Fashion Consultants' Luncheon

          After my initial excitement when my first book, Fire from the Dragon's Tongue, became a finalist for the Oregon Book Award in creative nonfiction, I started to worry. What would I wear to the awards ceremony? What would I wear to the party my friends were giving me the day after the ceremony and to the Thanksgiving dinner at the Timberline Lodge with my parents and my son and daughter-in-law the day after that? I was at a loss to make such momentous decisions on my own and from my inadequate wardrobe, so I invited four fashion-conscious friends to my house to help. They said they would bring clothes, and I said I would provide lunch. It was a relief to turn from fashion to food, from scanning my closet in despair to scanning my cookbooks with relish.

          The morning of my fashion consultants' luncheon, I got up early and baked a brandied walnut pie.

Then I made a tahini orange sauce to go over a medley of fresh vegetables and an eggplant purée to put on pita bread. When everything was finished, I put the different foods in covered dishes, organized the lunch plates, the silverware, and the napkins so I could set the table quickly, and then cleaned the kitchen.
           By the time my fashion consultants arrived with armloads of clothes, I was ready to turn my attention again to the problem of what to wear.

         First, I put on my new Moroccan dress. Its yards of soft, creamy fabric closed around my ankles, and the overskirt, draped over one shoulder, rippled down the front.

         "Oh, that's stunning!"

          "Great for the awards ceremony!"

         "I don't like the red scarf with it."

         "What about this coral necklace instead?"

         "Yes, if we can fix it to sit higher on her neck."

         "Hey, that's good."

Just before the Oregon Book Awards

          "I think she should try on this sexy cocktail dress."

         So I did.

         "No, that doesn't fit very well."

         Disappointed, I took it off.

         "Try the black pants with the white see-through top."

          I slithered into Sylvia's pants and Helen's blouse.

          "No. She looks cut off in the middle."

         "Try this straight skirt instead."

          "The front slit up that skirt is very sexy."

         "What if she wears it with Helen's red and blue, see-through jacket over the black stretch-lace top?"

          "And these blue beaded earrings!"

          At the spontaneous applause, I knew this outfit was a keeper. Louann folded the skirt, blouse, and jacket into a neat pile with the chosen accessories and marked them "save."

           "Now try Sylvia's slinky black and gold dress." 

          I slid into it.

         "Oh, that's very slimming."

          I decided immediately to wear it.

          "It's too somber. Diana likes colors."

          "Try this gold necklace with it."

          "And Kathy's black crystal necklace, too."

          "Yes, that's good."

         "I have some gold bracelets at home she can wear. And some rings, too. She should wear rings."

        "Try on this grey dress with the cute peplum on it." I stepped out of slinky black and into flouncy grey.

          "Oh, that's cute!"

         I said I liked the brightness of this dress, but nobody paid any attention.

Trying on clothes

         "I think she should try the purple beaded jacket."

         "Put it on with the black velvet shirt and Sylvia's black pants."

          I tossed aside the grey dress I had liked and put on the next assignment.

          "Tuck the shirt in."

          "I think she should leave it out."

          "Try this belt with it."

          I buckled Helen's wide, intricately woven purple belt around my waist and said I really liked it—but, oh, well.

          "No, that doesn't work."

          "Try it with the culottes."

          "Those culottes are too short. The mid-calf hemline makes her look grandmotherly."

          "I don't think so."

          "Yes, it does."

         "Okay, let's see. The sexy skirt with the slit and the colorful wraparound jacket—that's one outfit. And the slinky black dress—she should definitely wear that."

          "I think she should wear it for the ceremony."

          I slipped into the black dress again.

          "The swirling, cream-colored dress is better. It's more like her book."

          I threw off slinky and reclad myself Moroccan.

          "That's perfect."

          "Not with those black shoes."

          "I have some cream-colored shoes that might work."

          "She can wear the black dress to the party on Wednesday."

          "And the skirt with a slit for Thanksgiving dinner."

          I said maybe wearing the sexiest outfit to dinner with my parents might be a waste, but Sylvia said, "It's the Timberline Lodge! No telling who might be there!"

          "What about the grey dress?"

          "She should take it along just in case she has a chance to wear it somewhere."

     After the fashion trials, I served my consultants their lunch: the tahini orange sauce over vegetables, the eggplant purée with pita bread, and brandied walnut pie. Afterwards, when everyone had gone home, I sat down with a glass of wine. I pictured myself at the three events of next week, glowingly confident in my attire and therefore in my presence. I thought about how much fun I had been having lately, reading the other books that are finalists in my category, cooking for my fashion consultants yesterday, and being so elegantly clothed by them today, and I was quite sure that no matter who won, no one could be having more fun being a finalist than I.

Next week: "A Traditional Thanksgiving at My Little House on the Mountain"

Recipes from this post:

     Tahini orange sauce

     Eggplant purée for pita bread

     Brandied walnut pie

TAHINI ORANGE SAUCE

Makes about 1 1/2 cups

Ingredients
1 cup tahini
1/2 cup boiling water
1 orange, for juice and grated rind
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon fresh ginger
Preparation
Squeeze the orange to make 1/2 cup juice. Zest or grate the rind to make 1/2 teaspoon of grated rind. Grate the ginger.
To make
Add boiling water to the tahini and mix carefully until uniform. Mix the other ingredients into the hot tahini. Salt if desired. Serve over vegetables.



EGGPLANT PUREE FOR PITA BREAD
Makes about 2 cups

Ingredients
1/4 cup olive oil
1 medium onion
2-3 cloves garlic
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 large eggplant
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 cup small pitted green olives
1 small jar (6 ounces) marinated artichoke hearts
pinches of dried tarragon, basil, and/or oregano
Pita bread

Preparation
Chop the onion finely. Mince or crush the garlic. Cut the eggplant into 1-inch cubes. Drain the artichoke hearts and cut each into 2-3 pieces.
To make
Sauté the onion, garlic, and salt over medium heat in the olive oil until onion is translucent. Add the eggplant cubes and cook another 15-20 minutes, until eggplant is well done. (Add more olive oil if needed.) Add tomato paste and vinegar. Bring to a boil, add the olives, and remove from the heat. Add the artichoke hearts and herbs. Cool to room temperature to serve, or chill before serving.

Serve like this with pita or other pocket bread. If you serve it as a dip with vegetables or crackers, you might blend it. It's more interesting with the big chunks of olives, artichoke hearts, etc., but I like it best as a dip when the flavors blend into a mesh of exoticness.



BRANDIED WALNUT PIE
serves 8

The crust

Ingredients
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup (1 stick) chilled unsalted butter
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons frozen vegetable shortening
1 large egg
1 - 1 1/2 tablespoons (more or less) very cold water
Preparation
Cut butter into 1-inch pieces. Cut vegetable shortening into large pieces. Flour a working surface and a rolling pin.
To make
Blend the first four ingredients by cutting in the butter with a pastry mixer or two knives. (Or blend in processor for 10 seconds.) Add shortening and continue blending or cutting until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Beat egg with 1 tablespoon water. Pour into flour mixture and blend till large moist clumps form, adding more water if necessary. Gather dough into a ball and flatten into a disk. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill at least an hour.
To bake
Preheat the oven to 350º.
Roll out the pastry dough to a 12-inch round and place in a 9-inch-diameter glass pie dish. Fold edge under and crimp. Pierce crust all over with a fork. Freeze 10 minute, if possible. Line pie crust with foil and fill with dried beans or pie weights. Bake at 350º for about 15 minutes to set the sides. Remove foil and beans and bake about 10 minutes more, until bottom begins to color. Pierce the bottom if it begins to bubble. Cool on rack 10 minutes.

The filling

Ingredients
1 1/3 cups pitted dates
1/4 cup good bandy
1/2 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup dark corn syrup
3 large eggs
About 6 ounces walnuts

Preparation
Cut the dates into small pieces. Melt the butter. Chop the walnuts to yield 2/3 cup of pieces.
To make
Stir dates and brandy in small bowl to blend. Make a paste with the brown sugar, butter, nutmeg, and salt. Whisk in the corn syrup, then 3 eggs. Add nuts and date mixture.

Assemblage
1 baked crust
Brandied date filling
1 egg
Whipped cream
Preparation
Beat the egg to blend. The oven should already be set at 350º from having baked the pie crust.
To finish
Brush the inside of the crust with a little beaten egg. Pour filling into crust. Bake at 350º for about 35 minutes, until filling is puffed and set in center. After the first 15 minutes, cover edges of crust with foil. When pie is done, cool on rack.