No. 30

Food, glorious food. 

“Blue jean baby
LA lady
Seamstress for the band”
Elton John

[No. 30]

IF YOU COULD HAVE A DINNER PARTY WITH 5 PEOPLE ALIVE, OR DEAD, WHO WOULD THEY BE? WHY?

“Ain’t no mountain high enough
Ain’t no valley low enough”
Marvin Gaye

I was enamored with Grandma M from the start. She was iconic to me in her blue jeans and button up shirts before it was socially accepted for grandmothers to dress like that. She hung around in Japanese gardens and adored the Portland Art Museum. There were wooden crates of her home-grown blueberries outside the front door. She was magnificent. A few years ago, my mom passed along a tape of a young me talking to my grandmother as we drove around Portland, Oregon, in her early 70s silver Benz. Yes, she would carry around a tape recorder to capture our conversations. She never did explain why. In any case, she spoke to me like a peer. You can hear it. “Samantha, what was your favorite part of the exhibit?” The questions I ask myself. As if it came from nowhere.

[“I love you,” Sam & Grandma, April 1978]

My grandmother passed away in 1999 when I was 24. I’ll never forget that call on my office landline in Florence. After my last visit home, I knew those dreaded words would come, but never imagined they’d come so soon. Her funeral was, however, symphonic. She left an impression. 

When my daughter was born, we gave her an M for an M. I somehow had a feeling my kid would embody her fierceness. When I read your question, Alien, I knew in a second I’d welcome my grandmother and child to the same table with this magic wish. To even out the kitchen table which seats only four, I’d of course invite my beautiful mama as well.

It would be very Petite Maman. What would Grandma M think of our world today? How would she advise us on climate change, on earthquakes? To break bread and ideate up and down this generational ladder would be a lucid dream. What would we say, and what would it mean?

In any case, I’d make the following and serve it on well-loved plates.

_Cheese plate with olives, roasted almonds & crackers
_A green salad from my garden with herbs & cucumbers & lemon vinaigrette
_Grandma’s Borscht 
_Timballo di melanzane [an eggplant cake FILLED WITH PASTA]
_Roasted Wild Pacific Salmon [salute to our Oregon roots] with green olives, fennel & herbs, plus Mama’s French onion dip on the side
_Roasted cauliflower with raisins and parsley
_A blueberry torte [My recipe below]
_Migone Confetti [Basically Italian Jordan Almonds]
_Edelweiss Chocolates [which decorated my childhood home]
_Cherries

I would adorn the table with arrangements of wildflowers from my garden and serve Lambrusco & Campari spritzers to start and mint tea with dinner. My daughter would cover the music. Of course, if we take everything over to my dining room, we could actually seat quite a few more! It’s Swedish from the 1950s and once belonged to my grandparents. So, let’s invite David Bowie, Sister Corita, Rick Owens, Gerald Gill [my beloved civil rights history professor at Tufts who died the year my daughter was born], Billie Eilish, James Baldwin, Zoë Buckman, Chella Man, Yotam Ottolenghi, Kristen Lovell [trans liberation activist and director of The Stroll], and a few other very close friends. A party! My kiddo can still make the playlist.

“Strawberries, cherries and an angel’s kiss in spring…”
Nancy Sinatra

If I could bend space and time, I’d simply call in the people I admire; to admire them and let them admire each other. I’d bring them to a quiet, cozy place (my house). To eat, to dream, to be. To see how we have and could influence each other in the most glorious ways. It makes the mouth of my soul water.

To everyone who is family, who has family, who wants family, do you agree?

WHO WOULD YOU INVITE TO DINNER, AND WHAT ARE YOU MAKING?

P.S. 

Sam’s Beloved Hippie Torte
[Adapted from Marian Burros’ Plum Torte recipe as printed in the New York Times in 1983!]

Ingredients: 

*½ cup olive oil [or melted butter or coconut oil]

*1 cup granulated sugar plus 1 tablespoon, divided* [I use date sugar]

*2 chia seed eggs [2 Tablespoons chia powder plus 5 Tablespoons of water, stirred and left to gel], or 2 large eggs

*1 cup all-purpose flour [I make this GF and use ¾ cup oat flour plus ¼ cup rice flour for texture.]

*1 teaspoon baking powder

*½ teaspoon salt

*1 cup blueberries, depending size, pitted and halved** [Any fruit will do]

*Juice from ½ lemon

*1 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions:

*Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

*Mix the olive oil or one stick of melted butter with 1 cup sugar of choice

*In a separate bowl, mix 1 cup flour of choice, 1 tsp baking powder, 1 pinch salt and 2 eggs of choice.  

*Mix in the butter/sugar mix with the flour mixture and stir until all is mixed but don’t over stir.

*Put the batter into a 9″ springform pan. 

*Add blueberries or whatever fruit [sliced] you are using and place fruit into the dough with the skin side up. This is delicious with any kind of fruit.

*Squeeze the lemon juice on top. Sprinkle the top with the additional 1 Tablespoon of sugar and cinnamon.

*Bake for 40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

*Enjoy and repeat. 

[You can eat the rest the next morning with a cup of coffee, reminiscing about the starry night.]