Williston Observer

By Kim Dannies

A leg up on lamb

The weather is brisker and it’s time to turn our merry-making indoors. For a cozy buffet, a grilled leg of lamb provides a stunning main attraction. I like to serve it with goat cheese scalloped potatoes, balsamic-glazed roasted beets and maple butternut squash. For a quick herb-infused sauce to serve on the side, I simply strain and boil the lamb marinade and add a bit of crème fraiche.

There is a special time-tested technique to grilling the somewhat unwieldy, yabba-dabba-doo leg of lamb. The meat is grilled for exactly 11 minutes on each side in a closed, medium-hot grill. The lamb is then removed from the grill and set to rest in sealed foil for 20 minutes and up to 2 hours. Because of the uneven terrain of a butterflied leg of lamb, this method yields a nicely charred exterior, and perfectly cooked slices in the rare to medium range — just enough variety to please the whole crowd.

What’s the best part of this meal besides the show-stopping food? The all-important do-ahead factor: grilled lamb is resting while the side dishes are popped into the oven before guests even come through the door. The scene is a warm welcome, intoxicating aromas and relaxed hosts — now that’s a leg up on hospitality anytime of the year!

Herb marinated leg of lamb

(serves 10 to 12)

Order a 7- to 8-pound butterfly leg of lamb (the bone is removed.) Place lamb in a large non-metallic bowl or double encase 2 1-gallon zip lock bags.

In a food processor mince 6 cloves of garlic. Microwave 1 8-ounce jar of mint jelly for 30 seconds; add to processor. Pulse 20 seconds. Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil; a fistful each of de-stemmed fresh rosemary and mint leaves; 1 cup Dijon mustard; 3 tablespoons soy sauce; and generous pinches of kosher salt and freshly ground pepper. Process 60 seconds. Pour the marinade over the lamb. Marinate lamb for 1 to 3 days, flipping occasionally to incorporate the marinade.

Heat grill to medium-high, then lower to medium hot when ready to grill. Strain marinade into a saucepan and simmer over medium heat for at least 15 minutes. Stir in 4 ounces of crème fraiche, and adjust for seasoning. Pour into a gravy server.

Grill lamb for 11 minutes on each side, turning with tongs, for a total of 22 minutes maximum (trust me.) Place grilled meat in a double layer of heavy-duty aluminum foil lining a cookie sheet and seal tightly. Lamb must rest at least 20 minutes before carving and will hold up to 2 hours.

Kim Dannies is a graduate of La Varenne Cooking School in France. She lives in Williston with her husband, Jeff; they have three college-aged daughters. For archived Everyday Gourmet columns go to kimdannies.com.

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Oct. 30, 2008

By Kayla Purvis

Muted votes

Only a small fraction of high school students are old enough to vote in this year’s presidential election, leaving a large number of students unable to take part in making changes.

The truth is that most high school students have opinions; we just can’t act on those opinions in the polling booths. We can voice them, talk about them, share them and even advertise them. We just can’t use them to vote. So, without a vote, do we still care? Should we care?

I say yes. Regardless of whether or not we get to vote in this election, our futures will be led by one of two leaders. Within the next four years, most of us that are in high school now will be either in college or beginning a career. Whoever our president may be is going to affect us no matter what. Our lives within the next four years are going to be impacted by whoever wins this election. That’s why we should care, even without a vote.

Some people who can vote simply don’t. I don’t really know why; I’m sure they have reasons, but my question is why not vote? So many people, like high schoolers, have opinions and know what they want … they just can’t do anything about it. If you’ve got a voice and the opportunity to have that voice make a difference, why not use it?

My history and English classes are combined every day, and the upcoming unit of study will be the election. My teachers realize that students have opinions, we have questions, and we want to be able to share them. Their goal is not only to educate us on some of the major issues, but also to give us a place to share our voices; they’re getting us involved.

Having the chance to vote is possibly the biggest and easiest way to get involved with the election, but those who can’t vote have to find other ways to be involved. I’ve seen some students wearing t-shirts that advocate for one candidate or another. And I’m sure we’ve all seen the signs planted on front lawns. But I think there are better ways than advertising to get involved.

Students should watch the presidential and vice presidential debates. We should also read or watch the interviews with both candidates. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to listen to questions that other people get a chance to ask each nominee, and hear the answers that are given. Chances are that if you have a question about or for one of the candidates, so does someone else.

If you have the chance and the opportunity to vote, you should do so. Because there are many of us who have opinions and have voices but can’t do much with them. We’re at an age where we know what’s going on in the world, and we have ideas and views that we want to be heard.

Williston resident Kayla Purvis is a sophomore at Champlain Valley Union High School.

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Oct. 30, 2008

By Katherine Bielawa Stamper

We the People

“I don’t even want to vote,” my friend Czesiek muttered under his breath as we passed a poster displaying candidates for Poland’s Parliament. “What’s the point? They’re all Communists. It’ll just be more of the same … corruption, propaganda, lies.”

Welcome to the electoral system of mid-1980s Eastern Europe. As a law student, Czesiek was intimately familiar with the text of the Polish Constitution which, on the surface, appeared a positive testament to citizens’ rights. In reality, it was a mere piece of paper, usurped by police-state tactics.

Had Czesiek “protested” by declining to vote, he might jeopardize his shot at getting a passport for a temporary stint in the West. He had a job lined up for the summer, working as a janitor in Amsterdam. He knew his passport request could be denied by the authorities for any reason, including voting abstention.

From the fuzzy annals of childhood memory, I remember my mom slipping on her shoes and coat after dinner to walk to the polling station down the street from our house. Dad would follow soon after. My parents voted in shifts so as not to leave my sisters and me alone at home at night.

As naturalized American citizens, Mom and Dad came from a communist nation where elections were not free. At least in America, there were distinct choices to be made regarding whether politics was about preserving privilege or creating opportunity for those willing to grasp it.

My parents voted solidly Democratic, believing these candidates would stand up for hard-working people who hoped for something better for their children. Politics was not a philosophical abstract in our family. Politics was about health insurance, fair wages and access to quality education.

Dad, having arrived in America a decade before my mother, cast his first presidential vote for John F. Kennedy, a Catholic from Massachusetts. My father went on to support Johnson, Humphrey, McGovern and Carter. Feeling the stress of taxes on his workingman’s wages, he temporarily jumped ship to become a Reagan Democrat, much to my dismay. As a college student, I measured a candidate’s worth based on his or her commitment to expanding educational opportunity to include students from less affluent families. Dad didn’t quite “get” that the Pell Grant, loans and Work-Study I received somehow made up for the fact he didn’t earn enough money to help me pay for school. We made our “political peace” in 1988, both casting ballots for Mike Dukakis.

Personal politics are often influenced by the families in which we were raised, the education we received and the political conditions we experienced. I was deeply affected by my blue collar roots and inspiring teachers who challenged me to think critically about a candidate’s words and actions. A study-abroad stint in a communist nation solidified my understanding of the importance of protecting civil liberties.

It’s not my place to tell you how to vote. It is my place to encourage you to vote and to vote your conscience. America is mired in an unceasing war on multiple fronts. Our financial system, as evidenced by the collective price we’re paying for unfettered greed and compromised regulation, teeters in uncertainty. Some folks right here in Williston — our neighbors — are experiencing food insecurity. One hundred jobs have been lost by the closing of Hinesburg’s Saputo Cheese as rumors of layoffs at other employers circulate. Williston witnesses the failure of one of its “big box” stores, collapsing into insolvency while leaving behind a hard-to-fill sarcophagus, a reminder of bloated expectations.

If you find yourself on the fence about whether or not to venture out on Nov. 4, please consider the following:

 If you’ve ever lived as a renter, you were denied voting rights until the mid 19th century.

 If you descend from immigrants, literacy tests were used to discourage naturalized citizens from voting.

 If you are a black man, you were denied voting rights until 1870 and yet, Jim Crow danced a discriminatory jig, conspiring with poll taxes and threats to keep you from the ballot box.

 If you are Asian, the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 explicitly denied your ancestors citizenship and, therefore, the right to vote.

 If you are a woman, remember your sisters who endured epithets and imprisonment to earn the privilege to cast their votes in 1920.

 If you live with a disability, polling places were not required to provide accessibility until the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990.

Wherever you may fall on the political continuum, get up, get out and vote. It really does matter. We the People so desperately need a new lease on American life.

Katherine Bielawa Stamper lives in Williston. Reader comments are welcome at [email protected] or [email protected]

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Oct. 30, 2008

By Tim Simard

Observer staff

Holiday shopping season it is not, but sales have come early to Williston this year as one of the town’s largest retail stores is going out of business.

Linens ‘n Things, a nationwide home goods retailer with a location in Maple Tree Place, is going out of business and currently having a massive liquidation sale.

The store sells merchandise for bed, bath, kitchen and home décor.

Richard Kaye, executive vice president with Hilco Merchants Resources, a member of a joint venture group that purchased the company’s assets, said Linens ‘n Things had been having financial difficulties for some time. Stores that were considered “underperforming” had been closed to consolidate assets. Kaye said there was a certain point when the company hoped to get rescue financing, but instead had to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in May.

An auction was held earlier this month to buy Linens Holding Co., the parent company of the home goods retailer based in Clifton, N.J. Kaye said the only bidder was a joint venture group of investors.

“Nobody else showed up at the auction,” Kaye said.

The joint venture group consists of Hilco Merchant Resources, Gordon Brothers Group, Hudson Capital, SB Capital Group LLC, Great American Group LLC and Tiger/Nassi Group. The group purchased $475 million in assets.

The venture group decided to sell off all inventory and the sale will be finished once every piece of merchandise and equipment is sold, Kaye said. Each Linens ‘n Things will close on its own once inventory is sold and employees will then be laid off, Kaye added.

Kaye expects the Williston sale to last six to 12 weeks, but perhaps closer to six weeks since the holiday shopping season is approaching. Currently, all items are on sale between 10 percent and 30 percent off. Kaye said there were no definite plans to reduce prices further and a price reduction is monitored on a daily basis. Kaye urged shoppers to come in early to get what they need before it sells out.

“From the consumer standpoint, it’s always better to come in earlier,” Kaye said.

Richard Golder, property manager for Maple Tree Place, said he did not know if there was any business interested in leasing the space. A message to the Inland Real Estate Group’s leasing office, which runs the Taft Corners shopping mall, was not returned in time for press deadline.

Kaye said the group would still own the brand name of Linens ‘n Things and would not rule out a future return of the company.

“If history repeats itself, the Linens ‘n Things brand could be back,” Kaye said.

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Oct. 30, 2008

A profile of Vermont House candidate Shelley Palmer published in the Oct. 16 edition of the Observer (“House A profile of Vermont House candidate Shelley Palmer published in the Oct. 16 edition of the Observer (“House candidates outline positions: Palmer critiques business as usual”) stated the wrong year for his simple assault conviction. He was convicted in 1997.

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