Dear Grandma | Denmark, 2015
Guldagergaard International Ceramic Research Center, Skælskør, Denmark
I believe that food is more then mere nourishment to our bodies. Food, eating, and the act of preparing meals are a vital part of life. There is symbolic meaning in a shared meal that goes beyond the object and consumption of food. I am interested in the meal, personal food choices, food as a form of communication, and the ceramic vessel as the transmitter and artifact.
Dear Grandma | Denmark developed from an interest in my family’s food history. As the granddaughter of Danish and German immigrants I have always been curious about the traditions and foods of my ancestors’.
The original Dear Grandma is a collection of recipes that I started in an effort to discover the foods of my ancestral past. It was something that I wanted to explore in the kitchen and in the ceramic studio. Traveling to Denmark allowed me to discover the current food culture and investigate Denmark’s food history. I shared meals, cooked, and collected recipes from many kind Danes.
I based my work on these experiences and used recipes to develop a set of serving vessels. These food specific dishes allowed me to bring the recipes into form. I organized a meal that brought together all the people who had helped me to come and eat with the international community of artist at Guldageraard International Ceramic Research Center. After the meal the dishes were give to the people who contributed to the development of the project.
The meal included:
frikadeller | danish pork meatball
stegt flæsk | thick fried bacon
served with potatoes and persillesovs | parsley sause
æblekage | apple cake
hasselnød kage | hazelnut cake
lagkage | layerd birthday cake
kringle | prezel shaped pastry
rugbrød | Rye bread
rabarbergrød | rhubarb porridge with cream
Thank you to everyone who helped make this possible: Alex Kraft, Annette Carlsson, Bodil, Bruno Torres, Caroline Getty, Eglè, Eszter Imre, Harriet Caslin, Hope Rovelto, Randi Nygård Andersen, Rhiannon Ewing-James, Richard Stratton, Randi Nygård Andersen, Sten Lykke Madsen, and everyone else!
Dear Grandma | Denmark developed from an interest in my family’s food history. As the granddaughter of Danish and German immigrants I have always been curious about the traditions and foods of my ancestors’.
The original Dear Grandma is a collection of recipes that I started in an effort to discover the foods of my ancestral past. It was something that I wanted to explore in the kitchen and in the ceramic studio. Traveling to Denmark allowed me to discover the current food culture and investigate Denmark’s food history. I shared meals, cooked, and collected recipes from many kind Danes.
I based my work on these experiences and used recipes to develop a set of serving vessels. These food specific dishes allowed me to bring the recipes into form. I organized a meal that brought together all the people who had helped me to come and eat with the international community of artist at Guldageraard International Ceramic Research Center. After the meal the dishes were give to the people who contributed to the development of the project.
The meal included:
frikadeller | danish pork meatball
stegt flæsk | thick fried bacon
served with potatoes and persillesovs | parsley sause
æblekage | apple cake
hasselnød kage | hazelnut cake
lagkage | layerd birthday cake
kringle | prezel shaped pastry
rugbrød | Rye bread
rabarbergrød | rhubarb porridge with cream
Thank you to everyone who helped make this possible: Alex Kraft, Annette Carlsson, Bodil, Bruno Torres, Caroline Getty, Eglè, Eszter Imre, Harriet Caslin, Hope Rovelto, Randi Nygård Andersen, Rhiannon Ewing-James, Richard Stratton, Randi Nygård Andersen, Sten Lykke Madsen, and everyone else!
Dear Grandma, 2014
Dear Grandma developed from an old discolored paper tucked inside my grandmother’s childhood cookbook, Kitchen Fun: A Cook Book for Children. My mom presented me with the book when I was home for a visit knowing I was interested in my family’s food history. Tucked inside I found a worn paper that I gently unfolded to discover several recipes covering the back of a restaurant menu. I imagined that my grandmother had written them down years ago from a memory that was so ingrained she had no need for a recipe card. Upon this moment, I set out to preserve the history that I feared would soon be gone. I went searching for family recipes that had been passed down from generation to generation, prepared from scratch, and working from memory. It soon expanded into a collection of recipes from the global community.
Working towards the design of a food specific vessel I started by making a recipe for Irish Soda Bread. It had been sent to me from Jean Howly a grandmother I did not know personally. She included a copy of her original recipe and a note that read “My Irish born mother in-law paid me a compliment, when she said for a little German girl you make the best Irish Soda Bread I ever tasted. Now I loved this woman till the day she died but she was not big on compliments, maybe that’s why I enjoyed it so much. I hope you enjoy it.” I chose the recipe for the story and its specificity. I purchased the ingredients and struggled through my first attempt to make the bread. I realized that without someone guiding me with the unwritten knowledge the recipe was not going to work. I reached out to the grandson Jack, whom I knew, who met with his grandmother to make the bread. He reported back to me and shared all the knowledge he had learned as well as thanking me for the experience of making bread with his grandmother, something he would not have done without this project. After my attempts at making the bread I created a ceramic serving dish that measured to fit bread baked in a 10 inch cast iron skillet. The dish is round with and edge to contain the bread and removable pockets on each side that hold butter and are easily removed to use and wash. I served the bread in the dish and shared it with Jean's grandson Jack. We talked about the recipe, his family, and why this bread was important.
The Dear Grandma recipe collection is published on the blog deargrandma.wordpress.com. I originally collected the recipes in an effort to preserve them for future generations. I am now interested in recipes specific to my family history and creating ceramic objects based on the use of these collected recipes. My hope is that in traveling to Denmark (in the near future) the country of origin for my family I will be able to reconnect with these recipes and further develop the project.
Working towards the design of a food specific vessel I started by making a recipe for Irish Soda Bread. It had been sent to me from Jean Howly a grandmother I did not know personally. She included a copy of her original recipe and a note that read “My Irish born mother in-law paid me a compliment, when she said for a little German girl you make the best Irish Soda Bread I ever tasted. Now I loved this woman till the day she died but she was not big on compliments, maybe that’s why I enjoyed it so much. I hope you enjoy it.” I chose the recipe for the story and its specificity. I purchased the ingredients and struggled through my first attempt to make the bread. I realized that without someone guiding me with the unwritten knowledge the recipe was not going to work. I reached out to the grandson Jack, whom I knew, who met with his grandmother to make the bread. He reported back to me and shared all the knowledge he had learned as well as thanking me for the experience of making bread with his grandmother, something he would not have done without this project. After my attempts at making the bread I created a ceramic serving dish that measured to fit bread baked in a 10 inch cast iron skillet. The dish is round with and edge to contain the bread and removable pockets on each side that hold butter and are easily removed to use and wash. I served the bread in the dish and shared it with Jean's grandson Jack. We talked about the recipe, his family, and why this bread was important.
The Dear Grandma recipe collection is published on the blog deargrandma.wordpress.com. I originally collected the recipes in an effort to preserve them for future generations. I am now interested in recipes specific to my family history and creating ceramic objects based on the use of these collected recipes. My hope is that in traveling to Denmark (in the near future) the country of origin for my family I will be able to reconnect with these recipes and further develop the project.
