Josh Kilmer-Purcell's Blog, page 108

Prepping the Spring Garden, Part 1

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I've got a bad case of the winter blues.  Even enchanting flower gardening magazines and catalogues aren't helping.  At this time of the year I feel like a ship's captain scanning the horizon for land – except I am searching for small green shoots.  The minute I see something green I'll scamper out for a closer inspection; head down, rump up.  If it is a weed, I'll pull it out in disgust but, ahhhhh, if it is one of the survivors from our crazy winter, then I'll give it a thumbs up and whisper "Carry on".

I expect a lot from my gardens.  I practice tough love, refusing to pamper 'prima donnas', and you should too.  By taking some simple steps in spring, I can have healthier, better-behaved gardens the rest of the year.  Below are two of my tried-and-proven tricks for jump-starting beautiful gardens.  My next four blogs will share additional high-payback tips.

As soon as the snow melts and the ground warms up I do two things, weed and feed….and I'm not talking Scott's chemical Weed and Feed product.

Early spring is the perfect time to get a jump-start on weeds.  You've probably heard the saying, 'A weed in time saves nine', but this truth is 'exponentially increased' if weeds are 'subtracted' before their 'multiplication factor' kicks in.  Depending on how fast warm weather arrives, late March is when perennial weeds start waking up and annual weeds begin germinating from nasty little seeds.  Attack while you have the advantage.  Hand weeding is easier while the soil is still moist from winter snows. A stirrup hoe (or circle hoe) can also be used to sever green tops from their roots.  With either method, try to disturb the soil as little as possible.  The more soil turned over, the more dormant weed seeds that are brought to the surface, germinating as reinforcements.  If you want to use a post-emergent weed killer (organic of course) then Burnout II, Nature's Avenger and EcoSmart Organic Weed and Grass Killer are good choices.  Just be sure not to spray any 'good guys' (perennials, bulbs, etc.) or the result will be the same, dust to dust, so to speak.  Organic pre-emergent weed killers that target seeds usually include corn gluten.  Popular product lines are Concern, Espoma, Bradfield Organics and WOW.  In your enthusiasm to eliminate weed seeds, remember that corn gluten does not distinguish between a crab grass seed or a flower seed….they are both toast.  Whatever your method for early weed eradication, afterwards apply a nutrient-rich mulch such as aged compost, manure or finely shredded wood, to keep weeds at bay.

Fertilizing gardens in spring makes a huge difference.  I am quite frugal when it comes to fertilizing.  Most plants really don't need the constant feeding that many advertisers suggest.  But as with children in a growth spurt, supplemental nutrition as plants break dormancy, can make a noticeable difference.  The fuel required to generate new stems and leaves is stored in dormant roots, the result of the prior fall's photosynthetic activity.  As temperatures rise in spring, plants surge into new growth.  A gentle, organic supplement at this time can create head-turning results later in the season.  This is especially true if last fall the gardens were stressed by lack of water, abundant weeds that robbed ornamentals of nutrients, or an untimely shearing (cutting gardens back too early thereby sabotaging next year's food reservoir).  When applying granular fertilizers in spring, be sure none settles on leaves or they may burn.  The fastest and easiest way to put down fertilizer is when it's about to rain. That way any granules that landed on leaves will be washed off to waiting roots below.  Follow package directions for application rates.  Some good organic fertilizers include Espoma (www.espoma.com), Gardener's Supply Company's All Purpose Fertilizer 5-5-5 (www.gardeners.com) and North Country Organics (www.norganics.com).

 

Kerry Ann Mendez is a lecturer, designer, writer, consultant, and the owner of Perennially Yours, a business specializing in low-maintenance perennial gardening and landscaping.  Mendez also recently published two top-selling gardening books: The Ultimate Flower Gardener's Top Ten Lists and Top Ten Lists for Beautiful Shade Gardens. To learn more, please visit www.pyours.com or call (518) 885-3471

Mary and the Kids

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Mary Beekman is a four-year-old ghost who resides in The Beekman Mansion, and considers Brent and Josh her "imaginary friends." Follow Mary Beekman's Diary to learn what it's like to be a young child in early 19th century America

I have a long lesson to learn today.  It is in my spelling book and Mother wishes me to learn it by the end of this day. I hope I can learn it quickly because it is warmer today and I wish to go to the barn and see the new baby goats that were born early this morning.  They are called kids.  I find them to be such good company.  When they nibble on my fingers it tickles.  If I look closely into their eyes, I can see my face looking back.  I think they smile at me.  It has been very windy and cold but Father said that I may go to the barn if I wear my warmest cloak.  Josh and Brent have been out to see them already.  They came running to the house and up the stairs calling my name.  But I must memorize  my lesson before Mother will allow me outside.  Brent is trying to be patient and Josh is wiggly.

Josh and Brent simply must help me to learn my lesson.  No one can see them or hear them .   I can, because they are my dearest friends.  I have to recite my lesson……….. saying it out loud helps me to remember.  I will recite my lesson to Josh and then Brent. No one will know I am speaking to them.

 

Q.  What is mercy?

A.   It is tenderness of heart.

Q.  What are the advantages of this virtue?

A.  The exercise of it tends to happify every one about us.  Rulers of a merciful temper will make their

good subjects happy; and will not torment the bad with needless severity.  Parents and masters will not abuse

their children and servants with harsh treatment.  More love, more confidence, more happiness, will subsist among men, and of

course society will be happier.

Q.   Should not beasts as well as men be treated with mercy?

A.   They ought indeed.  It is wrong to give needless pain even to a beast.  Cruelty to the brutes shews a man has a hard

heart; and if a man is unfeeling to a beast, he will not have much feeling for men.  If a man treats his beast with

cruelty, beware of trusting yourself in his power.  He will probably make a severe master and a cruel husband. *

 

I do not think I would ever have a cruel husband.  I think it impossible that a man could be cruel to his animals.  Father takes very good care of the animals on this farm.  They have the very best food and care.  Josh and Brent shook their heads when I recited the end of my lesson speaking of "needless pain even to a beast."  They are kind to every living thing.

*The American Spelling Book by Noah Webster

Foolproof Homemade Mayonnaise.

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Josh's late Uncle Bob lived in France and could make delicious homemade mayonnaise utilizing nothing more than olive oil, an egg yolk, a fork, and a few magic flicks of his wrist. Most everyone who lives in France can do the same. They're special people who God blessed with a genetic ability to emulsify egg yolks at the drop of a beret.

The rest of us are doomed to fail miserably seven out of every ten times we attempt to make our own homemade mayonnaise. It's in the Bible somewhere. Trust us.

Until now.

We recently discovered the most foolproof way to make homemade mayonnaise that turns out perfectly every time. No more broken emulsions. No whisking endlessly, futilely. All one needs are the ingredients, an immersion blender, and one minute.

If you check out most homemade mayonnaise recipes, you'll find instructions for room temperature egg yolks, and slowly drizzling olive oil while whisking with the other hand, and adding the flavorings at different stages…forget all that. Here's all you need to do.

In the cup that came with the immersion blender (or any tall narrow glass in which the immersion blender fits all the way to the bottom) add the following ingredients. The only order that matters is that the egg goes in first:

2 egg yolks (Don't worry if some white gets in. Contrary to what you've been led to believe, it doesn't matter in the slightest with this method. Of course you can always use the leftover egg-whites to make meringues…also like the french do.)

1.5 cups of oil. (We use mostly olive oil with a little canola. But if you don't love a strong olive taste, you can use any ratio of any oils.)

1 Tblsp lemon juice

1 tsp vinegar (Any kind will do, but usually a light-colored variety looks better in the finished product)

1 tsp mustard (Any kind. Even dry.)

Salt, pepper, herbs, sugar, honey, hot pepper flakes, a whole garlic clove or two…a little of whatever you feel like. Go ahead, experiment a little.

Then place the blender all the way to the bottom of the cup and start whirling. As the emulsification begins, simply slowly pull up as the mayonnaise begins forming and thickening to incorporate the rest of the oil. It's that simple. Or as the French might say: "No Problemo." Or something like that.

 

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Hopefully you saved the cup that came with your immersion blender. It's helpful to have the markings on the side so you don't have to dirty another cup measuing out the oil. But if you can't find that original cup, any tall narrow vessel will do, as long as the blender fits all the way to the bottom.

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It doesn't matter what order the ingredients are added, as long as the eggs are in first they'll stay at the bottom. They're heaviest.

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It will be fairly obvious that the yolks and oil are being emulsified. The texture will noticably thicken as it "catches" and will turn an opaque cream color. Then begin slowly pulling up on the blender to incorporate the rest of the oil.

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The finished product. Perfect every time.

Reuse that Salad Container for …Salad.

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We use empty leaf lettuce containers as mini-greenhouses to grow new lettuce. This is arugula, which we've planted from seeds our plants produced in the garden last year. (We plant them very close together because we like to thin and use the sprouts.)

 

There's either something ironic or serendipitous or meta in this little green gardening tip. Or maybe a little a little bit of all three. Whatever one might call the act of reusing old lettuce containers to grow new lettuce plants, we call it genius. (And not just because we came up with it ourselves.)

The process is simple…you know those plastic clam-shell containers you buy leaf lettuce in at the grocery store? Well, once empty, they make perfect little greenhouses to grow more lettuce. All you need is some seeds, soil, a baking sheet with a rim, a refrigerator with a warm top, and a bright window. Here's how you do it:

1. If the plastic clam-shell container you're reusing doesn't have air holes in the bottom, use a sharp knife to create five slits…one at each corner and one in the middle. Conversely, if your plastic clam-shell container has air circulation holes that are so large that soil would leak out (like some berry boxes) line it with a paper towel. Place as many containers as fit on a baking sheet tray.

2. Half fill container with moistened seed-starting mixture or light potting soil.

3. Sprinkle lettuce seeds on top of soil according to directions on packet, and lightly press to ensure seeds are in contact with damp soil.

4. Place cover on container and set tray on top of refrigerator, or other consistently warm spot for 2-5 days until seeds have sprouted. Keep moist by pouring water into the baking sheet and allowing the dirt to soak it up.

5. Once sprouted, move to warm, bright, south-facing window. Keep watering from bottom.

6. When lettuce leaves reach the lid, uncover and allow to grow freely. Keep watering from bottom.

7. You can "harvest" your crop at any stage after leaves have formed by clipping at base of plants with scissors. As long as the roots are left undisturbed, new leaves will grow.

(If you want to get serious about starting your own seeds at home, we recommend getting seed mat warmers and this grow light kit.  This is the setup of what we use at the Beekman.)

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The covers help keep the soil heat in which is necessary for proper seed germination.

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Two intrepid spinach seedlings.

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If you have plenty of seed, plant them thickly to harvest sprouts. Simply leave a few behind to grow into full size leaves.

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Because we start a lot of seeds, we use grow lights. The lights are on a pulley because they must always hover just above the seedlings as they grow.

Bavarian Cream with Strawberry Coulis

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We love classic desserts. They're too often overlooked for the dessert-fad-of-the-moment. But really…isn't it a little more impressive to serve a Bavarian Cream dessert at your next dinner party than a sprinkle cupcake lollipop?

Bavarian Creams are usually a chilled, molded dessert. They're probably best defined by their unique creamy-but-firm texture, which comes from a combination of egg custard, gelatin, and whipped cream. (A mousse, by comparison, doesn't include gelatin.)

There's a lot of debate about the history of this dish. One thing that's pretty certain, however, is that it didn't actually originate in Bavaria. Or at least the formal recipe didn't – the first recorded versions are from France. One theory is that the creamy dessert was created in Germany where it was faddish for 19th century German royal households to employ french chefs, then one of those chefs must have brought the methodology home to France where it became more universally popular.

So while we're not prone to embracing contemporary dessert fads, we're not adverse to adapting a 19th dessert fad. Our Bavarian Cream with strawberry coulis is made the traditional way, but we don't go to the bother of unmolding it. (Which, let's face it, is a crap shoot one doesn't want to deal with at the last minute during a dinner party.)

 

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Bavarian Cream with Strawberry Coulis

For the Bavarian Cream:

Seeds scraped from 3 vanilla beans, or 1  1/2 T vanilla extract

1  3/4 C heavy whipping cream

2 envelopes of unflavored gelatin

7 egg yolks

1  1/4 cup sugar

2 cups milk

For the Strawberry Coulis:

2 pints strawberries (frozen is fine.)

1/2 cup sugar

Juice of 1/2 lemon

For the whipped topping:

1 C heavy whipping cream

1 T sugar

2 T Lemoncello

 

The Strawberry Coulis can be made several days beforehand and refrigerated. Heat berries, lemon juice and sugar in saucepan over low heat until a sauce has formed. Sieve sauce through a fine wire mesh with the back of a rubber spatula to remove seeds and create a smooth berry coulis. Allow to cool and thicken.

To make Bavarian Cream:

Using the whisk attachment of your stand mixer, whip very cold heavy cream on medium high until it forms soft peaks. Place whipped cream back in refrigerator.

Measure 2/3 c cold water in measuring cup, and mix in gelatin. Allow to sit for 10 min.

Also fill sink, or very large bowl with ice and water. You will need this cooling bath at the ready after you make the custard.

In a medium mixing bowl, beat together the egg yolks and sugar with wooden spoon until light yellow and creamy.

In a medium saucepan, heat the milk and vanilla seeds (or extract) until just boiling. Stir as heating to avoid burning. Remove the milk from the heat, add one ladlefull to egg yolk mixture, stirring quickly to incorporate. Add two more ladlefulls, stirring to incorporate in between. (The point of doing this slowly is to keep the eggs from "scrambling" as the hot milk is added.) Once warm egg/milk mixture is greater than the amount of warm milk left in the saucepan, combine it all together back in the saucepan. Be sure to keep stirring mixture as often as possible.

Slowly reheat mixture over low heat, stirring constantly. As mixture heats, it will thicken to the point that it coats a wooden spoon. Do not overheat, or egg mixture will curdle, or "scramble." Once custard mixture has thickened appropriately, remove from heat and stir in dissolved gelatin. Then immediately set saucepan in ice bath, while continuing to stir. The cream will begin to thicken further as it cools. Once at room temperature, remove from ice bath and fold in the whipped cream you made earlier. Fold gently until incorporated.  Spoon the creamed mixture into decorative glasses or molds (leaving room at top for coulis and whipped cream) and refrigerate until well chilled. (If you choose to go the fancy-pants molded route, right before serving set molds in a pan of hot water that reaches the top of the molds but does not spill into them. Leave for several seconds, and then invert onto serving plate.)

While waiting for cream to set, make the topping by whipping the cream and sugar together until soft peaks form, adding in Lemoncello at final stages.

To serve, remove creams from refrigerator, add several spoonfuls of strawberry coulis to top, and finish with whipped topping. Allow to come to just below room temperature for optimal flavor.

Hazelnut Meringue Roulade with Honey Sour Cream & Raspberry Coulis

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Meringues, like their distant cousin the marshmallow, are something you either love or you happily pass by on your way to more substantial desserts. There are various forms of meringues, but the most popular is probably the french meringue, which is simply vigorously whipped egg whites and sugar that is slowly baked in low heat. (Sometimes Cream of Tartar is also used.)

This airy dessert has a very long history, which like most enduring classic recipes is somewhat in dispute. Some claim meringue was invented by an Italian chef working in Switzerland. Others insist that it is of french origin. Either way, they date back to the early 17th century – which unfortunately for cooks back then, was well before the whisk was invented. Making meringue by hand is tough work. Even tougher without a whisk. Historic recipes call for the egg whites to be energetically beaten with a collection of birch saplings or reeds. The resulting froth was called "snow eggs," and was eaten raw garnished with fruit and herbs. It's unknown who first discovered that one could slowly bake the egg froth into a cookie of sorts. But we do know that it likely didn't first happen on a rainy day…creating a perfect meringue is hindered by the slightest amount of moisture, whether in the ingredients or in the air.

The term "meringue" refers more to the material used (beaten egg whites & sugar,) than the final form. Most Americans are familiar with meringue as a pie or Baked Alaska topping, while Europeans generally enjoy meringue baked into small airy cookies that are crunchy on the outside and soft in the middle. (Pardon our french, but the extremely light airy cookies are colloquially known as "pets" in parts of France, which translated is slang for, umm, little flatulences.)

We both do enjoy the occasional meringue dessert, both in cookie or pie form – especially when not baked to a sandy dryness. But truthfully, we find meringues on their own to be a little too sweet for us. They are however, a nice change from flour-based desserts, and they're a great way to use up egg whites left over from making mayonnaise or custards. Plus a meringue dessert just plain sounds fancy. So we developed this recipe for a meringue roulade (or roll-up) that uses a slightly sweetened sour cream filling with tart raspberry coulis. We love the way the filling cuts through and adds complexity to the sugary meringue.

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Hazelnut Meringue Roulade with Honey Sour Cream & Raspberry Coulis

For Meringue:

4 room temperature egg whites

1 cup sugar

2 cups toasted hazelnuts, chopped.

For Sour Cream filling:

1 cup sour cream (or creme fraiche)

2 T honey

For Raspberry Coulis:

2 pints raspberries (frozen is fine)

1 cup sugar

juice of 1/2 lemon

First make raspberry coulis, which can be done up to several days before and kept in refrigerator. Heat berries, lemon juice and sugar in saucepan over low heat until a sauce has formed. Sieve sauce through a fine wire mesh with the back of a rubber spatula to remove seeds and create a smooth berry coulis. Allow to cool and thicken.

Preheat oven to 400F. Line a jelly roll pan, or baking sheet with lip, with parchment paper. Cut paper 2 inches larger than all edges of pan…meringue expands when baking. Butter the parchment well.

To toast hazelnuts, place them whole on a second baking sheet, in one layer. Toast in 400F oven until skins crack and surface is tan, about 7 minutes. Check every 3 minutes…do not allow to burn. Once toasted, place nuts in clean dishtowel, pull towel into a bundle, and rub nuts against each other until most of the skins are removed. Chop coarsely in food processor or other chopper. Spread 1  3/4 cups of the chopped nuts evenly over greased parchment sheet. (Reserve the remaining 1/4 cup for later.)

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Using whisk attachment to your stand mixer (or an actual whisk if you have triceps of steel) beat the egg whites on medium speed until they just begin begin to turn opaque. Then add sugar, and increase speed to high. Beat until soft peaks form. (What's a soft peak? It's when you lift the whisk and a small peak forms in its wake. The tip of a soft peak will curl back down. The tip of a stiff peak will remain upright) For this roulade, we just want a soft peak, because the result will remain more pliable once out of oven.

Use rubber spatula or icing spreader to spread meringue mixture over nuts. Be gentle. Try not to disturb nuts. They will form the outside coating of the roulade.

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Place meringue/nut sheet in 400F oven. Set timer for 8 minutes. Once 8 minutes has passed, reduce heat to 275F. Reset timer for another 10 minutes. Check often. You want the meringue to brown, but not burn. If top seems to be turning black, turn oven off completely, and let dry as temperature lowers naturally. The meringue should be crisp on the outside, but still soft in the middle. It should feel spongy to the touch of your palm. Do not allow to dry out completely, as one would for a meringue cookie…this meringue will need to be pliable in order to roll up.

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While meringue is cooking, beat sour cream and honey together until soft and fluffy.

Once meringue is removed from oven, allow to cool. Transfer parchment sheet and meringue to counter on top of clean, large dishtowel. Spread sour cream honey mixture on top of meringue, leaving 1/2 from three sides, and 3 clear inches from one of the short sides. Drizzle 1/2 of the raspberry coulis on top of sour cream mixture. Do not spread.

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Using towel, slowly begin rolling meringue from the short side that doesn't have the clear edge. (The clear edge is left for the end. Some of the filling will slide toward that end during the rolling process and fill the gap.) The nuts should keep the meringue from sticking too much. Work slow and and meringue sticks, release with butter knife. Transfer meringue roll to serving platter, seam side down. Some of the meringue surface may crack. That's okay. Used the reserved nuts to cover exposed portions. Refrigerate for at least an hour, and serve cold in 1 inch slices, with leftover raspberry coulis on side of plate.

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Skip of My Heart

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Sometimes you learn about people in layers.

The first time I met Skip was at a book signing in San Francisco.  He was wearing a William Beekman t-shirt and a Beekman 1802 ball cap.   He had a perpetual smile on his face and mischievous twinkle in his eye that made me think that his full-frontal Beekman ensemble was a bit sarcastic.

I loved him immediately.

A few weeks later, a customer that we had met at an event outside of Philadelphia almost a year prior called me at the Mercantile.  After reminding me of how we met, he said that we had also met a friend of his on the West Coast—named Skip—and that he had just been diagnosed with cancer.

"Your story has meant so much to Skip, that I thought you might want to know."

This was a quandary.  First, what did he mean that our "story" was important?  Second, I couldn't offer condolences.  Skip had not revealed this information himself, and I had no way of contacting him.   I didn't even know if our paths would cross again.

Two months later, they did.  Skip and his partner, Abel, traveled across the country to the second annual Sharon Springs Garden Party Festival.  We were able to chat with the two several times throughout the weekend, and while we were busy making certain that everyone had a good time at the Festival, Skip was evidently busy making an indelible impression on every single person he met.  All of a sudden, he was "friends" with virtually everyone we knew.

At the end of the weekend, we exchanged emails, and over the course of the next few months through a series of phone calls , FaceTime chats, and emails, I came to know a lot of Skip.

He talked about his childhood overseas, his misspent young adulthood, about his love for his horse, Regal Bull, and landing his dream job at Apple.  He even emailed results of his radiology reports as if they needed my verification that his cancer was indeed responding to treatment.

On Labor Day weekend, while the rest of us were enjoying a long weekend of backyard barbeques and pool parties, Skip attended a local rodeo held at the homeof one of his neighbors in Morgan Hills, California.

There, as the embers of sunset sent the last shadows flickering across the road, Skip and Regal Bull were struck by a truck.   The two, so often inseparable, were thrown more than 50 feet away from one another by the force of the impact.

On the phone the next day, the same friend who had told me about Skip's illness called to give me the news.

"Skip would have told you that he had the perfect life.   He had the job he had always dreamed about and he shared a home with the person he loved.   And he was happy."

A month or two after Skip's passing, I had the chance to visit Abel at Skip's ranch.  Outside there were horses, goats, chickens, a pair of donkeys, and two pigs that clearly ran the show.   As I walked around the home, room by room, I noticed that Skip had purchased almost every single product we have ever designed or created at Beekman 1802.

His dreams had come true, and he wanted the same for us.

I knew Skip for the last 6 months that he was on this Earth.  It is funny that I learned so much about finding joy in life from someone who was staring at the waning days of his, whether he knew or not.

Skip resides now in the hearts of many, and he will forever be a reminder to me that although we give a lot of importance to the crossroads, the u-turns, the speed bumps, and the forks-in-the road that mark our journeys, sometimes intersections, sleepy and quite, are equally profound.

 

The great use of life is to spend it for something that will outlast it.

                                                                                           – William James

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If you'd like to share a memory about an important intersection in your life, please feel free to use the comments section below.

 

The Commedia

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It's January.  Your energy to entertain is probably ebbing, as well as your capacity for strong or rich drinks.  Here's a simple drink which recognizes that wintertime is the time to consume as much esoteric citrus as possible.  The combination of herbs, spices and citrus rind that compose Averna, a digestivo liqueur from Sicily, serves as an excellent foil to the vodka and juice, laying a bittersweet brake on an otherwise simple sipper.

 

The Commedia

In a cocktail shaker:

1 ounce vodka

1 ounce Averna (or other amaro bitters)

1 ounce blood orange juice

Add ice and shake 20x.  Strain and serve up.  Garnish with an orange half skewered with a rosemary garnish.

Enjoy.  Comments may be left below only after the first sip has been taken.

 

 

Eben Klemm is a freelance beverage consultant based in New York City.  Yes, people pay him to invent cocktails.  No, he is not invited to speak at many high school career days.  He grew up on a small family farm in Sharon, five miles from the Beekman Mansion and is proud to say that the first cocktails he ever consumed were rejected from his body, at very high speed, not far from its shadow. His book "The Cocktail Primer: All You Need to Know to Make the Perfect Drink" was published in 2009 by Andrews McNeel.  He'll be creating signature Beekman 1802 elixirs once a month.

Future Farmers

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We were captivated by these images of future farmers captured by artist Richard Walker.  The images were shot at the Cooperstown, NY Farmers' Museum Jr. Livestock Show.

Says the artist:

The smiles on these kids say it all about the pride of farming and its future.

We agree.

 

 

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To see more of Richard Walker's works, click here

A Main Attraction

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When a new business opens up on Main Street, it's a cause for celebration.  Last fall Main Street made room for the Spring House Spa, and now we are welcoming 204 Main Street, a new bistro and wine bar devoted to seasonal, locally sourced foods (the fact that it is right next door to the Beekman 1802 Mercantile could spell danger).

 

Meet Jim & Norm

About twenty years ago, a conversation started between my husband and myself about how great it would be to have our own restaurant. Over the years, through countless careers, life situations, and experiences, the conversation kept growing and growing. The paths of our lives took many detours, but this one thing always stayed very strong and fixed. One day we would own our own restaurant.

Nine years ago, our lives were forever changed by a dog named Eva. We had been looking for a Swiss Mntn. Dog puppy and stumbled across a breeder in Sharon Springs, NY. Ginny worked at the American Hotel, and had a very soon to be born litter of Swissies forthcoming. The "Baroness Eva von Chelsea" ( Eva to her friends) was born April 27th, 2002. We came to Sharon Springs to get her, and Norm, my husband, couldn't stop talking about the village.

We took Eva home with us to Boston, but a very odd seed had been planted. I, the dyed -in-the-wool city boy, was having daydreams about having space, about having land of my own. "My own little corner of the sky" if you will. ( Oh come

on, I am a gay man, after all.)

Anyway, we kept returning to Sharon Springs because the friendships we had made with some of its residents. They were becoming more important to us and the "lifestyle" was much more livable.

So 5 years ago we bought a house . Then came the big question. What the hell are we gonna do out here? Always in the back of our minds, the conversation started 20 yrs. ago. THE RESTAURANT !!!!!!!!!!

Two years ago, we bought the property at 204 Main Street, Sharon Springs, NY. And after much blood, sweat, and, tears, 204 Main Bar & Bistro has opened its doors.

Many questions have yet to be answerred ………..All in due time.

In the next few months, weʼll blog about different elements of the restaurant which are unique and unusual from the tabletops handmade by Norm from an old silo, to the dilemma of sound dampening as art. (learn more from Jim in the front of the house, right now, click here)

And Norm–affectionately known as the "kitchen bitch"–will be joining us to lend some insight to the dishes served at 204 Main Bar & Bistro…And boy, does he have some opinions.  (learn more from Norm in the back of the house right now, click here)

So welcome to 204 Main Bar & Bistro.

Weʼre glad youʼre here

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Norm & Jim

 

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