Inkwell: Authors and Artists

    
hello, deborah!

i have been a fan for years, love to cook from your books

for the last few years,  my children have been out of the nest, and i
have been cooking/scavenging/snacking for solo dining most of the time

i do miss cooking for others, but appreciate the simplicity of dining
solo

plus, i like to eat in bed

looking forward to reading your book
  

    
So happy to see so many familiar foodies around here!  

Deborah, you noted in your book that "personal foods are stunningly
strange," and I have to admit that the list that followed that
statement had me genuinely queasy.  Which one of the "five bad ideas"
was in your mind the most disgusting?
  

    
First, thank you all for all your comments! I love hearing what you
have to say about your own adventures in the solo kitchen.

As for those "five bad ideas", hands down, Maragrita Mix on Potato
Sesame Bread. That seems to bring a shiver of disgust from everyone,
including me, and the kind of bread doesn't matter. Others are more
harmless - cookie dough, frozen pound cake, fried leftover spaghetti,
sometimes in a sandwich, and all the variations on oyster crackers in
coffee and saltines in milk

Curiously, what I learned about the latter from people on radio
programs was that saltines (and cornbread) in milk were a Depression
food, or a plain old hard times food. If you could add a little butter,
maybe a little sugar, such blends could be filling and satisfying.
People spoke to me about those dishes with a certain amount of fondness
and many confessed that they, or their parents, still turned to them
for comfort.

To a lot of people, these dry/wet foods sound unappealing, but I found
a translation from "Cheri and the Last of Cheri" where Colette writes
about having her morning coffee with a raft of buttered bread on top,
the whole thing toasted in the oven. I copied it out of a book more
than 20 years ago because it sounded so enticing. But when you think
about it, it's just toast in coffee. But because Colette is so 
particular in how she describes every nuance of this morning food that
it becomes an event, even a celebration. That made wonder if oyster
crackers in coffee might have the same possibilities if described with
more attention to detail —the texture, how many crackers, would they be
crisp or soggy or a combination of both, etc.
  

    
My solution is generic cheerioes & skim-milk, in the middle of the
night. 
  

    
Well, there you go. Only in the middle of the night?
  

    
there used to be a recipe (maybe still is) for "mock apple pie" on the
boxes of ritz crackers

 basically uses the apple pie seasonings, but with crumbled ritz
crackers as the filling

i don't know anyone who has tried this

my late night go-to snack is raw rolled oats with brown sugar, almonds
and raisins, moistened with half and half
  

    
My mother used to eat matzah in coffee, not only during Passover week.
She remembered it from her childhood. I grew up eating matzah in hot
chocolate. It is very satisfying.

A young friend from Spain loved buttered french bread dunked in sweet
red wine. I tried it once, it wasn't bad either. 
  

    
Those both sound pretty good right about now!  That Colette recipe is
actually amazingly delicious, especially with a light sprinkling of
sugar on top of artisanal-style bread and good butter so that it gently
caramelizes and turns to crunch.  I remember being hooked on it when I
was in my extended Colette period, and even now make it once in a
while to get that wonderful mix of sensuality with nursery food.

Yes, a margarita mix sandwich sounds so awful.  It reminded me in a
way of Ally Sheedy's sandwich of Sugar Pops and Pixie Stix in "The
Breakfast Club."  And I remember that "mock apple pie" recipe --
(http://members.cox.net/jjschnebel/mocaplpi.html) -- and I heard it was
actually pretty good.  Never worked up the interest to actually make
it, though.

But I digress.  Deborah, not all of your book is "Ew!" inducing.  Some
of the recipes, in fact, read like pure poetry. I especially liked the
directions from one man that told us to chop the olives "until the
stones escape."  This shows how much some very personal recipes mean to
certain people.  Who was the person that waxed most sensually over his
or her personal food?
  

    
I'm so glad that someone else knows that coffee/bread breakfast of
Colette's! 

Actually, the "Ew!" turned out to be the exception rather
than the rule,I'm happy to say.
The person who chopped the olives "until the stones escaped" is a
musician from Arkansas, an old friend of Patrick's, another Patrick, in
fact, though we call him Mokey. He always has the most interesting
(and personal) ways with description, like letting a dish "catch its
breath" before eating it. Don't you somehow know exactly what that
means?  You have to let all the parts catch up with one another to make
a whole, which is going to taste so much better. His language around
cooking is always accurate and very refreshing.

Another sensual piece is  Dan Halpern's poem called, "How to Eat
Alone" which people always respond to when we read it. And there's
Peggy Knickerbocker's description of what she'd make for a seduction
dinner. It's this methodical assault consisting of foods "she'd give
him" Who could resist her tatooed potatoes?
Not surprisingly, the dishes in the chapter called, "Meals with a
Motive", were the most sensual, but that's probably because it's a
chapter about seduction, meals for when you don't want to eat, sleep,
or live alone.

For me, one of the most sensual (actually sensual may not be the right
word here)descriptions came Betty Fussell when she talks about going
to the refrigerator, finding bits and pieces, then using them to put
together this beautiful cream of poblano soup, which she sips while
watching a favorite movie. Not only is it a delightfully breathless
dance through the kitchen, but it told me why it's important to know
how to cook because if you do, you can make something good out of
nothing, and that there's pleasure in that, too.It was Betty's
description led us to turn to young people who are just learning to
cook to hear what they had to say.
  

    
peggy knickerbocker!  the cooking company, circa 1972 - i spent some
time with her back in the day

hers was the first cassoulet i ever tasted
  

    
Lucky you!  I didn't know here then, but I know her now and her food 
is always so special, such good flavor, so seemingly simple. I'm a
devoted fan.
  

    
Ooh artlife I knew someone in the early 80s who had a catering business 
with Peggy Knickerbocker. Maybe you knew her too. We can chat. 

Trying not to slip into ultra-bad dining alone habits while laid up with a 
broken ankle. I'm considering this my opportunity to form some good 
habits. I realize this is different than "how do you treat yourself when 
you have the opportunity to chow down alone on some possibly weird 
personal treat."  For me in the past that has been spaghetti, a ton of 
butter, and parmesan. Not weird, but my go-to just-me comfort food. 
  

    
That spaghetti sounds delicious!  

Peggy Knickerbocker's prescriptions for seduction were one of the
highlights of this book, at least for me.  They are so full of ripe
enthusiasm.  Take, for example, this excerpt:

'"But if you want to have sex, you don't want to eat too much,"
cautions the practical Peggy.  "One time I had a boyfriend and I didn't
know if we would have sex in the afternoon or at night, so I made a
panzanella, a bread salad with tomatoes.  It's good early or late; to
bring to bed or to keep you going."'

But even sweeter was how Deborah's husband, Patrick, learned of her
love for Veuve Cliquot Champagne and...

'Patrick quickly learned of the power it had for me. "I don't have to
know how to pronounce it," he says, "I just get the one with the orange
label."'

Or the story of how Deborah's 20-year-old niece was taught the art of
enticing a man with a souffle complete with a full seduction menu
featuring Olympia oysters and chocolate... all by a chef at Chez
Panisse!

So I guess I just have to ask, what is the most sensuous meal you've
served or been served, Deborah?
  

    
kayo - flicka mcgurrin?
  

    
Not her but I have only vague memories of that era, so ... we can chat! 
  

    
(making note to self to have VC around whenever there's even a slim
chance of seeing Deborah!)
  

    
kayo - oh, my error, i don' think it would have been flicka at that
time - i read your post too quickly and skipped right over the 80s  -
yes, chat outta here

deborah, can you say anything about the tassajara bread business? i
was sad to see it fade away - do you think it was before its time?
  

    

Greetings, Deborah!  I don't much follow recipes, but, when I want a fresh 
perspective, I page through your cookbooks and they always inspire a 
yummy dish.  _Vegetarian Cooking_ is so enjoyable and beautiful.  The 
latest cruise through yielded a curried quinoa for Swedish houseguests.

Frankly, I find the concept of eating differently when alone rather odd, 
perhaps because I was single for many years and ate nutritious, delicious 
meals from a formal place setting, with fine china, and a linen napkin, 
even if only a poached egg, toast, and strawberry.

I was actually quite alarmed once reading about the comfort, secret foods 
some people indulge in.  Secret eating strikes me about as insidious as 
secret drinking.  I understand, of course, that "secret" eating is not 
your focus, but I'd be interested to hear you discuss it, if you care to.
  

    
Oh dear, I should have checked in earlier today instead of raking up
the leaves in my garden and prowling around for some green signs of
spring!

Artlife: About the Tassajara Bread Bakery -- I can't really say much
about its demise as I wasn't there, but it had a good long run and yes,
when it started, it was a little ahead of its time. Wholesome bread
and blueberry muffins were, believe it or not, new and people responded
pretty favorably to those breads and muffins,also the lemon bars,
poppy seed cake, macaroons with chocolate bases and all of that. Today
none of that seems quite as compelling as it did during the years of
the bakery as there is so much good bread available, and pastries, too.

CJ:  AS for a sensual/sensuous meal that I've been served? I can never
come up with answers for such questions.  Let's see ... it wasn't a
seduction meal in the way we've been talking about, but I might have to
name my first dinner at Chez Panisse in l977 as being the most
sensual. I can still remember the meal and  how it felt to eat that
food for the first time after eating Zen Center food forever, how it
tasted, and what a revelation that dinner was.  In fact, it seduced me
to declare my independence and go work there.

Wickett - I agree. The concept of eating differently when alone is
rather odd. In fact, my favorite answer was from the woman who said,
"Eating alone does not change what I do." Why should it? I do
understand when one is under a lot of pressure around meals, then is
suddenly sprung and given a night or two off - I'm thinking of parents
deservedly might want to take a break from it all.  But people who are
used to eating alone often do figure out how to do it the way you did. 
You're not alone with setting a beautiful table and cooking decent and
better food for yourself. This is why Dan Halpern's poem, How to Eat
Alone, was so important. In the end, you're your own best company, so
you might as well set the table, open that bottle of wine, and enjoy
it.

Eric - I'll let you know!

Now, back to the leaves.  It's the equinox today, a good day for house
and yard cleaning.
  

    
Fabulous subject for your book! I mostly eat alone and work with basic
foods too. I rarely deal with fast foods, grilled cheese on wholewheat
sometimes. Yesterday and today it was aduki beans. I cooked them with
some various seasonings and a little oil after soaking an overnight.
Added young carrots and tofu cubes to the soup. It was tolerable.
Sometimes eating alone seems like a chore but I do still enjoy the
cooking. Generally though a lot of work for one person, I think. I end
up eating more than I might with company! Today at lunch we had a
community potluck and seed exchange equinox kind of thing. I found
myself just sampling bits of this or that. I was more interested in
conversing than eating I guess. 
  

    
I'm remembering, no doubt imperfectly, the story of Lucullus the ancient
Greek gourmand who always laid out lavish feasts. One night he had no
guests, and his servant wondered aloud why he was ordering a sumptuous meal.
He replied, "Lucullus dines with Lucullus tonight!"
  

    
I think we do eat more when we eat with company because our attention
is with other people and talking and there's no such thing as portion
control, of course! On the other hand, I have to wonder about Lucullus.
It does sort of fit with the Daniel Halpern poem, true, but it seems a
little on the greedy side. At least with the 3-pound leg of lamb in
the poem, you suspect there were leftovers to be enjoyed. I doubt it
with
Lucullus somehow.
  

    
That makes me laugh!  And I think that you're probably right...

One thing I've wanted to ask you about are the illustrations.  Could
you tell us a bit about how Patrick drew them, what inspired him, what
were his or your favorite illustrations?  Some of the imagery is
priceless, like the food merit badges or the Big Cal bottle of red with
the menacing corkscrew, and they really add to the unique flavor of
this very unique book!  Did anybody else have favorite pictures?
  

    
Oh, I'm so glad you asked!  I wasn't 100% sure about doing the book
until Patrick came up with a few drawings, like the fellow exposing his
secret cupboard. Then there was no going back. I absolutely love the
illustrations and they still make me laugh!

A lot of the images were inspired by what people said. When Marty, the
pacer,mentioned old vegetables, carrots with walkers popped into
Patrick's mind. When a man said that big California wines frightened
him, there was Big Red sloshing around and looking dumb and menacing.
(These two are among my favorites.) When I was researching Boy Scout
merit pages, Patrick had  his own vision: badges for vegetables. A
friend of mine saw a print of that and just had to have it for her
husband, a former Boy Scout. You never know. 
Some of the illustrations are more lyrical, like the little watercolor
of the house divided in shade and sun for breakfast burritos for day
or night, or the very meticulous drawing of a man in his library with a
glass of wine and red tablecloth to accompany Halpern's poem. By
contrast the man tossing salad (into the air!) is very exuberant. Women
seem to love the illustration of a skinny gal wearing an American Idol
t-shirt staring into her empty sub-zero, which is based on a real
refrigerator and a real skinny woman we met while doing a benefit
dinner for a farmers' market. The male equivalent is the guy staring
into a fridge with a carton of Red Stripe and a ham. We made a lot of
the illustrations into prints and somehow I've ended up with lot of
them on my office wall. (You can see the, as of this afternoon, on
Patrick's website: www.mcfarlinoil.com. He's promised to post a folder
for What We Eat ...
  

    
I love his work. But I'm not seeing any prints...