[what's cookin'] A Picnic

Yesterday was the Homestead Museum's annual Ticket to the Twenties event.  It's a free two-day tribute to the Jazz Age complete with live music, dancing, films, games, and even fashion shows.  It's the perfect event in Southern California for a twenties-style picnic.

For this year's picnic, I thought I would try my hand at a couple of Jazz Age recipes thanks to VintageRecipes.net.  I wanted picnic foods that might have been served up at an outdoor luncheon in the 1920s, so decided on a couple of sandwiches and a potato salad.  But due to a few dietary limitations and allergies, I did decide to alter the recipes a bit.  So long as they kept to the style of the foods, I was okay.

The sandwiches came out well, I thought.  I chose a mock-chicken salad sandwich on white.  I looked up several chicken salad recipes on the site and used the information to guide my mock creation.  Honestly, it really was not that different from contemporary "chicken-salad."  Some "chicken" (in my case, I used chickpeas), some mustard, salt, pepper, vinegar, and--of course--mayonnaise.  Celery was often added, too.  Yep, pretty much what most folks call chicken-salad today.

The second sandwich that I chose was a cheese sandwich.  While not using camembert specifically, I used a similar soft, rind cheese that had a wonderful bite to it.  Quite tasty, albeit a touch messy to make.  I opted to thinly slice the cheese and place the slices on the sandwich, though I did consider cutting the cheese in half horizontally and then scooping and spreading the soft cheese sans rind onto the bread.

The potato salad recipe that I used as my inspiration include cayenne and Tabasco.  My husband is allergic to both, so I opted for black pepper and HP sauce instead.  (Sure, I could've chosen another recipe as there are plenty, but by the time I was getting around to making the salad, I had to chose one for which I had on-hand most of the ingredients and that would be nice at a picnic.)  The end result had a lovely tanginess and was quite tasty.  Yet by the next afternoon (I made the salad the day before the picnic), it was much more bland.  I here I thought the flavors would marry well.  Drat.

Otherwise the picnic was lovely.  We brought out some good china on which to dine.  We sat in the shade and sipped vintage sodas and lemonade.  My friend, Tricia, brought even more to eat: deviled eggs, sandwiches, fruit salad, and a heavenly apple pie and blueberry cake!  We were stuffed!

I certainly want to picnic again, but perhaps will wait a touch longer in the year as yesterday was just a bit too warm for my tastes.  Perhaps next time I will try a few other era recipes to share.

Gatsby Costume Event

Being a member of the Art Deco Society of Los Angeles has its perks.  One such perk is members exclusive events and we had one Sunday the 5th at a gallery in Culver City.  The event featured costumes, props, and sketches from the upcoming Luhrmann film, The Great Gatsby.

Now, before I voice my opinions about the event, I should provide a bit of background.  Among the LA area vintage community, there is a LOT of skepticism about this latest adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald groundbreaking novel.  From the casting, to the costumes, to the music... there is a great deal of room for achingly frustrating choices.

Having mentioned that, I have to say that I enjoyed--for the most part--what I saw at the event.  Historically accurate costumes?  Oh, heavens! no.  Not as such, though there were a few according to the sketches.  So why did I like what I saw?  Brace yourself for more extrapolation.

1920s?  Not so much

See, I understand that when telling a story visually there are concessions to be made.  On the page a writer can provide depth and insight that may be critical to understanding a particular character.  Yet when a story is told visually, other tricks must be employed to communicate hints toward personality.  Costume, hair, makeup are all areas that can help to evoke suggestions about character.  I recognize this.  I know that since its inception Hollywood has used costume to that end.  One of my favorite period costume designers, Adrian, built highly impractical and often fantastically costumes--even for "modern" stories and characters.  So to expect a major film to accurately represent the Jazz Age visually is setting one up for disappointment.

Spy that background!

What I saw at the event was spot-on in evoking character and personality.  I suspect readers who are familiar with Fitzgerald's work could have easily identified many of the novel's characters simply through the sketches of their clothes.  I certainly was able to do so.  (Alas, many of the sketches were not to be photographed, hence the lack of photo evidence here.)

Additionally, with a few exceptions the clothing paid homage to the silhouettes and styles of the 1920s. The average person would be able to immediately guess at the era from the clothes.  And lastly, all of the garments and sketches were gorgeous.  Catherine Martin is a wonderfully talented designer.

BATS!!

All that said, it may be telling that my favorite two items from the show were not Gatsby items.  The gallery used an authentic, antique Nouveau lounge built-in as a backdrop that was breathtaking.  In the same diorama was a reproduction chandelier.  Those two goodies took my breath away.  My photos do not do these items justice.  If you are in the LA area and are a fan of the era, do go and see them for yourself!

Despite my enjoyment of the costumes, please do not expect to see a glowing recommendation of the film.  I still suspect that I will love it (a rare possibility), or--most likely--I'll feel that it was a missed opportunity to tell a terrific story about an endlessly fascinating time and people.

Are you looking forward to Gatsby?

A few more photos:

Century Guild Gallery
6150 West Washington Boulevard
Culver City, CA 90232
Gallery may be by appointment only, check the site for details http://centuryguild.net

that one thing doesn't exist in my life

While listening to NPR this morning, I heard a snippet about a guy who gave up a good career to follow his somewhat unconventional dream.  Over the years, I have heard a few such stories.  Often, I wished that I could follow in such footsteps, except I cannot for one simple reason: 

I do not have just one dream.  I have too many.

Never in all of my years have I been obsessed with just one thing.  If I did, life would be so much simpler.  No, I have always been the person who just LOVES too many things to even count.  There is no way that I could boil it all down to just one obsession.  

How else can I explain why I devote so much time to Deco, but also have a closet full of medieval clothing?  Because I just cannot decide on ONE hobby.  (Is this where I should also mention the boxes upon boxes of other hobbies that are clutter my home?)

I love to game.  I love to sew.  I love to read.  I love, and love, and love to do too much.  I want to travel, but I also want to homestead.  I’d love to work, but I love staying at home.  I could go on and on.

Oh, if only it were simpler.  But, perhaps, it would not be nearly as much fun.  (Teensy bit of diverse evidence below.)

Anachronistic 14th Century Mama

The family that BRRRAAAINS together...

Cigar?  Don't mind if I do

Holiday Vacation

I'll go ahead and state the obvious--I'm WAAAY behind.  But that is just one of the lovely side effects of having children.  Particularly when they are of the "don't you dare put me down" variety.  Only this week have we finally found a device that keeps Declan entertained for longer than a few seconds.  Since he is currently bouncing away in this new exerciser, I will try to compose an update.


Over the Xmess holidays, we decided that it was time for my family--mostly based in Texas--to meet my husband and son.  As the prospect of flying from southern California to Texas with an eight month old was not ideal--not to mention expensive; we decided to do something potentially sillier, we drove.  By driving, we knew that we could stop in Phoenix to see some of Brian's family.  We also knew that we would not be beholden to someone in my family to cart our happy butts around.

Declan did surprisingly well, actually, on the drive.  He had only two meltdowns, one each way.  And each meltdown was eventually soothed with a prolonged stop.  Ultimately, I am glad we drove as it allowed us some liberty to go and do a few fun trips.

One such trip was an afternoon of wandering downtown Fort Worth.  I have always loved the city, though I did spend a LOT of time playing in Dallas in my twenties.  But there is something special about Fort Worth that I cannot quite put my finger on.  Perhaps these photos will do the city justice.

I LOVED the Water Gardens as a child.

Sadly, this was as far as I could go due to my fear of falling.

Taylor braves the wall.

I can recall climbing it often as a child.

Almost there!

The Bass Hall

Gorgeous Angels

Deco theatre!

More Fort Worth Deco--detail

More Fort Worth Deco

More Fort Worth Deco

Fort Worth Deco

Fort Worth Deco

Another trip was a few hours at the San Antonio Riverwalk.  Not much Deco, but still a beautiful place.

Naturally we found an Irish Pub

Declan wants some of Daddy's brew.

For Brian's (and Declan's, too) first trip to Texas, it really was rather pleasant.  We managed to have a great balance of family time, free time, and time with good friends.