A Dose of Authenticity

{parade, Hurley, NY}

If life always went as planned, we would have spent last weekend on a little island off of Seattle, celebrating the marriage of two of our dearest friends. It was to be our first real (much needed) family vacation since baby Greta was born, and a long overdue visit to the West Coast which always brings us both a sense of breath and space to handle all this busy city throws our way.

Every time I passed the wedding save the date magnet on the fridge, I imagined walking through quiet streets hand in hand with András (something that happens less now that our hands seem always occupied with the tiny one), Greta tucked against my chest, exploring and inviting the authentic.

The night we were to leave, we spent 6 hours on the tarmac at JFK with Greta in our laps. She ate dinner and fell asleep in our arms and slept like a dream until the captain declared our flight cancelled (don’t ask!). Then she smiled the whole way home in the cab at 1 AM as if we had all just had a very grand adventure. When we woke up the next morning in our own beds, we spent a couple minutes feeling sorry for ourselves and then headed north to a little house in Hurley, NY.

I don’t think I’ve told you all about this yet.

Smack in the middle of writing my book and waiting for baby, we bought a tiny 1930s house in Hurley, New York. Yes, we are gluttons for chaos. It wasn’t so much the house we fell in love with as much as it was the 200-year-old barn.  We imagined turning it into a summer kitchen (for me) and woodworking shop (for András) and a giant grown up playroom in the lofty second level, a project that now seems light years away.

We’ve spent a good few dozen weekends up there, between deadlines and monumental occasions (Greta’s birth) and family visits and birthday parties, tearing down walls and ceilings, painting and priming (and by we, I mean mostly András). We are inching toward our version of country chic, looking out the kitchen window at the empty barn that brought us there.

Usually our weekends there are sweet but storied, full of unexpected obstacles. We eat off of paper plates (gasp, not very green of us, but we reuse them when we can!) and cook every single solitary meal on the little grill I bought András last year. We laugh. At ourselves and each other.  At the absurdity of it all. At Greta bouncing up and down in her Johnny Jump up, her little feet landing over and over on the one small patch of clean, polished wood floor among the mess and mishap we’ve accepted as home.

There is a checklist for this house. There is a deadline. But we don’t live by it. Especially not on a weekend when we’re broken hearted to not to stand by as two people we love make the biggest commitment of their life.  Instead, we gave ourselves a vacation in our own house.

{plant sale, Co Rd 7}

That weekend, I washed freshly picked asparagus in our brand new farm sink. We went to opening day of the Kingston Farmer's Market, and chanced upon a roadside plant stand selling raspberry plants for five dollars. 

{vintage tub, From the Grapevine antiques, Hurley, NY}

We gave our baby girl her first outdoor tubby in an old enamel tub, a gift from our neighbor’s antique shop. We ate the season’s first strawberries and planted our raspberries and walked around barefoot. 

{cucina, woodstock}

We let Greta explore every inch of dirt and grass on her hands and knees and sit in her papa’s lap and eat off his plate at his birthday dinner at Cucina, in Woodstock. 

{lunch: pretzels, Twisted Food, radishes, Migorelli farm, goat's milk ricotta, Acorn Hill Farm}

We cheered for the local Memorial Day parade. We took afternoon naps all together and ate our meals directly from the cutting board on a table made of 2 X 4s. We held hands and let our arms swing up and down between Greta’s singing “Thank you for the world so sweet, thank you for the food we eat…”

We traveled back in time. 

~ 

If you and the ones you love find yourself in the Hudson Valley instead of Seattle or somewhere further off, consider yourself lucky. Here are some places you can get yourself a dose of authenticity.

The Kingston Farmer’s Market

Kingston, NY

The finest of small town farmer’s markets. Get everything from cassis to freshly baked breads, strudels and pies, radishes and greens, wild mushrooms and game and not to be missed sweet, goat's milk ricotta from Acorn Hill Farm. And while you’re there, drop a dollar in the hat for The Queen’s Galley, the organization responsible for feeding all the Hudson Valley’s hungry.

Migorelli Farm Stand

Route 199 and Route 9, Rhinebeck, NY

This 80-year-old fruit and vegetable farm grows over 130 different varieties of fruits and vegetables. They are a regular fixture at both our local market on 14^th street in Astoria and the Union Square Green Market, but it's twice as fun to buy direct from the stands that flank their fields. 

Twisted Foods Pretzel Roll Factory

Rosendale, NY

Bring your tie-died T's and drive slow as you pull into sleepy Rosendale. If you blink, you’ll pass right by Twisted Foods. This place isn’t fancy; they save the fancy for their four types of pretzel rolls -- Chewy, polished poofs of salted dough shiny from their baking soda bath, with an addictive chew and substance.

Gills Farm Stand

Route 209, New York

Somehow, I don’t entirely mind paying the steep prices to keep a 6^th generation family farm in business. The Gills own most of the land around Hurley, and sell their seasonal goods by the handful and bunch. Right now you’ll find the last of their asparagus and spinach, season’s first strawberries and the best selection of starter plants from white aubergine to green striped tomatoes that a gardener could wish for.

Cucina

Woodstock, New York

Cucina is a restaurant with a menu and décor so fine it belongs in any big city, but thankfully it sits on a quiet perch in a rambling restored farmhouse just outside Woodstock.  Minutes from the arresting Ashokan Reservoir (where we city folk get our water), it is sleek by country standards, or any standards. But the food is fresh and fantastic. Service is gracious (even accommodating messy little fingers) and the whole experience is altogether inviting.

chopped

{a fifteen minute lunch} to make, chop the contents of your CSA box or veggie drawer. peppers, green beans, spring onions. add hard boiled eggs. torn mozzarella. salt. pepper. olive oil. enjoy.

Eggs So Pretty {An Easter Story}

I love everything about eggs. Their golden yolks that nurture with fat and flavor, their silky whites that transform into luscious meringues, their fragile shells in pale blues and greens, tans and browns. I love the way the shells crumble into a million pieces, how they look sitting up tall and proud in an egg cup, or poached and perched, yolks oozing over a frisee salad. But in our big world of bold colors and flavors, the egg is still a fairly humble ingredient.

So at Easter time, I always find it remarkable how magnificent they can look painted. These painted eggs got their beauty in the patient and talented hands of my friend George McKirdy, owner and pastry chef of Astor Bake Shop, our favorite neighborhood haunt. Years ago I worked for George in the pastry kitchen of Café Boulud, and was thrilled when he turned up again down the street behind the big, open windows on the corner.

I've learned so many things from George {how to make the world's best coconut macaroon, to forever love the combination of passion fruit and chocolate, and that a financier never, ever goes out of vogue} but in a sense this is my favorite ~ that with a little tender care, the humble, everyday egg can become something spectacular, something that glimmers with alarming beauty.

That is the message of Easter. That something bare and unadorned ~ an egg, a life, a soul ~ can be transformed by the gifts of patience, grace, and love.

{Happy Earth Day!}

{photos by Dasha Wright and Robert Jacobs}

Up north, we wait a long time for garden season, but this year the wait seemed even longer. Last summer, as my belly grew round with the babe, I spent hours and hours tending our small community garden plot, laughing with wonder as the little one inside me kicked and squirmed. When I finally met our giggly girl, Greta, I couldn't wait to take her back there to see our garden with her own blue eyes. 

She was born in November, and the garden sat under a pile of snow for months on end. We'd walk by often during these long winter days, checking for peeks of green, but still the snow fell. 

Finally, five months to the day after Greta was born, we got a rare April day so warm that we headed outside with her hands and feet bare. As she is everywhere in life, she was eager, engaged, reaching out for everything with her curious hands, delighting in the textures and colors of the world around her.  I was thrilled that this place I love seemed just as full as wonder and discovery for her, with more curiosities to offer her than anything she'd seen inside four walls.

We spent that day at the house of our friends Robert and Dasha,  both photographers, who captured Greta's first earth day on film in their own sprawling gardens ~  those first moments as her bare feet touched the soil, her tiny hands reaching for the green shoots of spring onions, and even the I'm pooped mamma tears that ended our garden play-date before I wiped her muddy toes and tucked her into the corner of their plush couch for her afternoon nap. 

It's a rare child who doesn't delight in the texture of warm, damp earth between their toes, the dance of poppies nodding in the wind, and the close attention of their parents sitting side by side with them in the soil.  I wrote about how and why to make your garden a special place for your babes in Mothering Magazine, but in case you missed it, here are my favorite three tips for gardening with a child of any age:

Schedule Garden Time
kids thrive on schedules and predictability.  Schedule a time each day or week to spend in the garden with your child.  Your little one will recognize it as a special bonding time and place where you work as a team to grow healthy foods together.

Build a Food Vocabulary
Babies and young children love the sound of their mother’s voice.  Talk to them while you garden; explain what you are doing and give names to the tools you use and veggies you grow, helping them build their nutrition and food vocabulary season by season.

Designate a Bed In the Garden
No matter how young your little gardener is, pick a patch of soil just for them where the rules and rows of gardening don’t apply. Throw caution to the wind and let your littles dig and experiment at their whim, giving them a sense of independence and pride in what they grow.

There's never been a better time to get started gardening as a family than on Earth Day. You don't need a sprawling garden or any fancy gardening gear, just a few seeds, and a pot, and a little one you love. For more tips on getting started, here's my post on five gardening basics {click here} to grow on. 

Happy Earth Day!

* Special thanks to Robert and Dasha for sharing their little oasis and beautiful photographs with us. *

Earth Day ~ For the Love of the Soil

{photo by Robert Jacobs}

There's something magical that happens the first time a little one touches the earth. A connection is made that sparks a lifetime of respect and understanding, one that is cultivated every time their little hands meet the soil. It starts small, like a tiny seed, and only takes a little nurturing from you to help it grow and grow. Tomorrow's Earth Day, the perfect day to get outside with your wee ones and get your hands in the soil together. It doesn't matter what you grow ~ Save the Bee's flowers, carrots or a sunny patch of strawberries ~ spending time in the soil with your sweet babes will teach them how and why to value our precious planet.

For tips and ideas for getting started gardening with your kids {no matter how young}, read my recent article for Mothering Magazine {here}. And come back tomorrow and all summer long for more photos and ideas for going green with your tiny soil mates.

Happy Earth Day!

have your cake...

{styling by Doris Josovitz. photos by Joshua Farley}

Life has been whizzing by. Our baby girl is already 4 months old, quick to smile and giggle, testing her voice at every decibel and trying with all her might to sit up. While we often wish {and even pray} for a full night's sleep, there's a part of us who never wants to see the day when she doesn't need our voices or arms to sooth her.

At this pace, we have to constantly remind ourselves to stop and take it all in, to enjoy every second because before we blink she'll be a big girl like her friend Ruby, born to our friends Josh and Doris one year ago.

To celebrate, Ruby's parents packed their Brooklyn loft chock full of friends, family and babes of all ages who crawled and climbed all over each other while we grown-ups drank a round of Ruby brew. Ruby romped around a rapid one-year-old speed in her yellow vintage dress, complete with puffed sleeves and a pom-pom sash, queen for a day. She sat still in her mamma's lap just long enough to hear her very first rendition of Happy Birthday and attempt to blow out the candles on the cupcakes that lined two pedestal stands. Moment's later, Ruby rocked her first chocolate cupcake like the party girl she is, rubbing more into her dress than ever reached her mouth.

I love a girl who knows how to handle her cake. When you think about it, if you're going to eat cake {and you should, occasionally}, you might as well enjoy it to the fullest because no matter where you are in life, it's going to keep on whizzing by.

And besides, it's not a good party until somebody ruins a dress.

Soil Mates {A Valentine's Day Gift}

Research shows that steady relationships, like lifelong friendships or marriage, are good for our health. And people aren't the only living creatures that benefit from companionship. Many animals mate for life, and even veggies benefit from planting in pairs. Yes, your tomatoes need love too.

Vegetables planted together share health benefits like soil enrichment and natural pest control which translates to more flavor on your plate. Like human love, it's complicated. Enter Soil Mates, a design-savvy garden guide to what to plant together and why. Consider it the match.com for your garden, and the perfect gift for a gardener you love.

Sugar and Spice and Cocoa, so nice

Sure, I shop at the farmer's market and grow my own food. But since ingredients like sugar, cocoa and vanilla don't grow anywhere near our home, I don't feel guilty buying them at Costco, where the prices keep me in high-quality baking supplies even in the leanest times. I wouldn't buy just any old ingredient at a mega-discount store, but their fair-trade organic sugar, Dutch process cocoa and plump Madagascar vanilla beans won my approval this summer when I was developing recipes for my cookbook. They now command a prime spot on our pantry. With Valentine's Day just around the corner, they deserve a spot in yours too. Here's the scoop:

Wholesome Sweeteners Fair Trade Organic Sugar: It's not very often you can find "certified fair trade" and "organic" in the same product. Made from canes in South America, this is my all-purpose baking and sweetening sugar. Replace your refined white sugar one for one in cookies, cakes, icings and on top of your morning latte.

Rodelle Dutch Process Cocoa: Dutch process cocoa {think Valhrona} is deeper and darker than
natural cocoa {think Hershey's} which gives it what I like to call a grown-up cocoa flavor. Sourced "responsibly" {according to Rodelle's website} from West Africa,  this is my go-to deep-flavored cocoa, perfect for anything you want an intense chocolate flavor to shine in, like cakes, pudding and of course, hot cocoa. Be sure to check recipes that include leaveners {like baking soda or baking powder}.
Dutch process cocoa reacts differently than natural in these recipes {read more here}, so follow those recipes to a T.

Rodelle Vanilla Beans: Vanilla beans or pods come from an orchid plant indigenous to South Eastern Mexico, and later migrated to Madagascar where today's best beans are grown. These plump pods pack enough vanillin to scrape into sweets and stir into frostings for a vanilla flecked flavor that extracts rarely achieve. You can sometimes find vanilla beans in the baking aisle of the grocery store, but they are
often thin and dry and not worth the pretty penny they cost. {Sorry McCormick, your vanilla beans having nothing on these chubsters}.  If you've never used a vanilla bean before, check out Rodelle's how-to-video for how to split and scrape a bean {here}. Be sure to save your leftover beans to dry and store in a jar of sugar for DIY vanilla sugar.

Since not everyone {sorry mom!} has a Costco, I also found these goodies on Amazon for a
not-quite-Costco-cheap-but-fair price too. Here's a shortcut for you: sugar {click here} cocoa {click here} and vanilla beans {click here}.

No excuses now, time to bake something sweet for the one you love.

When Life Gives you Lemons

                                                                  ...have a citrus celebration.

We’ve been snowed in for weeks in New York. Not that we mind. We’re snow people, and a good tromp in the snow is just about our favorite form of exercise. But it does call for boning up on extra Vitamin C, which besides being a powerful antioxidant, helps in the production of connective tissues to keep your bones and body in good form. Now that it's peak citrus season, its easy to get. Keep a big bowl of clementines on the countertop for snacking, squeeze a hunk of lemon or lime into your bubbly water {or beer, for grown-ups} and toss segments of orange or grapefruit with avocado and serve over mesclan greens with olive oil, sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Since citrus has been known to lift the spirits, why not surround yourself with it while the winter wares on?  Here are four more fun ways to get your daily dose. 1) Put out a stack of paper and a pack of Clementine Soy Crayons, so safe your kiddos could almost eat them. 2) Cozy up to a bright, happy book about an orange's journey to the grocery store shelf   3) Layer up your babe in this darling lime onesie {from etsy} 4) Have your littles help you turn a citrus stamp into your family letterhead or a custom wrapping paper {also, etsy}.

If all else fails, close your eyes and think of all the shiny, happy people in the orange groves of California and fill your home with lemons, limes and laughter while you wait for warmer weather.  

Happy Meals ~ {and baby makes three}

Recently, our two became a three and suddenly, we are family. It’s a word that brings with it multitude of joy, challenge, delight and stuff. It also brings a new opportunity to celebrate mealtime and make it a family affair, right from the very beginning. Here are a few of our favorite things for making family meals happy meals. 

(1) Bright, striped primary colored Bibs to Go by Sami and the pretty and pale version by Dwell Studio aren’t for every day {if you live by the mantra reduce, reuse and recycle} but they are brilliant for outings.

(2) You’ll love these bamboo baby spoons when it comes time for spoon-feeding, and in the meantime, they are safe for baby’s curious fingers to grab off the table when they’re sitting on your lap at mealtime.

(3) While we’re still a long way from solid food, mammas and papas have to eat too, so we love these melamine papa bear plates by Jane Jenni. Soon we’ll add the little piglet and sweet pea versions for our baby bean’s place at the table.

(4) And speaking of eating, it is still very possible to eat out with the babe, especially when they are teeny tiny and satisfied to sleep in your lap with a belly full of mother’s milk. Be sure to bring a few pretty distractions in case they wake. Our favorite ~ the ABCs by Charley Harper. 

G is for Grateful {and Baby Girl}

l.i.c, ny ~ January 2011

I've sat down no less than a dozen times to write since November 2, 2010, though most times I get called away to a greater cause. That was the day that beautifully, miraculously changed our world forever. That was the day we welcomed our new baby girl to the world.

There's no story, no recipe, no anecdote grand enough, special enough to say what is simply said like this ~ oh joy, we are a family! Introducing Greta, the most delicious creature I've ever laid eyes on.

Happy New Year. May it bring as much joy, delight and divinity to your world as you can dream possible.

~ Sarah

The Brooklyn Flea

brooklyn, ny

I'm married to a man who has earned the nickname Swiss for his less than astute regard for punctuality.  I admit that I too am habitually 15 minutes late for most things. So it's no surprise that our dear little babe did not arrive yesterday, on due date, nor today. What's there to do in New York while waiting for baby? Why, go to the Brooklyn Flea of course! 

There are a dozen other good reasons to spend a Saturday at the flea in Fort Greene, and ten of them are food related. The eleventh reason is inspiration that comes when good food meets good design. It's like Foodzie meets Etsy, a feast for discerning sensibilities and anyone who appreciates artisan, handmade goods. 

There are all the Brooklyn favorites, like The Good Fork and Pizza Moto, and also several notable newcomers. It was as a sterling fall day to welcome Brooklyn Flea newbie Jessica Binkley, who debuted her small batch vanilla extract and vanilla sugar today under the label binxgoods. Her vanilla extract comes with a plump bean inside, so you can reward your investment by topping the bottle off with good bourbon for an everlasting supply  {a chef's trick she cleverly turned into a business}. Jessica shows off her eye for design with apothecary-style labels, and the hand-knit hats she sells on the side. 

I fell hard for the distinct collection of nibbles from Brooklyn confectioner's Whimsy & Spice , particularly their honey lavender shortbread and the airiest Valrhona chocolate marshmallows imaginable. The confections are crafted by pastry chef Mark Sopchak and packed in the clean designs of his wife, art director Jenna Park, who is also behind their new illustrated poster {above} of kitchen conversions, a chic and practical gift for anyone who fancies their kitchen a gallery or a laboratory of taste. 

For the story and style behind The Good Batch, I'm hooked. Anna Gordon makes soft stacks of handmade stroopwafels, Holland's beloved cookie, out of a yeast-based dough, and layers them into irresistible combinations, like pumpkin cream pies with Maker's Mark frosting and peanut butter & chocolate. Meeting Anna is a treat in itself, but you'll feel plum perky walking away with her sweets tucked into one of her hand-stamped bags. 

If I could have taken one thing home with me, it would be the milky porcelain half-pint bottles by Alyssa Ettinger Design. Swoon. But rumor has it I have a lot more bottles in my future....

Which brings me to the twelfth good reason to head to the Brooklyn Flea  –   insanely good baby watching, good enough to hold me over at least another day. 

{grow baby}

{photo by Robert Jacobs Photography}

l.i.c., ny

All summer long, whenever I go to the garden, the baby wiggles and kicks, as if as delighted as I am to be there. To me, it's a sign of a baby's connectedness with its mother; the happy endorphins I release when I'm in my little patch of green, pulling weeds and cultivating the soil, are instantly translated to the little one. We're both breathing cleaner, richer oxygen, and working in joyful anticipation of the meal that's to follow. It's fitting then, that it is there, yesterday evening when pulling the last of my peppers and sorting through the surprises of my late season strawberry patch, that I had my first contraction. 

It wasn't the real thing, just practice, my body preparing. But it was exciting nonetheless. 

Here I am in one of the rare quiet moments left in our world before the little eggplant {now as big as a watermelon, say the baby books} arrives. I've eaten well, rested, exercised, sang to and stroked the baby in my belly. All there is left to do now is grow.

In Flux {san diego}

san diego, ca

This summer I've been in a constant state of flux.  First, I left one dream job {as recipe developer at the Food Network} for another {writing my first cookbook}, and now I'm about to learn what it means to be called Mamma, as we await the arrival of our first little babe.

These sort of transitions leave little time for sitting and reflecting, savoring a cup of hibiscus tea or a perfectly crafted chocolate croissant, which is why it seemed so monumentally important to do so with my sis Jenny on our latest visit.

She lives in San Diego, where the pace is perfect for people watching and soaking in life at her favorite cafe, Influx. There, the croissants are all flakey goodness, and as photogenic as the patient pups who wait outside, poised for their next treat.

{influx cafe ~ 1948 Broadway ~ San Diego, CA 92101} 

Figs & Joy {In the unlikeliest of places}

l.i.c., ny

Far be it from a Midwestern Methodist to be so bold as to make deals with God. It has always been in my nature to believe He was always there, gently guiding and providing. But a few years ago, when I was reading a book on spirituality by a well-known guru, I was struck that the author wrote that she had a pact with God.  Whenever she doubted something in life, she would ask for a little token to remind her He was there.

Ever since then, whenever I see something growing in an unlikely place, particularly something edible {like a fruiting cherry tree growing stubbornly out of cracked concrete on a city block, or purslane pushing wildly out of a neglected flower bed shaded by towering buildings}, it has become a subtle reminder that out of ugliness can come beauty; a simple lesson of seek and ye shall find.

~

A few weeks ago, when we were shooting my cookbook in Queens, there were a thousand details that needed my care.  Some seemed to require monumental effort, and I wasn’t sure how we would get everything we needed gathered in one place. The day before the 6-days of shooting began, Lillian and Lindsay, my food styling assistant duo extraordinaire, ran to the local Greek market several blocks away on my behalf to pick up the remaining produce for the shoot.

I had all the shots laid out in my mind, and though I thought it was still early for figs in New York, I had a vision of a dreamy bowl of them—the quiet stillness of their tear shape with all the surprise and delight of their glimmering goodness hidden inside.

“I know it’s a long shot, but look for beautiful figs,” I called as they ran out the door.

The two came back an hour later, bubbling over a bag of tiny purple figs, some still dewy as if they had just been picked straight from a tree. They nearly exploded with excitement as they told me how they had found them sitting heaped in a big enamel bowl behind a chain link fence just a few blocks down from me. While they poked about, out came a gentleman farmer who sold them several handfuls of his freshly harvested figs for just two dollars.

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Two dollars for bag full of ripe, locally grown figs? I had been prepared to pay a small fortune for them, or for the likely event that the figs they found might have come from Chile, or Morocco. How had I lived in this neighborhood for almost three years and not known I could buy fresh figs right down the block? 

In many ways, the figs became the token reminder during that harried week, that there are beautiful and good things always within our reach, sometimes rather easily. And they turned out to be the star of more than one of my favorite shots in the book {which you’ll have to wait to see}. 

~

After the dust of the shoot settled, I met Lindsay for dinner and a date to hunt down the fig man. He was there, just as they had described, behind a chain link fence with his pot of plump purple and green figs just waiting for the curious.

The curious, in this case {me}, turned out to have many questions. How many figs trees did he have? How long did they take to get that big? Where did he learn to grow them? 

While we talked, I learned that our fig man’s name is Antonio, and that he had planted the three sprawling fig trees in the side yard of his row house over the last ten years. Through the fence, he gave us a little tour of his garden and told us of the hard work it takes to keep it all going.

“I’m 88 1/2 years old, you know,” He volunteered.

“Well, I would have guessed 72!” 

“I wish I knew everything I know now when I was 72!”

~

Antonio came from his home near the border of Italy and Croatia to Astoria many moons ago. I’m so glad he did, for he provided me with figs and joy in the unlikeliest of places, and a divine reminder that sometimes, out of nowhere, our needs are met. If only we are looking.

Blackberry Magic {and one delicious casualty}

In the making of a beautiful food photo are dozens of details that have to line up just right. Props have to be picked so not to steal the show from the food. Linens need pressed. Light needs evaluated. The food needs to be created and cooked and placed just so. And on top of all that, there has to be a little magic ~ that little something that makes the food pop off the plate and into your soul so that you are compelled, if not utterly convicted that you too must have a plate of magic.

Twice this summer, I spent an entire week with a team of six talented ladies who are each bringing their expertise and eye together to make sure my very first cookbook is beautiful. We gathered props from our own collections and begged and borrowed linens, plates and platters. We scoured grocery stores and garden stores and farmer's market for the freshest most locally grown ingredients. And then we began.

During these weeks of method and madness, there were moments when all six of us screamed "it's gorgeous!" and gathered round to stare and stare and stare at a plate of uneaten food.

One such moment happened midweek just before lunch time. I stacked up a plate of my fat oatmeal-yogurt pancakes and piled them high with Greek yogurt and blackberry crush. The sun came in and fell softly upon every swirl and curl, bouncing off the berries in a luscious glow. And then, after Sara Remington {the very talented photographer I'm lucky to have on my team} got the very last photo, six forks descended upon the plate like we'd been starved for a century.

One of those forks fell on clumsy hands {mine} and soon one dark, delicious drip made itself at home on Sara's linen. I am very, very lucky I know how to cook. Sara took her turn at the pancakes, declared them delicious and turned a blind eye to my mistake.

I wish I could share some blackberry magic with you while they're still in season. You'll have to wait for the book to get the recipe {sorry, you're going to hear that from me a lot in the next year}. I promise, it's worth the wait. But don't wait until then to go out and make some magic of your own. Summer still looms in luscious berries and the last of summer peaches and nectarines, early figs and plums. Go out and discover them!

In the meantime, you'll be hearing a lot more about the talented beauties behind my book, and of the many moments behind the scenes that make a book what it is before it gets into your hands.

Eat, Pray, Love ~ Date Night with Susan Spungen

This summer, I’ve spent a lot of time thinking on the topic of food and love. If I haven’t already told you, I’m writing my first cookbook, a Newlywed cookbook, for Chronicle Books which has required a lot of eating {and cooking of course}, much praying {since the manuscript is due in three days!!} and unconditional loving {on the part of my husband, who hears nothing but book, book, book!}.  This hasn't left much time for extra writing, or even regular date nights with my beloved. So today we’re having a very exciting date with Susan Spungen, author of recipes, books, and a lot of beautiful food on film, including Eat, Pray, Love which opens in theaters tonight. {hooray!}

If you’re in the food biz, you’ll know her name from her work as the former Editorial Director for food and entertaining at Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, and if you’re smart you already own her book Recipes: A Collection for the Modern Cook. Movie enthusiast will know her as the food stylist behind the epic food films Julie and Julia, and It’s Complicated. 

I got a chance to talk with Susan yesterday about these films, and about food, love, and marriage, topics front in center in both of our lives {Susan got married recently too, and is finishing up her next cookbook}. It was such fun hearing about all of stress and thrill of working on the set of each movie, but I have to say the best part was hearing the joy and the generous spirit in her voice when she talked about her husband, and the loving, nurturing act of cooking and eating with the ones we love. 

SC: So, everyone is going to want to know what it was like working on the set of the much anticipated Eat, Pray, Love. I understand that you worked mostly on the scenes that were shot in Italy. Did you use restaurant kitchens to cook and prep the food?

SS: Yes, I spent a few weeks in Italy working on the film. Many of the restaurants were closed for the summer and opened just for our shoot, but all were closed for business while we were shooting. The main chef was usually around to make sure we knew where to find things, but we also had mobile trucks to do some of the prep. 

SC: Italian cooking is famously inspired by the generous, loving cooking of amazing women and mothers, but still restaurant kitchens are relatively dominated by men. Were you nervous about how the chef’s would respond to having you come into their kitchens to work there?

SS: I have to admit I was a little worried, not so much about being a woman, but being an American, about how the chefs would react to me coming into their kitchens. Most of them were very welcoming. But there was one guy that kind of sniffed a little at us being there. We had prepped a rabbit ragu on mobile truck but as you know doesn’t look good cold so we brought it inside to warm it up for the scene. He opened up the Tupperware and kind of gave it a sniff and made a face. But for the most part all of the chefs were very welcoming.

SC: Mmm, rabbit ragu. Just those two words are so evocative. It really sounds like Italy.  I hear there is an outstanding pizza scene set in Naples, where Julia Robert's character says she's having a relationship with her pizza. Can you tell us a little about setting up for this pivotal scene?

SS:  For me that was very fun. I didn’t actually do the food there. The thing about a film is that you never know what you’re walking into. When it was in the early stages of finding out what we’re doing it was assumed we would make the pizza. There were many discussions about if we were making the pizza or if they were making the pizza. Sometimes there’s just one room, and that’s where they are shooting so we can’t prep in there. We tried to to buy portable ovens so that we could cook them in another room, but they turned out to be dinky little microwaves. That’s sort of how it was in Italy, so I thought oh forget it, that will never work. There we were in this amazing place, the most famous pizza place in Naples and therefore the world [L’Antica Pizzeria da Michele] , and it was clear it was best to have the guys do the pizza. They are experts on it, and it cooks in under 60 seconds in their ovens. So what I enjoyed about that was just being behind the scenes at one of the most famous pizzerias in the world, talking to the guys, tasting their pizza.

SC: What an amazing experience. It’s sort of ironic, because that’s what these three movies that you’ve just done are all about, people having these incredible experiences through food where they are just alive, totally enraptured with life.  To this point, The New York Times  called Julie and Julia “a film where what the actors eat is as important as the actors themselves.” I felt like the same was true of It’s Complicated, and I assume that Eat, Pray, Love will be the same. How do you feel about food coming into mainstream films in such a powerful way?

SS: I think it’s great for all of us who love food, and it’s obvious to filmmakers and to Hollywood that it’s become a subset that definitely has a following. There’s a certain segment of the population that can’t get enough, and food has become a form of entertainment. The food can be as much a character in these films.

SC: All three of those movies were essentially love and food stories, where the storyline of each main character’s love of food is as strong, if not stronger, than the story of their love for then men in their lives. After working intimately on all three films, what have you learned about the relationship between love and food?

SS: I’ve always felt that food and love are closely related, especially in a relationship. I have always believed in that stupid cliché, that the best way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. I’ve always believed it and believe me I’ve always used it, and it’s always worked. With the right man anyway. The right man for me is a man who also loves food. I was reading the other day how Francois Payard is marrying a vegan. I thought wow, he must really be in love with her!

SC: I know a little something about that, since my hubby's a vegetarian, well was a strict vegetarian until I cooked seafood for him. But that's another story. So, how and where do you watch the films you’ve worked on? Are you able to enjoy them for their entertainment value and really get lost in the story? Or do you find you are usually critiquing your work?

SS: A little bit of both. The one great thing about movies is that when its all cut together, it’s very different.  Sometimes you are watching for something you know is in there, but then it goes by in a flash or that scene got cut. I think I’ve been able to enjoy all of these films. I’ve been lucky enough to be invited to the premieres of all three, and watch them with a really interested crowd. I just saw Eat, Pray, Love the other night at the premiere. Since I had only worked on Italy portion, a lot of it was completely new for me. But of course I’m also critiquing my work. Usually what I want is more, more, more. I wish the food was on screen longer or shot a little closer. So much work goes into every plate. Eat, Pray, Love was pretty satisfying. The food was photographed beautifully, like the scene with cheese oozing out of the squash blossom. It looked great. During the Italy portions I was really on the edge of my seat, then I kind of settled in and watched the rest of the movie like anyone else. I do get lost in the story for sure. It’s fun to be entertained.

SC: Julia Child called Sole Meunière the most exciting meal of her life. What was yours?

SS: The first thing that comes to mind is our wedding meal. Most people don’t eat at their wedding, but we did. Because our wedding was at Blue Hill at Stone Barns, it was just like a big dinner party. I wanted to eat; I wasn’t going to be one of those brides who didn’t eat at her own wedding. We had the meal in the the dining room, so food was really a big focus, aside from going around and visiting all the tables. And they wouldn’t serve the next course until we were sitting at our table. That was really the most exciting meal. And also my first time at French Laundry would be a close second.

SC: I can agree with both of those. Our wedding was definitely the meal of my lifetime, and both Stone Barns and French Laundry are right up there! 

I read that you actually got to work with Julia child on the book Baking with Julia and the companion show, and I enjoyed your comment that you felt comfortable and happy to pay homage to her in the film Julie and Julia. Between your experience working with Martha Stewart and your work on three epic food films, your culinary prowess is also near legendary, so I don’t picture you as a woman who gets nervous often. Were you nervous to cook for Julia, or do you get nervous cooking for film icons like Meryl?  Is there anyone that you get nervous to cook for?

SS: The funny thing is, in some ways I’m always nervous in that way that if you’re not nervous you’re not paying enough attention. I was nervous about doing Eat, Pray, Love, about finding all the ingredients. Sometimes I can’t sleep but more because I’m worry about the details, making sure I’ve thought everything through, but not about cooking for anyone in specefic. With Julia, I cooked with her but not for her. In fact she cooked for us. I was thinking wow this is incredible, Julia Child is cooking for me. But it was a  perfectly ordinary meal, summer backyard barbeque. She made steak, twice baked potato.

I think sometimes people do get too nervous about cooking and they should just focus on the idea that they are doing something they enjoy. I don’t think you should get nervous to cook for anyone. Even Thomas Keller. I would not be afraid to have Thomas Keller over for dinner. I would cook him something simple and I’m sure he would love it. Cooking is about giving something to someone, not about being perfect. Anyone can enjoy being cooked for.  I love cooking for chef friends, and they love having someone else cook for them.  And then when they compliment your cooking, what could be better than that?

SC: You’re so right, and that’s a beautiful philosophy. Speaking of getting nervous, I absolutely loved the scene in it’s complicated where Meryl Streep makes chocolate croissants in the middle of the night for Steve Martin. I couldn’t help thinking that she’s such a natural. Do you think that’s because she had already done Julie and Julia, or did you coach her?

SS: She discounts it but I think she has a certain comfort level with food. Plus, she’s Meryl Streep, so she’s just really, really amazing at picking things up quickly. Part of her unbelieveable talent that she can just pick something up and look completely natural at it. In Julie and Julia I gave her a ten minute lesson on how to flip an omelet, and she just went in and did it on film. Those scenes [in It’s Complicated] working with the croissant dough we did that at Sarabeth’s bakery in Chelsea [Chelsea Market]. We were coaching her a little but mostly she just got it.

SC: My hubby and I saw a ten o’clock showing of that movie, and when we came home, we both couldn’t stop craving croissants so I started making a batch at midnight. I was thinking I would just do a few folds of the dough and go to bed and finish them in the morning. I had forgotten how long it really takes, and I was so tired I forgot the yeast. When I woke up in the morning and got to the part that said proof, I realized I had actually made puff pastry! It was delicious puff pastry, but….somehow I still sort of love how that scene sort of gives this illusion that this grand gesture was really quite simple. What’s the most generous, loving cooking you’ve ever done for your hubby?

SS: I don’t know if I’ve ever done anything quite as dramatic as that. That’s Hollywood, and as we know you could never make that as quickly in real life. Of course Nancy Meyers, the director, knew that too. Sarabeth kept saying there must be time for proofing and Nancy would say, “Don’t worry about the recipe, this is not a cooking show!” It’s a movie. Honestly, that’s more performance driven, but in terms of making something loving for my husband? I make him chicken soup when he’s sick. He’ll ask me, “can you make some soup?” You know how men are when they are sick, sort of sad and pathetic.

SC: Yes, I do!

SS: I’ve cooked for him so much. I feel like every meal I cook for him is a very caring act.

SC: I was sort of hoping you’d say something like that. I feel like going all out in the kitchen is the cook’s equivalent of putting on a really sexy dress. But we can’t do that every night. After working on three films on food and love, and a few years of marriage, what advice do you have for newlyweds?

SS: I don’t think it’s about impressing them, especially after your married. It’s more about comfort. That’s a first date thing, impressing—I think I made him a Valentine’s meal where I was trying to do that, but I wouldn’t cook for him that way now. That was more of a seduction kind of meal.

SC: Well it worked! So, how do you know when your husband really loves something you’ve made for him?

SS: He’s really appreciative usually. I don’t know if I can say what he does because when he really likes something he makes these noises and I think, Oh he’s making sex noises. Is that too risqué?

  

SC: No, I think it’s great! My hubby is really intent about eating. He just dives in very quietly and sometimes when he’s done I have to ask, so, did you like it? The answer is usually a resounding yes but that was hard for me to get used to because my dad has always been a very vocal eater. He would always say “oh honey, honey, this is de-licious!” when we really liked something.

SS: Yes, the noises are good. But sometimes when they are very quiet it’s because they are really enjoying something and focused on it.

SC: So does he ever cook for you, your husband?

SS: He does. He is a different kind of cook than me. He’s very resourceful, and has made me be more resourceful with leftovers. He’s really good at cleaning out the fridge, and so I’ve gotten a little bit better at what we call scrounging. He’s so good at putting it together. I always think we need to go buy something, or what’s left in the fridge is too old. So I’ve gotten more accepting. And sometimes he gets a little too nervous in the kitchen. If he’s cooking I can’t even go in the kitchen, if I say anything or do anything. He loves to make barbecue on the Big Green Egg.

SC: That sounds like a man toy.

SS: Exactly. It’s a ceramic grill, like a Japanese Kamado oven. It’s good for smoking.

SC: So, I loved your first book. It’s very smart, and really teaches people how to cook. What’s next for you? Can you tell us about your new book?

SS: My next book is not just recipes, it includes a lot of tips and how-tos for every aspect of entertaining. It’s geared to younger hostess who might not have learned these things from their mother, sort of etiquette for the new millennium.

SC: It sounds like it needs to be on my list of 5 books every newlywed needs.

SS: Yes, but not yet! It’s not out until 2011.

SC: I’ll look forward to it. My book is not out until 2012 and that feels like a very long time away. Just one last question, Eat, Pray, Love is as much about an appetite for life as anything else. How do you keep your appetite for life? 

SS: One word pops into my head and that’s curiosity. You have to remain curious about everything in your life and your cooking; you have to constantly expand your horizons in many ways. We’re only here for a short time. My father just passed away recently and it just made me think a lot about what life is all about. He had a real appetite for life. He just liked to have fun and explore new things and travel and go places. He was constantly in the quest for fun and excitement and I’ve taken that from him. I like to learn. Even going to Rome to do Eat, Pray, Love was about that. I couldn’t pass up that opportunity. I knew it would be nerve-wracking but I still wanted the experience and I did learn so much about life and myself. You can be in a place like Rome it all sounds so exciting but you can feel a little lonely in a foreign city by yourself. My husband came over right in the middle and was just so happy to see him.

~ Spoken like a newlywed.