Josh Kilmer-Purcell's Blog, page 116

Summer "Pond" Reading

[image error]

 

Several people have asked why we haven't put out a reading list since winter. We'll be honest…we don't get much reading done during planting season. But now that summer's arrived, we've been spending a little time with books down by the pond in our favorite chairs. So rather than a Summer Beach Read List, we're giving you our Summer Pond Read List. Hope you like some of them as much as we do. Maybe you'll spot a theme…

Finn: A Novel – This dark, but beautiful debut by John Clinch tells the story not of Huck Finn, but of his troubled father. Wonderfully historical.

For Cod and Country: Simple, Delicious, Sustainable Cooking – A book after our own hearts. Barton Seavor arranges this informative book by fishing seasons, featuring recipes using known and lessor-known fish, and vegetables straight from the farm.

The Garden Wall at Beekman Farm – The stone artist who built the legendary garden wall at our farm, Michael Whaling, has written a poetic book about stones, walls, and their greater meaning in our lives. Beautiful photos by Leila Durkin document the wall's progress. (Autographed copies at Beekman1802.com)

A River Runs Through It and Other Stories: 25th Anniversary Edition

- This book was getting hard to find. We're glad they reprinted this fantastic edition.

Moby Dick – Do we really need to say more?

Summer Rental

- Everyone's gotta read one good beach book every summer. We love Mary Kay Andrews. (In fact, she was a recent Guest Blogger for us.) And her books are always summer fun.

Seeds: One Man's Serendipitous Journey to Find the Trees That Inspired Famous American Writers from Faulkner to Kerouac, Welty to Wharton – The title pretty much sums it up. And why we're besotted with it.

What books are you reading this summer?

Slug & Snail Control

[image error]

The slugs and snails always attack the strawberries at the moment the berries reach peak ripeness.

They come at night. Waves of them. Well, maybe not waves, but that's how I envision them…crawling out from beneath their rocks and leaves and massing together to plan their attack. All you'll see of them in the morning is their wake – bean and lettuce leaves with holes in them, and perfectly ripened strawberries pocked with deep tunnels and slick with slime.

If I've learned anything from garden pests, it's that the first step in controlling them is to know thy enemy. Learn their biology and their behavior and you can usually outwit them. And if you think winning a match of wits against a slug is nothing to boast about, clearly you don't have any. (Wits or slugs.)

First, Biology: Slugs and snails are part of the mollusk family, and the only real difference between the two is that snails have shells and slugs don't. And if you have one of the two species, you usually have the other, since they both enjoy the same environments. Their bodies are soft, moist and covered with slime to protect them from drying out and dying. This will be an important fact to remember for your counterattack. Slugs and snails are also hermaphrodites, and lay their eggs in the soil in both spring and fall – which is the best time to try some population control since they're out trying to find a mate. Their eggs can survive for years before hatching, so it's pretty unlikely that you can ever truly eradicate them. But that's okay. Like all animals, even slugs have their place. In the wild they help compost soil. You just don't need that many of them "helping" you in your garden.

Second, Behavior: Slugs come out in the evening and party until the sun comes up. Like delicate vampires, they must hide during the bright sun of the day, and will take shelter under leaves, rocks and woodpiles. Don't let their ubiquity fool you. They're actually not very hardy, and are relatively wimpy garden pests. They don't like their delicate skin irritated or dry. Their strength is merely in their numbers and appetite.

So, knowing all this, how do we control them?

Well, first and foremost, keep your garden clean. Fallen leaves and other loose organic matter are slug condos. One of the big advantages of our raised bed garden is that in order to attack our veggies, they need cross pathways of irritating crushed pebbles and climb 2 feet of wood. They're generally not that tenacious – unless we don't clear away spent plants that drop leaves and droop over to the ground. This detritus is safe shady harbor for them, and the drooping stems are a thoroughfare up to the beds. However, our strawberry beds, which are at ground level, are the easiest things in our garden for them to attack. Plus, slugs love strawberries. It's a deadly combination.

There are basically three ways of controlling slugs and snails: kill 'em, annoy 'em, or lure 'em to their deaths. We find that a combination of all three works best, and here's how we do it:

1. Kill them. The most effective way to kill slugs is to pick them off of leaves and drop them into a pail of salty water. They'll drown. Use chopsticks (if you're dextrous enough) so that your fingers don't get slimy. Some people add dish soap to the water to keep the slugs from climbing back out of the pail, but since we immediately dump the full pail in the chicken coop (chickens LOVE slugs) we don't add the soap.

If you can't stomach the thought of hand picking slugs, ammonia sprayed directly on the slugs also works very well, plus has the added benefit of being a bit of a fertilizer to plant leaves. Simply dilute household ammonia with non-chlorinated water – usually about 1 part ammonia: 7-10 parts water. (If the ammonia concentration is too strong, it can burn tender leaves.) Pour the mixture into a spray bottle and attack. This spraying must be done in early morning or evening when the slugs are actually visible. The ammonia mixture causes the slugs to dissolve. For the particularly vengeful, this is a pleasant way to spend a morning.

There are also natural slug "poisons," the most well-known of which is a brand named "Sluggo." Sluggo consists primarily of iron phosphate, which occurs naturally in soil. Sluggo mixes the tiny iron phosphate pellets with an irresistible bait causing the snails to ingest the iron phosphate. This makes them stop eating, and eventually die. Some strict organic gardeners do not like to use Sluggo because although it isn't a synthetic chemical substance, it unnaturally amends the soil. We wind up using it only during very wet seasons when the slug population explodes.

One inviolate garden rule: if you see a slug, pick it off and stomp on it. This is the most foolproof method.

2. Annoy them. Slugs don't like to be dry or have their skin irritated. Diatomaceous earth or wood ashes sprinkled as a barrier around your beds will persuade slugs to turn around rather than crawl across these scratchy substances. The one drawback to this defense is that it will need to be reapplied after rains that dilute and spread the offending particles.

Another old-fashioned, but trusty method is to lay copper tape or mesh around your beds or plants. Slug and snail slime reacts with copper to transmit a small electric shock to the slug. It's like a tiny electric fence. Which is a really satisfying thought.

3. Lure them. This is probably the most widely-known method for controlling slugs. Slugs like yeast. A lot. So setting out lures with beer tends to coax them to belly up to the bar in vast numbers. Lures are easy to make from common household objects. Simply sink saucers, tin pie plates, plastic cups, or empty tuna fish cans into the soil so that at least one side of the rims are level with the ground. Then pour in a little beer (the cheapest brand is fine) and leave out overnight. By morning the containers will be full of slugs. Many of them will not have drowned, however, so the containers must be either capped and thrown away daily, or, as we do, fed to chickens. Don't just empty them into the trash, or the slugs will simply crawl out and resume their destruction the following evening. Repeat every evening until you find the lures empty in the morning. This is not as onerous as it sounds as long as you bring an extra can of beer along into the garden for yourself.

[image error]

Only use cans from Dolphin-Safe tuna, of course.

Other favorite natural lures are inverted citrus rinds and cabbage leaves. Snails flock to them just like the beer saucers. But you'll have to be extra vigilant about removing the slug-covered rinds and leaves each morning since all this method really does is draw them into one spot away from other plants. Where can you get enough of these food wastes to scatter through your garden?  Well, Farmer John's sister owns a restaurant, and she makes a killer cole slaw from scratch. She saves the outer, unusable cabbage leaves for us. Perhaps you have a nearby restaurant who would do the same. Or check your local grocery store or restaurant that squeezes their own fresh orange juice. You can probably get bags of squeezed orange rinds from them.

[image error]

Scatter cabbage leaves amongst your strawberries or other vulnerable plants in the evening...

[image error]

...And you'll wake up to a slug/snail orgy. This leaf will go right into the chicken coop for their breakfast.

Got any additional snail and slug tips? List them below…

 

Summer Sundays at the Beach

Mary Kay Andrews' "The Breeze Inn" cottage on Tybee Island GA

 

Our Guest Blogger this month is longtime Beekman friend and New York Times Bestselling author Mary Kay Andrews. She's written oodles of bestsellers, and is one of our favorite "Beach Read" writers (Even though our beach is a pond.) We thought some of you might find it interesting to compare our Summer Farm living with her Southern Island living, and asked her to write about one of her typical summer weekends on Tybee Island Georgia. And she shares a recipe with us too! Tell us about your summer Sunday nights in the comment section below Mary Kay's story…

We love sharing The Breeze Inn, our beach house on Tybee Island, Georgia, year-round, with family and friends, but our favorite times at the beach may be Sunday nights, when the tourists and day-trippers who crowd our little island have headed home across the hump-back Lazaretto Creek bridge.  Summer Sundays have to be the best of all.

By then, we've finished the never-ending list of honey-dos associated with maintaining our second home, a 1940s-vintage concrete block vacation rental cottage we completely restored and decorated three years ago.

With the house all to ourselves, my husband and I usually manage to throw together an impromptu dinner party. The calls go out to local friends. Usually, if Tom has had a good fishing day on the boat, he's bringing back speckled sea trout, flounder, or redfish. Or maybe our friend Jacky has emptied her crab traps and has a mess of blue crabs for Tom to craft his crab cakes with mango salsa. Other nights, Tom stops at the shrimp docks or Bowie's Seafood and brings back a couple pounds of sweet Georgia brown shrimp. On those rare nights seafood isn't readily available, we'll grill out, maybe steaks, or blue cheese burgers.

Since nobody wants to drive "off-island" at the end of a long weekend—and after one or more cocktails, our Sunday suppers at the beach are almost always pot-luck affairs, with everybody contributing their own specialty.

Jacky, our blue crab connection, and a native Savannahian, makes a creamy baked crab casserole with a dusting of parmesan cheese. Susan, who owns Seaside Sisters, the island's best gift, antique and home décor shop, loves to make elaborate salads, and since she's frequently working at the shop until right before suppertime, they fit her timetable. Her husband Jimmy owns a beachside candy and ice cream shop called Seaside Sweets, so his contribution is whatever custom flavor of gelato he happens to have in his chest freezer at home. And then Diane, whose company, Mermaid Cottages Vacation Rentals, manages our house and 40 some others on Tybee, loves to bake, so lots of times she'll provide dessert, like her famous peach pound cake. More than once, though, Diane's desserts have fallen prey to Danny, her big, goofy yellow lab, who has an unfortunate tendency to counter-surf, gobbling down any and everything Diane forgets and leaves within his reach.

Down here in South Georgia, we're already harvesting fruits and vegetables the rest of the country is only dreaming of. Last weekend, for instance, Davis's Produce, our favorite farm-stand, offered ripe, juicy clingstone peaches from South Carolina, plump Georgia blueberries, bags of our famous sweet Vidalia onions, and white corn from Florida. Of course, come late summer, when Josh and Brent are picking their crops at the Beekman, gardens down here in the deep South will be heat-blasted and mostly played out.

Last year, for the first time, we planted a small organic garden right outside the screened porch that leads off our kitchen, with tomatoes, peppers, pole beans and eggplant snuggled up against bunches of basil, chives, parsley, rosemary, sage and oregano. Our veggies aren't producing anything except some smallish peppers right now, the first week of June, but the herbs are in full flower.

[image error]For a recent Sunday supper, Tom decided to grill steaks. Susan had a new recipe she wanted to try, a watermelon, feta and shrimp salad. I'd brought some green beans down from our home in Atlanta, and had some gorgeous deep red tomatoes from Davis's, and one of those Vidalias, so I improvised a salad, with blanched and chilled green beans, and chunks of tomatoes and onions, tossed with a handful of basil and chives from the garden, more feta, and a splash of vinaigrette dressing.

For dessert, I couldn't resist a basket of those first-of-the-season peaches. I found a "lazy-girl's" peach cobbler recipe—one that just calls for melting a stick of butter in the bottom of a pan, dumping in a mixture of flour, sugar and milk, and then topping that with the peaches and a pint of blueberries that I'd already dusted with sugar and cinnamon.

Even though we're at the beach, I love nothing more than setting a pretty table for our impromptu dinners. That night, I layered fluted green placemats from Tuesday Morning over a vintage Florida souvenir map tablecloth, lime green napkins bought on clearance, and set the table with plain white caterer's china from the Pottery Barn outlet. Lots of times I pick flowers from the garden, hibiscus, daisies, roses, or sometimes just a sprig of rosemary or a slender stalk of bamboo. But that night I used alstroemeria bought for $3 a bunch at the grocery store.

Tom had just put the coals on, and I was just taking the cobbler out of the oven when our first guests came pedaling up to The Breeze Inn on their bikes. The wine and beer were icy, and we all gathered out on the screened porch, letting the lazy whirring of the fan lower our body temperatures as well as our blood pressure. There's a saying I've heard: "If you're lucky enough to live on an island, you're lucky enough." That evening, I knew it was true.

 

Watermelon, feta and shrimp salad

(Serves 4-6 as main dish salad, more as an accompaniment)

2-3 cups of mixed salad greens

2 lbs. shrimp, cooked and peeled

2 cups watermelon, seeded and cut in chunks

1-1/2 cups feta cheese chunks

½ cup chopped Vidalia onions

Dressing:

1 clove minced garlic

½ cup extra virgin olive oil

¼ cup fresh squeezed lime juice

¼ cup red wine vinegar

¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro

1 Tbsp. Old Bay seasoning

salt and pepper

Place salad greens in large bowl or platter, top with chilled shrimp, watermelon, feta and onions

In small bowl, whisk together dressing ingredients. Drizzle over salad, garnish with thin slices of lime.

 

Mary Kay Andrews is the New York Times bestselling author of the just published Summer Rental, as well as The Fixer-Upper, Deep Dish, Hissy Fit, Savannah Breeze, Savannah Blues, and Blue Christmas. A die-hard junker, serial remodeler and self-described decorator in denial, she divides her time between a restored 1920s Craftsman bungalow in Atlanta, and her Tybee Island cottage. For information about renting The Breeze Inn, visit Mermaid Cottages. Follow Mary Kay on Facebook and Twitter.

[image error]

 

 

What are your summer weekend's like? Let us know below….

Ah, Honey

[image error]

One of our first "discoveries" at Beekman farm was an old apple tree on the border of the property into which a colony of bees had set up home.  We sat for hours wondering about the hidden queen ruling the kingdom from somewhere deep within the hollow trunk.

Now there are 40 bee hives at Beekman Farm, producing about 15,000lbs of honey year.

Our Rosemary Creamed Honey is a delicious condiment for Beekman Blaak or any fine cheese.  It also makes a great accompaniment with fruit, in poultry and pork dishes and as a spread for sandwiches and toast.  You could even use it to glaze a ham for Sunday dinner.

It takes 648 bees to produce the 9 oz of sweet and savory goodness in each jar.

The Beekman bees thinks it's all worth it (and so do we)

Click here to order

2011 Garden Party in Pictures

[image error]

 

This is my favorite time of year in Sharon Springs! (Ok, I know I say that every season.) The 2nd annual Garden Party that occurred over Memorial Day weekend marked the beginning of the summer season in Sharon Springs. The village has a long tradition as a summer destination – at the turn of the 20th century over 10,000 people swarmed the streets, grand hotels, and bathhouses each summer. We might have a few fewer now, but the 2000 folks who came to the 2011 Garden Party were certainly no less enthusiastic. Or playful!

In addition to the great vendors, busy restaurants, wonderful entertainment, and interesting lectures, the Beekman Farm hosted about 350 people on tours over the weekend. For those who weren't able to make it up to Sharon Springs to visit, here is a photo show of the weekend's events. These great shots were taken by our friends Skip and Abel as they toured the weekend's festivities. Click on any photo to begin the slideshow.

[image error]









[image error]









[image error]









[image error]









[image error]









[image error]









[image error]









[image error]









[image error]









[image error]









[image error]









[image error]









[image error]









[image error]









[image error]









[image error]









[image error]









[image error]









[image error]









[image error]









[image error]









[image error]









[image error]









[image error]









[image error]









[image error]









[image error]









[image error]









[image error]









[image error]









[image error]









[image error]









[image error]









[image error]









[image error]









[image error]









[image error]









[image error]









[image error]









[image error]









[image error]









[image error]









[image error]









[image error]









[image error]









[image error]









[image error]









[image error]









[image error]









[image error]









[image error]

 

Swirly Strawberry Rhubarb Muffins

[image error]

Pretty, huh?

 

Everyone knows that we try to live and eat seasonally. One of the questions that has always vexed us when people proclaim their love for strawberry rhubarb pie is: "who has strawberries and rhubarb ready to harvest in their garden at the same time?" By the time our strawberries are ready (mid-June) our rhubarb has mostly gone to seed. Last year we had a bumper crop of strawberries (a great problem to work through), so we wound up freezing quite a few of them. The issue was that they came so fast and furious that we didn't have time to de-hull them before freezing. And anyone who's tried to cut the hull off of a frozen strawberry, well, they probably have a big scar in the middle of their palm.

So we've been cooking and sieving our strawberries through our trusty food mill all winter long. We've used the sauce on ice cream, scones, and even salad dressings. This past weekend we found one lonely frozen bag left in the bag of the freezer, and we realized we had to use it up before our new strawberries come ripe next week. (Using up last years produce before the new crop is a hard fast rule at the Beekman.) And then we thought – rhubarb! We still have rhubarb left! We can finally make something with a "strawberry rhubarb" prefix. Except pie wouldn't work, since the frozen berries couldn't be hulled.

[image error]

Yes, the leaves of rhubarb are toxic. But you'd have to eat quite a bit of them to experience any grave effect. And we can't think of one good reason why you would eat that many of them.

[image error]

After a long winter, this is the prettiest color you can imagine.

 

Since desperation is the mother of recipes, we came up with these Swirly Strawberry Rhubarb Muffins. We imagine that they would work with all kinds of berry sauce, so check the back of your freezer.

(As with most recipes we concoct early in the morning, the measure are approximate. Feel free to use any standard muffin recipe you like, and add the diced rhubarb and strawberry swirl as directed below.)

Strawberry Rhubarb Muffins

For the Muffin:

2.5 C flour

3 large eggs

2.5 t baking powder

1 C sour goat milk  (Or buttermilk)

1 t salt

1.25 C sugar

5 T unsalted butter, melted & cooled (though pourable)

3 T vegetable oil

2 t vanilla extract

2.5 cups diced rhubarb

For the "Swirl":

3 C frozen strawberries

2 T honey

First, make the "swirl." Combine berries and honey in a small saucepan over a low heat. When berries being to break down, raise heat until they are fully mushy. Process through a food mill to remove hulls.

Next, begin making the muffin batter. Preheat oven to 425F. Grease one 6-Large Muffin tin, or one 12-Small Muffin tin. (In place of greasing, you may use muffin papers.)

Chop rhubarb stems into small chunks. (Slice stems in half lengthwise before chopping.)

In large bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt.

In medium bowl, whisk together eggs and sugar until well combined and light yellow. Add in oil, melted butter, vanilla and sour milk/buttermilk.

Fold the wet mixture into the flour mixture. Then fold in rhubarb chunks. Don't overmix. Batter should be a little runny and a little lumpy.

Fill muffin tins only 1/3 full with batter. (We use an ice cream scoop for this.) Spoon 1 T of strawberry mixture on top of batter in each cup. Use toothpick or knife point to "swirl" the strawberry sauce through batter.

Next, add more batter mixture on top, filling the cups to 3/4 full. Spoon one more T of strawberry mixture on top, and use toothpick or knifepoint to swirl as before. You may have extra strawberry mixture. Save this for serving.

Place on middle rack in oven and back for approximately 18 minutes. (12 minutes for smaller muffin tins.) Muffins are done when tops are brown and toothpick inserted in muffin comes out clean.

Let cool for 5 minutes then transfer to cooling rack. Serve warm with butter and reserved berry mixture.

[image error]

These small rhubarb chunks "melt" as the muffins bake.

[image error]

Taking a little detour to show off our egg yolks. This time of year, with all the bugs and weeding, our chickens produce some of their orangest yokes.

[image error]

Fill the muffin tins 1/3 full before adding the first "swirl."

[image error]

The "swirls" start with a dollop of berry sauce mixture.

[image error]

The actual swirl part comes from using a toothpick or knifepoint to stir the berry sauce into the batter. Just a little bit, or you'll have pink muffins. Then add more batter on top and repeat swirl process on top.

[image error]

 

Singular Sensations

 

[image error]

There's beauty everywhere, we just don't always take the time to notice it. At Beekman 1802, we try to take the time each day to appreciate the beauty of nature and to really examine the world around us.

Ichiban is a Japanese word that means "the one", and the concept of ichiban when applied to floral arrangements can actually be a form of meditation.  Finding the one perfect flower to appreciate and studying it in isolation can bring clarity and peace of mind.   (The idea of bonsai–contemplating the shape of plant to make minute pruning cuts–is based on a similar principle.)

And for those looking for just about the easiest way to arrange flowers and still have a "wow" effect, you simply can't get any better than this.

[image error]

We are always developing new products at Beekman 1802 and testing them out first in our little Mercantile on Main Street in Sharon Springs.    Some items remain exclusive Mercantile treasures that only people who make the pilgrimage to upstate NY get to excavate while other items eventually become a part of our online store.

For now, our One Singular Sensation bud vase is available in-store only.   Working with a local ceramicist, we designed the vase to enclose a cast iron "frog" so that no matter how large your cutting, the vase can perfectly and simply display the result of your search.

[image error]

Beekman 1802 Mercantile, Sharon Springs, NY

 

 

 

 

 

Battling the Invaders

[image error]

Hard day's work? Or suicide mission?

 

Isn't it amazing what we pretend to forget every year?

"Oh, I won't plant the tomato plants six feet apart. They'll never grow that big."

"I don't need to cover the strawberries with straw. It'll probably be a mild winter."

"It's too hot to wear long sleeve and pants while weed-whacking."

It's that last one that got me in trouble this past weekend. You see, Beekman Farm is under attack. In fact, the whole county has practically been conquered. And for the 4th year in a row, I've gone into battle without any armor.

One of the most troublesome invasive weed species we have in our area is the Wild Parsnip (or Pastinaca Sativa.) It was introduced to this country sometime in the 19th century, and whether it was by accident or because it produces a fairly pretty flower, if I ever find out who brought it over here I'll go pee on their grave. (Not really. But I at least hope his grave is covered with this devil weed.)  Chances are that you probably have it somewhere near you as well. It's found in 46 states, and listed as a noxious weed in most of them.

It is a kinda pretty plant. Grows to 4-5 feet tall and produces a yellow flower that looks like what would be birthed if Queen Anne's Lace, Dill, and Satan had a menage a trois.

[image error]

Don't be fooled by its pretty face.

Just touching the leaves or flowers won't do you any harm. It's what's inside that counts. The sap. When it comes in contact with the skin, phytophotodermatitis occurs. Yes, that's as nasty as it sounds. When the juice is exposed to ultraviolet sunlight it burns the skin, causing dark pigmentation and blisters. The blisters and rash are itchy, but not as painful as, say, poison ivy. But the after effects are much worse…at least as far as one's vanity is concerned.

[image error]

Those aren't freckles.

 

The darkened pigmentation of the skin will last for months – sometimes up to 2 years! I know this for a fact. I still have some spots from when I tangled with it last year. Because, like my annual tomato rainforest and freeze-burned strawberry plants, my first weed-whacking expedition of each year is an exercise in willful dementia. I simply refuse to remember how disfigured I get after showering myself in Wild Parnsip bits.

[image error]

Ouch.

Let's make a deal. If someone reminds me to cover up before weed-whacking next year, I'll remind you to put the storm windows in before the first blizzard sneaks up on you.

Be careful out there.

 

*Made in China

[image error]

Sometimes as we get into the grind of late Spring and Summer gardening chores, we become focused on the work and not the beauty just within our grasp.

Whenever I get angry at the weeds and their incredible ability to fling their seeds far and wide, I look at these photos from the World's Fair held in Shanghai, China, last year.  (take a look at the weeds of Beekman here)

[image error]









[image error]









[image error]









[image error]









[image error]









[image error]









[image error]









[image error]









[image error]









[image error]









[image error]









[image error]









[image error]









[image error]









[image error]









[image error]

These shards–like shooting stars bringing some mysterious organism from a galaxy far, far away.

Standing amidst this glowing universe, I imagined this to be the view that worms have for that split second during planting season before the seeds are once again covered by the earth.

For them, it must be a mind-blowing moment of sheer ecstasy.

The design firm said, "After the Expo, just as dandelion seeds are blown away and dispersed on the breeze, the Seed Cathedral's 60,000 optic hairs, each one containing the huge potential of life, were distributed across China and the UK to hundreds of schools as a special legacy of the UK Pavilion at the 2010 Shanghai Expo."

Watch and Repeat

[image error]

 

It's no lie.  World of Wonder and Planet Green made a TV show that you REALLY can watch over and over again!!  Now you have no excuse not to share your addiction with your family and friends.

Grab some cheese, some caramel and maybe a cocktail and have yourself a "fabulous" party!

Click here to purchase the complete first season on DVD.