The one-item gift guide
The weekly micro-decorating newsletter * Issue 11 of 13, F23 *
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Gift guides are a blessing and a curse. As December approaches, they're a convenient way to find presents for those on your "nice" list. But after reading too many, it can feel like you're on a hamster wheel of not-quite-right possibilities.
That's why I'm offering you a gift guide with only one thing on it, something that would work for many kinds of recipient. At the very least, the list's brevity will save you from exhaustion.
The pick I recommend is a one-of-a-kind cookbook published this fall with recipes inspired by works of art, "Painting the Plate" by Felicity Souter:
The ingenious concept is carried out flawlessly, building suspense, then delivering surprise. Rather than showing artwork and dish side-by-side, we're first presented with a spread about the artist, with bio on the left and artwork on the right:
On the following two pages, we get the corresponding recipe and an appetizing photo of it waiting to be eaten:
It's fun to flip back and forth between the two spreads, watching art turn into something edible and then back again. Interestingly, the bio and recipe have a similar sense of metamorphosis, because the bio is packed with details about the artist's relationship with food, and the recipe begins with a blurb that picks up on the theme.
So, get ready. You'll see a jagged abstraction by Lee Krasner...
...become the controlled chaos of a salad:
Impressionist haystacks by Claude Monet...
...transform into a landscape of sugar-dusted breakfast muffins:
Sometimes the artwork is already so vivid you can almost taste it, like this grid of flower paintings by Louise Bourgeois:
It's satisfying to feel it explode into an array of cherry-topped bruschetta:
"Painting the Plate" is a gift suitable for cooking aficionados, art lovers, book collectors, creative kids, and those with an advanced sense of whimsy. It's even a vehicle for bringing all these types of people together, as the book concludes with a menu planner for art-inspired gatherings.
As for my own copy, it's far too delicious to give up.
Elsewhere
A big thank you to pop culture savant Sammy Youn for featuring guy with an eye in his newsletter My Pal Sammy earlier this month. It was an honour to be thrown into the mix with everyone from Napoleon to Cabbage Patch Kids. Plus, he described this newsletter's mission better than I ever could:
When truly the world is not a restaurant it’s a kitchen. What do you want to cook? How do you want to design this world?
You know those type of cooks who can open a fridge, see a handful of items and they instantly know what to make?
That’s guy with an eye but for design not food[.]
Check out My Pal Sammy for fresh insights on music, movies, and more.
Thank you for reading.
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