Lulu Rocks Halloween Again

  

Lulu Halloween 2011

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Just Don’t Serve This to Your Grandmother

Once upon a time, when I was just out of college and had my own apartment for the first time — no, we will not discuss when that was — I owned The Silver Palate Cookbook,  The Silver Palate Good Times Cookbook, The New Basics Cookbook, Great Good Food and All Around the World Cookbook, and everything I cooked came from one of those books.  Lukins & Rosso what would I have eaten without you?!  (And now I’ve gone ahead and dated myself, but if you recognize the references then chances are you’re as old as I am anyway.)

Those books have long since been supplanted in my repertoire many times over.  These days the Barefoot Contessa cookbooks take pride of place and The Silver Palate is up on a shelf that I can’t reach without the aid of a stool which, let’s face it, I’m really not likely to get out in order to pick the evening’s recipe.  But no matter how many times I consider throwing away those old cookbooks and freeing up the shelf space, I just can’t bring myself to do it.  There were some really great recipes in those books!  Even without mouth-watering pictures to tempt me, every once in a while I will come back to those books because the memory of the incredible dishes inside makes me hungry.

One of my favorite recipes, this one out of New Basics, is the Moroccan Chicken.  It comes in particularly handy when I’m having company for dinner.  I will warn you that I once prepared this for my grandmother when, after I had slaved away in the kitchen for the afternoon and proudly presented her with a plate of my masterpiece, she took one bite and said, “I tell you the truth, it’s a bit dry.  Where’s the sauce?  Isn’t there supposed to be a sauce?  This could really use a sauce?”  No, there is NOT supposed to be a sauce!  So if your grandmother is one of those folks who likes a sauce with her chicken, DO NOT serve her this dish.  Otherwise, by all means, go for it.

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Is It Good Art?

prints by kenT youngstrom available at www.jossandmain.com

I went through a bit of an internal struggle about whether or not to write this post.  I am doing it against my better judgement.  The fact is, that for all of my talk about culture and art not being elitist, and ideally being an integral part of everyone’s lives and surroundings, when it comes to discreet works of Art — paintings that are meant to be hung on a wall, sculpture  – I still believe there is such a thing as Art with a capital “A”.  I organize people in a way that I see as realistic, but is probably in fact more elitist than I’ll ever quite feel comfortable admitting to, based on an inherent belief in talent.  Some people are simply better at some things than others, and all the effort and training and education in the world isn’t going to change that.  I constantly struggle with the ideology which seems to be pervasive at my kids’ school which suggests that, given equal opportunity, everyone is capable achieving the same success as everyone else in everything.  Some people are just better at math than others.  Those others may be better at sports or at writing.  Certainly education and opportunity can shape the degree to which individuals are or are not able to realize these talents.  But I do believe the talents are primary.

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Gotta Love Capitalism. Right?

Supply and demand, price point — market forces are a powerful thing.  They’re the reality of how our financial system operates.  But still, it’s so darn unfair sometimes … it can’t help but burn a little.  Target messed up big time with their Missoni collection.  There’s really no excuse.  A company that large and that successful, their computer systems simply should have been ready to handle the influx of traffic and should have been programmed correctly to manage inventory vs. incoming orders.  I was interested to learn that Target’s website had been managed in conjunction with Amazon up until a month before the Missoni launch at which point Target took on sole management of its website.  Oops.  If you ask me, it’s just plain irresponsible.  And then canceling the orders of customers that were placed at 6 am on the day of the launch while fulfilling orders placed later for the exact same merchandise.  It’s incredibly disrespectful of their dedicated customers.  But the amazing thing is that Target, most likely, will not have to pay any price for the blunder.  Had a smaller company pulled the same thing, it would be out of business, plain and simple.  Target being Target, we all somehow still feel the need to shop there — a need that doesn’t go away overnight.  We still see it as a unique source of affordable, tasteful fashion.  True style for the masses.  And the designer collaborations continue.

So, in spite of the morally righteous anger that I feel toward Target for canceling a large part of my order (yes, I’m secretly glad they did, since they saved me a hell of a lot of money spent on stuff I absolutely did not need … but still), I find myself compelled to jump right on board again and order half of the hats in the Albertus Swanepoel for Target collection.

They’re great hats.  They’re $19.99 each.  I am not a hats person.  I feel utterly self conscious in a hat.  And yet for $19.99, who can resist?  They’re just so darn much fun.  And that is much of the beauty of fashion after all — having fun.  So I already have the darn hats in my cart at Target.com, and am planning my trip to the store for those that aren’t available online.

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You want me to wear WHAT?

OK, I am all about designer collaborations with mass market venues.  Missoni for Target last month — AWESOME!  Infuriating in how poorly it was handled by Target, but a great collaboration.  Karl Lagerfeld for Macy’s at the end of August — hit or miss, but some truly special pieces.  I got a blouse which receives loads of complements every time I wear it.  These collections are the work of gifted designers.  I would not have the opportunity to own their work under any other circumstances.  And I see it as a wonderful development that the general public now has access to beautiful clothes made by talented designers previously reserved for an elite few.

So, I can hardly wait for the Versace for H&M collection to hit stores on November 19.  I’m not sure what to do about the prospect of having to camp out in front of H&M before dawn in order to have any hope of getting anything, but the women’s designs are fabulous and I have my eyes on a few things.  And yet, I am left dumbstruck by the men’s collection.

from the Versace for H&M ad campaign

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Erwin Wurm

Segment from “Am I a House?” by Erwin Wurm.

I just discovered this artist at a museum last weekend.  His work is brilliant.  I am completely obsessed with him.  Erwin, I love you.  It is difficult to convey his work here, but if you have any opportunity to see it, I recommend you do.

MUST WATCH – a short video in which Erwin Wurm discusses his view of his Art and it’s relationship to “reality” at the LM Artist Video Series.

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Color Me Happy

My latest obsession — and yes, I have about 4 or 5 new obsessions a week — is over-dyed rugs.  If you’ve done any online shopping for homewares recently, you’re probably already familiar with the concept.  They are all over the flash sale sites.  But in case you haven’t, let me fill you in.  Over-dyed rugs are essentially vintage rugs, or patchworks of vintage textiles, completely saturated in a wash of intense color.  The result is strikingly beautiful.

Rugs from Bazaar Bayar as seen on onekingslane.com

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Sinful But So Worth It

This brown butter apple custard tart is unbelievable.  If you have company coming, you must serve this.  The first time I made this I burned the apples slightly, which was pretty unfortunate.  But as long as you don’t do that, your guests will be dreaming about this dessert for weeks.  Most incredible is how nutty the tart tastes with absolutely no nuts in the recipe.

Granny Smith Apple and Brown Butter Custard Tart  (as published in Food and Wine, Nov. 2006)

Active time:  1 hr.      Total time:  3 hrs.      Serves:  8 to 10

image courtesy of "Food and Wine"

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Hello world!

What is the point of this blog?

Basic version:

We have to eat.  It is generally agreed that we have to get dressed.  Ideally we live in homes of some sort.  Why not eat delicious food?  Why not make those clothes beautiful?  Why not fill the rooms we live in with furniture we love?  Life is enriched by surrounding ourselves with objects which give us pleasure.

Philosophical version for people who clearly have way too much time on their hands (present company included):

A group of artists in the early days of the Soviet Union, calling themselves Constructivists, proposed,

“…to us art is the creation of new objects….  But it should by no means be supposed that by objects we mean household articles.  Of course we see genuine art in utilitarian objects produced in factories, in the airplane or the automobile.  But we do not wish to limit the production of artists to utilitarian objects.  Any organized work – a house, a poem or a painting – is an expedient object that does not isolate people from life but helps them to organized it.”  – El Lissitzky & Ilya Ehrenburg, “Blokada Rossii konchaetsia,” Veshch’ no. 1-2 (March-April 1922)

I would propose that all art can be seen as the creation of objects, and those objects are the means by which we organize and define our world and proclaim our own place in that world.

To say that wearing a pair of jeans and a grubby t-shirt that you grabbed off the shelf at Old Navy because you don’t have time to think about your clothes is not fashion, makes an artificial distinction that is nearly impossible to nail down and doesn’t hold up to scrutiny.  Every time we put clothes on, whether they are the clothes that we call “high fashion” or not, we are constructing an image of ourselves to present to the world which places us and defines us one the social and political spectrum of the culture in which we live.  That culture determines the choices available to us, what meaning is invested in the choices, and what values inform the selections we make.

It seems to be a dominant trend (among intellectuals in American society at least) to see Art (paintings, sculpture, theater, etc.) and finding beauty in that Art as intellectually admirable and value, signifying substance, depth and knowledge, and to dismiss fashion (and less so interior design – both tied into a conflicted relationship to “shopping”) as superficial.  We appreciate a fine restaurant and a good meal, but turn our noses up at anyone who seems to have invested “too much thought and time” in his or her appearance.  All production can be invested with more or less craft, skill and creativity, and this affects how we respond to the objects of production.  To make choices based on seeing value in the work and creativity invested in the production of any object is not superficial.  It is the source of pleasure.  It is, perhaps, what distinguishes us from animals — the ability to consume not just what we need of the world, in a primal way, but to shape the objects that we consume to bring us a different level of pleasure and satisfaction.  Life is enriched by surrounding ourselves with objects which give us pleasure.

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