Nothing warms you on a winter day like a bowl of soup and a slice of crusty bread. But, especially around the holidays, not all of us have time to sink into making stock and chopping veggies. And soup to go can be an iffy proposition. ... Read more

Welcome to the holiday season — and to the Seven Days guide to gifts. Every Wednesday for the next few weeks, we’re offering ideas for just about everyone on your list. For greater variety, a different writer weighs in each week: same set of recipients, unique presents of mind. (Note: Some of these giftees are figments of our imaginations.)

And what do we want this year? Just for you to shop local, please and thank you.

Mother... Read more

The sun is shining in New Haven’s Evergreen Cemetery. The fall air is sweet. And six feet below Scott Baer’s feet lies Dr. Timothy Clark Smith, a man who was so afraid of being buried alive that his grave has a window. ... Read more

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Today’s Vermonters practically have a “shop local” gene in their DNA. We’ve bemoaned the stores that have shuttered their doors since the economy tanked in 2008, and we’ve been conditioned to bolster the independent businesses that still stand, lest they, too, someday leave us. But their fates may not be as dire as we fear. Like some bizarro alternate reality, many indie storefronts exist solely online these days. ... Read more

It’s tough to spend a Vermont winter single. These cold, dark nights seem made for cuddle buddies and crackling fires, and just when the daylight hours begin to make their slow comeback, February brings one last, cruel wallop: Valentine’s Day. ... Read more

Boy, if ever a year came with baggage, it’s 2012. The end-year of the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar is rife with doomsday predictions — and, though Mayans and modern scientists alike have largely dispelled those as myths, it’s still pretty heavy stuff to weigh on your mind this New Year’s Eve. We’d rather subscribe to British rapper Jay Sean’s more festive forecast in “2012 (It Ain’t the End)”: “We gonna party like, like it’s 2012 ...... Read more

Welcome to the holiday season — and to the Seven Days holiday guide to gifts. Every Wednesday through December 21, we’re offering ideas for just about everyone on your list. For greater variety, a different writer weighs in each week: same set of recipients, unique presents of mind. (Note: Some of these recipients may be figments of our imaginations.)

And what do we want this year? Just for you to shop local, please and thank you.... Read more

It was November 21, 1951. A distant cousin showed up in my grandparents’ driveway with a big bundle under his arm. In the kitchen, he unwrapped two things: a bottle of fancy liquor with fruit growing inside and a turkey.

“Tomorrow is a big holiday,” he told them. ... Read more