to send it to us for inclusion in our Ben Franklin edition, this Sunday, July 4.

Send to nhrbenfranklin@gmail.com.

1ST DRAFT: Are we addicted to Facebook?

Jun 28, 2010

By: Register Staff

EDITOR’S NOTE: We are writing this story for our Ben Franklin Project, to be published in its final form on July 4. We invite you to be a part of its completion. Feel free to comment, fact check or tell us what we overlooked.

By Susan Misur
Register Staff

Life before Facebook — do any of the website’s users even remember what that was like?

You know, the days when you couldn’t tell your 465 “friends” with a few keystrokes and one click that you love the new Lady Gaga song or that you had to pull off the highway for a bathroom stop in the bushes.

Or the times when you couldn’t yet read in your friend’s sister’s life status update that her boyfriend is a cheater, or that a former classmate you never actually talked to got a new job and can pay the bills this month.

“We’ve all become our own gossip magazines on Facebook. We all want people to know a little hint of scandal about us,” says Richard Hanley, assistant professor of journalism and graduate director of journalism and interactive communications at Quinnipiac University.

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