A new business has opened in Sherman, New York, and it is not what one would expect to find on the small town’s main street with its Old West-style wooden awnings. The storefront at 108 W. Main St. the former site of a clothing store and bakery/coffee shop, is now the home of LMNOP Gallery.

“We’re eagerly looking for artists to install and show,” says owner Peter Hamilton. “The goal is to get a resident artist to work the studio.”

Katherine Stuart is the installation coordinator of the gallery that opened Sept. 24. Collage on paper, block monoprint, mixed media assembled structure and computer ink graphics were represented in some of the works the day of my visit. Some interesting chairs, Hamilton’s own works, were placed throughout the gallery.

“I like art that functions, didactic art.”

This is evidenced as the tour continues to the basement where another functional piece is in progress. A chair with arms made from rusty exhaust headers from an eight-cylinder engine will soon support a cherry seat. Nearby slabs cut from a maple tree await the artist’s imagination. The retired construction company project manager tells about the furniture he has made in the past. A coffee table with removable wooden blocks was constructed for his granddaughter’s use.

“Everyone likes to play with blocks, right? Even adults play with them.”

A salvaged landscape wagon with pneumatic tires was, also, converted into a wagon for the little girl.

“I haven’t bought anything new in years. We’ve got enough junk on the planet.”

The tour moves to the building’s second floor. The gallery is very interesting, but the living space above is fabulous. The entire floor was gutted, taken down to the brick outer walls. The results are amazing! The living room has three brick walls with the fourth having an angled corner. This wall has an interior window that overlooks the office/library. This isn’t just any window, it is a handmade window from a used sheet of glass encased in wood and framed by Hamilton. The living room ceiling is covered with corrugated steel. A triangular exit light has been installed above the door to the stairwell.

“I wanted to keep it more like a city townhouse or industrial. I like to entertain and cook. I wanted a large living room and a small bedroom, because all I do is sleep in it,” he says. “I made all of the baseboards and kitchen cabinets in my shop in the basement.”

The creativity and use of materials found in landfills and at the sites he was hired to renovate, carry over into the kitchen. More vibrancy comes through on three separate pieces of furniture put together to create a bank of cupboards and painted brick red and purple. A vintage knife, fork and spoon have been attached for handles to three upper center drawers. A box found at an auction holding a variety of knobs and handles supplied the rest.

A baking counter with a slate top stands across the room. The slate came from Stephen Foster Elementary School in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

“We demoed out all of the slate and replaced them with white boards. We were supposed to demolish the (chalk) boards, but I said ‘no boys, load them into my truck.'”

A Nile Palm which has grown to reach the 10′ 6″ kitchen ceiling stands in the corner.

“All of my plants are rescue plants, from the back room of Home Depot and those kinds of places.”

Every room is painted in vibrant color, some with several. Salvaged ladder doors are found throughout. This is the home of a creative person.

Some people say I should be an interior designer, but they look at the space then go buy what they need. I find the item then I say ‘where can this go.'”

When asked what his hobbies are he says, “All of my life I’ve had a hard time with that question. He cannot label his love of auctions as a hobby, because he says, “They’re more entertaining than a hobby. Mike Peterson is my favorite. He’s more of a comedian. He calls me Dollar Guy. To me an auction is like going to a movie. I see a whole storyline, plot, characters going on. I guess cooking, woodworking, reading and writing (are hobbies). I try to read 30 books per year, 95 percent fiction and 5 percent non-fiction.” Corbett McCarthy is his favorite author.

Hamilton is a member of Authors Writers and Publishers, Authors’ Guild and the Chamber of Commerce, “which is probably my most active organization.” He has published “The Devil Hates A Coward,” a book of short stories. His two children, Riley Clay and Shelby, live in Pittsburgh, along with his 4-year-old granddaughter.

Hamilton learned to cook from watching his parents “but no one actually showed me how.”

“My dad and grandfather cooked and I don’t mean just grilling-stews, soups, salads, pasta dishes. My son is an excellent cook,” he says. “I knew it (cooking) was something a guy could do. I like food, but cooking is not all about eating. It’s a gesture, a communication. It’s about sharing, love, etc.”

When I speak of his electric mixer on the shelf he points out, “It’s a 6 quart 550 KitchenAid. Some guys like cars, I like mixers.” He laughs as he says, “I polish it.”

“I bake more than anything else. I make all of my own bread. Grocery store bread is terrible and really good bread is expensive. I make six to eight loaves at a time. Some are small and some are larger. Just as they are nearly cool, I wrap them up tight and freeze them. It keeps them moist and they don’t freezer burn.”

“I’m kind of known for doing deviled eggs. Sometimes curry, cilantro or salsa and sometimes I decorate them. I also make Peeps Sushi from Fruit Roll-Ups, peppermint patties, Peeps and Rice Krispies Treats materials. I’m also a member of Peeps International.”

“The Butternut Squash Waffles is my day after Thanksgiving recipe. I always use fresh eggs at room temperature. Everything you cook with should be at room temperature unless the recipe calls for chilled ingredients, such as pie crust,” he states. “It is okay to leave meat out at room temperature. It won’t go bad in that amount of time.”

The recipes are printed in a different format today. I left them the way Peter wrote them, because I found his comments quite amusing and his style unique.

Slow-Cooker Lazy

Day Pork Pepperoncini

This recipe can be spontaneous, although like much in life’s planning: there is a time and a place for spontaneity. It is a great recipe for the languid gourmet, but needs a little planning. Not much. Good for when have other things going on and it keeps warm for guests who might arrive late; a ball game watching kind of meal. Serve in a bowl or between toasted Kaiser buns.

Shop for a not-so-lean pork shoulder, loin, etc, envisioning it fitting about the ‘s of the way into your slow-cooker, perhaps 22 lbs. Pick up a 16 oz. jar of pepperoncini while you’re there, and a small jar of banana peppers, too. You’ll also need:

1 tsp. black pepper

tsp. dried oregano

tsp. dried rosemary

A couple of bay leaves

4 c of prepared very wide egg noodles, made as you like them

When home, plug in cooker, turn to high. Dump everything but the egg noodles into the cooker. Pork should be half-in and half-out of the cooking broth, so that it looks like someone reclining into a bathtub of hot water. Cover. Walk away. Go to the museum, wash the car, watch the game, take a book to the sofa, post something on Facebook about how you are in the middle of making an exotic meal and don’t have the time to “Like” anything. Do things that take about 4-5 hours. But don’t forget that you need to have the noodles ready later! After you’ve done what you did, remove the tender pork (might take extra tongs, as it will fall apart). Serve over noodles, interspersed with pepperoncini. Accept compliments, saying you’ve been in the kitchen all day.

Honey Whole Wheat Bread

When done with this recipe you’re going to feel great! Nothing beats the satisfaction of a well-risen, browned, delicately crusted loaf of bread coming out of the oven. If you use those mitten-like hot pads, presenting the loaf of fresh bread can be as if offering up a small chest of jewels to honored emperor while wearing decorative gloves. Of course bread making bread doesn’t have to be that intimidating. The reward is to you, the best royalty. No need for a machine here, either. Too easy; no Zen. The kneading process is meditative, calming, a massaging workout for the hands and arms. Imagine the kneading as a potter works the clay before turning a bowl? Put on some blues or jazz music and push the dough around in rhythm to the music. Dance with it. I like something Latino, Cuban, like the band, “Fruko Y Sus Tesos.”

3 c hot water. 110 degrees, at least.

2 packets (or about 4 teaspoons of jar yeast.)

c honey

tsp. kosher salt

5 c bread flour (yes, bread flourunbleached white in a pinch)

5 tsp Melted butter. (BUTTER! Nothing else; this is cooking. Margarine is for lubricating things, like squeaking door hinges)

Another c honey

3 c whole wheat flour

Some vegetable oil

Put hot water into a large bowl, large. You’re gonna need some room. Check the water temperature. If it’s too hot for you to take a bath in it, then it’s just perfect for all those little yeast critters. Yes, yeast is a cluster of single-celled microorganisms, members of the fungi kingdom. They’re alive and well in that little packet (or in the jar, if you do) and ready to explode when they get into water, especially water filled with carbohydrates and the starches in the flour. Add the yeast, stir it, a brownish silt will swirl. Swish in the honey. Add the salt. Add about four of the cups of bread flour. Use a large spoon, stir all. Let it set, about 1 hour, until a bubbly, sudsy-foam develops. Think bubble bath. Add everything else. Shake some flour on a wide surface. Dump the dough from the bowl onto the dusted surface. It’s probably sticky and gooey? Good. Roll it lengthwise, when long, fold it into thirds onto itself, and roll again. Add whole wheat flour to dry it. Repeat. Repeat. For about 25 minutes. Yep! That’s why you need the music. It’s ready when the dough pulls at your hand, but retracts back when stretched, like the way a sticky-note does. Make a ball. Smear it very lightly with vegetable oil; think hand lotion. Put it back into the mixing bowl. Cover with a damp cloth. Find a warm, draft-free place. I turn my oven on to about 150 degrees, then off, and put the bowl in there, with the door open. Let it rise for about 1 hour, or, if all is well, it almost doubles in size. Push, or “punch” as is often said, the dough back to about its original size. Now you can shape it into whatever you want: small loaves, round, loaf pans, etc. Place these back into the oven (you may do as I did again) and let them rise once more, about an hour. When risen, take them out. DO NOT shake or disturb them. Put them into a 350 degree oven for about 20 25 minutes. Remove. Wear celebratory mitten-glove hot pads. Let cool. Get butter.

Saucy Sesame Seed Chicken

This recipe has a wee bit of a kick to it.

The red peppers, garlic, vinegar.3-4 boneless chicken breasts; cut into slices

Skinless chicken thighs work well, too! Leave bone in)

4 tablespoons olive oil

6 tablespoons flour

2 eggs, lightly blended

2 tablespoons corn starch

Generous handful of sesame seeds

4 tablespoons cold water

Green onions, almonds, red peppers

Rice for about 4 people. (2-1 ratio: 2 cups water, 1 cup rice. Put rice in cold water, boil, immediately cover over very, very low heat.)

For the sauce:

3 T white vinegar

3 T soy sauce

4 garlic cloves, crushed

Whisk all sauce ingredients together, set aside. Place blended eggs, flour, and sesame seeds into three separate bowls. Swish chicken around in egg mixture, then flop and toss the chicken in the bowl with the flour so that it’s well coated. Do it again because that was sort of fun wasn’t it? But this time return coated chicken to egg mix and roll in sesame seeds, as if a puppy dog in sand. Heat oil in skillet or wok until oil roils but does not smoke. Add chicken piece by piece. Use tongs to roll and turn chicken until evenly cooked, letting the hot oil flow under the chicken pieces. Do this for about 5 10 minutes. Add sauce to the skillet. Stir. Turn. Beat corn starch into cold water. Drizzle starch/water into skillet mix until all thickens. Serve over rice. Sprinkle with green onions, almonds, red peppers as desired.

Hamilton’s Best Buttermilk Biscuits

Makes 12 14 flaky, lightly layered, pastry-like biscuits, begging to be pulled apart and slathered with butter; maybe honey if you are into that sort of thing. And, not always for breakfast either: Think about that turkey gravy?

Ingredients

3 c all-purpose, then a little more for surface

2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp kosher salt

3 tsp sugar

tsp baking soda

2 T cider vinegar

1 c buttermilk

1 sticks butter (12 T)

Preparation

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Add vinegar to buttermilk, stir, set aside. Sift all dry ingredients. Chop butter sticks into small pieces. Mix with dry ingredients. Put butter mixed flour into a food processor, pulse until largest pieces of butter are the size of a pea. Transfer to a large bowl and gradually drizzle buttermilk over top, tossing with a fork as you go to incorporate. Knead mixture a few times in bowl until a shaggy dough forms (mixture will look a little dry), then turn out onto a lightly flour-dusted surface and roll into a 1-inch-thick square. Using a wide knife or bench scraper cut dough into 4 equal sections. Stack each section, while lightly dusting the surface, sandwiching any loose dry bits of dough between layers into a stratified pile. Press and roll to about inch high rectangle, trimming the border into a clean edge and press down to flatten. Lift up dough with bench scraper and dust surface with flour. Divide into a 4×3 grid to make 12 biscuits. Transfer to an ungreased baking sheet leaving some space. Push a spoon into each making a recession. Let stand about 10 minutes. Brush tops of biscuits with melted butter, be liberal, and place in oven. Reduce oven temperature to 400? and bake biscuits until deep golden brown on bottom and golden on top, 2025 minutes. Under-baked is always best; many baked goods continue baking even after taken out.

Southern Shrimp-Sausage Grits

It fall season now. Indoor cooking. The dark evenings need some spice.

1 (16 oz.) smoked sausage, sliced diagonally into inch ovals resembling cross-sections of a football.

1 lb. UNCOOKED shrimp (recommend large Argentina shrimp for their body and texture) peeled, not necessary to devein them.

8 oz mushrooms; sliced thickly, about two handfuls.

c Worcestershire sauce

c hot pepper sauce

1 (16 oz.) can chicken broth

c cream (or Half-and-Half, if you must!)

c whole milk

3 T canola oil (peanut oil is good too)

c chopped fresh tomato (no, not from a can)

A pinch of kosher salt

1 bunch of green onions (cut them up, all of them, even the green stalks)

1/3 c fresh flat-leaf parsley (don’t even think of shaking that dried stuff on it)

c shredded Monterey Jack cheese. (Save a buck; shred it yourself from a block)

1 c stone-ground grits. (Never “instant” gritsthis is a Southern dish!)

Put Worcestershire sauce, hot pepper sauce, mushrooms into a pan. Bring to a boil to reduce liquid to about cup. Set aside. In a saucepan bring broth to a boil, and then stir in grits. Cook grits until thick, yet somewhat watery, like the mortar on a brick trowel. Let grits absorb chicken broth. This might be the most important step in preparing this recipe. Don’t let grits stick to saucepan. Go to You-Tube and find the song, “That’s What I Like About the South” and listen to that as you cook. Get the mood right. Add the milk and cream, stir to combine, return to a boil. Simmer an additional 30 minutes. Remember, Southern grits, not to rush. Heat the oil in a large skillet (cast iron of course!) until it swirls with heat, add sausage and cook until slightly browned. Add the tomato. Sprinkle with the salt. Add shrimp, then onions. Cook and stir until the shrimp have a pinkish, somewhat opaque look. But never hard and rubbery! No danger in undercooking shrimp. No, I don’t care what they say. This step should take about 5 minutes. Dump the skillet stuff into a bowl. Pour the Worcestershire/mushroom sauce mixture over the shrimp/sausage mix in the bowl. Put all this back into the skillet over a low heat and push it around in the skillet for about 3 minutes until blended. Stir in the parsley. Serve over the grits using a spoon, let the sauce and juices get into the grits. Top with the shredded cheese.

Crispy Squashed Waffles

I came up with this on the morning after Thanksgiving, some leftover mashed squash in the fridge. At other times, canned pumpkin can work also.

Ingredients: (all at room temperature. ALWAYS cook with ingredients at room temperature; even meats. But of course, you knew that.)

1 c flour (white unbleached, bread flour okay)

1 T baking powder

tsp. baking soda

3 T vinegar (any kind)

3 large (very fresh, always fresh!) eggs

c cooking oil (canola, ok)

6 T butter (melted into soft yellowy slurry)

tsp salt

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

tsp. ground cloves

tsp. nutmeg

1 c milk

c squash, pumpkin, that sort of thing

And, a waffle maker!

Add vinegar to milk. Set aside. Separate eggs. Mix yolks. Don’t touch whites, let stand. Add all dry ingredients together in a large bowl, sift, sift, sift. I like the old-school cylinder sifter, the squeezing of the lever, the descending of the flour through the shifting screen blades like a heavy snowstorm. By now the milk/vinegar should be curdling. That’s great! Add it to the dry mix. Combine. It should foam a bit. That’s good. The vinegar and soda are reacting. Add squash/pumpkin. Blend. Mix egg yolks, oil, and melted butter together. Add to mix. Whip the egg whites until they make a firm peak, as if the tippy point of soft-serve ice cream. Fold (I like this term in cooking, but not in poker) the whites into the total of the batter mixture. This is an important part of the recipe: the egg whites give airiness to the waffle. The crispiness of them. The batter now should have a thick and slack consistency, but flowable from a ladle, which you will use to pour on the waffle maker. Remove when it stops steaming. Let them cook crispy. In these parts real maple syrup is used. Not required, but just sayin’.

Curried, Caper, Cuddled Deviled Eggs

6 eggs

1/4 c mayonnaise

1 T stone-ground mustard, or to taste

1 tsp curry powder

tsp dried parsley

1 T sweet pickle relish

1/4 tsp ground black pepper

12 16 capers

Paprika for garnish

Place the eggs into a saucepan in a single layer and cover with water by about 1 inch. Yes, there is quarrel whether to boil water, then submerse eggs, or to do as this recipe instructs. Do as instructed, quarrel about something substantive instead. Bring the water to a boil, wait a few moments, then turn off heat. Let eggs for 15 minutes. Drain. Cool the eggs under cold running water. Peel once cold. If really fresh eggs, pealing can be troublesome, but take your time. I like to halve the eggs perpendicular to their length, so that they are round, not football-shaped. Scoop yolks from whites. Mash all the ingredients together. No, not the whites! Take a plastic sandwich bag, nip a tiny corner from the bag, like a cake decorating tip, and squirt the mashed yolks into the hollow with a swirling motion. Think wedding cake decorations. Place 2 or 3 capers on the yolk-mash. Sprinkle paprika lightly, as desired for effect.

The Friday After Thanksgiving Bread

Maybe on the day following Thanksgiving, the last thing you want to do is cook? But what about that leftover squash (pumpkin?) and cranberries? Make bread with them. Note: buy extra bags of fresh cranberries at Thanksgiving time. Usually on sale and they keep very well frozen for later, and they thaw acceptably.

4 eggs

1 cups white sugar

1 cups brown sugar

2 cups squash (pumpkin, butternut, etc)

cup vegetable oil

6 tablespoons melted butter

4 cups unbleached flour

2 tsps. Baking soda

Pinch of salt

2 cups cranberries (not jelly!) cooked okay, but uncooked best

1 tablespoons pumpkin pie spice

Note: if no spice, use this:

tablespoon cinnamon

tablespoon ground cloves

teaspoon nutmeg

teaspoon allspice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees; grease 2 medium bread pans. Mix, smoosh, blend all wet and liquid ingredients with sugars. Sift, shake, combine all dry ingredients. Merge dry and wet in one bowl. Add cranberries. Stir. Pour into bread pans. Bake about an hour. Note: when I bake, I turn off the oven without opening oven door about ‘s through the baking time. Mellows things, prevents forgetfulness, saves money.