© J.N. Urbanski 7/1916 11.30am
Daily Catskills Lightbox: 07/19/16
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Tag Archives: Country Living
Daily Catskills Lightbox: 06/28/16
© J.N. Urbanski 6/8/16 11.40am
Mushroom Gravy With Foraged Bolete Mushrooms
© J.N. Urbanski
Bolete Mushroom Gravy
2 cups of chopped mushrooms
1 medium onion
2 large cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
1 tablespoon of ground celery
2 tablespoons of local butter
2 tablespoons of whole milk
2 cups of boiling water
1 teaspoon of dried thyme
1 teaspoon of sage
1 sprig of rosemary
1 tablespoon of all purpose flour
This recipe calls for chopped mushrooms, but if you like your mushroom gravy lump-free, then you will either need to use minced mushrooms instead of chopped, whizz them in the blender or you will have to purée the gravy with a hand blender once it’s cooked.
Foraging: Boletes
© J.N. Urbanski
It’s mushroom season and while foraging I found a huge stand of bolete mushrooms growing under maple and oak trees on the edge of my forest. I’m a novice forager, so I had FOUR separate people confirm that what I had was edible. Before proceeding to eat any mushroom, you must first be certain of its identity. Seek the counsel of experts as it’s simply not worth making a mistake in this case. Even as my mushrooms are cooking, I’m still worried about eating them. A couple of neighbors have applauded my courage, so it’s safe to assume I will have what I cook all to myself. I will keep readers posted as to the state of my stomach. Over the next month or so, I will be taking some foraging classes, but in the meantime, I wanted to get started and make the most of what my garden had to offer.
Daily Catskills: 08/21/16
77F by noon and breezy with hazy sunshine. 80F by mid-afternoon and humid with rain starting mid-afternoon.
© J.N. Urbanski 2.45pm
Daily Catskills: 08/18/16
73F at 8.30am rising to 84F by mid-afternoon and humid with rolling clouds.
© J.N. Urbanski 4.40pm
Daily Catskills: 08/17/16
70F by 10am, overcast and breezy. 76F with a mix of sun and clouds by the afternoon.
© J.N. Urbanski 9.40am
Daily Catskills: 08/16/16
68F at 8.30am with rippled cloud turning to gunmetal grey by the afternoon with lunchtime rain. 75F by 2pm and humid.
© J.N. Urbanski 11am
Daily Catskills: 08/15/16
75F by mid-morning, heavy mist evaporating in the rising sun after overnight rain. 80F by the afternoon.
© J.N. Urbanski 6pm
© J.N. Urbanski 6pm
Catskills Sandwich: Peekamoose Pastrami
© J.N. Urbanski
Anything at Peekamoose is delicious and well made, but the Pastrami is arguably the best pastrami in the Catskills. Thick and juicy, it arrives with a side of mustard and a handful of tangy caperberries. Exceptionally for last night, it came on this bun but you can also find grass-fed beef pastrami on the charcuterie plate with pork, cherry and pistachio terrine, chicken liver pate, pickled red onions and house made bread (which you can take home and use to make the world’s best leftover sandwich).
Daily Catskills: 08/14/16
82F by mid-afternoon and overcast with afternoon thunderstorms.
© J.N. Urbanski 4.15pm
Daily Catskills: 08/13/16
91F by mid-afternoon: very hot and humid with rolling clouds.
© J.N. Urbanski 4.15pm
Daily Catskills: 08/12/16
82F by noon and overcast with soggy, mossy forest floor. 86F by mid-afternoon with scattered showers.
© MAU Noon
Daily Catskills: 08/11/16
70F at 8.30am and very humid. 80F and muggy by mid-afternoon. Heavy, late-afternoon rain.
© J.N. Urbanski 10.40am
Daily Catskills: 08/09/16
64F at 8.30am with clear skies, quickly rising to 82F by 11.30am. Another scorcher.
© J.N. Urbanski 10.15am
Daily Catskills: 08/08/16
A chilly 58F at 8.30am with clear skies, rising to 80F.
© J.N. Urbanski 4.45pm
Daily Catskills: 08/06/16
78F by noon and still humid after morning rain. Breezy with cotton wool clouds.
© J.N. Urbanski 4.30pm
Daily Catskills: 08/05/16
80F by mid-afternoon, with rolling clouds and the occasional breeze.
© J.N. Urbanski 2.30pm
Daily Catskills: 08/04/16
66F at 8.30am with clear blue skies and hot in the sun. 80F by mid-afternoon with rolling clouds.
© J.N. Urbanski 2pm
Daily Catskills: 08/03/16
68F at 8.30am, rising to 75F by mid-afternoon.
© J.N. Urbanski 9am
Daily Catskills: 08/02/16
64F at 8.30am with early morning rain. 74F by 2pm and very hot in the sun with dark clouds looming.
© J.N. Urbanski 9.50am
Daily Catskills: 07/31/16
70F at 8.30am with overnight rain and continual rain for most of the day.
© J.N. Urbanski 11am
Daily Catskills: 07/30/16
68F at 8.30am with steady rain for most of the day.
© J.N. Urbanski 3.20pm
Daily Catskills: 07/29/16
A hair under 80F by noon, cloudy and humid.
© J.N. Urbanski 2.20pm
Daily Catskills: 07/28/16
70F at 8.30am, still and overcast with hazy cloud cover. 85F by mid-afternoon and humid.
© J.N. Urbanski 3.40pm
Catskills Weekend: July 30th & 31st
Saturday July 30th and Sunday 31st, Catskills artists will open their doors to the public, in a pre-arranged tour, so that you can take a peek behind the scenes in an artist’s studio. 20 artists are taking part in the tour, but four of us are without a studio. We’ll be showing in the Grange Hub in Halcotsville opposite the old Lake Wawaka Hose #1, a few steps downhill from the Holy Innocents’ Church. Artists are en route throughout the countryside between the villages of Arkville, Margaretville and Roxbury.
Interested visitors can plan their tour by going to the website and printing out the map. You can also visit the Facebook page here. Glossy, color pamphlets with all the details are also widely available locally. (See bottom of the post for artists’ work.)
The project is the brainchild of local Catskills artist Alix Travis, who was inspired to start the tour after having done similar tours herself in other communities. Studio tours are a glimpse behind the scenes to explore methods and process, swap notes and absorb the creative atmosphere. What’s special about art is that identical processes can result in wildly differing effects when they’re employed by different artists and that’s fun to watch for everyone. What’s a good process for one artist isn’t necessarily good for other artists, but it’s fun to push the envelope and experiment.
Saturday July 30th, The Oak Hill Preservation Society & Preserved Instincts presents the DOPE JAMS OAK HILL DAY Open Air Party from 4pm to 10pm. Buses will run from Brooklyn to the Catskills. 7892 Rt 81, Main St, Oak Hill, New York 12460: more details here.
Saturday July 30th an artists’ reception at Windham Fine Arts on 5380 Main Street
Windham, NY 12496. The show runs through September 7th.
Saturday July 30th: Manhattan in the Mountains continues with its faculty concert at 8pm. Manhattan in the Mountains on Route 23A, Hunter, NY 12442.
Friday July 29th, Saturday July 30th & Sunday July 31st: Drive-In Movie: Jaws at the Greenville Theatre, 10700 Route 32 Greenville, NY 12083.
© Lisbeth Firmin
© Lisbeth Firmin
Barn Door by Oneida Hammond
Daily Catskills: 07/27/16
84F by 2pm, hot with some skimpy clouds.
© J.N. Urbanski 4pm
Daily Catskills: 07/23/16
85F by 10.30am and hot and humid for the rest of the day.
© J.N. Urbanski 6pm
Daily Catskills: 07/21/16
70F at 8.30am, with clear skies, rising to 84 by 3pm.
© J.N. Urbanski 9.30am
Daily Catskills: 07/20/16
57F and chilly with clear skies at 8.30am, rising to 75F by 2pm.
© J.N. Urbanski 11.30am
Catskills Weekend: 7/23 & 24/16
© J.N. Urbanski
The LongYear Gallery has been showing the works of Linda Lariar, Catskills artist, since July 16th. Linda is part of the East Branch of the Delaware Plein Air Group. Her opening will be July 23rd, 3pm to 6pm at LongYear Gallery, First Floor Rear, 785 Main Street, Margaretville NY 12455
Gallery Hours: Sat 10am-5pm.
Spillian, the inn and retreat in Fleischmanns is having a major party on Saturday July 23rd from 4pm to 10pm: a Cajun inspired feast of music and food with entertainment from Dylan Doyle, who will be recording live for his CD, with the entire show broadcast live on local radio. Entry is $15 for adults and $7.50 for children, in advance. Full cajun dinner: $18.00. Vegetarian dinner: $15. Drinks (beer, wine, cocktails): $5. Soft drinks: $1.00.
The Painter’s Gallery in Fleischmanns presents the opening reception for Luminance by Beth Caspar, Joan Grubin, Heather Hutchison, and Laura Sue King on Saturday July 23rd. This show brings together four artists experimenting with the perception of color and the play of natural light. The result is work that appears to glow or to be luminous, created with a variety of media but without the use of artificial sources of light. Luminance is up until August 20th.
Lazy Crazy Acres Farm in Arkville holds Saturday night Pizza Nights on Saturday July 23rd.
Manhattan in the Mountains the music school in Hunter, begins its Fifth Anniversary concerts in Hunter on Sunday July 24th and continues until August 24th. Manhattan in the Mountains is a program of The Catskill Mountain Foundation and all events take place at the Doctorow Center in Hunter. Established in 2012 as a summer music festival for violin, viola, cello, and piano students ages 13 and up, MinM offers a minimum of two private lessons per week, daily chamber music rehearsals, two chamber coachings per week, and three to five hours of scheduled practice time every day.
Bebert’s Cafe is hosting live music in their cafe garden at the weekends to complement their incredible food and tea on Sunday July 24th.
© J.N. Urbanski
Farm Stands: Buy Local
© J.N. Urbanski
For the first two years of my radio show, I ran a series called The Economy of Farming and interviewed local farmers and their advocates here in the Catskills. The subject has been dormant on this website for a while, but deserves some intensive focus because farmers of smallholdings are struggling. If you watch those videos circulating on social media depicting the deprivation of animals – and their hideous death – in industrialized meat production facilities, there’s something simple you can do about it. Buy locally raised meat that is ethically reared and humanely slaughtered.
Exhibition: Linda Lariar at the Longyear Gallery
© Linda Lariar
The LongYear Gallery has been showing the works of Linda Lariar, Catskills artist, since July 16th. Linda is part of the East Branch of the Delaware Plein Air Group. Her opening reception will be July 23rd, 3pm to 6pm.
LongYear Gallery
First Floor Rear, 785 Main Street, Margaretville NY 12455
Gallery Hours: Sat 10am-5pm, Fri-Sun-Mon 11am-4pm
845-576-3270
Daily Catskills: 07/14/16
75F at 8.30am, overcast and breezy. 84F at 3pm with rain and a half-hour torrential downpour, then back to sun again.
© J.N. Urbanski 3.50pm Farm
Daily Catskills: 07/13/16
73F at 8.30am with hazy cloud and long periods of sunshine. 84F by mid-afternoon.
© J.N. Urbanski 8.30am
Plein Air Painting at Lazy Crazy Acres
© J.N. Urbanski
Lazy Crazy Acres Farm is one of the most inspiring and eclectic places to paint. Signage of all kinds competes with farm equipment, animals, barns, outhouses, thick vegetation, stunning views and a babbling brook running through it. Plein Air painting is a practice that requires speed and focus because your light source is literally moving overhead. If you’re in it to capture shadows and light, time is of the essence.
© J.N. Urbanski
© J.N. Urbanski
Daily Catskills: 07/12/16
64F at 8.30am, rising to 81F by 1pm with rolling clouds, but bright and sunny: another scorcher.
© J.N. Urbanski 1.45pm
Daily Catskills: 07/11/16
60F at 8.30am and slight chilly, rising to 71F by noon with hazy sunshine and a light breeze.
© J.N. Urbanski 10.30am
Daily Catskills: 07/09/16
68F by mid-afternoon, cloudy and humid.
© MAU 6pm
Catskills Behind The Scenes: Artists’ Studios Tour, July 30th & 31st
On the weekend of July 30th and 31st, 16 upstate artists will throw open their doors to the public, so that you can take a peek behind the scenes at what goes on in an artist’s studio. 20 artists are taking part in the tour, but four of us are without a studio. We’ll be showing in the Grange Hub in Halcotsville opposite the old Lake Wawaka Hose #1, a few steps downhill from the Holy Innocents’ Church. Artists are en route throughout the countryside between the villages of Arkville, Margaretville and Roxbury.
The project is the brainchild of local Catskills artist Alix Travis, who was inspired to start the tour after having done similar tours herself in other communities. Studio tours are a glimpse behind the scenes to explore methods and process, swap notes and absorb the creative atmosphere. What’s special about art is that identical processes can result in wildly differing effects when they’re employed by different artists and that’s fun to watch for everyone. What’s a good process for one artist isn’t necessarily good for other artists, but it’s fun to push the envelope and experiment.
Daily Catskills: 07/08/16
A scorching 84F by noon, cloudy and humid. Time for a dip.
© MAU 2.51pm
Catskills Sandwich: Phoenicia Diner’s Reuben
© J.N. Urbanski
This year’s Reuben is a tasty, juicy and modestly-sized; this last phrase is meant in the best possible way. So much of what we order today is either a belly-deadening doorstop or enough for two people to share, which limits your options. But even if you only eat half this sandwich, it survives a night in the fridge, like so many don’t. The Phoenicia Diner was written up in the New York Times this month and if it gets any more popular, we’ll start needing a reservation.
Daily Catskills: 07/06/16
70F at 8.30am and sunny despite rolling clouds. 84F by 1pm. Update: almost 90F by mid-afternoon. Scorcher.
© J.N. Urbanski 1.20pm
Daily Catskills: 07/03/16
73F by 10am, bright, breezy and sunny, becoming humid later on.
© J.N. Urbanski 5pm
Daily Catskills: 07/02/16
A high of 72F, breezy and sunny with rolling clouds.
© J.N. Urbanski 2pm
Catskills Weekend: 07/02/16
© J.N. Urbanski
The East Branch of the Delaware Plein Air Group have their opening reception on Saturday July 2nd at the Commons Building, 785 Main Street in Margaretville, New York. The exhibition will be up until July 31st.
Writers in the Mountains, The Roxbury General and “community friends” have arranged an installation called “Raining Poetry” in Roxbury, New York, tomorrow morning. It’s poetry written on the pavement. It’s invisible though, so you have to throw some water on it to reveal the beauty. Watering cans will be set up so you can wet the sidewalk and watch the poetry appear.
The Painters Gallery on Main Street in Fleischmanns is hosting an opening on Saturday July 2nd from 3.30pm – 6pm called Weather Reports at Sea, an installation with multiple projections by Tona Wilson.
Woodstock Farm Sanctuary’s 9th Annual July Jamboree takes place on Sunday July 3rd from 11am – 4pm. Award-winning veggie food trucks and booths, live music, vegan-themed tattoos done on-site by the artists from Gristle Tattoo in Brooklyn, kids’ activities including face-painting, a bouncy castle, water slide, and more! Bestselling author Terry Hope Romero will also be presenting around her new cookbook, “Protein Ninja”. Spend the day with family and friends and meet over 300 friendly rescued cows, pigs, goats, turkeys and more while benefiting our rescue, shelter and outreach work for farmed animals.
There will be a free sanctuary shuttle for this event departing hourly from the New Paltz Trailways bus station.
Daily Catskills: 07/01/16
73F by 10am with a mix of sun, cloud, afternoon rain and a tornado watch.
© J.N. Urbanski 5pm
Daily Catskills: 06/30/16
64F at 8.30am and blue skies dashed with fuzzy cotton wool clouds. An 81F scorcher by 2pm.
© J.N. Urbanski 3.45pm
Daily Catskills: 06/29/16
64F at 8.30am with rolling clouds, humid and hot in the sunshine. 80F by mid-afternoon.
© J.N. Urbanski 8.45am
The Fleeting Beauty of Wild Roses
© J.N. Urbanski
They’re fleeting because once the deer find out they exist, they will eat them all. All the more arresting for being a complete surprise, all the roses bar two featured in this post disappeared suddenly overnight. I had never seen wild roses before in the Catskills but, as a wise neighbour said, that’s probably because the deer got to them first. It was a joy to have them in our road briefly.
IMG_9771.JPG
Daily Catskills: 06/28/16
70F at 8.30am and sunny with rolling clouds. 81F at 2pm.
© J.N. Urbanski 11.40am
Daily Catskills: 06/27/16
67F at 8.30am with wispy clouds and a cool breeze. 81F by noon. Update: 70F and raining by 2pm.
© J.N. Urbanski 11am
Daily Catskills: 06/25/16
70F by 8.30am, with periods of brilliant sunshine dampened by huge cotton wool clouds sailing through. Humid and hot rising to over 80F.
© J.N. Urbanski 5.30pm
Farm to Belly: Carrots & Beets
© J.N. Urbanski
The first harvest of beetroot and carrots has been pulled and there’s no end to the possibilities. You can eat the carrot straight out of the ground but some sources say that they have to be steamed to give you all their benefits. If you want a raw treat, grate them and mix with balsamic vinegar and feta cheese for a truly healthful side dish that I posted last year. Scroll down for the recipe.
© J.N. Urbanski
Beetroot, Carrot & Feta Salad
3 medium-sized beetroot (with leaves)
4-5 medium-sized carrots
1.5 ounces of balsamic vinegar
3 ounces of goat’s milk feta
Grate the carrots and beetroot. Chop up the beetroot greens. Cut the feta cheese into cubes. Mix the grated vegetables, and cheese together in a bowl with the balsamic vinegar for a quick, easy, utterly delicious, juicy and crunchy salad.
Daily Catskills: 06/24/16
70F by 10am, with scudding clouds.
© J.N. Urbanski 4pm