Josh Kilmer-Purcell's Blog, page 133

Sausage and Sour Cherry Stuffing

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Several people have requested the recipe for the sausage and sour cherry stuffing that was featured on the Thanksgiving episode of The Fabulous Beekman Boys. And a couple of people have requested the recipe for Brent's famous stuffing. That can be found here.

1o Cups white bread, with crusts cut off and cut into 1 inch cubes

1/2 Cup chopped fresh parsley

5 Tablespoons chopped fresh sage (or 2 1/2 T dried sage.)

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon pepper

2.5 sticks unsalted butter

2 onions, chopped fine

1 Cup celery, chopped fine

2 Cups Chicken broth

3 Cups sour cherries (if using dried cherries, increase chicken broth by 1/2 cup.)

1 lb ground pork sausage

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)

Place cubed bread into extra large mixing bowl. Sauté ground sausage in large pan until slightly browned and cooked through, breaking into pieces as browning. Drain liquid and add sausage to bread cubes. Melt butter in pan, add celery, onions and spices and sauté until vegetables are softened. Transfer to bowl with bread cubes and sausage. Add chicken broth and mix gently with hands.

Stuffing can be used either in bird (follow safe roasting instructions), or bake uncovered in baking dish until browned and cooked through. (about 1 hour.)

The Fabulous Beekman Boys Fabulous Holiday Special!

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Frosty. Rudolf. Donny & Marie. Polka Spot. What do all these celebrities have in common? They all have their own holiday special!

The Fabulous Beekman Boys Fabulous Holiday Special
Wednesday December 8th, 9pm EST

Join the Beekman Boys as they celebrate the holidays Beekman style – with crafts, and baking, and yes…singing. Also bloopers, viewer favorite moments, and never before seen clips.

To find Planet Green on your channel line-up, click here.

Champagne Pears

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You'll need some pear nectar or, better, pear purée. You could make pear purée yourself , but you need very ripe, very sweet pears. (and you run the risk that the homemade version will oxidize and turn brown), so look for frozen purée. If you can't find it in a gourmet shop, try here.  It can be expensive, which makes it a wonderful "treat" for a day of thanks.

Put about an ounce of the nectar or purée in the bottom of a Champagne flute. Add a tablespoon of Poire William, an intensely flavored pear brandy from Alsace. Add a little sparkling wine and stir. The mixture will be very foamy, which is why you want to mix a little first before filling up the glass.  Once the foam dies down, fill the glass with more wine and mix again. Garnish with a sprig of mint.  On the second round, adjust the ingredients to your personal taste.

Christmas Eve Traditions

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All About the EVES

We timed the airing of the Fabulous Beekman Boys' Fabulous Holiday Special (Dec 8, 9:00pm, Planet Green) so that you could use the premier as a perfect excuse to get your holiday gathering out of the way.  In addition to serving something delectable like Beekman Blaak & Blaak Onion Jam, we thought it might be fun to share some of our families' traditional holiday recipes.  We wouldn't call them high-cuisine, but they are chock full of delicious holiday memories.

Every Christmas Eve, Josh's mother serves clam chowder and cornbread.  Before the meal she serves a chopped Italian salad with many cheeses, sliced Italian meats, shrimp, and peppers with a olive oil, garlic, vinegar dressing. After the soup and bread, the platter of Xmas cookies would be served.  (They were not TOUCHED before that nite).  They would all have a glass of champagne (tiny for the kids).  The dog and the cat would be allowed in for 1 tablespoon each of the bubbly and many hugs until they begged to be let out into the cold nite again!!!!  Then the whole family would trudge through the snow to Christmas Eve Mass.

Jackie's Christmas Eve Corn Bread

Ingredients

1 cup roasted corn meal

1 cup flour

1 t. baking soda

pinch salt

1/2/ cup shortening

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg

7/8 cup buttermilk

Instructions

Cream sugar and shortening.  Add egg, milk and mix. Then stir in the dry ingredients

Grease an 8″ x 8″ pan

Bake in oven at 425 for 25 minutes

Clam Chowder for a family of 4

Ingredients

2 cups cooked diced potatoes, peeled

1 cup fine chop celery

1 cup fine chop onion

3/4 cup butter

pinch of white pepper

1/4 t. dried leaf thyme

1/3 cup flour more if  you want it thicker

16 ounces chop clams

16 ounce clam juice

2 cup hot milk

1/2 t. parsley flakes

salt to taste

Instructions

Cook potatoes

Saute celery and onion together.

Add pepper, thyme and flour….do not brown

Add clams and juice, slowly, stirring.

Heat until thickened

Reduce heat, slowly add milk

Whisk until smooth

Add potatoes, parelsy, salt

Heat but do not boil

Christmas Eve at Brent's grandmother's house was a 4 hour grazing festival rather than a sit-down meal.   Each holiday treat was always served in the same platter each year and placed in the exact same lay out on the table.  They'd eat until they couldn't hold any more then unwrap gifts.  Then they would eat some more.  When we asked Edith to share some of her Christmas Eve recipes, she hand-wrote them just like a true Southern lady should.

Hint:  the Ice Box Cookies are probably what made Josh fall in love with Brent

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Chef's note: Cookies best after left in the refrigerator, covered, for one day.

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Tell us how you plan to celebrate Christmas Eve in the comments section below, and if  you plan a viewing party for the Beekman Boys' Holiday Special, send us some pictures on Facebook and Twitter.

Christmas in the Country

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William Beekman was one of the biggest merchants in upstate New York and knew the importance of decking the halls for the holidays, and we try to live up to his standards even today.

We hope these images of The Beekman at Christmas inspires joy and celebration for your own holiday

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To see more images of the holidays at Beekman 1802, pick up the December 2010 issue of Country Living Magazine

Share your holiday decorating ideas in the comments section below!

Tack-fully

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We find all kinds of inspiration around Beekman. Even in our laziness.

We had an extra poster of William Beekman at the Mercantile.  Rather than leave it rolled up in the corner, we decided to hang it on the wall in the packaging room.   But hanging on the wall with a bit of double stick taped, Willy looked a little unfinished.  We knew he would not appreciate that.

Because the poster is not a standard size, framing would require a matte. Not wanting to take the time or the money to do that, we decided to use decorative upholstery tacks.

You can now buy upholstery tacks in strips and rolls which will allow you to create nice straight lines and take virtually no time at all.  You only have to hammer every sixth tack. (Interim tacks have caps but no spikes.) We chose the pewter tacks available at www.tackband.com

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The project turned out so well that we're now thinking of all the additional things we might do with the rest of our roll.

How about edging around an old piece of wooden furniture?  A decorative way to hang rows of your children's favorite art work?  An unexpected industrial element for door frames?

We love when improvisation leads to great re-usable ideas.

Share your ideas for using upholstery tacks in the comment section below.

Mary's Autumn Pie

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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 each week to learn what it's like to be a young child in early 19th century America

Father likes mincemeat pie the best.  It takes a long time to make.  I helped to do that.  I stoned the raisins.  First you must chop the boiled meat and suet  very, very fine.  Then the apples are peeled.  They have to be chopped very fine also. Mother ground the spices and made sure I had stoned the raisins (removed the

seeds) properly.  I stood on a stool with my apron on so I could reach the table.  It made me taller.  Mother had to strain the raisins just one more time after I was done.  This will be the best mincemeat pie Father has EVER had.  I think Mother will put some brandy in.  I don't really like this kind of pie.

I said some of my alphabet from the Primer while I was working. 

A was an Angler, and fished with a hook. B was a Blockhead, and ne'er learn'd his book.  C the Cat doth play and after slay.*

Everyone was so busy that Josh and Brent came to sing with me.  Their alphabet song was different than mine.  I had never heard it before.  We sang anyway.  Mother told me I had done very well with my song.  I don't think she can hear Josh and Brent.  It is easy to stay busy today.  It is warm in the kitchen even though the wind is blowing outside.  I can see the clouds run in the sky and the leaves dance to the ground. Part of the window has water running down on the inside.

My favorite pie is pumpkin pie:

Take the pumpkin and peel the rind off,then stew it till it is quite soft, and put thereto one pint of pumpkin, one pint of milk, one glass of malaga wine, one glass of rose water, if you like it, seven eggs, half a pound of fresh butter, one small nutmeg and sugar and salt to your taste*.  This is not as hard to make as the mincemeat pie.

*American Children Through Their Books:  1700-1835

*The Frugal House Wife – Susannah Carter

Victor! Victorian!

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Queen Victoria knew how to make an era!   She was a fashion and cultural icon whose rule of the British empire from 1837 to 1901 influenced art and design for decades.  By the later half of the 19th century, the opulence and prosperity crossed the Atlantic and ushered in the Gilded Age of America–probably the hey day of Sharon Springs as a resort town.

Is there a more fitting time to rekindle the pageantry and romanticism of the era than during the holidays?

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Before we all hunker down for the snowy winter season, on December 4, the village of Sharon Spring is hosting one last community gathering—our first annual Victorian Holiday Celebration.

Drag out your corsets, parasols, vests and top hats and join us.

Schedule of Events:

9:00am

Pick up your map at the NBT bank anytime during the day and go on a treasure hunt through all of the local businesses in Sharon Springs.  You never know what you'll find!    Get your map checked off from each location and then enter the raffle at the end of the day.

10:00am

The hanging of the greens and the decorating of the town Christmas tree in front of the NBT Bank will commence. The tree will be decorated by the school kids of the Sharon Springs Central School

10:30am

Join Douglas Plummer, the proprietor of The American Hotel, on the steps of the hotel for the story of the Sharon Springs Christmas Chicken

1:00 pm

Victorian Dance Demonstration in the front hall (restaurant area) of the historic Roseboro hotels.  Dance instructor Betty Gavin-Singer will be assisted by volunteer dancers who will encourage onlookers to join in the fun!

2:30 pm

See the East Coast premiere of the Mistletoe Moustache–a Victorian operetta–performed for those on the sidewalk from the second floor balcony of The American Hotel.

2:45 pm

Warm the body and the soul.  Garth Roberts and Austin Jetton will sing and play Christmas carols in the American Hotel lobby. There will be complimentary hot chocolate served and, of course, more serious libations on hand at the bar

4:00 pm

Join us in the heart of the village at the Chalybeate park for the Christmas tree decorating contest, Best Dressed Victorian costume contest and the treasure hunt raffle

5:00pm

The town Christmas tree lighting and caroling will begin at the corner of US 20 and Route 10 with complimentary hot chocolate provided by the Rotary Club

All of the businesses throughout Sharon Springs will be open throughout the day to help get you in the holiday spirit

Mary's Smokehouse

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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 each week to learn what it's like to be a young child in early 19th century America

Josh and Brent came to find me the first thing this morning.  They wanted to know what smelled so good outside.  Brent thought it smelled like a cook out.  I shall have to ask him more about that.  At first, I did not know what they meant because it is winter and I did not smell anything different.  But then I knew they were speaking about the smell coming from our smoke house.  I like the small also.  Father is beginning the smoking of our meat. Josh and Brent had never seen that done before.  They listened while I told them all I know about it.  I am certain Father would tell them more, but he cannot see them.  They are my imaginary friends.

The meat has to be hung in the smoke house so we have meat to eat during the entire winter that does not spoil and begin to smell strange. Our sausage hangs in the smoke house for days.  Hams hang a long time also.  Father LOVES sausages.  Father prefers to use oak wood and sometimes apple wood that is not quit dry yet.  Father had our venison, ham, beef and mutton smoked.  It has to be salted first in large barrels.  We have a smoke house to hang our meat in.  Some people hang the meat in their chimneys, high up so the flames cannot reach it.  Flames would cook  the meat.  That would not be good.

Autumn Reading List

We always like to share the books we're settling down with as the nights grow longer. Here's a few of our recent favs:

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97 Orchard: An Edible History of Five Immigrant Families in One New York City Tenement.

By Jane Ziegelman.

We came across this book while thinking about family heirloom recipes for our new cookbook. It's a fascinating and personal look at food and cultural history.

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Deeply Rooted: Unconventional Farmers in the Age of Agribusiness. By Lisa M. Hamilton.

Any book with "Unconventional Famers" in the title would capture our attention. But these three portraits of pioneering new farmers kept our attention until the last page.

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Coco Chanel: The Legend and The Life.

By Justine Picardie.

This might seem like an odd choice for us to read "down on the farm," but it's an irresistibly intimate look at our favorite style icon. (Plus, did you know the name "Beekman 1802″ was inspired by "Chanel No. 5?")

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Freedom: A Novel

By Jonathan Franzen.

For those of you who haven't yet succumbed to the publicity around Franzen's latest masterpiece, go ahead and give in. It will be an American classic. This is the kind of literature for which you're going to want the hardcover.

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The Town That Food Saved: How One Community Found Vitality in Local Food

By Ben Hewitt.

This book nearly made us jealous! This story of how the small town of Hardwick Vermont found new life in the local food movement is great validation for all small towns like Sharon Springs who are rediscovering their agricultural roots.