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Gee, thanks, “Lockdown 2020.” Now, the size of my Mediterranean butt is paying the price.
I am obsessed with King’s Hawaiian sweet buns. In fact, I had never tasted them until the grocery store before Thanksgiving last year. They were on sale, so I took a package to add to my dinner menu where the classic turkey meal would be split into separate dishes and then delivered by car to my loved ones. Like other people, we didn’t vacation together at my house and were cautious about COVID-19.
But all it took was the taste of a beautiful, little roll, and I was hooked.
I stumbled across the sweet buns at Market Basket and thought they were on sale. Well the giant 24-person bundle wasn’t, but I walked out of the bustling grocery store last Saturday with them anyway.
I can reduce four or five in one session to 90 calories each, which is worth every yummy, fatty bite.
I guess there are worse habits, but sweet bread is a weakness for me and a COVID comfort food.
Most cultures have their own sweet bread. For example, pan de coco is a bun filled with grated coconut and sugar and eaten in Honduras and the Philippines.
There’s also Arany Galuska from Hungary with golden dumpling bread dipped in butter and rolled in a mixture of sugar and ground nuts.
During Greek Easter, we bake tsoureki or kloura, a soft, often braided sweet bread that has tasted like the popular Jewish challah bread and classic French brioche.
I love tsoureki so much that I have baked a few breads sometimes during the year when I’m not lazy and have time.
Is it a sin to eat tsoureki outside of Greek Easter? Damn if I know.
It’s no secret that food brings people together, and in friendly towns like Nashua and Lowell, both with proud melting pots, we have amazing dishes.
For example, Gate City has some 55 restaurants, bakeries, brasseries, cafes, diners and gourmet establishments in the city center alone. These include a wide variety of cuisines such as American, Brazilian, Greek, Indian, Irish, Italian, Korean, Mexican, South American, Thai, Vietnamese and more.
My Town also hosts a popular downtown Farmer’s Market in Main Street Town Hall Square from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sundays.
The rebound from the pandemic hasn’t been easy for anyone in the restaurant or bar industries, but Nashua and the rest of southern New Hampshire appear to be holding up. And alfresco dining has been a big help during these testing times, giving customers who might be uncomfortable eating indoors a safe alternative.
Another downtown economic boost is coming next year and will be located in the heart of the city.
The Nashua Performing Arts Center is currently under construction and when the state-of-the-art venue is completed, it will feature round theater, intimate unamplified performances, cabaret-style performances, open-air concerts and more.
The Nashua Performing Arts Center will bring additional bustle downtown with hungry people looking for a good meal and a place to drink and shop before looking for entertainment.
Having a city center within walking distance makes a difference, and our modern and widened sidewalks provide that welcome advantage.
However, the global pandemic still has the final say in city-wide events and is ruffling the feathers here. People yearn for a sense of normalcy.
This year’s 25th annual winter break walk that brings together thousands of people celebrating in Gate City from all over has just been canceled “in light of the current COVID situation in the city,” officials said recently. of Great American Downtown.
Perhaps the words of the late Ernest Hemingway can inspire:
“The night is always darker before dawn and life is the same, hard times will pass, everything will be better and the sun will shine brighter than ever.”
Until then, another King’s Hawaiian bun, please.
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