I should have blogged last night, but let's just say the dog ate my blog, which if you knew my dogs is totally believable. But the truth is Taylor was in town and I just wanted to hang out with her and we had a great night on the Lower East Side and I figured I could cram four days of activities into one blog ~ which is exactly what I'm doing.

BOOK PARTIES, PS 101 AND ARTIST STUDIO VISITS

Oct 24, 2010by tracey Comments

I should have blogged last night, but let’s just say the dog ate my blog, which if you knew my dogs is totally believable.  But the truth is Taylor was in town and I just wanted to hang out with her and we had a great night on the lower East Side and I figured I could cram four days of activities into one blog ~ which is exactly what I’m doing.

Last Tuesday the IAAC, which stands for the Indo American Arts Consul and Glenn and I gave a book party for Madhur Jaffrey who has just published I think her 200th book. Well, maybe not 200, but so many when asked Madhur herself cannot come up with a number. I have been a giant fan of hers for years, she really gets credit for bringing Indian food as we know it to the west. In the UK she is a rock star.  She is not only a prolific cook book author but an award winning actress. Go watch a lot of Merchant Ivory films and you will see her everywhere and many other films as well. Her latest book is called

This is the second party we have given for Madhur and she spends the whole evening signing. The last time she signed over 200 books. I don’t have a count for this years event.

My old friend Arthur Brooks showed up. You know how I can't resist a man in a purple sweater.
Indian Parlament member and author and number one Tweeter in India Shashi Tharoor and his new wife Sunanda.

After the signing many people came back to our apartment for dinner. While Madhur did not cook Scott Olsen made some of her favorite dishes.

  • Salmon with mustard seed and coriander

  • Basmati rice with dill and cardamom

  • Madhur Jaffrey’s favourite recipes: South indian-style stir-fried green beans

  • Madhur Jaffrey’s perfect basmati rice

  • Madhur Jaffrey picks her favourite recipes: Madhur’s daily dal

    Madhur Jaffrey and Joan Kron at Madhur's dinner.
    Ultimate taste test ~ Madhur's husband Sanford Allen ate all his dinner as did IAAC's Aroon Shivasdani.
    And Food52.com and the new New York Times Cookbook author Amanda Hesser and The Studio Museum in Harlem's Thelma Golden liked it too.

    The next day Taylor and I went out to Forest Hills to speak at PS 101. We love going to the public schools, they watch Lucky Ducks, then we go and answer questions and have a great time with the moms. Last Friday was no exception. The public schools are so  open and interested and the parent body is not afraid to face the tough issues. The private schools of New York could take some real lessons from the administrators who work in these schools. It’s  not all about the capital fund, it’s about the families and the kids.

    PS 101 in Forest Hills, Queens

    Some of the parents of PS 101. The event was organized by Harriet Accabelly - far left.

    This time we had a special treat we were not expecting, some of the moms took us to lunch at Wafa’s Mediterranean Restaurant. It is a local place with truly amazing food.

    We just continued our conversation as Wafa, who does all the cooking herself, brought out one amazing dish after another. Thank you Marcia Parness, Lisa Rees and Elisa Barsoun Lasoda for a great lunch and a participating in a wonderful morning.
    Wafa
    Marcia Parness
    Elisa Barsoun Losada and Adam Apuzzo enjoying Wafa's food.
    That night the oh-so fabulous Ashley McDermott opened the doors to her spectacular apartment and gave a book party for her old friend Mary McDonald who just published a book on her interiors called Interiors. I wish had photos to share as it was all pretty perfect, but I went for the small evening bag that would not hold the bulky camera. i now regret the choice.

    We have been friends and fans of the artist Will Cotton for several years. It wasn’t until recently we discovered he designed the Katy Perry California Girls Video. She saw some of his Candy Land inspired pieces and hired him to design the video. Lucy never really cared that much about visiting an artist’s studio until she heard this. I had always wanted to see Wll’s studio so we all went down late Saturday afternoon.

    These actual poles appear in the Katy Perry California Girls video.

    Artist Wil Cotton
    I think Glenn might want to be in the next video.
    Perfect end to the weekend, we ran into Lucky Ducks DP and friend Gabriel Judet Wenshiel on Rivington Street.