Josh Kilmer-Purcell's Blog, page 140
July 12, 2010
A Moment of Silence
A word of warning: A lot of ghost videos try to scare you. This one won't.
Nothing's going to pop up at you. Or move mysteriously. Instead, we wanted to share a quiet meditative moment on the farm with you. Whether or not you believe in ghosts, we believe you certainly should always remember those who came before you. So we're peacefully shutting you in the Beekman crypt for one quiet minute to remember the people in your life who made their mark on yours. Maybe it's the family who built the ...
July 11, 2010
Life's Parade
Josh and I were recently asked to ride in a town holiday parade. This did not surprise us. Having grown up in small towns, both of us are well aware of the wonderful randomness of these parades (a mix of school bands, veterans, fire engines, dance troops and classic cars). We were, however, surprised (and a bit embarrassed) when the parade's organizer asked if we would stick around afterwards to sign autographs.
Even though lots of people follow us on this website and get a glimpse of our l...
July 9, 2010
Episode 5 Recap
Happy James?
Episode 5 in week 4 of the Fabulous Beekman Boys. As far as I know, neither the number 4 or 5 are considered lucky or holy or particularly special. But this episode, I'm betting this episode is something special. Real special, real real, superduper special. As always, I'll be working with the goat scale.
Brent gets a driving lesson. It is a driving lesson with a tractor. I have stated previously that I think tractors are cool. If I could drive one in NYC, and find somewhere to...
July 8, 2010
Traditional Cherry Clafouti(s) with pits.
Puffy, Pit-ty, Frenchie.
While there's debate about whether the traditional cherry French custard-y, pancake-y dessert is correctly spelled Clafouti or Clafoutis, there should be no debate about whether the cherries should be pitted before going into the dessert. The correct answer is that they shouldn't.
What? An unpitted fruit dessert served to guests?? Why, that's un-American. Exactly.
Clafouti (pronounced "Cla-FOO-tee") is a dessert to be savored. Not chomped down like a Hostess Cherry...
A Homemade Dibble
What the devil is a dibble?
In case you haven't noticed, we're sometimes a sort of perfectionists. Usually perfectionism creates more work. But sometimes we find a serendipitous approach, or tool, which actually means less work overall.
Case in point is our new dibble. Late last winter I had a little fantasy about dibbles. (Or "dibber" as they are sometimes called.) I wanted to create the ultimate dibble for our raised beds. A dibble is nothing more than a tool that creates a hole in which to d...
Pairing Wine & Cheese
Wine and cheese…ah, what else does one need in life except some good bread? Well, for starters, one needs the right wine with the right cheese, because there is such huge variety in both. So what goes with what? There are a number of guidelines, but few rules. Before getting into the details, I should say that for the most part, most cheese will do most wine no great harm. But to really savor the match, here are some things to consider.
First, I believe that cheese generally belongs at the e...
July 6, 2010
An Extra Value Meal
We're very happy that people are enjoying our sometimes silly antics on The Fabulous Beekman Boys. And we're extremely flattered that so many parents are enjoying viewing The Fabulous Beekman Boys with their children. One of our primary goals in choosing to share our lives was to also share all of the lessons we've learned about farming, and how important small farmers are to America.
Farming is certainly fun and rewarding. It is also hard work and sometimes emotionally difficult. We feel...
July 5, 2010
Mary's Cameo
I was helping by dusting this morning in Mother's room. There was a beautiful brooch on top of the chest of drawers. I could see it when I stood on my tiptoes. Mother wears it fastened at her neck, but sometimes she pins the edges of her shawl together with it. It is her cameo. It has a carved likeness of a beautiful queen on it. I think she must be a queen because she has her head held very high. I wondered if I could fasten the hook of the pin to my dress…………under my pinafore. No...
Raise Your Glasses
In lieu of our normal jovial sipping game, we ask that at the end of episode 5 each of you raise your glass, tip your hat or hang your head in honor of Porky and Bess.
The 5 All-Time Greatest Books About Farming.
People who've liked my newest book, The Bucolic Plague, often write to ask what other books about farms or farming I recommend. Recently, the fabulous CNN's Eatocracy Blog asked me for my Top 5 Books about Farming, so I thought I'd share here as well. (While I heartily recommend Barbara Kingsolver and Micheal Pollan, I tried to spotlight some books people may not have heard of or had forgotten about.)
(But I'm going to add one bonus book at the end because, well, it's my blog, and I can.)
