It’s a common question on college application essays and at boring dinner parties – if you could have dinner with any person, living or dead, whom would you choose? Jesus figures highly in the answers I’ve heard, so do William Shakespeare and Bill Clinton (which I suppose tells you something about my circle of acquaintance). Me? My answer is always the same – Laurie Colwin. If you’ve never read Laurie Colwin’s writing, you should, right now. I stumbled on a mention of her in an article in Gourmet in 2000, which led me to a discovery of her books, Home Cooking and More Home Cooking. Reading these was like discovering an old friend who loved food and cooking as much as I do. If she were coming over for dinner, we’d hang out in the kitchen, chopping and gossiping, then sit down with some wine and a nice simple meal from ingredients we picked up at the farmer’s market – maybe a chicken scaloppini, or a pasta dish with leeks and a nice green salad, and then we’d curl up on the couch with a cup of coffee and something we both love – gingerbread.
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