Cider Doughnuts

Cider Doughnuts

Soons Orchards

New Hampton, NY

Thursday, September 6th, 2018

From dairy to doughnuts, a lot has changed at Soons Orchards in New Hampton.

But one staple that can be found year round are the ever popular apple cider doughnut.

For over 20 years the New Hampton farm has been doling out the delicious doughy delights with baker Teresa Garcia behind the sugar coated helm.

The not-so-secret doughnut ingredient that brings fans to the farm store, after many visitors have first stopped to pick apples in the field, is Soons' homemade apple cider. 

According to Sharon Soons, the farm's chief operating officer, before the 1960's the family used to ship off their apples to be pressed and made into cider. 

Her grandfather had turned the dairy farm into the fruit farm it is today, and when her dad took over the family business, he decided to build a cider mill.

The cider doughnuts are available year round at Soons Orchards.

For the Times Herald-Record

Wet Plate Collodion Photographer Tom DeLooza

Tom DeLooza

Kingston, NY

January 6th, 2017

Shot for the Times Herald-Record

Turning portraits into heirlooms isn't only the slogan for Tom DeLooza's photography business, it's a promise. Starting in 2004, the Kingston photographer learned how to take his photography to the next step.

Through antiquarian means seldom seen since the turn of the century, an inquisitive DeLooza learned the tin type and ambrotype glass wet plate collodion method of photography. Using a small sheet of metal, collodion, silver baths, distilled water, varnish, and a small army of vintage and hand crafted cameras he has created a portrait that will last a lifetime.

Tom Delooza is available for portrait sessions both in the field and at his Kingston studio by appointment.

New Years Eve Revelry in Uptown Kingston

I was fortunate enough to cover the New Years Eve festivities in Uptown Kingston last year on assignment for the Times Herald-Record, and I decided that this year, if I wasn't assigned to cover the revelry I would partake and enjoy myself (with my camera in tow naturally).

Although I never made it to the back room of BSP (after seeing many other photos I'm a bit miffed with myself for that), I had a great time.

Happy New Year!

To see more photos from the New Years Eve celebrations in Uptown Kingston, click here.

Photo of the Day

The Signs of the Secret Caverns

On my way to Howes Caverns recently I was amused by a series of billboards and signs ranging from large to barely noticeable for another local attraction, the Secret Caverns. The advertising can be described as amusing folk art with catchy phrasing that can make you do a double take as your speeding along a back road going 60 mph, which proved to be troublesome.

Then I saw the main attraction, not the 100 foot underground waterfall which the site boasts, but the building itself which was also eye poppingly decorated. Although I was running short on time, I had to pull over and at least capture the signs that so diligently captured me.

Hopefully one day I'll get to go back and see the infamous 100 foot underground waterfall within the Secret Caverns of Cobleskill, New York.

For more information on the Secret Caverns click HERE.