"massachusetts" news and stories

Sausages in the case at Karl's Sausage Kitchen in Saugus, MA. From Flickr user kaszeta's Flickr.

I'm posting images of sausage counters the world over each weeknight (and occasionally weekend) witching hour until I run out. Please use the comments section to post links to your Flickr or personal site faves, and perhaps you'll see 'em posted here late some evening.

Previously-- Midnight Sausage: Brooklyn, NY

Listeria is being blamed for the deaths of two elderly men in Massachusetts.

The listeria was traced to a Shrewsbury, MA company called Whittier Farms. Two other people have gotten sick. Authorities are telling customers to throw out all Whittier Farms products that they might have in their homes. The brand names included in the notice are Whittier, Balance Rock, Spring Brook, Maple, and Schultz.

Listeria is often found in products such as cold cuts and hot dogs but can be found elsewhere as well. Many of us eat some form of listeria every year but we're not affected by it.

Brookline, MA has voted to stop using trans fats in their restaurants and schools.

The city becomes the third in the country to ban trans fats (used in frying and baked goods), along with New York City and Philadelphia. Boston and Cambridge are thinking about doing it as well.

Did you know that states have "official" foods. Yup, and Massachusetts is no exception. The foods include Boston Cream Pie, cranberries, baked beans, chocolate chip cookies, and corn muffins (corn muffins?).

Gridskipper takes that list of foods and tells us what restaurants in Boston serve the best ones. For example, though Boston Cream Pie was invented at the Omni Parker House Hotel (also home of the Parker House Rolls), you can get the best one at The Oak Room at the Copley Plaza Hotel. For beans, head on over to the Blue Ribbon BBQ. They're not traditional baked beans, but they're great (and I can vouch for this place - best BBQ I've ever had. If they were closer to my house I'd probably eat there twice a week).

[thanks to Jade Walker]

The name of this dessert immediately grabbed my attention. It's pumpkin pie...in fudge form!

It's a decadent dessert available at The Fudge Bar in Quincy, MA and at their second location at Logan Airport in Boston. It's $11 a pound at the former and $12 a pound at the airport, and I have no idea why the prices are different.

There's one thing I'm not clear on though. This is "fudge," but it's pumpkin-colored. The article says that the ingredients include cinnamon, ginger, and pumpkin, but doesn't mention any fudge or chocolate. Does fudge only become fudge when their is fudge introduced, or can fudge be fudge without being chocolate-oriented? From the pic it doesn't appear that there is any "fudge" (as I know it) is included, though it looks like it has the consistency of a fudge-based dessert.