Van Sandt Covered Bridge

Now’s the Perfect Time to Tour the Covered Bridges of Bucks County

By Ilene Dube | Photography by Josh Friedman

One of my favorite places for bicycling is on the Pennsylvania side of the Delaware River, along the towpath from Uhlerstown to Lumberville. We usually park at Bull’s Island, cycle up to Frenchtown, then cross the river, pass the iris fields, and reach the Uhlerstown Covered Bridge. This magnificent barn-red wooden structure with windows, about 100 feet long and a century and a half old, spans the canal – in fact it’s the only covered bridge that crosses the Delaware & Raritan Canal. Every time I approach, I feel as if I’ve taken a step back in time, to some idyllic era. My very own Brigadoon.

The Uhlerstown Covered Bridge received a recent facelift, thanks to a $2.5 million Bucks County expenditure to repair seven of its bridges. The bridge has been a subject for many an artist and photographer, including Josh Friedman of Yardley, Pennsylvania, whose photographs you see on these pages and are available as prints from his Etsy site. Friedman, who is also a psychotherapist, points his lens at bridges of all types, among other picturesque subjects. more

A Simple Update That Can Make a Big Impact

By Laurie Pellichero | Photography by Charles R. Plohn and Jeffrey E. Tryon

Royal blue, lime green, deep red, bright coral, or perhaps a shiny black. The right front door color can do much more than just create a great first impression for your home — it can also help boost its value.

Princeton is filled with beautiful and striking front doors in an array of colors, all adding to the appeal of the homes. According to a recent article in The Washington Post, curb appeal sets the tone for your home, and the entryway specifically helps to establish the mood, since it is the focal point of the exterior. The front door can reflect the personality of the people who live there, and telegraph to the world who they are.

While there are many popular front door colors, homeadvisor.com notes that, “the best front door paint color for your house will depend on a variety of factors. Some of these include the architectural design of your home, your personal taste, and the color of your house.”

The website points out that if you want to make your home look modern and sleek, front door colors such as black, lime, turquoise, eggplant, taxi yellow, and bright orange are recommended by designers for non-traditional homes.

Some of the best front door colors for traditional houses include jet black, classic red, slate blue, emerald green, dark gray, and pure white.

If you have a brick home, it is important to consider the tone of your brick to avoid clashing or more blending than you might like. Colors that go well with multiple shades of red brick include sage, black, navy, and light gray.

It’s also been said that some people associate characteristics with front door colors. Black might mean that you appreciate order, control, and simple elegance. Pink says that you are romantic, happy, and generous, and red says you are welcoming and enjoy attention. Orange means you like to entertain and enjoy a good challenge, while yellow indicates that you are logical, positive, and creative. With green, you value tradition and are ambitious, and blue says you enjoy peace and value truth.

Spruce.com notes that, in the principles of feng shui, your front door is one of the most important areas of the home and represents the face that you show to the world. It sets the tone for you and your visitors when entering the home, and it’s also the last thing you see when you leave your home to go out into the world. more

(And a Delicious Coping Mechanism)

By Wendy Greenberg | Photography by Jeffrey E. Tryon

Denis Granarolo arrives for work at Terra Momo Bread Company in Princeton when the usually-bustling Witherspoon Street is empty and dark. He goes home when everyone else is beginning to stir. The veteran baker is rarely seen. The bread is the star.

“I like bread because it is alive,” Granarolo says, leaning on the bench, or prep table, in the back of the retail space, a comfort spot like others’ living room chairs. Although making bread from scratch every day is a job — a job he does well — he found himself baking bread at home when the store was closed last year during the pandemic. “Even if you have nothing else, you have a piece of bread,” he says.

Bread takes time, he emphasizes, and he is concerned that others want to rush. “If there are too many shortcuts, the bread is bad,” he says.

Granarolo imparted this basic wisdom to Mercer County Community College students who attended a class at the bakery this fall. The culinary arts students aspire to be professional chefs or bakers, but Granarolo just hopes to infuse in them a respect for the process of baking bread. The four-hour class doesn’t really allow enough time to pace the bread baking, but they make do and have turned out delicious challah, baguettes, croissants, pullman loaves, and, recently, jalapeno cheese bread and cinnamon raisin bread. His own favorite? Baguettes, hands down.

Bread maker Denis Granarolo imparts his experience and knowledge to a Mercer Community Community College culinary arts student in a class held at Terra Momo Bread Company in Princeton. more