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Do You Have a Question for BostonZest?

We're making BostonZest readers our Friday Link today. BostonZest began in 2004 because so many of our friends and neighbors had been asking us questions about Boston. We started this website with some of those answers and a decade later we're still adding to it. We love questions from readers and today we're reminding you to send them our way.

Sharing Readers' Favorites

The current version of BostonZest has more than 2,500 posts on dozens of topics. When we look at our readers' favorites, we find that many of the ones read over and over answer specific questions. What's going on in March? How do I deal with crystallized honey? Where can I find a Winter Farmers' Market Schedule?

We've begun to feature some of our readers' favorite posts like Boston Area Commencement Dates, Spring 2015. You'll often see these on Wednesdays. We'll keep a popular post at the top of our page for a day and send a link to our followers on Twitter. (By the way, our list of colleges grew as readers provided information on their schools.)

Answering Your Questions

We love to answer questions sent to us by readers. Sometimes they are follow-up questions on something we have posted – like a conversation we had about artichokes last summer. In our first post on the topic, reader Mich Connors commented on the difficulty in pairing wine with artichokes and asked a question about the seasonality of the crop.

That gave us the opportunity to do a second interview with the farmer in the article and share how they grew a fall crop of artichokes in a follow-up post.

So, ask your questions or share an answer. You can send us an email, add a comment or question on any post or follow us on Twitter. (Just put @BostonZest in your tweet and we'll get it.)

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Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2014 Penny & Ed Cherubino

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March 6, 2015
The Smallest Thaw Brings out the Picnickers

The courtyard at the Boston Public Library in Copley Square is a very popular place for outdoor dining on warm days year-round. But, I didn't expect to find people using it this week. I was wrong. Even the smallest thaw brings out the picnicker in many of us.

It looks like someone planned for the thaw and cleared a small section of the patio. Just a few days before, I took this photo of the opposite patio from where the women were lunching.

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Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2015 Penny & Ed Cherubino

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March 5, 2015
Blue Tape for Marking Newly Sharpened Knives

Finding new uses for our favorite blue tape has become a bit of a game around here. I grabbed a knife that I seldom use – but that is Ed's favorite – and it was dull, dull, dull. He was still asleep when I sharpened it, so I marked it with blue tape.

This reminded him that the knife was not as he had left it the night before. And, he was alerted at the very moment he was about to use it.

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Words: Penny Cherubino
Photos: ©2015 Penny Cherubino

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March 3, 2015
What’s Happening Around Boston in March 2015

Time to start a new month of information to share with visitors and locals. What are your favorite March activities in Boston? This year, I think watching snow melt will be high on the list of many Bostonians.

(Photo by Raymond Larose used under this creative commons license be sure to check his photography blog.)

On Sunday, March 1st, head to Chinatown for the Lion Dance celebration from 10am to 5pm. That's always fun and most of the businesses in that neighborhood are small family run places that could use our support. What's more, you can be entertained, feast, and do your grocery shopping in one afternoon.

March Tips on Trip Advisor

Over on the Boston Trip Advisor Forum, Destination expert, forgotmypword started a conversation on this topic back in December when someone asked about hotel rates this month.

"St Patrick's Day (March 17) is a popular time to visit Boston. The parade is the 15th. On top of that, there is a large convention. The Seafood Expo/seafood processors convention is from the 15th-17th and is expecting 18,000 attendees."

And, I've begun my monthly topic about, What's Going on in March 2015 Around Boston. As the regular volunteers who answer questions on that space share their ideas, you will find topics that we never cover on BostonZest and things to do that are beyond our interests.

Do you remember Diamond Jim's Piano Bar at the Lenox hotel? It will reappear for one weekend in March.

Who are all these People? (or, Conventions in Town in March)

Here are the numbers on conventions and large meetings that will impact hotel prices and in some cases make dinner reservations harder to find in certain areas of the city.

From March 12th -14th, a meeting will be held at the Hynes with 6,000 in attendance. But the rest of the big events are out in the Seaport district and won't be noticed by most locals and visitors except in restaurants.

From the 15th -17th, 18,000 visitors at BCEC and the 28th to the 31st there are two events in that area with a total of 18,000 attendees.

If you need a restaurant reservation for those dates, make it now.

March Events

There is always a lot of information about St. Patrick's Day in Boston but in the North End, St. Joseph's Day, March 19th is important because all the bakeries make Zeppole di San Giuseppe in honor of the day. These are delightful fried pastries filled with cream and cherries. Seen above is our favorite at Modern Pastry.

You could go from Modern to Maria's and so on down the streets tasting different versions. These are also made by bakeries throughout the area this time of year. Please share your favorite spots for Zeppole.

The parade is on Sunday the 15th. This is one day when we avoid using the MBTA since it's usually full of people going to and from that event.

Sometime during the month, you could support an Irish Pub by enjoying an Irish Breakfast. The one above is from Sonny's Pub in Adams Village.

Or, you can buy Irish soda bread from an area bakery. It Looks like we're going to have to do a lot of walking this month with all these seasonal offerings. You can honor the Irish while you walk. Here's a link to the Irish Heritage Trail.

Your Turn

We hope you'll join in and make this a conversation here. Add your comments below or follow us on Twitter and send your ideas to us there. Just put @BostonZest in your message and we'll get it.

Who's next?

What are your favorite March pastimes?

What events are you planning to attend this month?

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Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2011-2015 Penny & Ed Cherubino or as marked below photo

February 27, 2015
Colorful, Bright, New Community Workspace at the Boston Public Library

What a difference a renovation makes. The second floor of the Johnson Building at the Boston Public Library (BPL) in Copley Square has been transformed in spectacular before-and-after fashion.

Last week, I took a tour of the changes with Michael Colford, Director of Library Services. He is understandably proud of the look, convenience, and user friendliness of this renovation.

I choose these bar seats along the arched window overlooking Boylston Street as my favorite spot.

Michael pointed out that the library’s circulating nonfiction collection is located here. Amid the book stacks holding 200,000 books is a community reading area and places for individual and group work. This will be a lively section of the building where conversations will take place. The McKim building will provide quiet space for those who prefer a place to work without distractions.

Lower book shelves open up the area allowing the light from the windows and from many new fixtures to provide a bright and welcoming workspace. I was also happy to see some of the materials like the lovely Windsor chairs reconditioned, recycled, and fitting beautifully into the new setting.

And still, there are spots where you can get off by yourself for a bit of quiet texting.

Lots of new electrical outlets also give you a place to charge up your phone, laptop or tablet.

There are new airport-style restrooms on the floor and multi-function water fountains with a separate station to fill your water bottle. And, yes, water bottles are allowed in this section of the library.

Along with the new look, you will also find some changes in the way the library and librarians communicate with patrons. The bookshelves will be marked not only in traditional Library of Congress Classification fashion, but also with signs and banners that let you know, for example, that this section houses books on Politics and Law.

When the flow of traffic at the information desk allows, librarians will move around the floor to answer questions and assist patrons as they search for materials. The openness of the new design will allow staff members to see when they are needed back at the desk.

Digital displays around the floor will highlight items from the BPL's renowned Collections of Distinction. This will remind patrons of all the resources, beyond the books on the shelves, that are available to them within the walls of this building.

A press release from the BPL explained that service kiosks like this one (now found in other parts of the library and branches as well), "are part of the library’s upgraded pay for print system and have several features, including the introduction of paying for printing via standard credit and debit cards. Boston Public Library cards will now store up to $21 for use on the system."

Along with opening this floor last Saturday, the Boylston Street entrance has also reopened. A corridor has been built for library visitors to move through the first floor where work on the next phase of this renovation continues. For those of us who are in the habit of using that entrance, this is most welcome.

I look forward to using this workspace, both when I need a change from my home office and when I want to collaborate with friends and associates on a project.

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Words: Penny Cherubino
Photography: © 2015 Penny Cherubino, Patron using the kisoh courtesy of the BPL

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February 23, 2015
Here’s My Favorite Weather App – Dark Sky

Weather has been the topic of the month for February 2015. So, today, I'm going to share my favorite source for weather information.

Here's a temperature screenshot from Dark Sky on my iPhone.

Ed, with his background in radio, still checks to see what various stations are forecasting. On the other hand, I have narrowed down my primary weather advisor to a favorite weather app.

Dark Sky

The app that talks to me all day, sending me notifications about weather changes that I can use, is Dark Sky with Weather Radar, Hyperlocal Forecasts, and Storm Alerts. It has been very busy this month letting me know that flurries, light snow, heavy snow, or snow was coming soon. It also has simple, sensible, easy to understand visuals that let me plan my day and my week.

While alerts are often something you knew was going to happen, occasionally weather changes pop up without warning. Last summer, we were walking our dog about a mile from home when Dark Sky alerted me that heavy rain was coming, soon.

We turned for home and caught up with a neighbor and her dogs along the way. We told her it was going to rain hard and how we knew. She doubted the prediction but walked along with us. We were nearly home when the sky opened and the rain came down. Naturally, she wanted the name of the app.

Dark Sky is a paid app, but you can get the same information on any computer at the Forcast.io – their web version. One thing I love about this app is the "Time Machine" option. It lets you see what the weather was any day in the past.

Here's what the weather was on this day in 1971. Go ahead and look up your birthday, anniversary or this date last year.

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Words: Penny Cherubino
Screenshots from Dark Sky and Forcast.io

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February 20, 2015
Boston Ethnic Markets Is Our Friday Link

Adventurous Boston food lovers are fortunate to have a great resource in the website Boston Ethnic Markets.

This may look familar to you because it’s an updated version of the information that was once on the Boston Museum site.

Dan Brody, who maintained the roster there, has created a new home for it and is looking forward to working with the Boston food community to keep it up-to-date. Please think of him and this resource when you notice that a new place has opened or a listed place has closed.

If you’re looking for a Kosher butcher, the list will link you to the Butcherie of Brookline.

Want Middle Eastern food? Arax will come up as one of many choices in Watertown.

Look for a place to buy nuts and Fastachi will show up listed twice. Once for the Watertown shop and again for the one on Charles Street in Boston.

With the click of a header, you can sort the list by any of its headings including the name of the shop, what type of store it is, what region of the world it covers, what ethnic cuisine, or by the town where you hope to shop.

Nice work, Dan. And we understand how hard it can be to keep information like this current so we hope all our readers will send you tips to help out.

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Words: Penny Cherubino
Photos: ©2010-2014 Penny & Ed Cherubino with top screen shot courtesty of Boston Ethnic Markets.

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January 23, 2015
Gordon Parks Exhibition & MFA Open House for Martin Luther King Jr. Day

A very special and timely exhibition, Gordon Parks: Back to Fort Scott, will open tomorrow at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston (MFA). In addition, the MFA has announced a free open house on Monday in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

The MFA Says:

Gordon Parks: Back to Fort Scott (January 17–September 13, 2015) traces Parks’ return to his hometown of Fort Scott, Kansas and then to other Midwestern cities, to track down and photograph each of his childhood classmates. On view in the MFA’s Art of the Americas Wing, the exhibition’s 42 photographs were from a series originally meant to accompany a Life magazine photo essay—but for reasons unknown, the story was never published. The images depict the realities of life under segregation in 1950—presenting a rarely seen view of everyday lives of African-American citizens in the years before the Civil Rights movement began in earnest.

We Say:

This has been on our calendar since we first read about it. We have so much to learn from this multi-talented man.

Make this exhibition more enjoyable by doing your homework before attending.

The MFA gives you some tools for learning about an exhibition like this on it's website. We often rely on the press releases they send out to understand why a particular subject was selected and about the people and organizations that make an exhibition possible. Here's a link to the press release for Gordon Parks: Back to Fort Scott.

For each of its exhibitions, the MFA sets up a page that gives the details and often adds some resources that allow you to learn a bit about the topic before you attend. For this exhibition, they have a slideshow that lets you preview a few of the images and a short video by the curator, Karen Haas.

The museum has also announced the publication of the book Common Wealth: Art by African Americans in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

And, if you want to attend the exhibition at a time when there is something special scheduled around the topic, you'll find a "More Events" button near the top of that page.

We've also taken advantage of the Boston Public Library's resources on Gordon Parks and are reading some of his poetry and his memoir.

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Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2015 Penny Cherubino, And screenshots courtesy of the MFA

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January 16, 2015
Massachusetts Trial Court Law Libraries: Our Friday Link

Most of us need legal information from time to time and the Massachusetts Trial Court Law Libraries are a great resource. And, thanks to a recent improvement in their services, you can obtain an ecard without visiting a library branch.

Here's the message sent out on a recent blog entry:

"Massachusetts residents can now get Ecards for remote access to various legal databases without visiting one of our 17 locations. The new service started on November 19th, and to date we have had about 60 requests for cards. With your new card number, you can search RetrieveLaw for researching cases and statutes for Massachusetts and the federal government. You can also search HeinOnline for law reviews and a variety of other unique databases, as well as newspapers, self help law books from Nolo and more.

This page has the online form to apply for a card. You need to be a Massachusetts resident. Your card will be issued within one to two business days.

Databases are listed here.

What are you waiting for?"

For a running update on topical Massachusetts law information or changes as they take effect, follow the updates with an RSS feed of their blog or on Facebook or Twitter.

Now with a free ecard, we can research any topic we choose without the need to rent a car and go to a location outside of Boston. Thanks for the change!

Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Or do you need to buy one for a gift? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

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Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: Photo of law books by Woody Hibbard used under this creative commons license. Screenshot of Law Library page courtesy of Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

January 2, 2015
Edible Boston’s Winter 2015 Issue Is Available

For me, the sure sign that the seasons are changing is the arrival of my review copy of Edible Boston.

This issue’s cover is another fabulous Michael Piazza photo of a fermentation pot by potter Jeremy Ogusky. Inside, you’ll learn how this man has spearheaded a local fermentation movement. From sauerkraut to kimchi, we are all eating more fermented foods and this article features some of the ways we can learn more about this age-old food preservation method.

Farmer’s Diary

I always turn to John Lee’s Farmer’s Diary. I love having this point of view from someone who spends their days on the farm and thinking about the present and future of farming. I had the great pleasure of interviewing John Lee for Serious Eats a while back and was so impressed with the thoughful and intelligent approach he takes to the farming life.

This issue, he will tell you a bit about the “50 x 60” New England Food Vision – a goal of supplying 50% of our food Requirements by 2060.

Cookbook Review

This issue also contains a timely Cookbook round up. For holiday giving or for yourself, it contains a great selection of titles.

You’ll meet another issue full of food makers, food growers, and food curators. And, the ads will give you lots of great ideas for holiday gifting. Of course, a gift subscription to Edible Boston itself would be the perfect holiday gift for anyone who is a lover of fresh, local food, and the people who bring it our way.

Support publisher, Ilene Bezahler and her talented team

First, pick up a copy of Edible Boston at one of these locations. In fact, pick up two copies and share one with a food loving friend or leave it where someone might discover it among lesser publications and become a new fan.

May I suggest that you let their sponsors know you saw them in the magazine and grab an extra copy and get it to someone else who cares about supporting the local food movement. Also, if you have a blog, twitter account, or facebook page, write about them, link to them, follow them, retweet their tweets, like them on facebook, and in general, spread the word about this great asset to our community.

And, to be sure you never miss an issue, you can subscribe over on their website!

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Words: Penny Cherubino
Covershot: Courtesy of Edible Boston

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