Lunch for an Artist

Bob at Wildflower Farm 2004, oil on canvas, 30 x 42 inches

Robert Kushner has been here making monotypes.  He collected flowers and fruits and various pieces of Betty Woodman pottery from my kitchen, as models to create lovely portraits using ink, crayons and collage.

As is my wont, I invited the studio crew and friends Sandra and Jack, for a celebratory lunch ─ a tapas style spread.

I made a salad with small waxy potatoes, first steaming the potatoes until tender then cutting them in half and marinating them in a simple vinaigrette made with Dijon mustard, red wine vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper.  I added halved green olives and a handful of chopped parsley. (Here in a Jane Dillon bowl.)

The green salad included radishes, cucumber chunks and arugula from my garden.  My beets have grown big enough to eat so I was very happy to add them to the menu.  After steaming I dressed the warm, peeled beet wedges with another vinaigrette, this time made with lemon zest and juice, olive oil, and a big pinch of salt.

Zweck’s farm has had the most delicious green beans so they found a place on the table. Cooked in boiling water for a few minutes and served naked ─ they are that good.

A platter of smoked salmon, a St. Nuage cheese and homemade hummus completed the lunch.  All this was accompanied by the amazing epee loaves from the St. Vrain Market Bakery in Lyons.  We have all become quite smitten with this delicious bread. (In a basket woven by my sister Mimi.  She grows the willows used in her basketry on her farm in Missouri.)

We even had dessert ─ cherries and ginger cookies.