Welcome Once Again!

I hope your week was filled with more comfortable sleeping, though I forget that many of you reading don’t have nothing but octagon and hand-crank windows like we do in our bedroom. My wife and I have gotten used to “hot sleeping.” Maybe it’s the next healthy activity like “cold plunging.” I won’t hold my breath. Enough sweaty sleep talk, let’s get to the weekend’s stuff…

We Shot a Pilot for a TV Show

I’m not going to lie: this was a dream come true… and scary as words-I-shouldn’t-say-in-this-newsletter. I’ve always been a massive pop culture kid - obsessed with media. Not using it… but making it. I’ve always made “TV shows.” Just ask my family, I’m sure at times it got old being chased around by some assortment of video cameras while dad was acting weird. But I always had a dream to host my own food/travel show.

I had a couple people with ties to LA LA land tell me I should turn South Shore Stuff into a TV show. And I had a vision of that too. Restaurants light up when we shoot. We don’t mean to make a scene but people notice, get interested, and I love what I do so much that I show people and get people involved. I seriously love it, it becomes a zoo sometimes!

So the vision is: me hosting a show ala Diners, Drive-Ins, & Dives or Man vs. Food or some show on HGTV or something. I’m that loud host. The show would look kind of like those other shows too - BUT - the whole time you’re watching the show and I’m hosting, I’m also shooting one of my videos… during the episode!

At the end of the episode you see the video I shot - an episode inside the episode if that makes any sense. The vision is that the main show would resemble what you’re used to seeing on Travel Channel and Food Network… but the vlog at the end is full of heart and different kinds of shots.

We faced audio problems and a couple other hurdles but I really love the way it turned out, all things considered. Now people are shopping it around and we wait.

Oh yeah, here it is. I’d love to know what you think of it! It’s just under 7 minutes. And big thanks to Vitamin Sea for being up for this! I love them so much. ❤️

3 THINGS! - Cool Stuff Going on this Weekend on the South Shore

34th Annual Great River Race - Sunday 10a-2p - Bridge St Canoe Launch, 67 Bridge St Norwell - This awesome 7.5 mile race starts at Bridge Street Canoe Launch in Norwell and ends at Indian Head Road in Hanover. Any type of non-motorized water craft is eligible to enter the Race – even stand-up paddle boards! There is also the “Best Decorated Boat or Boater” division for the less serious, but creative paddler. (FREE to watch, Sign up to participate HERE)

1st Annual Buzzards Bay Food Truck & Craft Beer Festival - Saturday noon-5p - Featuring some of the area's most popular food trucks dishing out fan favorites such hot fresh mini donuts, whole hog roasted pork sandwiches, Indian cuisine, sweet & yummy cannolis, all beef hotdogs, fresh squeezed lemonade and more! Offering regional and national brews. (DETAILS)

THE MARSHFIELD FAIR - The fair is in the air! The Marshfield Fair runs August 16-25th this year. Go eat some crazy fried things then spin to your heart’s content - get all the info HERE.

Kristin’s Sweet Treat Recipe o’ the Week:

My wife Kristin makes some of the best sweet treats I’ve ever tasted. So every week we’ll feature one of the recipes she’s trying and loving. If you try one of these recipes let us know what you think. Kristin would love to hear!

This week it’s…

Tomato and Mozzarella Tart - it uses pie crust so can we count it as a sweet treat?!

This recipe is a good one! So good that I included it as the sweet treat of the week even though it’s very obviously savory. But… yo.

We have a pretty tightly scheduled tradition in our house on Sundays. Everybody rolls out of bed when they do, I’m the early bird so I head to my studio in the basement and do my national radio work. Kristin gets up and usually takes the dogs for a walk. Then we meet around 9am for Sunday morning followed by whatever’s on Food Network until we motivate to do something with the day. This recipe comes from one of our Sunday routines. Molly Yeh made it and I’ve always felt a little connection to her because I think I heard her once say she was from Vermont which is where I grew up… or something about Vermont.

[EDIT: I just checked the web and she’s from Minnesota. I guess I just assumed she was from Vermont since she hosts Girl Meets Farm? I guess I assumed all farms are in Vermont or something?! Oi. Well her tart is still a banger.]

It’s really simple but my gosh is it good. Kristin made this and two desserts one night. The desserts were wildly good as always - but - people couldn’t stop talking about this tart. It’s fresh ingredients… but tasted as good, if not better than, any homemade pizza I ever tried cranking out.

Try it out! The recipe is HERE. Write us back on this Newsletter and let Kristin know how it turned out. She’d love to hear from you!

3 Questions with…

STACI FROM STACI’S STITCHES IN SCITUATE!! I’m not sure if Staci knows it but she was a VIP to both myself and Nana (Kristin’s mom). To me because she was a very early business to let me come in and make a video promoting her amazing yarn shop (and so much more). I shot on my cell phone then and Staci was so kind and really helpful. Later, when Nana moved to the area and didn’t know anybody, she would go to Staci’s Stitches for her knitting needs and Staci made Nana also feel like “she knew somebody.” Thank you times two, Staci! And yarn is hot right now!! Go see Staci, you’ll love her too.

1) What would you recommend as a good gateway project for somebody who’s thinking of getting into stitching?
The best project to start knitting or crochet with is a scarf! Something simple, flat, repetitive that would be perfect for practice.

2) What is the biggest yarn project you’ve ever completed?
The largest project I ever completed was a cabled crochet Afghan. It had 6 different types of cables, king sized, took over 3 months to make and over 4000 yards of Aran yarn!

3) What’s your current go-to South Shore dish? (Restaurant, dish, and why)
I’m a dessert girl so my favorite in Scituate is the Sweet and Salty from my friend Michelle at Mill Wharf. Carrot cake, cream cheese frosting with chocolate covered pretzel and caramel. Robin at Oro is a close second. In the fall his Corn chowder with homemade bacon and clams is my absolute favorite.

Thank you Staci! Go visit her website HERE. And go buy all the yarns here:

Have you gone to Mima’s yet??

HUGE recommendation: Mima’s Cuban Cafe in Rockland! In Cuba “Mima” is an affectionate name for the matriarch of the family. In this case “Mama” is Abby! She and her husband Hector own Mima’s and maaaaaannnnn are they doing it right!! The sign out front says it all: “We don’t serve fast food, we serve fresh food as fast as we can!” The wait wasn’t long… and it was worth every second. It’s a family affair at Mima’s. It’s only been open for about a year and I have no problem saying that it’s definitely one of the South Shore’s best new restaurants. Watch our visit, then go get your own empanadas. lol

South Shore Stuff Now Offers Video Services for Businesses & Personal

Everyone needs video right now. Whether you’d like a sizzle reel about your business or video and photo coverage of your next event, we can help!

I’m making videos for all sorts of businesses right now - THANK YOU! But I really want to buckle down and help a small handful of businesses on a regular basis to achieve big goals with creative video. These will be my “projects” and businesses I will work closely with to continue to focus on areas that could use the help, as well as branding, place in the market, and - well - converting to make more money. I’m looking for a few more businesses who vibe with me and I vibe with them. If you’re a business owner and you’d like to chat, respond to this newsletter email and let’s talk!

See you next weekend! I appreciate you spending a little time with us this weekend. Now go and make the South Shore a better place! Be cool to each other… we’re all lucky to be here!