Visual map of "A Day Stuck Inside Because of Hurricane Irene"

RECORD-REVIEW, "Talk of the Town"

By BONNI BRODNICK

Thank goodness for the arts for bringing music, beauty and levity to our lives. This fall 2001, the Pound Ridge Theatre Company (PRTC) will celebrate its 25^th Anniversary. Join the celebration and gala fundraiser on Thursday evening, September 22 at Ristorante Lucia, 454 Old Post Road in Bedford (telephone: 234-7600). There will be the thrill of a Murder Mystery, food/wine/beer/soft drinks, a small luxury silent auction, and a PRTC Giving Tree, to preserve great theater in our community. Seating is limited. Reserve early by buying tickets now at www.prtc01.org/. Hats off to local sponsors and their advertising support in programs—Albano Appliance & Service, BISTRO 22, Chubby’s Hardware, CPR Computer Problem Rescue, DiNardo’s Italian Restaurant, Gisela and Elizabeth O’Brien Photography, KP Designs, La Crémaillere Restaurant, Lionhart Gallery, Loren Maron, Marshall Oil, Pound Ridge Neighbors & Newcomers Club, North Star Restaurant, Pinocchio Pizza, Plum Plums, PR Volunteer Fire Department, PR Historical Society, Samuel Parker’s Landmark Deli, Sharon Gilchrest O’Neil, Ed.s., LMFT, Scotts Corner Market, The Gift Garage, Woodcraft & Graphics Unlimited … the list goes on and on. Keep posted for PRTC upcoming production of “Dial ‘M’ for Murder,” which will have its opening performance on Friday, November 4. More information on that to follow … in the meantime be sure to make your reservation for the upcoming September benefit.

A joint-partnership between the Pound Ridge Business Association and Pound Ridge Partnership once again brings good things to you. Three to six new bicycle racks will be installed on Westchester Avenue so that riders can safely and securely leave their bikes while they enjoy our beautiful Scotts Corners.

“What’s huge about it is that more and more cyclists and cycle clubs have discovered Pound Ridge,” said Rica Mendes, an avid cyclist who has participated in several century-rides (100-miles or 100 km), including the N.Y.C. Century Tour and the “LIVESTRONG Challenge” in Austin Texas. She is currently helping to organize “Rock the Ride and Run,” which takes place in April 2012 and will benefit LIVESTRONG. “One of the fantastic things about the new bike racks on Westchester Avenue is knowing that your bike won’t fall down and get chipped. Riders will get to sit down and rest, without worrying about their bikes. Hopefully, the bike racks will also encourage people to take their bikes out of the garage and take a spin to Scotts Corners. Bikes are a great way to get around.”

Peaches are sweet as sugar this time of year and the smell of peach kuchen in my mother’s kitchen is one of my fondest August memories. The cozy morning aroma of her baking before the heat of the day set in would waft up the winding staircase, gently blending a touch of cinnamon and peaches with the fragrance of flowers in full bloom. The following summer dessert is elegant, easy to make and simply delicious.

Herein, my mother’s special recipe for “Kogen Peach Kuchen”:

2 cups flower

¼ teaspoon baking powder

¼ salt

1 cup sugar

½ cup margarine

12 peach halves (blanched and peeled)

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 egg yokes

1 cup sour cream

Mix flour, baking powder, salt and 2 tablespoons sugar; cut margarine in until coarse. Pat mixture firmly on bottom and up sides of 8x9-inch square pan. Arrange peaches; sprinkle with cinnamon and remaining sugar. Bake 15 minutes at 400 degrees. Remove from oven and pour egg/sour cream mixture over top. Return to oven for 30 additional minutes.

POUND RIDGE PAST-- 2nd edition!

The second edition of 
POUND RIDGE PAST: Remembrances of Our Townsfolk 
is here! 

To order, go to Amazon.com
For personally signed copies, contact me at 
BonniBrodnick@gmail.com

Also makes a great Father's Day gift to those who love, cherish and adore Pound Ridge.

If this is a gift (how thoughtful of you!) and you'd like the book personally signed to someone special, please let me know.

Merci, merci.

 .../|||\...

For up-to-the-minute (almost by the nanosecond) news 
on  Pound Ridge Past, 

please visit us on Facebook.

RECORD-REVIEW "Talk of the Town - August 20, 2011

 August 20, 2011

"TALK OF THE TOWN"
 By Bonni Brodnick

Here’s another reason to drive the speed limit on Westchester Avenue. Along with reasons of safety to all, you won’t want to miss looking left as you drive the 30 mph speed limit on your next foray to New Canaan. Lions Park is growing and growing.

      Pound Ridge Lions and the Pound Ridge Garden Club (PRGC) members have set up a rotating watering schedule in the pumpkin patch. With hoses and sprinklers generously donated by PRGC and friends, the pumpkin patch is thriving (even in this August heat). “The weeds have gotten a bit ahead of us, but we hope to catch up with a day of weeding soon,” said Sebastian Vinci, chair of the Lions Park Committee. “We have lots of pumpkin plants actively growing with numerous buds and even a few small pumpkins. In addition, we are proud of the beautiful display of sunflowers. The buds are just opening and the display is ready to burst out. Imagine a Van Gogh painting in our own little park.” The decorative corn is also growing well. “While we strive to grow our own pumpkins for this season, we look to the future and work to build up the soil and establish a good base for future crops,” he continued. The Lions and PRGC have worked hard to transform the site from a construction staging area to a fertile mini-farm. Anyone wishing to donate topsoil and compost, or volunteer to water or pick a weed or two (or three or four), please contact Sebastian at 764-5442.

At Conant Hall, a summery luncheon for 24 esteemed Pound Ridge seniors was hosted by PRGC, with assistance from the Pound Ridge Girls Scouts, who put on an entertaining skit and helped make herb and flower table arrangements. Garden Club members Patricia Napoli (chair of the event), Karen Aarts, Deb Benjamin, Connie Marchetti, Mary Miranda and Virginia Todars were delighted to bequeath their floral and herbaceous knowledge to scouts Ruby Cuddy, Emma Kolsky, Sinead McSpedon, Morgan Tunnell, and former scout Juliette Miranda.

The luncheon menu, which reflected the theme of event, "Cooking with Herbs," featured butternut squash and mango soup with basil, tortellini with ham, peas and dill, lemon verbena pound cake, orange basil cookies, and berries with mint. In addition to the homemade sachets as take-home gifts, each guest was also presented with a potted basil plant.

PRGC, founded in 1941, is a community service and educational organization that welcomes anyone interested in horticulture, floral design, environmental planting and resource conservation. Programs take place monthly from March through December on the second Tuesday of the month, and are generally held at Pound Ridge Library beginning at 10:30 a.m. For more information, please contact Anne Lyman, membership committee chair, at 764-5487. Along with learning more about flora and fauna, the Garden Club is a way to meet a terrific group of ladies who do many things on behalf of beautifying our town.

Put that stuff away! We can’t even look at it. Was that Brach’s candy corn by the check out at the market? Ask cashier Ilyssa Weingarden about it and you’ll get an earful. “It’s torture to work next to candy corn and the M&M’s Fall Leaves,” said the Fox Lane grad. I didn’t even see the M&M’s, my eyes averted so quickly from the triangle-shaped duo-tone October confectionary. “It’s just an awful reminder that fall is coming,” she continued. “When they brought out the candy, everyone was glaring and saying, ‘Put them away!’” Ilyssa will head back to George Washington University to pursue her studies in international affairs. She also has a scholarship for voice and is studying opera and classical music, as well as joining jazz and gospel choirs.

I guess it’s not too early to start planning your Halloween costume. Could goblins be lurking in your Echinacea? If this is all a smeary mingling of global warming, bring on the Valentine’s Day chocolates, too.

WILTON MAGAZINE: Need a lift? Here's a Look at Bosoms Through the Ages

"Under the Wire: An Uplifting Look at Brassieres"
In this article, author Bonni Brodnick takes a look at brassieres, their styles, washing techniques and her first experience with one. From the infinite styles and sizes, she notes there is a certain fascination with women's bosoms and brassieres not just for men ...
but for women as well.

                           ~BEDFORD MAGAZINE

RECORD-REVIEW "Talk of the Town

By BONNI BRODNICK

You couldn’t ask for anything simpler: someplace to go for a little vino, an espresso or cappuccino, maybe a Panini, a crostini or a little antipasti. Mariela’s Wine & Espresso Bar, located at 71 Westchester Avenue, is now serving. Order one of the 16 whites, reds or rosés, or pump it up with caffeine. “Every town should have a nice place to go where you can sit down, have a glass of wine, or read the paper and have an espresso,” said Alex Rubeo, proprietor/owner. “We also have free Wi-Fi, so folks can come in with their computer and write the next ‘Harry Potter.” Have a seat at a table or at the bar and stay tuned for wine tastings. Just a step away, beyond the planters filled with blooming flowers, is Pound Ridge Wines & Spirits, which will launch a Wine of the Month Club in the fall. Mariela’s is wheelchair accessible. For more information, call 764-3424.

N2N a.k.a. Neighbor to Neighbor is a community-based volunteer organization that helps our Pound Ridge seniors and disabled in times of need. N2N works in conjunction with the PR Police and Town Recreation Departments and is giving a shout out for volunteer drivers to provide seniors with rides to local doctors’ appointments. “In the past, requests for rides have been about two a month,” said Louise Paolicelli, N2N coordinator. “Over the past few months, requests have increased to about three rides needed a week. Our problem is that we only have five regular volunteer drivers. With the summer months and vacations, we have even less, so there have been a handful of times when we haven’t been able to provide rides at all.” Please consider helping out your neighbors. If you would like to be a volunteer driver for N2N, please call Louise (who, incidentally, does a remarkable job at the helm of the PR Seniors Program). She can be reached at 764-8201 or email prseniors@townofpoundridge.com.

It was a beautiful summer evening. We were ready to slice the limes, put out the peanuts and serve up the cocktails. The torches in the field were lit. The outdoor setting took on a feeling that was both primal and cozy. Do those torches even work for keeping mosquitoes at bay … or at least away from the patio? Here are a few facts: female mosquitoes bite. The males are mellower. (Wow, sounds like humans.) The dipterous insects of the family Culicidae prefer people who have been drinking beer rather than water. (Note to Mojito drinkers: you are safe.) Mosquitoes are, indeed, deterred by smoky, odorous fire (keep the torches lit). Marigolds and other odorous blooms work, too, but you have to plant a lot of them to get a full bouquet that sends the mosquitoes flying in different directions. So what if you’ve got the torches blazing, you’ve put on the Neet, stayed clear of beer and still get bitten? Run the welt under the hottest water you can tolerate. Or use my daughter’s tried and true method: make an X with your fingernail directly on the weld. Wait. Count backwards from 10. Think about a freezing cold, snowy, icy day in January. Give it a few more seconds to think about. Take a sip of the cocktail. Look around at the beauty of your garden and the lushness of the sugar maples. Listen to the catbirds. Watch hummingbirds flitter from one flower to another. Stop and marvel. Think about the calendar pages of June, July, and August. Ponder hair feather extensions, the hottest teenage trend. Plan your next splurge: a double-dip ice cream cone swirled in rainbow sprinkles. (I’m trying to distract you. Don’t scratch.) Most of all, remember that summer — as well as that itchy mosquito bite — won’t last forever.

UFO??

Seen in the sky over Pound Ridge.

RECORD-REVIEW "Talk of the Town

By BONNI BRODNICK

This is no wives’ tale: we drizzle Wild Virginia salad dressing on fish, meat, and vegetables to cook, roast, BBQ, you name it. The versatility of this tasty dressing has it jumping the food chain in all directions and the stuff is delicious. Its robust flavor is made from fresh flavors and superior-quality extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) with no other oils, water, thickeners, preservatives or chemicals. It also has a convenient (and kid-friendly) flip top to make it easy to shake up each time you use it (natural separation will occur). And believe it or not, all-EVOO dressings are hard to find, if at all. And if it’s not EVOO, you don’t get the same health benefits (so don’t be fooled by the “pure olive oil” stuff, which is actually a lower grade olive oil.

The launch of Wild Virginia has put inventor/connoisseur Ellen Best on the frontline as an entrepreneurial foodie. Her product is now available in ten stores in Westchester and Fairfield Counties, including down the avenue at Scotts Corner Market on the top shelf in the salad dressing section.

The inspiration? Ellen says it best (no pun intended): “I couldn’t find that homemade taste in store-bought salad dressings – probably like a lot of other people. When my daughters, Sarah and Jessica, and their friends started asking for Wild Virginia instead of Ranch dressing when they were little, I knew I was onto something. After giving it out to friends, family, teachers and bus drivers, my husband James suggested I bottle it. The whole venture thrust me deeper into the culinary world, which I love; and into the local food culture, which I also love.” Ellen will be at local farmers’ markets and store tastings in the fall. You can also look forward to two more flavors—Miso and Honey Mustard—both with EVOO and both doing great in test markets. They use local honey and other natural ingredients that you don’t need a chemistry degree to understand. For more information on the salad dressing with incredible flexibility, check out Wild Virginia at www.gowildvirginia.com and www.facebook.com/wildvirginia.

What are you doing this Friday night? How about Saturday? Come be transfixed by the wicked piano artistry of Pete Malinverni when he performs with his quintet, “Invisible Cities,” on August 5 and 6 at Smalls Jazz Club (in Greenwich Village at 10^th Street and Seventh Avenue South in NYC; #212-252-5091). Shows are at 10 and 11:30 p.m. Pete, a Steinway Artist, will appear with Scott Wendholt (trumpet); Rich Perry (tenor sax); Lee Hudson (bass) and Tom Melito (drums). “ … the new Invisible Cities reminds us that [Pete’s] knack for small group arrangements gets deeper every year,” wrote Jim Macnie in “The Village Voice.” "Pete Malinverni's Invisible Cities, inspired by the imaginative flights of Italo Calvino's novel of the same name, exists on its own terms and doesn't readily fit into any established jazz style or sensibility," wrote David Orthmann in “All About Jazz.” For more info on Pete’s upcoming performance schedule, take a major turn to www.petemalinverni.com.

Have weekend guests and dying to get out of the house? An educated distraction is close at hand. If you’re driving through the hamlet and see the door of Pound Ridge Museum open, stop in to learn more about our town history. The ever-talented team of Ebie Wood, Dick Major, Dennis Harrington, Timi Parsons and Joyce Butterfield created the exhibit, “Pound Ridge & The Civil War”, with special assistance from Don Spauding. The exhibit pays homage to the 109 men of Pound Ridge — nearly 32% of the male population (18+) of Pound Ridge in 1861 — who bravely served the Union. With particular pride, we honor First Sgt. Thomas J. Murphy of Pound Ridge, recipient of The Congressional Medal of Honor, our country’s highest military award. A special video exhibit highlights pages from the diary of Sgt. George E. Dixon, who stood guard over the Lincoln assassination conspirators and witnessed their military trial and execution. Also on exhibit is Civil War art by Don Spaulding, original Union uniforms, and other Civil War memorabilia. Pound Ridge Museum is open Saturday-Sunday from 2-4 p.m. Admission is free; donations accepted. Learn about the history that makes Pound Ridge the special town that it is.