Just making sure you are all aware that when something is underlined, it links to something else when you click on it. The same goes if you click on most of the photos.

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three things we love

Peter Hoffman’s new book, What’s Good: A Memoir in Fourteen Ingredients hot off the press. — Peter Hoffman’s new book, **What’s Good: A Memoir in Fourteen Ingredients** hot off the press.

I went to camp with Peter Hoffman many many moons ago around the age of eleven. I had a great summer that year and one of my vivid childhood memories was riding in the back of a pickup truck, new baby rabbits on our laps, returning from a wonderful visit at a state fair somewhere in New Hampshire. I had no idea that the nice kid sitting next to me would become such a star in the New York food scene: restauranteur, pioneer in the farm to table movement in New York City and the Union Square Green Market-—ahead of his time as a big proponent of buying local. Owner of the now defunct Savoy in Soho and Back Forty in the East Village, I remember eating delicious meals there and also attending a calçotada (Catalan spring onion festival), big open grills to roast the calçots set up on a blocked off Crosby Street around the corner from his restaurant. Peter's idea when he opened The Savoy was to treat it like a collaborative art project between him and his wife Susan, and it soon attracted artists, poets, and many neighborhood people, many of whom became regulars. His frequent visits to the Union Square Market became a ritual for him on his unique extra long cargo bicycle and the relationships he made with growers and the food he found there inspired what he cooked on the menu in his restaurant(s).
No longer in the restaurant business and free to do other things, Peter has been busy for the last few years on a new project: working on a book which has just been released, entitled What's Good?: A Memoir in Fourteen Ingredients about his life and the food world he so actively particpated in. I highly recommend this book! So does Alice Waters: "In What's Good? Peter Hoffman has transformed his delicious, ethically sourced cooking into an inspiring book; I feel as though a friend has taken me by the hand and walked me through the market, sharing all the secrets of the harvest. Readers come away with a deepened understanding of nature's wonder, our interconnectedness, and the importance of buying directly from our local, regenerative farmers." —Owner of Chez Panisse in Berkeley, California

In Her Shoes, a very touching film featuring Cameron Diaz, Shirley McClain and Toni Collette.

When I was in high school, I illustrated a bunch of poems including an e.e. cummings one about a balloon, if I remember correctly and made the words go around in a circle. Don't know what happened to that silkscreen print but this e.e. cummings poem below was always one of my favorites (and my daughter's too). The poem was mentioned in a very touching movie called In Her Shoes starring Cameron Diaz, Toni Collette and Shirley McClain that I would also highly recommend.

[i carry your heart with me(i carry it in]

BY E. E. CUMMINGS

i carry your heart with me (i carry it in
my heart) i am never without it (anywhere
i go you go. my dear;and whatever is done
by only me is your doing, my darling)
i fear
no fate (for you are my fate, my sweet) i want
no world (for beautiful you are my world, my true)
and it’s you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows
higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart
i carry your heart (i carry it in my heart)

I just attended my first post covid concert featuring the original instrumental work of Daryl Stuermer, lead guitarist of Genesis and the Phil Collins Band and an amazing musician in his own right. It was a great concert. Because of the Phil Collins reference, that led to me thinking about one of the most touching songs I know, Another Day in Paradise written by Phil Collins. Call me a masochist but I’ve always been attracted to sad songs and that is one of the saddest. I like music that hits me deeply in the gut. These songs below have touched me and call attention to a huge problem we have in America that is not going away—if anything it is growing bigger. I speak about the problem of homelessness and the huge amount of people who have no shelter and no roof over their head to keep them safe in one of the richest countries in the world. I remember Obama said recently, “whatever you are doing, it is not enough.” Maybe we can all double down and contribute in any way possible to help tackle this problem. I commend the following musicians and songwriters for calling attention to this tragedy and hope you enjoy listening by clicking below.
Another Day in Paradise by Phil Collins
Hobo’s Lullaby by Woody Guthrie, sang by his son Arlo Guthrie
Streets of Philadelphia by Bruce Springsteen
Fast Car by Tracy Chapman
Streets of London by Ralph McTell

painting of the week

Pam Smilow Yellow Spruce Nature Series mixed media on canvas 50’ x 80” This piece is in the collection of Tamar Podell and Cynthia Dames in New York, NY.

This week's featured charity:
Coalition for the Homeless

Please donate if you can to this very worthwhile organization by clicking the image above.

Another Self Portrait going grey in the time of Covid…

About The Author

New York City based contemporary artist, Pam Smilow created the creative lifestyle blog “things we love” in an effort to foster a sense of community during times of isolation and reflection. To read more about her, check out the essay written by the Hammond Museum's Frank Matheis entitled The Sophisticated Innocence of Pam Smilow.