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New Blog Schedule

The summer has brought many new projects, which have consumed my waking hours and some of the hours when I should be sleeping!  Therefore,  for coming months I'm planning to switch to a "summer blog schedule."  On Mondays, I'm be continuing to update you on my progress on the Western Avenue series paintings.  The series is nearly halfway complete and I'm hoping to complete by the series by January 2012.  Stay tuned for updates as I make way north on Western and begin framing the painting in preparation to show the work in 2012. 

On Fridays, I hope to continue to feature the work of other artists.  If you would like to be featured or you know someone who you would like to see featured, please be in touch! On occasional Fridays, I'll be show something from one of the other projects consuming my time--a new wedding invitations or map, commissioned painting work, perhaps an architecture project, or something I concocted in the kitchen! 

Hope your summer has brought many exciting projects for you!

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CAAP Grant
I'm very pleased to announce that I received a 2011 CAAP grant.  I applied for the grant in late January and found out in May that I had been awarded the grant.  I'll be using the grant money to purchase supplies for the framing of my Western Avenue Series paintings.  It's a great small grant for Chicago-based artists. 

Photo by vallartablog.com

From the City of Chicago website, "The Community Arts Assistance Program (CAAP) was created in 1987 through funding provided by the Illinois Arts Council Access Program. The goals of CAAP are to discover, nurture and expand Chicago’s multi-ethnic artists and nonprofit arts organizations; and to foster new and emerging individual artists and arts groups by providing grants for professional, artistic, and organizational development to those who have had limited access to funding in both public and private grants programs."

What are some other small arts grants?

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Cheerleading for Baltimore  
  Since I moved away almost five years ago, Baltimore has tugged at my heart.  I can go months without thinking of the city, but when something brings it to mind, I find myself longing for this lost love.  As a short time adopted resident of Baltimore, I was proud to tell people I called Charm city home and to champion the place, disputing claims that Baltimore is merely a crime-ridden, dirty, second rate city. 

     I find myself wondering about and wanting the ability to articulate Baltimore’s appeal.  Certainly, there is a segment of Baltimore’s population who are wholly discontented with the place.  They see it as a poor substitute for New York, too gritty, too provincial, or too small to be considered cosmopolitan.  Baltimore has a lot of faults to be sure: segregation, a poor public school system and poor conditions for bike transportation, to name a few.  I am not advocating for complacency in these unfortunate qualities, but offering a reminder that we all want for others to see past our faults.  We revel in the chance to recognize beauty in that which is not “beautiful” by societal standards.  So, why not offer Baltimore that benefit for she has great beauty despite her faults.

    As a watercolor painter I find the images of Baltimore completely captivating.  In contrasting Charm City with it nearest counterpart Washington D.C., I often used the words gritty and industrial.  Those words unfairly flatten the depth of the city’s character.  The visibility and aesthetic pleasure of the Baltimore’s history, in the urban landscape, make for extraordinary compositions.  I have quite contentedly painted the Domino Sugar Factory and the Mr. Boh signs and wondered at the nostalgia I felt for these neon advertisements.  They are simultaneously iconic reminders of Baltimore’s historic and contemporary industry, beautiful, wholly associated with the place, and part of Baltimore’s identity in the present, which feels personal.

    Beyond the grand scenes I associate with Baltimore there are many hidden corners that speak of the city’s admirable qualities.  The houses on Buena Vista for several blocks north of 36th street are an example of the absolutely impossible to replicable essence of Baltimore.  The houses have the charm of quaint cottages in a small town on the East Coast.  I can imagine them nestled in trees just steps from a path down to the beach.  The lure of these places doesn’t come from Crate and Barrel teak lounge chairs on the generous front porches.  These houses still appear to be working hard for the working class.  I marvel at the nobility of these houses and the wonderful 2-story brick rowhouses of 37th west of Buena Vista.  They march along the street in service of people who have a Baltimore lineage of several generations and a long memory of the neighborhood.  The city’s vernacular housing with its somewhat squat proportions and formstone facades is somewhat humble, whimsy tempered by grit. 

 

    People describe Baltimore as a big city, with a small town feel.  When I moved to Baltimore, this sounded appealing, but I couldn’t conceptualize what this meant.  For me this was manifest in places like the downtown farmer’s market.  While some cities have a farmer’s market for in every neighborhood offering great variety in plein air produce shopping, I have rarely enjoyed a market as much as I did the downtown farmer’s market under the JFX viaduct.  The market draws people from geographically disparate parts of the city, increasing the likelihood that you will run into someone unexpected on a Sunday morning.  Like many markets, it has an extraordinary energy and offers opportunities to develop a more personal relationship with those who produce our food.   The market also seems quite uniquely “Baltimore.”  On Sunday mornings, what is not a traditionally beautiful place—a large swath of asphalt tucked under a highway is transformed.  The choice of this location is at once practical, cleaver, and in a way completely charming.  

    Baltimore is a city that offers unbelievably quaint enclaves in places  like Mt. Washington, cultural attractions combined with gay pride in Mt. Vernon, diversity in neighborhoods like Pigtown, colorful, dense housing stock in Charles Village, lush university campuses, an extraordinary collection of the works of Matisse, and many neighborhoods which offer the  opportunity to for transformation to healthy, community-orientated places, investment in the collective good.  In this, I see the unexpected beauty of a place that doesn’t always live up to the glamour of flashier cities, but doesn’t disappoint those who seek the hidden potential of the place.  

      Nelson Algren, said that loving Chicago, my present home, was "Like loving a woman with a broken nose, you may well find lovelier lovelies. But never a lovely so real."  I would say of Baltimore that it is like falling in love unexpectedly, you may well find a more perfect lover.  But never have you been so charmed.

Do you know the charms of Baltimore?

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Cheap Eats in Chicago
This week I had dinner at Ghareeb Nawaz, a Indian-Pakistani restaurant on Devon in Chicago.  The name means 'sustainer of the poor, which is appropriate given that a meal for two with leftovers was $7.17 (with tax).  It's a no frills kind of place, the service is minimal, customers order and pay at the counter, the booths are basic and the tableware is limited to plastic utensils.

We had:
Veggie Biryani $2.00
Veggie Paratha $2.00
Tandoori Naan $.50
4 Potato Samosa ($.50 each) $2.00

The food was tasty, I particularly like the saucy Veggie Paratha, but mainly I was just perplexed by the volume of food for just over $7!

What are your favorite cheap eats? 

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Weekend Away for $33.50
I recently took a weekend camping trip to Green Lake, Wisconsin.  It was a lovely trip and it was totally delightful to find that it was possible to make such a trip for just over $30.  Green Lake is an idyllic lake town about 3 hours north of Chicago.  It's an ideal spot if you are seeking a weekend of fishing, lake side picnics, meandering the streets of a small town, and refreshing lake swimming.  There were also unexpected discoveries in Green Lake, like the Chapel Car Grace and "bed races" at the Green Lake Summer Solstice festival. 

As I said, the trip was quite affordable, with expenses consisting of $12.50 per person for campsite fee at Hattie Sherwood Campgrounds, $8 per person for food (groceries purchased collectively), and $13 for gas from Chicago. 

I was responsible for the meal planning and food purchase.  I was proud of my thrifty grocery shopping and the delicious meals which resulted.  If you are planning weekend car camping trip and looking for a simple delicious meals, I've included a menu that worked well below.  We had limited cooking implements (tin foil, dutch oven pot, knife, cutting board, wooden spoon, and mixing bowl):  

Dinners

Tilapia cooking in a tin foil packet with sliced mushrooms, olive oil, salt and pepper with potatoes roasted in tin foil packet with olive oil, salt, and pepper.  It is best to roast the fish and potatoes separately because the potatoes require additional cooking time.  S'mores for dessert (no camping trip is complete with out them).

Red and orange bell peppers, tomatoes, and zucchini roasted in tin foil packet with olive oil, salt and pepper, served with penne.  Orange cakes for dessert.  I discovered the orange cake recipe at the Bread and Honey blog.  It was wonderfully easy and delicious: simply make a box of white cake mix per the instructions.  Cut off the end of oranges and scoop out the orange (the orange juice and fruit can be combined with red wine for a delightful sangria-like drink).  Fill the orange shells approximately 1/2 full with cake mix, replace end of orange, cover with foil.  Cook in campfire for 20-25 minutes. 

Lunch

Caprese sandwiches with pita chips.  I have long loved the caprese sandwich and salad.  These sandwiches make a very easy picnic or camp meal.  Simply top a piece of nice bread with sliced tomato and fresh mozzarella, drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper.  I added dried basil to the olive oil to simplify for camping, but, of course, fresh basil is better!

Breakfast

Oatmeal topped with walnuts, dried cranberries, and brown sugar.  Oatmeal is an easy hearty breakfast to make over the campfire.  Toppings (use your imagination fresh bananas would be fantastic with brown sugar) make oatmeal a fantastic start to the day.    

What are your favorite camping meals?

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Graduation Memory Painting

I recently finished this commissioned painting of a Restaurant in Chicago.  It will be given as a graduation present.  This restaurant, Stanley's, is among the favorite haunts of a recent DePaul graduate and apparently they make a mean Mac & Cheese.

What images best represent your University experience? 

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Teaching Watercolor

Starting this Wednesday, June 1st, I'm going to be teaching a watercolor class at Rumble Arts, in Chicago's Humboldt Park neighborhood.  Rumble Arts is an all ages, multicultural, community arts organization serving Chicago’s Humboldt Park neighborhood.  

From the Rumble Arts website, "We offer donation based classes in art, music, dance, yoga, martial arts, writing, and performance in addition to special workshops and cultural events. By providing educational opportunities for all ages, we actively cultivate an environment where entire families can come together to learn, teach, and play under the same roof.

Our open door policy and sliding scale fees are designed to make it as easy as possible to walk right off the street into a rewarding educational experience, regardless of financial means."

I'm really excited to be teaching a class at Rumble Arts, which will provide foundational techniques for beginning watercolor painters, as well as develop the confidence and abilities of participants experienced in the medium.  Students will explore methods of mixing colors, applying washes, and using tones and values in composition.  Activities will encourage students to explore varied techniques from representational work to loose, fluid abstracts.  Projects might include still lifes, landscapes, portraiture and figure painting.

Come by this Wednesday or any Wednesday, 6-8pm, for fun with watercolor painting!

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Grilled Eggplant and Roasted Red Pepper Panini

Summer is coming to Chicago...slowly.  As seems typical, we haven't had a tremendously warm spring, but we remain hopeful that warm summer days are right around the corner.  With that hopefulness, I find myself daydreaming of picnics at Millenium Park concerts, promentary point, Chicago Botanic Garden, or Ravinia.  And, these sandwiches, from Joy of Cooking All About Vegetarian, are among the best picnic meals around because all the ingredients can be prepared in advance and the resulting combination is extraordinary.  So, with anticipation of warm summer nights, I am sharing the recipe for a delectable picnic.

Preheat Broiler.

Combine:

6 fresh basil leaves, chopped

2 tbsps balsamic vinegar

1-3 cloves garlic, minced

2 red bell peppers, roasted, peeled, seeded, and cut into strips about 1/4" thick

Cut crosswise into 1/2"-thick slices:

1 medium eggplant 

Brush the eggplant slices on both sides with:

2 tbsps olive oil

Broil the eggplant 4" from the heat just until tender, about 4 minutes each side.  Remove from the heat.  Split in half horizontally:

Four 4-inch squares focaccia (recipe below)

Spread the bottom halves generously with:

Tapenade (recipe below)

Arrange on top:

4 ounces slices fresh mozzarella or crumble feta or goat cheese

1 large ripe tomato, sliced

Divide the eggplant and the pepper mixture on top and cover with the top halves of the focaccia.  Press together gently and serve.

Focaccia

Divide in half and roll each piece out to a 1/2"-thick round:

Basic pizza dough

Transfer these to well-oiled 10-inch cake pans.  Let rise covered with plastic wrap for 1 1/2 hours.  Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Ten minutes before baking, dimple the dough with your fingertips and drizzle evenly with:

Olive oil (as much as 1/2 cup)

Top with:

Dried herbs or course sea salt

Bake the focaccia until golden, about 25 minutes.  Remove from the pans to cool on the rack and serve warm or at room temperature.

Tapenade (Caper Olive Paste)

Combine in a food processor:

2 cups black olives, preferably oil cured, pitted

3 tbsps drained capers

3 tbsps olive oil

2 tbsps brandy or lemon juice

2 cloves garlic, coursly chopped

2 tsps fresh thyme or 1 tsp dried

salt and ground pepper to tast

Pulse until the mixture is till course but of a uniform consistency.

Enjoy!

What is your favorite picnic fare?

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Penpaling 

Since the start of the year I've been pen paling with my real life pal Sabina of How to Dig a Hole and mauve? gallery.  It is quite a delight given my great love for sending and receiving mail.  I thought I would share some of the fantastic things I've received so far.

Have you ever had a pen pal?

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Postcards to Politicians
A few weeks ago, while having dinner with a friend, she was lamenting our sluggishness in the area of political activism.  I could not disagree. 

As a college student, I began thinking critically about our world and was moved to become an active participant in the political process--protesting, being a vocal advocate for issues of importance to me, and writing to politicians.  As I enter my 30s, I find that my enthusiasm for such political action is diminished.  The busyness of daily life and the regularity the workplace has lulled me into inaction.  As someone who sincerely cares about living a life of intention, with attention to social justice, I think it is important to be an active participant in our political process.

When I asked my friend what she thought we should do to combat our lack of political involvement, she said, "I don't know, maybe write more letters to politicians."  And so, I will.  My goal is to write a postcard to a politician each week on a topic of importance to me.  Frankly, it feels a bit meaningless, but it also feels valuable and an act of intention.  Gandhi said it well, "You may think your actions are meaningless and that they won't help, but that is no excuse, you must still act."

Since I'm a watercolor painter each of these postcards will feature a quick painting.  Perhaps receiving a piece of original art in the mail will catch the eye of the staffer who sorts mail from constituents.  My solitary letters will be mailed away to my U.S. and state representatives, my senators, my alderman, my governor, my president.  Won't you join me, I know it seems pointless, but you must still act.

Any types for effective communication with our elected officials?

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Custom Design Map

I recently completed a commissioned project.  It was a delightful undertaking.  I designed a custom map for a couple who was married in and is living in Baltimore.  As frequent readers of this blog know, I'm an enthusiastic supporter of Baltimore.  Having lived in the city, for a couple of years, I fell in love.  So it was a delighted to recall familiar neighborhoods and favorite spots as I executed the map.

The map is a digital design, which will be printed as a 24"x30" poster at a local art store using their high quality printing process.  The map depicts Baltimore's 225+ neighborhoods.  It also features digital sketches of the couple's favorite Baltimore spots--restaurants, bars, the place they were married.  

I was rather captivated by this idea, an extension of some of the wedding maps I have designed.  I hope I will have the opportunity to complete more of these custom maps.  It also got me thinking about future projects I would like to complete--perhaps, a series of maps documenting the places that tell the story of a person's life in a place--the places where a person lives and works, their favorite hidden places to visit, the place they fall in love or have their hearts broken.  

What would be on your custom designed map?

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Exploring Detroit

Last weekend, I made my first ever visit to the Motor City.  It had been a place I had long wanted to visit and my curiosity about Detroit was piqued by a Dan Pitera, executive director at the Detroit Collaborative Design Center, who lectured at the recent Structures for Inclusion conference.  My first visit, was a short one, just shy of 48 hours, but I feel as though I saw a great deal.  Our first stop in the city was to Detroit's Abandoned Train Station (Michigan Central Station), which saw its last train depart in 1988.  It's hard not to be fascinated by the decay of this massive and incredibly beautiful building.  The cost for renovation of the building has been estimated at $80 to $300 million.  

On our first evening in Detroit, we stumbled upon a street covered in painted shoes!  It was quite a sight!  The whole block, which included a series of abandoned mansions had been dedicated to the installation, which had been executed by Tyree Guyton of the Heidelburg Project.  We didn't get to see the rest of the work of the Heidelberg Project, which is "rooted in the need to improve the under-resourced and horribly blighted Detroit community where the project was founded."

I had the delight of spending a Saturday morning at the Detroit Institute Art.  The majority of my visit was spent in the Rivera Court, a grand hall, which houses the Detroit Industry mural on each of its four walls.  The frescos were completed by Mexican muralist Diego Rivera as a tribute to the city's manufacturing base and labor force of the 1930s.  The composition of the twenty-seven panels is extraordinary, with great attention to the cultural context and history.  It is marvelous!

In the afternoon, I had the delight of visiting Youthville Detroit.  My pal's Dad serves as the CFO at Youthville and it was extraordinary to see the amazing programming available at their facility.  Youthville Detroit was conceived of as a youth development center with a focus on providing a safe space, exposure to responsible, caring adults, intentional youth involvement in their own development, and provision of broad supports and opportunities.  It's a great facility in an rehabbed building, with fantastic programming including web radio & broadcast journalism,  anime/manga, television show production, archery, acting, ceramics, fashion, and spoken word! 

Youthville Great Hall, with garage doors to classrooms

After a quick visit to Belle Isle, an incredible 982-acre island park in the Detroit River, we were off to the weekend's main event: The Motor City Beard and Mustache Championships!   This inaugural event was planned by the Great American Fierce Beard Organization (GAFBO).  GAFBO operates as "a group dedicated to making our world a better place by promoting camaraderie, fighting beard discrimination, and providing to those in need to whom we are in a position to help."  The mustaches and beards were extraordinary, be sure to check out the photos on the GAFBO website.  Kudos to John Buckler, GAFBO co-founder and the event's MC for a great event!  The event raised about $2000 for Youthville.

Photo by Shaun Pezdfseshki, Metromix Detroit 

Photo by Shaun Pezdfseshki, Metromix Detroit

Photo by Shaun Pezdfseshki, Metromix Detroit

 What do you love about Detroit?

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Showing Work at The Beetle

For a the last week, I've been showing a collection of ten paintings at The Beetle Bar & Grill, in Chicago's Humboldt Park neighborhood.  The paintings are all Chicago-inspired works, including paintings of Logan Square, the Finkel Steel Factory, and the Chicago river. 

I'm delighted to be showing my work at The Beetle--the centrally located original brick columns make a great background for art.  The Beetle is located at 2532 W. Chicago.  They have fantastic waffle fries and a great selection of beers on tap.  I'm having an opening on Tuesday, April 19th at 7PM, stop by!  Not only can you see watercolor paintings, you can also get $2 fish, chicken, veggie, or pork tacos! 

Have you since interesting displays of art in local coffee shops, bars, or restaurants?

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Strawberry Margaritas

My Dad makes the most wonderful strawberry margaritas.  I really can't take any credit for this "project"  because I recently enjoyed a round of margaritas prepared by my father.  They were delicious!  I thought I would share the recipe with you.

Combine all the ingredients in a blender:

6 oz. tequila

2 oz. triple sec

6 oz. frozen limeade

Fill balance of blender with one third fresh strawberries and two thirds small cube ice.

What's your favorite frozen beverage?

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Pizza
Isn't pizza amazing?  It is seems so simple--cheese melted on a dough combined most primarily of flour, water, and yeast.  Yet, it is so wonderfully delicious.  I really learned to love cooking during the year I lived in rural, West Alabama.  I lived in a town of 2,000, the "Catfish Capital" of Alabama, where fried catfish and barbeque where readily available.  I was left craving many foods I had previously taken for granted, including pizza.     

Chopped onion, celery, and carrot for the Classic Tomato Sauce

Pizza could be purchased at one establishment in the southern hamlet, I called home: the Shell Gas Station.  And, to be honest, during a year spent designing and constructing a $20,000 house, there were long days which ended with the purchase of a gas station pizza.  I was determined though to learn to make really great pizza for myself.

Tomatoes being sauteed with the onions, celery, and carrot for the Classic Tomato Sauce

It wasn't easy to find a recipe for pizza dough, which I found satisfactory.  After trying several recipes, I discovered the pizza dough recipe in Joy of Cooking, which is not too hard to make and rather delicious.  I've been making that recipe ever since.  You can, of course, top the pizza with whatever strikes your fancy.  I'm particularly fond of the potato sage pizza recipe from Joy of Cooking and during a recent pizza adventure decided to top one of the pizzas with the Classic Tomato Sauce I discovered about a month ago.

Boiled Potatoes in preparation for the Potato Sage Pizza

Basic Dough Recipe from Joy of Cooking: All About Vegetarian, Two 12-inch pizzas
Combine in a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a heavy-duty mixer and let stand until the yeast is dissolved, about 5 minutes:
1 package (2 1/4 tsps) active dry yeast
1 1/3 c warm water (105-115 degrees F)
Add:
3 1/2-3 3/4 c all-purpose flour
2 tbsps olive oil
1 tbsp salt
1 tbsp sugar (optional)
Mix by hand or on low speed for about 1 minute to blend all the ingredients.  Knead for about 10 minutes by hand or with the dough hook on low to medium speed until the dough is smooth and elastic.  Transfer the dough to a bowl lightly coated with olive oil and turn it over once to coat with oil.  Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.  Preheat the oven to 475 degrees.  Grease and dust 2 baking sheets with cornmeal; or place on a baking stone (if you have one)in the oven and preheat for 45 minutes.  Punch the down and divide it in half.  Roll each piece into a ball and let rest, loosely covered in plastic wrap, for about 10 to 15 minutes.

Pureed Classic Tomato Sauce waiting to top the pizza

Flatten each ball of dough 1 at a time on a lightly floured work surface into a 12-inch round, rolling and stretching the dough.  Place each dough circle on a prepared baking sheet; if using a baking stone, place them on baker's peels dusted with cornmeal.  Lift each edge and pinch it to form a lip.  To prevent the filling from making the crust soggy, brush the top of the dough with:
Olive oil
Use your fingertips to push dents in the surface of the dough (to prevent bubbling) and let rest for about 10 minutes.  Spread in an even layer on each pizza:
Classic Tomato Sauce (optional)
6 oz.  mozzarella cheese shredded  

Potato Sage Pizza ready to eat

For White PIzza with Potato and Sage, follow the instructions above, but forgo the tomato sauce.  According the Joy of Cooking: All About Vegetarian, American labeling laws state that if doesn't have tomato sauce, you can't call it pizza.  This would astonish some Italians, who frequently eat their pizza with just a touch of tomato or even none at all.  Top the pizza with:
8 oz. potatoes, boiled and very thinly sliced while still warm
2 tsp. dried sage
2 tbsps. extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
If using a baking stone, slide the pizza off the baker's peel onto the baking stone in the preheated oven.  If making the pizza on a baking sheet, place the pan and pizza in the oven on the bottom rack.  Bake until the crust is golden brown, about 12 minutes.  Remove from the oven, slice, and serve at once.

It is delicious!

Pizza with Classic Tomato Sauce, mozzarella, and basil ready to eat

Check back next Sunday for my favorite pizzarias.
 
Have you experimented with homemade pizza making?

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A Painting for CAMDA

Next Friday, I'll be featuring the work of Bridget Farmer, a very talented printmaker.  After I came across Bridget's work, I discovered that she has an Etsy shop devoted entirely to raising funds for CAMDA (Cambridge Mongolia Development Appeal). 

According to their website, "CAMDA was first formed in 2000 as the result of  widespread poverty and hardship among Mongolia's nomadic herding communities caused by the dzud that year, which is a climate disaster when a drought summer is followed by a winter of extreme severity. Deep snow accompanied by long periods of ultra-low temperatures (-45C) killed millions of herd animals leaving their owners destitute.  News of the first disaster got scant media coverage and John Pirie felt urged to help ease the plight of these herding families. Little was then known about Mongolia, a country still grappling with immense financial deficits, undergoing huge social and economic reforms after 70 years of a Soviet command economy."      

CAMDA develops and maintains grass-root projects.  These projects include a WSPA-funded Mobile Vet Project (2003-2007) to inoculate essential horses against parasitic diseases. A Well-Refurbishment Project to bring water to remote drought-stricken Gobi regions. They also make grants for simple grass cutting equipment to co-operatives in northern provinces where grass is more plentiful. Horse-drawn mowers or diesel tractors fitted with cutter and rake attachments are loaned to local communities helping boost reserve fodder stocks to help see them through the long Mongolian winter.

I was inspired by Bridget's generosity of time and talent in creating a shop for CAMDA and decided to donated a piece of my work to the shop.  This original watercolor painting will be available at the shop once it makes it way to Bridget in Northern Ireland.  It depicts the a Mongolian Landscape with a Ger.  Nearly all Mongolian herders live in white gers (felt-lined tents, yurt in Russian).

What are your favorite examples of art for a cause?  

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Cheerleading for the Dinner Party

A few weeks ago a friend sent me a link to post written by Alexandra Lange on the Gourmet Live Blog, which asked the question, "Whatever Happened to the Dinner Party?"  I was immediately indignant--the dinner party is doing just fine thank you very much!  I relish few forms of entertainment more than gathering people in my home for a meal, so I felt certain that meal-centric parties were alive and well.  

After reading the article, I had to admit that my gatherings take a different form from the elegant dinner parties described by Ms. Lange.  She describes the parties her mother hosted as complete with china, lipstick and fresh flowers.  To start,  I don't own china, in fact only about five of my set of eight everyday dish place settings remain unbroken.  I do, however, delight in coordinating menus around at least the hint of a culinary theme and experimenting with "from scratch" preparation of all manner of menu items.  I also delight in the small non-food-related things that make a meal feel a bit more special.  

With only enthusiasm as a qualification, I would like to champion the dinner party and offer a few helpful hints in planning and hosting these gatherings.  I was initially intimidated by hosting more than a few friends, but in the last several years have taken to hosting as many as several dozen people for dinner.  In hosting larger parties, I found that advance planning is the key to success.  I recommend deciding on a menu at least a week and advance and choosing, as much as possible, dishes that can be prepared in advance (and possibly frozen).  This will allow you make portions of the meal days or weeks in advance, so as to avoid frantic preparation as your guests are arriving.  Soups, pasta sauces, and cakes all tend to freeze quite well.  Baked dishes like lasagna and quiche also work well because you can make them early in the day, put them in the oven as your guests are arriving, and let them bake while people settle in with drinks and appetizers.  

While I don't entertain with ironed table clothes, china and crystal, I am unwilling to serve food on disposable plates either.  My paternal grandmother had a gift for making things "feel special."  When we would visit as children, we were served cranberry juice and ginger ale in a wine glass at "cocktail hour," fresh flowers often graced the dining room table, and it wasn't uncommon to fabricate place cards even when the only guests were me, my Grandmother, and my Grandfather.  I cherish those memories and try to do small things that make guests feel welcome.

Like the food, I've found that it is really helpful to prepare other items in advance of the guests arrival as well.  I use on side table in the dining room as a bar, putting out water and wine glasses, pitchers of water, and other beverages.  I am happy to have a collection of about thirty plates (many of which were collected from the thrift store).  I've taken to preparing a "tea tray" in advance--it's nice to have mugs, assorted teas, sugar, and honey ready to be served with dessert.  Finally, I delight in details like serving dessert with small demitasse spoons is somehow so lovely.  


With exuberant support for the future of dinner parties, cheers!


What are your best tips for preparing and hosting dinner parties?