Mardi Gras 2015 at The New England Carousel Museum

Madri Gras also known as Fat Tuesday, refers to events of the Carnival celebrations beginning on or after Epiphany or King’s Day culminating on the day before ash Wednesday. Traditionally, this celebration reflects the practice of eating rich foods before the ritual fasting of the Lenten season, but today, there are many related popular events associated with this including parades, wearing masks and costumes.

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The New England Carousel Museum on 95 Riverside Ave. in Bristol Connecticut is hosting a Louisiana-style evening on February 7, 2015 from 7 pm – 11 pm. This festive evening promises to chase away the winter doldrums and features music and dancing in the magnificent Museum ballroom. Along with a 50/50 raffle and live entertainment, there will be wine and bourbon tastings, BYOB and food a plenty! The evening festivities will culminate in the crowning of a king and queen of the ball.

Tickets are on sale at the Carousel Museum or you may order them by mail or phone. RSVP by February 1, 2015 by calling (860) 585-5411. The cost is $50 per person and pre-paid tables of 8 may be reserved. For more information or to purchase tickets, please contact The New England Carousel Museum at (860) 585-5411 or email info@thecarouselmuseum.org.

MOMIX: The 35th Anniversary A Celebration of Company Favorites at the Warner Theatre

On Saturday, January 17, 2015 and Sunday, January 18, 2015 the Warner Theatre will once again welcome the irrepressible Moses Pendelton and the internationally acclaimed dancer-illusionists troupe, MOMIX, as they celebrate 35 years of presenting works of exceptional inventiveness and physical beauty.

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In this performance, the MOMIX 35th Anniversary Celebration features a collection of company and audience favorites, creating a show that breaks the bounds of the conventional and enters an aesthetic orbit all its own.
MOMIX is a company of dancer-illusionists based out of Washington, CT and under the direction of Moses Pendelton. Known internationally, MOMIX performs on stage world-wide and recently appears in nationally-televised commercials. With nothing more than light, shadow, props and the human body, MOMIX has astonished audiences on five continents for over 30 years.

Warner Theater
Warner Theater

Performances are Saturday, January 17 at 8 pm and Sunday, January 18 at 2 pm. Tickets start at $43 and are available by calling the Warner Theatre Box Office at (860) 489-7180 or online at www.warnertheatre.org

“Downton Abbey cooking classes” at The Silo

With the premiere of Season 5 of PBS’ enthralling Masterpiece miniseries, Downton Abbey, fans will be glued to their televisions for their next dose of crisis and intrigue. To celebrate the season kick-off, The Silo Cooking School at Hunt Hill Farm in New Milford is offering a “live” chance to experience some of the fun, culinary tastes and tradition of the post-Edwardian era depicted in the lives of the aristocratic Crawley family and their servants.

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On Saturday, January 10 at 6 p.m., and again on Sunday, January 11 at 11 a.m., the Silo is inviting both novice and experienced chefs to join Chef Catherine Felix for “Downton Abbey Dinner and Brunch.” The demonstration classes will feature an “Upstairs/Downstairs” menu based on the Downton Abbey series. Participants will dine on all the prepared courses.

Catherine is a Principal Chef for Unilever Foods, NA, with 25 years of experience in consumer product development. She has contributed to the success of numerous products such as Haagen-Dazs Chocolate Chip CookieDough Ice Cream, Wishbone Raspberry Hazelnut Vinaigrette, and the P.F. Chang line of frozen entrees. A former Food Editor of “Victorian Homes” magazine and 1980 graduate of Le Cordon Bleu, London, she has worked as a pastry chef, consultant, culinary educator and writer. She contributed the chapter on “The Wedding Breakfast” to Romantic Victorian Weddings, Then and Now and has appeared on numerous television food programs, including HGTV’s “A Christmas in Cape May with Kitty Bartholomew.”

Join Catherine as she discusses early 20th century table etiquette, and shares some of her collection of late 19th and early 20th century table-top antiques.

Saturday’s Downton Abbey Dinner includes: Cheese Straws; Oysters A La Russe; Ethel’s Salmon Mousse with Greens; Downstairs’ Lamb Stew; English Peas; Semolina Pudding; Lady Sybil’s Cake; and Crepes Suzettes.

Sunday’s Breakfast or Brunch menu consists of: Vichyssoise; Alfred’s Bouchees au Fromage – (Gougere with Cheese Filling); Lady Mary’s Post-Pig Rescue Scrambled Eggs; Mrs. Patmore’s Kedgeree; Shepherd’s Pie; Raspberry Meringue; and Creamy Rice Pudding.

The Silo Cooking School named Best Cooking School in Connecticut by Connecticut Magazine is located at Hunt Hill Farm, 44 Upland Road in New Milford. The school is part of the Smithsonian Institution affiliated Hunt Hill Farm Trust, a non-profit organization, which provides the public with diverse opportunities to explore the arts amid historic farm buildings and protected open space in the heart of Connecticut’s Litchfield Hills. The cost of the class is $90 per person. For more information and to register for the class, call (860) 355-0300 or visit http://www.hunthillfarmtrust.org. Registration is also available at The Silo during regular business hours. The Silo gallery and store are open Wednesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday, from noon to 5 p.m.

For more event information on Litchfield Hills visit http://www.litchfieldhills.com/events/index.jsp

“A Prairie Refrain” at Carole Peck’s Good News Cafe

Contemporary realist painter, Karl Hartman, will exhibit his new show titled “A Prairie Refrain” through January 27, 2015 at Carole Peck’s Good News Cafe and Gallery, 694 Main Street South, Woodbury CT.

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Hartman’s paintings focuses on his memories of the prairie landscapes that he grew to love and his evolvement with these landscapes as a geologist in Oklahoma, Texas and Kansas. Hartman describes this part of the United States as spare, quiet and infinitely dynamic, beautiful and terrifying all at the same time. In contrast to his painting of the plains, he is also working on drawings of Bergen County, New Jersey that reflect the tightly packed, crowded suburban local domestic world of this area as well as its occupants and their imprint on it.”

Karl Hartman was born in Billings Montana and grew up mostly in the plains states of Texas, Kansas and Oklahoma. He received his BS from the University of Oklahoma majoring in geology and minoring in art. He received his MFA in painting from the School of Visual Arts in New York where he studied with Sam Cady, Ursula von Rydingsvard and John Lees. He lives with his family in New Jersey and travels back to Oklahoma to see family, take photographs and sketch.

Karl shows at the Mary Ann Doran gallery in Tulsa, OK and the New Arts Gallery in Litchfield, CT. He has exhibited at the Kansas Museum of Fine Art in Wichita, KA, The Butler Institute of American Art in Youngstown, OH, The Charles A. Wustum Museum, Racine, WI. He has also shown at The Grand Central Galleries, The Adam Baumgold Gallery, and the National Academy of Design in New York as well as the Yoyogi School of fine art in Tokyo Japan.

His most recent award was the New Jersey State Council for the Arts Fellowship for painting. For area information visit http://www.litchfieldhills.com. For New Year or dinner reservations, contact Good News Cafe at http://www.good-news-cafe.com/

Voices of Poetry at Hunt Hill Farm – Comfort and Joy!

The Silo will present “Voices of Poetry / Comfort & Joy” on Sunday, December 21, 2014 at 2 p.m. This afternoon of original poetry and music – to celebrate the holiday season – will be held at The Red Barn at Hunt Hill Farm, Crossman Road, New Milford, CT. A “meet and greet” reception with the poets & musicians – with holiday desserts – will follow the program.

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The Silo will present “Voices of Poetry / Comfort & Joy” on Sunday, December 21, 2014 at 2 p.m. This afternoon of original poetry and music – to celebrate the holiday season – will be held at The Red Barn at Hunt Hill Farm, Crossman Road, New Milford, CT. A “meet and greet” reception with the poets & musicians – with holiday desserts – will follow the program.

There is an admission charge of $15 @ person for this program; and reservations are encouraged. For more information, and to reserve tickets, please call (860) 355-0300, visit www.hunthillfarmtrust.org, or e-mail info@hunthillfarmtrust.org. Reservations can also be made at The Silo during regular business hours. The Silo Gallery and Store are open Wednesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday from 12 to 5 p.m.

For more holiday event information www.litchfieldhills.com

About The Silo

Drawing on the creative legacy of Skitch and Ruth Henderson, the Henderson Cultural Center at Hunt Hill Farm, a Smithsonian Institution affiliate, is a vibrant and unique regional resource, offering the public opportunities to explore music, art, cuisine, and permanently protected historic open space.

About Voices of Poetry (VOP)

VOP was founded by poet and poetry activist Neil Silberblatt. Since 2012, VOP has presented a series of poetry and music events featuring distinguished poets and writers at venues throughout the state, including The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum in Ridgefield; The New Britain Museum of American Art; The Sherman Playhouse; Minor Memorial Library in Roxbury; Gunn Memorial Library in Washington; Ridgefield Library; Hopkins Vineyard; and Hartford Public Library. VOP also has presented poetry events to raise support for community organizations. Voices of Poetry / Thanks for the Giving events (in 2013 and 2014) raised more than $2,500 for Loaves & Fishes, New Milford’s community soup kitchen and food pantry. VOP hosts a Facebook “group” page which (at last count) had more than 1,900 members, including numerous poets and writers, editors, publishers, composers, musicians in all genres, professors, and fans of the printed, written or sung word.

Can you smell the gingerbread in Kent?

The sweet scents will tease your sense of smell as you enter the quaint village of Kent CT. The rolling pins are spinning and creative minds of all ages are working hard to create over 40 Gingerbread Houses. Ovens are filled to capacity and working overtime to get ready for the 3rd ANNUAL KENT GINGERBREAD FESTIVAL through Jan. 5, 2015.

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Gingerbread Houses of all shapes and sizes will be on display in over 40 beautifully decorated shop windows until the first week in January. As you approach Kent you will find yourself in what looks like a movie set of the perfect little New England town, twinkling lights will guide you through the unique one of a kind shops. What an enjoyable way to do your holiday shopping. Add to that, a little Naughty Gingerbread Man named FREDDIE and you have the recipe for the most exciting Holiday Destination in Connecticut.

FREDDIE and his crew of ten Gingerbread Bad Boys will be hiding out in the shop windows amongst the Gingerbread Houses. So bring the family and friends and put on your detective hats and gumshoes. Vote for your favorite Window Display and House and you can also enter for free to win a great prize. Download a Gingerbread Manhunt Walking Map to find FREDDIE and his girlfriend GINGER, the cute, hot & spicy Gingerbread Girl he rescued from the bakery. Even though FREDDIE has been NAUGHTY, while you are in Kent, you can complete your NICE shopping list, away from the crowded malls & parking lots. Here you will find smiling faces, and even get your gifts wrapped for free in most shops.

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Should you be hungry after your Gingerbread Manhunt Walk there are many temptations that will lure you, from a chocolate shop and baked goods to delicious culinary delights in one of Kent’s twelve restaurants & cafés. Join in the “Find Freddie Fun” and make Kent CT your Annual Holiday Destination.

For more holiday information and the latest on Freddie visit www.kentct.com and for holiday events in Litchfield Hills www.litchfieldhills.com