What’s New on Nantucket – Sept. 2014

Tiny Baskets Made of Gold

Pageo, the exclusive jeweler on Nantucket’s Main Street, is bringing golden lightship baskets back to our island. In 1977, Glenaan Elliott Robbins designed the first gold Nantucket Lightship Basket in miniature. It was an oval lidded basket with hand-etched scrimshaw and a tiny penny inside. The bottom was signed and dated. Over the years, Glenaan designed more miniature golden baskets: some with handles that swing and lids that open. Each one was designed with meticulous attention to detail.

“We’ve been on Nantucket for 20 years and for most of those years, there were two jewelers who specialized in these wonderful baskets,” explained George Pelz of Pageo. Since Glenaan closed her store, “people have been coming into our store asking for them.” So George his partner Pam decided to bring the baskets back to Nantucket. In their shop at 46 Main Street, you can choose from half a dozen styles, some open, some sporting miniature scrimshawed tops—baskets you can wear around your neck or on a bracelet. They make a wonderful shining memories of Nantucket.

Those Morning Glory Muffins!

Chef Pam McKinstry baked the first Morning Glory muffins in 1978 for her Sconset Cafe on Nantucket Island. The recipe was published in Gourmet in 1981, and in 1991 it was chosen as one of that magazine’s 25 favorite recipes from the past 50 years. Mention of these fruity muffins to people who remember them bring smiles! If you’re ready to bake and taste them for the first time and want to try more of McKinstry’s famous recipes, here’s your chance. Judi Hill is collaborating with Pam McKinstry to republish her Sconset Cafe cookbooks to sell at Hill’s of Nantucket on Straight Wharf.

Judi Hill and Pam McKinstry have been close friends for 35 years. Judi sold hundreds of the Sconset Cafe cookbooks when they were in print. People still stop by her gallery at 40 Straight Wharf, looking for copies. After years of discussing a reprint of the series, Judi began work this year on doing just that. And she’s keeping this a Nantucket project, collaborating with Peter Sylvia, owner of Poet’s Corner Press, to reprint this classic cookbook in its original format.

The cookbooks are expected to be finished late this month, starting with the first “Pink” edition, originally published in 1985. The price will be $24.99, and pre-orders of this limited run are being accepted now at the G.S. Hill Gallery, 40 Straight Wharf.