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Lucky to Eat



Today I was thinking about all the beautiful meals I've been served. So many of them...I've been fortunate. I still remember a gigantic "gateau basque" that arrived at my classroom one day, made by my student Gexan's mother: Valerie Arrechea.  She used a recipe from an old Basque woman who knows about such things as putting the right blend of liquors into custard. Good food is often accompanied by a good story.  These two images come from dinner at the Goodbergs and dinner at the Goldstines. Both were arranged by women who have a feeling for flavor and detail- Patricia and Emily.

The meal in the top photo was served at the Goldstines, in a house once inhabited by Imogen Cunningham. Before dinner I was treated to viewing original photographs by Manuel Alvarez Bravo of Cartier-Bresson at age 26,  and Diego Rivera with Trotsky and Andre Breton. There were others:  a photo by Hank Wessel of Lee Friedlander and one of Imogen herself with a drawing by Ruth Asawa in the background. But the most memorable photo was the self-portrait of our host when he was 13, with Edward Weston floating above him in the background.

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