For the past two years my favorite food podcast has been the Splendid Table.  Even if you are not a big foodie the host Lynne Rossetto Kasper’s laugh and amazing personality is enough to keep your interest.  And every week she has the fabulous Jane and Michael Stern talk about their Road Food adventures.  You can download to her very informative podcast here.   She is not to be missed!

I grew up watching Drew Barrymore grow up with me.  We are exactly the same age.  This week she has really nice interview on Fresh Air to promote her hew movie, a remake of Grey Gardens.

listen here (you might just love her even more)

Drew Barrymore in VOGUE Photographed by Annie Leibovitz

Helen Levitt died this week at a ripe old age in her sleep.  Reading her obituary reminded me how much I have always loved her street photographs of children in New York City.  Here are some of my favorites:

Melissa Block’s interview with Helen Levitt on NPR

Happy birthday to Fannie Merritt Farmer (23 March 1857 – 15 January 1915).  She is know for writing one of the first cookbooks with precise measurements, her basic recipes are still my favorite.

Fannie Farmer’s Macaroni and Cheese

Ingredients
pinch Cayenne
2 cups Elbow Macaroni dried
2 tblspoons Butter
2 tblspoons Flour
1 1/4 cups Milk heated
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
1 1/2 cups Cheddar cheese grated
1 1/2 cups Buttered Bread Crumbs

Instructions
1. Preheat the oven to 375 F.
2. Melt the butter in a heavy-bottomed saucepan.
3. Stir in the flour and cook, stirring constantly, until the paste cooks and bubbles a bit, but don’t let it brown – about 2 minutes.
4. Add the hot milk, continuing to stir as the sauce thickens. Bring it to a boil.
5. Add salt and pepper to taste, lower the heat, and cook, stirring for 2 to 3 minutes more..
6. Stir in cup grated Cheddar cheese during the last 2 minutes of cooking, along with a pinch of cayenne pepper.
7. Remove from the heat
8. Butter a 1 -quart casserole.
9. Put the cooked macaroni into the casserole, pour the cheese sauce over it, and mix gently with a fork.
10. Sprinkle the grated cheese evenly over the top and spread the crumbs over the cheese.
11. Bake, uncovered, until the top is golden and the sauce is bubbling, about 30 minutes.

I had a chance to view Coraline in true 3D at the most lovely movie theater in New York The Ziegfeld. Coraline is far better and darker than most children’s films.  The visuals were completely inspiring and I can’t wait to see it again and again.

from the original book by Neil Gaiman

Coraline and her kitty venture down the rabbit hole.

The mouse circus performance was my favorite part.

This movie looks like it is going to be really good.

watch the trailer

Based on a true story, EVERLASTING MOMENTS follows the story of Maria (Maria Heiskanen), who is married to an alcoholic and womanizing dockworker (Mikael Persbrandt). Her husband leaves the worries of family responsibilities entirely to Maria. Her situation is desperate until she meets a camera shop owner (Jesper Christensen) who encourages her to start taking and developing photographs. She soon begins to see the world in new ways that threaten her already perilous situation.

this is so lovely it might make you cry with happiness

Bettie Page, Queen of Pinups, Dies at 85

Our beautiful pinup queen has passed away.  Photographer Unknown.

A painting Dame Darcy made of us knitting each other’s hair,

On November 6, I went to the Whitney Museum of American Art for the opening of the William Eggleston’s exhibition The Democratic Camera.  I consider William Eggleston to be one of the fathers of color photography. I used to stare at his images in photo books for hours at the library when I was Stephen Shore’s photography student art Bard College.  His strange images were a huge influence on me.  Eggleston made it ok to turn snapshots into works of art, and therefore he made me feel more confident about my own early images.  He is a master when it comes to color.  The richness in the way Eggleston printed his images was something very new at the time.

Photo by William Eggleston
In my opinion this is one of Eggleston’s best photographs.  It displays the sheer bliss of light (sunlight) and photography, my two favorite things.

I showed up alone at the opening but I ran into a few friends, which was an unexpected surprise. It is always a nice to bump into people from a another part of your life at a completely different kind of event.  I saw my friend Kirsten there who happens to be an old family friend of the curator of the exhibition Elisabeth Sussman. Kirsten immediately introduced me to Sussman and her brother Paul Sacks. We were all very excited for Sussman!  I have admired her curatorial work for years and it was a pleasure to meet her.

Elisabeth Sussman and her brother Paul Sacks

Kirsten Sonnenberg and Paul Sacks

With my mentor Charles Traub, the head of the SVA MFA Photography program.

Then as if it was not already an amazing night,  I had a chance to walk through the exhibition with Dan Bell?!!  It is always great to see how another artist that I admire reacts to iconic works of art.

Photo by William Eggleston
Dan Bell could relate to this photo because he tours all the time.
More images at www.egglestontrust.com