Josh Kilmer-Purcell's Blog, page 67

5 Beautiful Things

Antique Llamas

These five photos of llamas from the U.S. Library of Congress warmed my heart and instantly made me think of Polka Spot (the Beekman’s resident Diva) and the long history of llama domestication in the Western hemisphere.

Llamas are part of the camelid family and, before the Ice Age, they once roamed the North American landscape in great numbers. Driven south by the extreme temperatures, llamas took up residence in the Andes mountains of South America where they were eventually domesticated, nearly 4000 years ago. The Incas used llamas as their beasts of burden, although they were highly regarded as gifts from the Gods. They provided the Incas with material for clothing and blankets, food and fertilizer. They became popular in early South American civilizations as modes of cargo transport and were frequently used by farmers to protect livestock from lurking predators.

It was only during the late 1800s that private collectors and zoologists began to reitroduce llamas to their original North American homeland. Zoos and hobby farms would exhibit the llamas, often allowing curious patrons to pet or feed them. It was an Oregon couple, Kay and Richard Patterson, who first began to breed llamas domestically in the U.S. in the 1970s. Since then their numbers have exploded and their popularity with farmers has increased. Today there are approximately 500,000 llamas living in the United States and Canada – a number that is steadily growing.

The photos below are some of the earliest known photographs of llamas taken in the United States, dating between 1912 and 1920.

 

More Wedding Photos…

We consider ourselves lucky to have so many creative friends. So when it came to photographing the wedding, we thought, that rather than go through the hassle of posing for all those canned wedding shots, we’d ask our photographer friends to let loose and capture the day.

We’re going to share a couple of galleries from two of the photographers whom we adore. The first, whom you all know and love as the photographer of the Beekman 1802 Heirloom Cookbook, is Paulette Tavormina. We’ve been so fortunate to have her as a friend and collaborator. She’s an incredible fine art photographer whose work hangs in the greatest galleries around the world. Seriously…check out her “Natura Morta” photographs. They’re brilliant. We had to beg and cajole her into shooting our cookbooks, which she turns into works of art on their own. She caught some beautiful details of our wedding picnic. Thank you, Paulette…

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This next photo gallery is from a young man who reached out to us just this past spring. He’s just beginning his career in photography, and has a true passion for it. You know, it takes a certain amount of guts and determination for a kid to contact us from out of the blue, and ask if he can shoot something.

We happen to really like guts and determination. We also happen to like talent and potential. And Kobey has loads of it. So that’s why we asked Kobey Lawton, who’s just out of high school, to be the Official Food Photographer of our wedding. He did an incredible job, and we’ll be sharing all of his food shots, as well as all of the recipes from the day’s dishes in another post. But below are some of the other general shots he captured from the day. If you live in our region, you definitely should look up Kobey to shoot your event. Get him before he’s too famous.

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Salt of the Earth

 

The Iroquois were the first to discover the briny waters on the banks of the Onondoga Lake in nearby Syracuse, New York. Boiling the water in open kettles over fire, they created salt that became a valuable tool for trade with European settlers. One gallon of its water could be boiled down to about one pound of salt

By the late 1700s, extracting the salt was well on its way to becoming an industrialized process and a major source of revenue for the city of  Syracuse.

When The War of 1812 made it difficult to obtain salt from abroad, the planning and construction of Erie Canal got a big boost. In fact, locals nicknamed it “the ditch that salt built.”

During the Civil War, Northern forces took control of salt mines in Virginia and Pennsylvania – which meant that those living in the South could not get salt at any pric. Some historians even suggest this contributed to the South’s eventual loss. So critical was the salt production in Syracuse that salt workers were exempted from both jury duty AND military conscription. By 1872 there were 4 large mills producing table salt and dairy salt, and collectively pumping out nearly nine million bushels of salt a year.

Most certainly when William Beekman had his original Mercantile in Sharon Springs, NY, there would have been barrels of Syracuse salt on display. And while the salt industry in upstate NY started to decline in the early 1900s (and, sadly, no longer exists,) one delicious reminder remains:  salt potatoes.

The salt potato originated in Syracuse when salt miners would bring a bag of small, unpeeled potatoes and boil them in the flowing brine for their lunch.  They are still a favorite throughout central NY, and easy to can prepare. Simply add 12 ounces of salt to the boiling water for each 5lb bag of potatoes.

Beekman 1802 wood-smoked finishing salts are available in the Mercantile.  Click here to learn more.

 

 

 

You Be Jammin’

We had a little fun (at your expense) on Facebook the other day. We were launching our newest flavor of jam, (“Midnight Jam,” blackberry & black currant,) and we were reminded of this old Carol Channing musical number from the 1985 made-for-tv version of Alice in Wonderland (skip to 1:47 for performance):

 

We thought we’d sponsor a fun little contest to celebrate the jam launch. We offered three free jars of jam to the first six people who posted a video of themselves singing (or lip-synching) and dancing to Carol Channing’s Jam Tomorrow song.

To be honest, we really didn’t think anyone would be that brave.

We totally underestimated your courage. And your sanity.

Here were the first six entrants. And they’re all winners. In a manner of speaking, at least.  To purchase our new Midnight Jam, click here. A portion of the proceed may go to therapy for these folks.

 

Gartending: Kiss the Girls

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Klaus has been the Soused Gnome for as long as he can remember.  With his little ceramic brain ensconced deeply inside his little terracotta body all he thinks about surrounds finding a new and lovely spirit to taste. He also finds pretty girls who like kissing him, but that’s another story for another day…

It can be a problem with that little ceramic flask tied ever so carefully to his little ceramic chest.   Whatever is in his flask, Klaus is not sharing.

 

The Garden:

Klaus was out rooting in the garden this morning with a bottle of gin in his little ceramic hand.  I called out to him but he didn’t hear me evidently because he ignored my plaintive calls.  He found some basil and mint just behind the daylilies that had escaped from being eaten by the hungry rabbits that sometimes make their way into the garden.   Klaus is very fond of the rabbits.  They are tender and sweet but they also have an evil streak.  They have been known to eat all the basil leaving Klaus only with the spicy mint to prepare his cocktails.  But in deference to the rabbits, this morning there were a few nice fat leaves of basil available for Klaus’s little ceramic fingers.  Klaus picked some and put them in his little ceramic basket for safe keeping away from the tiny, sharp teeth of the sweet little bunny rabbits.   You see Klaus started the day very thirsty.  He was at the grocery store last night and picked out some beautiful Meyer Lemons.  Along with the Meyer Lemons he saw and grasped some teeny, tiny Key Limes.

 What did Klaus have on his little ceramic mind? 

When he got home, Klaus set out to juice these small morsels of sunshine into his Boston shaker along with the freshly picked mint and basil.  But what did Klaus have on his mind this morning.  And why was Klaus thinking of drinking this early?

I’m really not sure what was going through his little ceramic head because like all things unknowable, Klaus never says what is on his mind.  He just does.  See and do, see and do.  It’s his mantra, his Tao, his way.  Klaus is very enlightened in the Eastern philosophies and they influence his cocktailian pleasures because of the simplicity of motion.

 

“Pick Basil”

“Snip Mint”

“Juice lemons”

“Juice limes”

“Add an egg-white”

“Add gin”

 

And so it goes… Klaus is out in the garden mouthing this mantra, over and over, until enlightenment takes place.  Of course there are a few more steps but Klaus is not saying what they are.  That is why I’m here, to help him with his practice!

 

Bitters:

 

What are cocktail bitters, Klaus?  Klaus received some beautiful cocktail bitters yesterday from Abbott’s in Canada.  Cocktail bitters, if you are not familiar with them are potent and concentrated flavoring and healing elements that add depth and balance to a mixed drink.  They are as essential as good ice and freshly squeezed juices if your cocktail calls for juices.  Back in the early days, around the time of Klaus’s birth in the mid-1800’s, pharmacists used bitters in their Apothecaries for healing.  They were prescribed for everything from a stomach ailment to a headache to a cold.  Most cocktail bitters are concentrated healing in a drop-by-drop form.   You don’t have to use much because of their concentration.  Only a couple of drops in each cocktail works wonders- like a spice drawer works for a chef, the bitters work for a mixed drink.  Many bitters come from Germany where coincidently Klaus is from!

 

Gin:

Ah, gin.  Is gin Klaus’s favorite spirit?  Certainly the flavor of gin brings goose bumps to Klaus’s little ceramic flesh.  Klaus loves a specific gin from Vermont named Barr Hill.  There is raw honey in Barr Hill that reminds Klaus of the old country back in Germany.  The German method of distillation sometimes uses honey instead of just grain to exemplify and augment the already potent spirit.  Klaus loves rum and he also loves bourbon.  He sometimes drinks punch made from all these things and then all hell breaks loose!!!!  Oh look… Klaus just wandered off again!  Klaus?  Klaus?

Nevermind.  I just saw a pretty girl run off with Klaus and now she’s kissing him on his cheek…  All the pretty girls kiss Klaus on the cheek..

I’m not sure why!

Maybe it’s his pointy red little hat?

 

 

The Pointy Red Hat Cocktail (for two lovely little cocktails)

Ingredients:

4 oz. Barr Hill Gin (from Raw Honey)

A few sprigs of both basil and mint, torn or slapped (I prefer slapping)

.50 each freshly squeezed Meyer Lemon and Key Lime juices

.50 Royal Rose Simple Syrup of Tamarind

.50 Perrier Sparkling Natural Spring Water (plain)

Several shakes of the Abbott’s Bitters.  Or Angostura if you cannot find Abbott’s.

Luxardo or home cured cherry

 

Preparation:

To a Boston Shaker filled ¾ with ice add the juices, the syrup, and the Barr Hill Gin

Add an egg white

Shake like crazy for 10-15 seconds.

Pour into two Coupe Glasses (they look like old fashioned champagne glasses)

Dot the top with the Abbott’s Bitters and .25 in each glass of the Perrier Sparkling Water

Garnish with a sprig of basil and one of the mint  and a Luxardo cherry for the top!  (the red pointy hat!)

 

Klaus!!!!!!!!!!

 

 

*To slap mint, place in your hand and slap the other one over it like clapping your hands!  This releases the oils. Do the same with the basil.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5 Beautiful Things

 

Textile Artist Mr. Finch

Lots of tea and blissful solitude are the keys to success for British textile artist Mister Finch. (He’s a bit cagey about revealing his first name.) Based in Leeds, the young designer spends his days in his bright studio sketching and crafting and collecting and sewing to bring his imaginative creations to life. Sometimes they are giant mushrooms, or enormous moths, or maybe a masked hare with fully embroidered ear protectors. Whatever flight of fancy intrigues Mr. Finch is what emerges from his studio, Several UK stockists have caught on to his beautiful work, selling his pieces to customers with a curatorial eye.

“I get very obsessed with creating certain animals and insects and often make many and then don’t return to them for sometimes weeks,” he says. “I recognize this behaviour now and whilst I’m in a particular zone I try to be as productive as possible.”

Click here to see more of his whimsical work.

 

 

5 Beautiful Things

A Suitcase Full of Dreams 

As I was packing my suitcase last week, I was struck by a wave of nostalgia for all the trips I had packed for over the years.  As a child, my little red suitcase was packed for me by my mother and I paid no attention to either the vessel or its contents. I was generally too excited about the destination to care much about what I might be wearing on my days away. As an adolescent, I was resolute about what did and did not make it into my suitcase: a rigid decision-making process that was governed by hedonistic self-consciousness and neurotic overplanning. Invariably, I always packed too much. Now, as an adult, the experience of packing is a joyful and meditative one. I envision the days ahead with anticipation and happiness. My packing plan, by extention, is guided much more by the heart than by a head full of strategy as I gather my temporary, transitory wardrobe, glad for the experiences that await my arrival.

I am packing my suitcase again this week as I head to our family’s cottage in rural Ontario for a week. I remembered the beautiful photography of Yuval Yairi, an Israeli artist from Tel Aviv whose series called “Memory Suitcases” beautifully illustrates the impermanence of travel: the places we visit, the people we meet and the strong images that make up our memories of these places after we return.

To see more of Yuval’s work, click here

 

 

Andrew Ritchie is the creator of Martha Moments, a blog devoted Martha-Stewart related content and her community of supporters. He lives and works in Toronto, Canada, and has been a longtime friend of Brent & Josh, Beekman 1802 and Sharon Springs. Each week he’ll scour the world (wide web) to find the 5 most beautiful things to inspire you. Follow Andrew on Pinterest.

 

Little Love Notes

 

At the start of our relationship, Josh lived in the West Village and Brent lived on the northern tip of Manhattan.  We would alternate weekends in each other’s respective locales.  At the end of each weekend, we would each write a poem to one another, and we were not allowed to read the poems until we had parted. Through subsequent moves, the poetry journals had been packed away and almost forgotten.  We certainly had not looked at them in at least 10 years.We wanted our wedding vows to be deeply personal and reflective of not only the men we are now, but the boys we were when we first met 14 years ago.   We dug out these old journals and each chose 3 poems to read to one another from our youthful writings—a remembrance of that time of first site, young love, and first blush

 

 

 

 

Josh’s first selection

 

BLANK SPACES

 

The distance between

The Big Bang

And the Man on the Moon

Stretches 164.6 miles compared to

The .oooo186” between

The Beginning of Us and

This Morning

 

But,

The largest space,

Immeasurable by human means

Is always between

The moment I saw you last

And kiss you next

 

 

 

Brent’s first selection

 

PAPER

 

The gift of the first year

Is paper

Paper?

The stuff that

Lines birdcages

Wraps fish

Spews from the printer and fax in a never ending stream of work

Blows down the canyons of New York City on a cold winter day

Overflows the can at the corner of West Fourth and Jones Street

 

That

 

Gets ink our your fingers on a beautiful Sunday morning

Is a template for the knowledge of the ages

Is a canvas for the likes of Rembrandt and Degas

Streams down at the stroke of midnight in Time Square in celebration

Enshrouds event the smallest gift with anticipation

And records the precious thoughts of one lover to the other?

 

Ah…

 

Paper!!!

 

 

and then Josh

 

BLANK PAGES

 

Blank pages

Are poetry

Of a sort

 

A sonnet of synchronicity, of

Sympatico, of

Synthesis

 

Blank white pages

The skin of one’s back

A poem traced onto the flesh

Left to freckle and wrinkle over the years

The knowledge

That time is abundant

Leaves books empty

 

A shame,

Really,

Since books deserve to be written

About

You.

Yes.

Books

Deserve

To

Be

Written

About

You.

 

 

 

Brent’s rebuttal

 

LODI

 

I find it hard

To be Superman

To get that cape ironed just-so

And hand-washing those so-called fade-resistant blue tights

Hurts my hands

 

 

I  find it hard

To have wings

Especially in the city

They always get caught in the subway doors

And nothing at Barneys fits

Don’t mention the halo

 

I find it hard

To be a hero

To have my picture in the paper

To have women swoon in my presence

And all those kids slober on me

 

And

 

I find it hard

To love you

And your insecurities and doubts

Your ambition and greed

 

But then years from now

When I had you the world on a Tiffany silver plate

You’ll know that I do

 

 

and then Josh said

 

THE SPHINX’S RIDDLE

 

At night I can ponder for hours

Puzzling through dreams

Wondering how such a

Beautiful face

Wound up mere inches

Away from mine

 

You are never far

But I cannot still myself

 

The distance between us

Should be that of

Moss

and

Rock

 

 

 

and then Brent had to one-up Josh with a brand new poem

 

PUPPY LOVE

 

If you  promise

To have and to hold me

To provide food, water and shelter

To take long walks

 

And occasionally rub my stomach

 

 

 

I promise

I will not bite you

That for each year of our lives, I’ll make enough memories for 7

That each time I see you come through the door, I’ll act like I haven’t seen you in a million years

And that every time you call my name

 

I’ll wag my tail so hard my whole body shakes

 

What words do you remember saying to your own beloved?

 

 

Matter of Life & Death

 

 

Carol van Evera was one of the first members of the B. 1802 Rural Artist Collective.  She was the one who first taught us about huck embroidery (Swedish weaving), and for years we worked with her to create our Beekman 1802 Picnic Blanket Throw and our Christmas Sampler Throw (which was featured in Country Living magazine).

But aside from her skill as a craftsman, what was most memorable for us about Carol was her work ethic.  When BLAAK cheese first hit and we had hundreds and hundreds of orders, it was Carol who said she would come in at 3:00 in the morning and package cheese so that it could be on the first mail truck out of town on Monday morning.    She would fly around the back rooms of the Mercantile with the single-mindedness of a worker bee, and she did this once a week for almost 2 years.  Whether she knew it or not, she was the embodiment of “Beekman”.  Like a homestead bride, a pioneer woman who knew how to get things done and do them well.  Because that’s just how it was.

Carol died of ovarian cancer last year.

One of those snowy shopping days between Thanksgiving and Christmas, when foot traffic in Sharon Springs is light, a young mom who had recently been transplanted to Albany from places out West stepped into the Mercantile.  Beekman employee #1, Maria, never to know a stranger, walked Henriette around the shop.  When they stopped to admire the Christmas Sampler Throw, Maria explained how it was the last remaining example of Carol’s work.

To Maria’s surprise, Henriette (a stay-at-home mom who manages a website called Etta-Made) said that she had learned how to do the weaving as a young girl while spending time with her Norwegian grandmother.

What are the odds of that?

When it came time to plan our wedding, we wanted the event to be a celebration of all of the people in attendance and not a focus on us.  And we didn’t want to give a wedding “favor” as much as a “thank you gift” for all of these people who helped nurture our relationship to this point.

I immediately sought out Henriette to make blankets for our guests.  She (and a good number of her family members) spent most of the Spring surrounded by yards of cloth.

Carol’s sister, Ellen, has long been the embroiderer at Beekman 1802, and she was on hand at the wedding to monogram the blankets for each guest.

After the wedding clean-up, I was carefully folding our wedding blanket to drape across the back of a bedroom chair.  As I stroked one of the hand-tied tassels, I thought about Carol.

She was so proud to make “something that would last”, and I am so happy to know that threads of Carol will bring happiness and joy to generations to come.

An heirloom friend.

 

To see what Henriette created, click here

 

 

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A Day at the Fair

The Sunshine Fair (our county fair) has been held at the historic Cobleskill Fairgrounds annually since 1876, and we were so honored to be asked to be the Grand Marshals of the parade this year.  We also got the plum jobs of judging the pickle contest, the blueberry muffin contest and the Iron Spinner competition.

Flip through the photos and spend the day with us!

 

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