late summer, summer, upstate new york in bovina, far and away, new york, summer, upstate, upstate new york 12.19 I am in the midst of editing twenty years worth of work shot with my Deardorf 8x10, faced with the bittersweet passage of time.
Copyright © 2011, andrea gentl. All rights reserved.
10.4
My sweet friend India made this elderflower vodka at the height of summer when the elderberry bushes were laden with blossoms. I imagine her, one baby in the sling and the other, Odette, trailing happily after her, sun hat tied tight, on some wild adventure to pick the elderflowers on Bramley Mountain Road. A recipe, from another friend at Eating From The Ground Up, inspired this vodka. Elderflowers are the palest of cream or the color of summer butter. Their saucer-sized blooms are east to spot. They smell both sweet and a bit spicy. They are best picked before the scorching noonday sun causes their delicate aroma to fade. You will need to make the cordial immediately after picking the flowers. Take note of where you find your blooms so you can return in September to pick the deep purple black elderberries which are high in vitamin c and other antioxidants. This past weekend I made a delicious elderberry sorbet, but they are most commonly used for jelly.
Elderflower vodka adapted from Eating From The Ground Up.
Vodka
Elderflowers
Sugar
Place about 20-25 elderflower heads in a mason jar (don’t pick them all if you want elderberries later in the summer!)
Cover the flowers with vodka and seal the jar tightly
Place in a cool dark place for 4-6 weeks to age. (The vodka in this photograph was left longer, about 8 weeks)
The liquid will turn anywhere from a buttery yellow color to a deeper amber, depending on how long you leave it to age.
After the appropriate time, strain the flowers off with cheesecloth and pour the liquid back into clean Mason jar
Add 1/2 cup of sugar and shake to dissolve. When the sugar is dissolved the cordial is ready to drink.
Copyright © 2011 Andrea Gentl all rights reserved
elderflower vodka aged 8 weeks.
07.11 
When we first bought our old farmhouse in the woods in Upstate New York, I was somewhat disappointed to find that there were no old rose briars on the property. I made it my mission to plant some old species roses. After having grown up in a two hundred year old house in New England, I had grown accustom to overgrown wild old species roses. We had many varieties from single petal to double bloom in vibrant shades of pinks and whites. I love the way the perfume of a rose hangs heavy on a humid summer day. As luck would have it, there was an abandoned house just up the raod fom us where an eccentric old man named Edgar had lived. In his front yard were the most beautiful double bloom pink roses. They had grown into a wicked pile of bramble, canes, and thorns amidst the blackberry scrub. Very carefully we dug a few plants and trannsfered them to our place... and now after many years Edgar's roses have grown accustomed to thier new home.We have heard from locals that two women, visiting family at the nearby farmhouse in the late 1800's, brought the roses from England. This past weekend as I walked across the yard the thick spicy bloom of roses hung in the air.
heirloom roses, roses, summer, upstate new york in flora and fauna 07.3 
Once a year, the mountains of Bovina New York roar with something other than the desolate wind or the pounding rain or like today, the crashing thunder. They echo with a boom, a thud in the night. There in the mountains are most spectacular fireworks one could ever see. Two families host two separate parties that light the night sky like explosions on the sun. I have come many years and photographed these night anemones. Every year they are somehow different from last as are the people who come and the children who run wild tearing through the wet grass with sparklers ablaze behind them. There is a moment of brilliance as it fades away to the palest red or green and then it's gone.
to see a larger gallery of fireworks photos go to http://www.hungryghostfoodandtravel.com/photo-archive/bovina-fireworks/
Copyright © 2011 Andrea Gentl all rights reserved
bovina, catskills, fireworks, summer, upstate, upstate new york in far and away, upstate, upstate new york 
