February 26, 2014 - ChaddsFordLive.com

Around Town Feb. 27

• It appears the opening of The Meat House is just about to happen. The interior is being prepped and proprietor Scott Gagnon anticipates the butcher/grocer store will open by March 1. The store is in the same area as the Walgreens at Route 202 and Beaver Valley Road, diagonally across from the Wawa.

• History comes alive through the special exhibition, N.C. Wyeth’s America in the Making. Visitors of all ages are invited to meet Benjamin Franklin impersonator Ralph Archbold, the official Franklin for the City of Philadelphia, from 11 a.m. to noon on Sunday, March 2. Archbold was designated the official “Ben Franklin” for America’s Constitutional Bicentennial and has appeared on the History Channel, in TIME magazine, USA Today, the New Yorker and the New York Times. In the spirit of Franklin, everyone is invited to make a kite. Free admission until noon.

• The Brandywine Battlefield Park celebrates Charter Day on Sunday, March 9 from noon to 4 p.m. Programs include a lecture by Gerald Kaufman, author of “British Invasion of Delaware” as well as re-enactors, a blacksmith, gunsmith and discussions on militia recruitment.

• The Kennett Symphony of Chester County, under the direction of guest conductor, Dr. Robert Spence, will present American Patchwork at its annual Children’s Concerts on Sunday, March 2, 2 p.m., at the International Cultural Center on the campus of Lincoln University and again on Sunday, March 9, 2 p.m., at Emilie K. Asplundh Hall, Phillips Memorial Building, on the campus of West Chester University. All tickets are $5 per person and seating is reserved. For complete information visit www.kennettsymphony.org or call the Kennett Symphony at 610-444-6363.

• The Delaware Center Horticulture says now is the time to start thinking about the garden and is offering a free workshop to inspire and educate gardeners to take their green space to the next level. The workshop is 6-8 p.m., March 4 and starts with a 30-minute staff-led workshop on getting your green space ready for the Wilmington City Gardens Contest on June 21. The second half of the evening features a free lecture and Q&A with plant expert Peggy Anne Montgomery of American Beauties. She’ll discuss plants that attract butterflies, great blooms, best fall color, and how to layout your green space for best visual effect.

• The Chadds Ford Art Sale & Show welcomes special guest Victoria Wyeth, granddaughter of Andrew and Betsy Wyeth, to the 65th annual show on March 21-22. Wyeth will lead a presentation that will provide insight into her family’s art and private collection on Saturday, March 22 at 11 a.m. The show’s Featured Artist is the nationally known American Realist painter, J. Wayne Bystrom. The Donating Artist is Shawn Faust, an award winning Brandywine Valley artist who creates magnificent oil paintings of horses, landscapes, and people. The event opens Friday, March 21 at 7 p.m. at Chadds Ford Elementary School.

• Delaware’s only professional school of art and design and the state’s only museum of natural history will team up this March for Nature’s Bounty: Nature-Inspired Art, a unique, curated exhibition showcasing work inspired by the natural world. The Delaware College of Art and Design will display work by students in a variety of media beginning Friday, March 7 and running through April 19 at the Delaware Museum of Natural History. The opening reception will be held from 5-8 p.m. on Friday, March 7 and will be part of the City of Wilmington’s Art Loop. The reception is free and open to the public. The work will be for sale to the general public.

• English culinary historian Marc Meltonville discusses the Chocolate Kitchen Restoration project, 6:30 p.m. on March 13 at Rachel Kohl Library on Smithbridge Road in Concord Township. It’s the story of Thomas Tosier, the chocolate-maker to Kings George I and III. Preregistration is required. Phone 610-459-2359.

About CFLive Staff

See Contributors Page https://chaddsfordlive.com/writers/

Around Town Feb. 27 Read More »

Photo of the Week: A Mid Winter Night’s Dream

Photo of the Week

It-Will-be-Warm-Again — Photo of the Week: A Mid Winter Night’s Dream

Soon there will be warm sunshine and lazy mornings on a favorite summer beach. If we say it often enough it will happen. Soon there will be warm sunshine and lazy mornings on a favorite summer beach. OK, everybody together now: Soon there will be warm sunshine and lazy mornings on a favorite summer beach.

About Rich Schwartzman

Rich Schwartzman has been reporting on events in the greater Chadds Ford area since September 2001 when he became the founding editor of The Chadds Ford Post. In April 2009 he became managing editor of ChaddsFordLive. He is also an award-winning photographer.

Photo of the Week: A Mid Winter Night’s Dream Read More »

Meat House Tips: Dry-aged steak

Home and Leisure

dry-aged-porterhouse — Meat House Tips: Dry-aged steak

Dry aging is a retro art form, from the simpler days of local butcher shops, poodle skirts and soda fountains. So naturally in our quest to revive the art of the neighborhood butcher, we’ve brought back dry-aged beef and made it available for everyone from, the adventurous chef to the inquisitive foodie.

In the 1960s, meat producers began “wet aging” beef, a process that does not result in the same buttery tenderness and rich beef flavor. Nowadays, real dry-aged steaks are often only found in high-end restaurants and select butcher shops. Lucky for you, we’ve brought this artisan process to your neighborhood butcher & grocer so that you too can experience the supreme flavor of dry-aged beef.

Process

The dry aging process for our meats begins with the finest premium loins, wrapped in cheese cloth and hung in a climate and humidity controlled room between 36 degrees and freezing. These cuts must be well marbled in order to ensure proper aging. While traditional dry aging takes 7-21 days, our dry-aged beef is aged for a minimum of 21 days and up to 45 days. During this process, enzymes break down and tenderize the meat and a bacterial crust forms on the outside of the cut. Before cutting for a customer, this layer is trimmed away, leaving a tender steak with super enhanced beef flavor. During drying, the beef’s juices are absorbed into the meat, reducing the weight by about 25-30 percent, but saturating the beef with flavor and tenderizing the cut.

Our Offerings

At The Meat House we offer at least three different kinds of dry-aged beef.

T-Bone and Porterhouse Steaks
Cowboy Steaks
Sirloin Strip Steak

Seasoning & Cooking

Because of the dry-aged steak’s concentrated flavor, simple herb rubs or marinades are the best way to bring out the best in your dry-aged steak. Heavy sauces and bolder spice mixes will drown out the natural complexities in these great cuts of beef.

We recommend cooking your dry-aged steak for 25 – 35 percent less time than a normal steak. This is because of the decreased amount of moisture in the steak. Also, use a meat thermometer to ensure proper doneness (130-135 degrees for medium rare, 140-145 for medium). The specific cut and thickness will also change the amount of time required.

Pairing

Because of the rich, buttery flavor of dry-aged steaks, they are best paired with full-bodied red wines. Wine connoisseurs and rookies alike will agree that their favorite Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir or Bordeaux complement these steaks’ bolder flavors.

Dry aging takes a great deal of time, knowledge and precision, but the end result is considered the best among steak connoisseurs. We must warn you that these retro cuts of meat have been known to bring about that “good ol’ days” feeling and leave you with a hankering for a chocolate milkshake and a night out at the drive-in…

About CFLive Staff

See Contributors Page https://chaddsfordlive.com/writers/

Meat House Tips: Dry-aged steak Read More »

Remediation plan set to clean up carcinogen

Local News

A remediation plan to clean up a cancer-causing chemical in Chadds Ford is ready for the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. So said Chadds Ford Township engineer Joe Mastronardo.

Mastronardo made the comment during a presentation on the hazard at the supervisors’ Feb. 26 workshop.

Chadds Ford Investors, the developer for the Wegmans’ project, and a previous property owner are funding the plan and the work to clean up soil and groundwater contaminated by tetrachloroethylene — also referred to as TCE — a carcinogenic compound used in the dry cleaning industry. The township has no financial responsibility for the cleanup.

The TCE came from the dry cleaner’s location on Route 202 across from Hillman Drive. That site is designated as part of the southeast leg of the loop road system around the intersection of routes 1 and 202.

The dry cleaner’s property was not on public sewer, and Mastronardo said the highest TCE concentration was found near the septic system. He added that the township’s goal is to get all commercial properties onto the public sewer system to help prevent such occurrences.

Monitoring wells have been dug in the area and the levels of TCE are what Mastronardo called “below human level” and that fish and wildlife are not affected.

Supervisors’ Chairman Keith Klaver previously said the contamination is contained and not spreading.

Chadds Ford Investors has retained RT Environmental Services of King of Prussia to draft and submit the plan to DEP and then perform the necessary work of removing the contaminated soil and transporting it to a secure site. RT will also submit periodic reports and the final report to DEP. That agency will monitor the work and decide when the site is clean.

Mastronardo said the full cleanup could take 14 months to two years and could delay use of a proposed green space that is to be the future home of the Chadds Ford Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

The township will not issue any certificates of occupancy for new retail buildings planned as part of the project, nor will it take dedication of the loop road until DEP gives its OK.

Mastronardo also said the timetable for the cleanup should not affect the timetable for building the supermarket. The developer hopes to have that built and open by Thanksgiving 2015.

About Rich Schwartzman

Remediation plan set to clean up carcinogen Read More »

No slam dunk for donuts in Concord, not yet

Local News

Dunking donuts in Concord Township could become a bit more convenient, but that depends on the supervisors there.

The board held a conditional use hearing Feb. 25 for a proposed Dunkin’ Donuts in the Concord Village Shopping Center at Route 1 and Cheney Road. The shop would go into the location vacated by the Concord Village Pharmacy.

Proposed with the store is a drive-thru window.

The restaurant and drive-thru are permitted in the C-2 Zoning District, but only with conditional use approval.

Engineer Matt Houtmann made the presentation on behalf of proprietor Diptesh Patel, who runs other Dunkin’ Donut shops in Aston and Upper Chichester.

There is no planned grilling, frying or baking on the premises. All items will arrive precooked from a corporate facility, then kept frozen until the store runs them through a warming oven or microwave.

With the addition of the proposed drive-thru, several parking spaces will be lost, but the total number will still be more than the minimum required for the shopping center.

Of concern to supervisors — as expressed by John Gillespie and Kevin O’Donaghue — is pedestrian safety related to the drive-thru area. The center is home to other retail establishments as well as district court. There is a great deal of foot traffic, especially on Thursday mornings when court is in session. Because of the layout of the center and the location of the court and the proposed doughnut shop, people could be walking to and from the court along the side of the building where the drive-thru aisle is located.

Planned operating hours are 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. seven days per week, with peak hours being 6-9 a.m.

The applicant may also need to apply for a sign variance for a menu board beside the drive-thru aisle.

No date was set for the board to announce its decision on the conditional use hearing.

About Rich Schwartzman

No slam dunk for donuts in Concord, not yet Read More »

Police Log Feb. 27: Terroristic threats; vehicle break-ins; unsafe speed

Police

• Mark Clark Howe, 56, of West Chester is accused of making terroristic threats after he allegedly threatened to shoot a woman in the mouth. Pennsylvania State Police from Troop J, Avondale barracks, said Howe got into a verbal argument with a woman in Pocopson Township on Feb. 25, when he threatened her. He was taken into custody and held in the Chester County Prison while awaiting a preliminary hearing.

• Between 2 and 7:30 a.m. on Feb. 21, unknown suspects broke into numerous vehicles parked at the Best Western on Route 1 in Concord Township and stole items from the vehicles. State police from Troop K, Media barracks, are asking anyone with information to call Tpr. Shanta Felder at 484-840-1000.

• Police cited a 23-year-old Garnet Valley resident with driving at an unsafe speed in connection with an accident on Smithbridge Road at Arbor Lane on Feb. 22. A report said Matthew D. Grayson was driving west on Smithbridge when he lost control on the icy road, left his lane of traffic and hit an eastbound vehicle. No injuries were reported.

About CFLive Staff

See Contributors Page https://chaddsfordlive.com/writers/

Police Log Feb. 27: Terroristic threats; vehicle break-ins; unsafe speed Read More »

Chester County Planning Commission to host  transportation meeting  

Along the Ford

The Chester County Planning Commission in partnership with the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission is developing a countywide Public Transportation Plan to guide transit operations and capital improvements in Chester County.

Chester County residents, transit users, project stakeholders, and the public are encouraged to attend a public meeting to be held at the Chester County Library and District Center in Exton (adjacent to the Exton Mall) on Wednesday March 5, from 6 to 8:30 p.m. This meeting was originally to be held on Feb. 5, however was postponed due to the weather.

Attendees will have the opportunity to offer their input towards desired improvements of public transit services in Chester County. Participants will be informed regarding the overall plan progress, analysis findings, potential performance measures, and draft recommendations, as well as the results of the 2013 Public Workshop held in April 2013 at the Chester County Historical Society. The meeting will be an open house format with a formal presentation starting at 7 p.m.

DVRPC’s Office of Transit, Bicycle, and Pedestrian Planning staff facilitated the first phase of the project, which entailed data collection, issue identification, and preliminary corridor prioritization. This work began late in 2012 and continued through the summer of 2013. The second phase of this plan – led by CCPC staff — is to develop goals and policies, define future transit corridors, and guide capital improvements throughout Chester County.

The Public Transportation Plan is targeted for completion in the summer of 2014. The County will then begin the process of adopting the plan as an element to Landscapes2, Chester County’s Comprehensive Plan. The adoption process is anticipated to be completed by the fall of 2014.

About Press Release

Chester County Planning Commission to host  transportation meeting   Read More »

Longwood Fire Co. receives FEMA award

Along the Ford

The Federal Emergency Management Agency of the Department of Homeland Security notified Longwood and Avondale fire companies that they are receiving a safety award.

Longwood was the host company for the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response grant. The $198,000 grant will be split between the two companies for recruiting new members and retaining current members.

“Our volunteers receive extensive training,” Longwood Fire Company Chief A. J. McCarthy said. “This federal grant will help us provide the best possible service for our residents.”

FEMA notified Longwood earlier this week.

The grant provides money for volunteer firefighters to receive incentive payments for obtaining additional training, providing dedicated station staffing to ensure quicker emergency responses and other fire company activities. New recruits are eligible for additional training incentives to offset loss of wages while attending training. The grant has a three-year performance period and requires a substantial amount of documentation.

Longwood Fire Company has served the communities of Kennett, East Marlborough, Pennsbury and Pocopson townships since 1921. Longwood Fire Co. provides fire and rescue and emergency medical services 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. For more information see www.longwoodfireco.com.

About Press Release

Longwood Fire Co. receives FEMA award Read More »

County helping small businesses affected by winter storms

Business

The Chester County Department of Emergency Services is issuing a reminder to all small businesses in the region that have suffered economic loss due to the ice and snow storms in February: If your small business has sustained substantial economic injury, regardless of physical damage, you may be eligible for financial assistance from the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA).

“Small businesses and agricultural cooperatives that have lost business as a result of the ice and snow storms between February 4, 2014 and February 15, 2014 may be eligible for the SBA’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program,” said Bob Kagel, Deputy Director for Emergency Management for the Chester County Department of Emergency Services. Substantial economic injury is the inability of a business to meet its obligations as they mature, and to pay its ordinary and necessary operating expenses.

In order to make available these Economic Injury Disaster Loans, Chester County must show that at least five Chester County businesses sustained substantial economic injury from the ice and snowstorms. “We’re asking small businesses in Chester County to complete and submit a form by March 7, 2014 to ensure funding will be made available,” added Kagel. “If we don’t get at least five applications, the SBA will not consider any loans for Chester County. ”

An Economic Injury Disaster Loan can help small businesses meet necessary financial obligations that the business could have met had the ice and snowstorms not occurred. The Loan provides relief from economic injury caused directly by the ice and snow storms and permits the business to maintain a reasonable working capital position.

The SBA provides Economic Injury Disaster Loans only to those businesses determined as unable to obtain credit elsewhere. The SBA can provide up to $1.5 million in disaster assistance to a business. This loan cap includes both economic injury and physical damage assistance. The loan amount will be based on the actual economic injury and financial needs. The interest rate on Economic Injury Disaster Loans cannot exceed four percent per year. The term of these loans cannot exceed 30 years.

For more information, and to complete the Economic Injury Survey form, visit www.chesco.org/des or call the Department of Emergency Services at 610-344-4335

About Press Release

County helping small businesses affected by winter storms Read More »

Free Your Space: De-clutter your brain

Home and Leisure

Ever try to listen to a report someone is giving in a meeting or to someone telling a story about their morning drive to work and find that you have to ask them to repeat the whole thing because your mind was elsewhere? Or perhaps you may just respond with a nod, hoping that the gesture will suffice for what you think they just said. Do you move the same item from one week’s To-Do list to the next, week after week, month after month, never really making any progress on it? Looking at the piles of paper and stuff around you, do you feel like you have not a clue of how to even begin to start addressing it all?

These things happen to most people, whether frequently or infrequently, at some point in our lives. It’s hard to get organized when the clutter that you’re battling is the clutter in your brain.

Although it is snowing (again) as I type, March is almost upon us and rest assured spring will come. And with it will come the motivation to begin tackling some of these worrisome distractions. It is with thoughts of warmer weather and increased adrenalin that I take the time to share a three-day strategy for preparing to overcome the mess, both within your head and without.

Day 1: Set aside 30 minutes to do a brain-dump. Use either a blank Word document on your computer or a paper planner or notebook to write down everything that’s on your mind that needs to be addressed as they come to mind and not in any particular order. This list can include things like “Send a sympathy card to Mary” as well as “Clean out car” and “Make dentist appointment.” Don’t waste time trying to organize your list. This is just an opportunity to get it all out of your head and de-clutter your brain by capturing all those pending thoughts in a place where you can look at them clearly. This method of collecting everything that is an “open loop” in your life is one used by David Allen, productivity guru and author of “Getting Things Done.” When you are done with this activity, decide on a 30-minute time period to look the list again tomorrow. I suggest your next session be in the morning around breakfast time.

Day 2: Review your list and add anything else that has come to your mind. Things like “Bring returns back to Macy’s” and “Plan summer vacation.”

Over these first two days, feel free to open your list to add any ideas that might come to you at random times.

Day 3: On day three, preferably at the same morning time, review this master list that you have created and choose items to put on this week’s to-do list. These items must be things that require one single action, for instance: if sending a sympathy card requires first purchasing the card, the action to put on your to-do list is “Purchase sympathy card,” while “Send sympathy card to Mary” remains on the master list. Similarly, if cleaning out the car requires having a bag for clutter removal, paper towels and cleaner, add bringing those items to the car to your to-do list. You may have had your returns on your list for months, but what is the next step that will help move it off your list? Do you need to find the receipt? Or maybe just put the bag in the car? Whatever that step is, add it to the to-do list. The point is to break down all of your tasks and goals into simple actionable items. Baby steps.

Now that you have your two lists, a master list to capture all the clutter in your head that distracts you from concentrating on tasks at hand, and a weekly to-do list of small action-oriented items you are armed with a clear mind, a comprehensive outline, and a workable to-do list. Sit back, breathe in a feeling of control and peace of mind, and check your lists again tomorrow.

* Annette Reyman is a member of the National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO®) and President of its Greater Philadelphia Chapter. To contact her for organizing work, professional unpacking, productivity support, gift certificates or speaking engagements call 610-213-9559 or email her at annette@allrightorganizing.com. Visit her Web sites at www.allrightorganizing.com and www.allrightmoves.com. Follow All Right Organizing on Facebook and Pinterest.

About Annette Reyman

Free Your Space: De-clutter your brain Read More »