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Your guide to the best New Year’s Eve in Boston

Published Thu, 06 Feb 2025 12:01:35 GMT

Ready to put in a full eight-hour work day of dancing, laughing, cheering, desperately trying to stay warm, and having a glorious New Year’s Eve? Ready to spend very little money doing it? Great, everything on this agenda is free unless otherwise noted. (More details and directions at  firstnightboston.org)4 p.m., Improv Asylum, North EndHow’s your 2023 been? Don’t let the door hit you on the way out, right? End with a laugh. This New Year’s Eve show from Improv Asylum is designed for kids between the ages of 5 and 14 but older folks will find plenty to guffaw at. Fun and funny? Yes, and complimentary hot chocolate!5 p.m., Lizje, City Hall PlazaColombian/American singer and songwriter Lizje will get your blood pumping with a blend of Latin jazz and modern pop. Go spin her single “Más de Paz,” and tell me she won’t warm your heart and head.6 p.m., Frog Pond Skating Spectacular, Boston CommonExpect loads of loops, flips, axels, salchows, and maybe even a lutz or two. The Skating...

Chicken, meet garlic

Published Thu, 06 Feb 2025 12:01:35 GMT

It’s easy to see why a recipe that starts with 40 cloves of garlic might appear suspect. Most recipes that include garlic call for somewhere between two and six cloves, so 40 would seem like an insane amount. Trust me, it’s not.Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic is actually a classic Provençal dish, first made popular on our shores by famed food writer James Beard, who insisted that you count out the cloves to ensure you were using the correct number.Once you try it, you’ll immediately understand why Beard didn’t want anyone to skimp on the star ingredient.Cooking the whole cloves slowly, alongside the chicken, takes all the bite out of them and turns them soft and sweet. They’re perfect for spreading, like butter, onto good-quality bread.This recipe starts by boiling the garlic cloves briefly in water, which accomplishes two things: It helps to easily peel the cloves and it starts the cooking process for them.Chicken thighs are sautéed skin-side down in ...

Bold citrus flavors brighten up winter days

Published Thu, 06 Feb 2025 12:01:35 GMT

In the dead of winter, citrus gives our plates one big zap of color and flavor. We deserve this in excess.Citrus salads with their sweet-tart flavors are an anecdote to the rich foods that define the holidays. There are no hard and fast rules for making these; just use what looks best at the market and be choosy.Look for citrus fruits that are firm and heavy for their size, avoiding any that are scarred or wrinkled. Store them in plastic bags in the refrigerator, where they’ll stay fresh for about two weeks.The easiest way to peel the larger oranges and grapefruits is to cut off both ends to create a flat surface. Place one cut end on the cutting board and then use a sharp knife to slice as close to the pulp as possible, working off the skin in strips and removing the bitter pith. Don’t worry if a little of that pith is left behind. Trim the fruit and then slice into wheels or sections by cutting between the membranes.Time allowing, prepare the fruit the night before and...

Gaskin: What about Palestinians seeking equality & peace?

Published Thu, 06 Feb 2025 12:01:35 GMT

Following the brutal Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas and the accompanying chants of “From the river to the sea!” and “Intifada!” some worry that the world will forget Palestinians’ legitimate complaints about discrimination.Since Oct. 7, it’s gotten worse in Israel; the West Bank has experienced increased settler violence, and life in Gaza has become horrific. Palestinians fear their concerns will be lost in the discussion about Gaza, Hamas, and Hezbollah. Some Israeli Jews acknowledge the inequities but argue that it’s necessary for national security. This has created a negative feedback loop where discrimination fuels hatred and animosity, which further threatens national security, which leads to more discriminatory policies, and so on.When I discussed discrimination against Palestinians with American Jews, many seemed uninformed and instead pointed to examples of equality such as the right to vote. Even this is not completely accurate as Palestinians living in the West Bank can’t v...

Up your baked pasta game with manicotti

Published Thu, 06 Feb 2025 12:01:35 GMT

Manicotti, a large, ridged, tubed pasta, is typically stuffed with either a ricotta or meat filling, covered in red sauce and more cheese and baked until bubbly. It’s a seriously satisfying dish that hits all the comforting notes you’d expect in a baked pasta.While the traditional version of this iconic Italian dish is one of my all-time favorites, I think I might like this flavorful, ultra-creamy chicken and spinach version even better.Using whole-fat cottage cheese gives the filling a smoother, creamier texture with none of the graininess you sometimes find with ricotta. And, of course, adding a splash of cream to the marinara sauce dials up the level of luxuriousness.While it’s not difficult to use a small spoon to stuff the pasta tubes, I find that the job is even easier with a large plastic piping bag, like the ones you would use for cake or pastry decorating bag. I just cut a hole slightly smaller than the opening of the pasta tube and pipe the filling inside...

Norquist: Why 2023 was a great year for Republicans

Published Thu, 06 Feb 2025 12:01:35 GMT

This was a great year for Americans who value a strong America, liberty, lower taxes, more jobs, and better education for all children.At the national level, we have suffered through three years of Bidenomics: wasteful spending, corrupt subsidies, inflation, special interest regulations and job-killing taxes. We have learned what Bidenomics means. How much Bidenomics cost middle America. How it drives inflation.In the 50 states, we saw Republican-governed states create better government at lower costs. Americans noticed the difference: More and more are moving from expensive blue states to growing red states.This year follows two lousy years for all Americans. In 2021 and 2022, the Democratic Party controlled the House, Senate and White House. They ran riot.Bidenomics was imposed on America. Taxes increased. Spending pushed up by trillions. Democrats promptly shoveled tax dollars to corrupt corporate “climate” subsidies. These were favors for the few. The national debt grew.The spen...

The Real Deal: Discounts at Gunstock

Published Thu, 06 Feb 2025 12:01:35 GMT

Holiday weeknight skiing lift tickets at Gunstock Mountain Resort (https://www.gunstock.com/) in Gilford, N.H., comes in at just $69 for adults and $52 for kids as well as anyone 60 and up (up to five years old skis free). Nice price, but here’s the real deal:  For night sessions, equipment rentals are free with your lift ticket, saving you $49.

OBF: Sports wagering embraced by Mass. bettors

Published Thu, 06 Feb 2025 12:01:35 GMT

There was a “betting riot” at Fenway Park in 1917, a point-shaving scandal at Boston College 45 years ago, and a bookmaker never more than two phone calls away in Massachusetts for decades before legal sports betting launched here earlier this year.Little wonder why legal sports betting went from $0 to $4.313 billion in Massachusetts during 2023.The state’s legal retail and online sportsbooks have generated $4,313,764,999.06 in handle through Nov. 30. Retail sports betting began in Massachusetts on Jan. 31. Mobile and online betting launched on March 10.You may have seen a few (thousand) TV commercials about it.The state’s retail and online sportsbooks have posted an adjusted gross revenue of $410,638,372.68 and paid $81,788,017.40 to the state in taxes.As we noted last week, the (State) House always wins.With $81.7 million in taxes collected after just 265 days of mobile betting, the state has crushed its high-end estimate of $70 million in sports betting revenue in Year 1.How did ...

Family bonds over time on mountains

Published Thu, 06 Feb 2025 12:01:35 GMT

There are few things Molly Garcia of Plymouth savors more than a day out on skis with her 11-year old son James.They grabbed first tracks on opening day at Bretton Woods this season – a family favorite – and they intend on getting many more days in.That said, Garcia shares, her decision to carve out time for skiing sometimes gets pushback from others. In the current parenting world of busy, busy and dedicated to teams, she said, many of her fellow parents question her choices.But she’s solid with those decisions, she said, and the proof comes via her son, who loves skiing with her and in general.It’s not that she’s not a team sport person. She ran track and played field hockey – even playing for Colgate in college. But even with that, the world allowed time for other things, like skiing for her. She’s thankful for that history. Her son plays basketball (as well as golf) on teams with schedules that allow space for other things. While many of his friends are on regional travel teams,...

Ski Wednesday: Getting kids involved in sport is a lifetime gift

Published Thu, 06 Feb 2025 12:01:35 GMT

There’s a big hurdle to raising a ski family today: The now norm of hyper-scheduling of kids and their activities makes the notion of grabbing a few ski days with the family (never mind choosing to partake for an entire season) seem nearly implausible.While this is all, of course, done with a goal of fun, learning and health, this lifetime skier who grew up back in a time (insert “Get off my lawn!” vibe here) when you could be on a school winter sports team and still have most of your weekends free is here to take a perhaps controversial stand: letting your kids miss a soccer/cheerleading/hockey/semipro paintball/whatever it is they are signed on to do here and there event to get out on snow is a worthy choice.I”m here to suggest (OK, urge): Fight the hyper-scheduling and throw some ski days into the mix. To me, it’s good for your child, your relationship and their future.And yet, more and more, friends tell me they cannot get their kids out skiing because of other sports, because t...