Arts & Shopping

Naughty or nice? That's not the criteria we're using to choose gifts this year - we want our holidays to be green. We've looked around the Granite State and selected a few gifts that we thought would be good for…

Can music turn enemies into lovers? An Iranian chanteuse and an American soul singer cut an album that defies boundaries.Peace on Earth: three words that glow at night in city lights, rise on snowy rooftops, glisten on greeting cards and…

Cold and creamy!In a blind taste test our staff compared three N.H. farmstead ice creams from around the state. Here's what they thought.Connolly Brothers Dairy Farm Creamy and flavorful, it's no wonder that Connolly Brothers ice cream has won the…

What evil lurks in New Hampshire’s Lake Loon? Move over, Stephen King” — that’s what one reviewers said about Walt Schnabel’s recently released book, “Blood Club” [Surry Cottage Books, $14.99]. High praise, especially since the book is his first. Indeed,…

Nina Fox Herlihy of Rye works at bringing life to dead wood.Her creatures are derived from the twists of old limbs or the decay of weathered wood. As she says, “The form of the wood determines what I do with…

In time for the mid-term elections, O'Rourke ruminates anew on exactly why and just how badly politics stink.Politics is a familiar beat for Peterborough's P.J. O'Rourke, whose book titles alone ("Parliament of Whores," "Give War a Chance," "Age and Guile…

Featured Shop - Christine's, Rye.Since opening her first retail shop nearly 20 years ago, Christine McGill's store, Christine's has become a beloved fixture in Rye. Many of her customers have spent hours meandering the ever-changing multi-room shop loaded with furniture,…

New England in miniature.Milford artist MaryLyn Yonika gets all the details right in her stoneware candle houses - all just inches tall. Shutters, clapboards, chimney bricks and the weathered barn boards of classic Yankee barns are studied and reproduced in…

An 1820 wedding gift enjoyed by seven generations.Thank you for sending me an image of your chest of drawers. It is a terrific piece with a well-chronicled family provenance.According to your family documentation, combined with the pencil inscription on the…

Rich in Variety! In a blind taste test, our staff compared four N.H.-made cheeses perfect for impressing guests at your next holiday gathering.Landaff CreameryThe Landaff cheese from the Landaff Creamery is delicious and unique. The taste is mild but with…