Georgia O’Keeffe chose New Mexico as the vibrant backdrop for the second half of her boundlessly creative life. She purchased homes in Ghost Ranch and Abiquiú, designing and refinishing them with special emphasis on the kitchen and garden spaces that would prove to be integral to her artistic process. She reveled in being able to forage for and gather the wild ingredients in the high desert landscape that surrounded her. For O’Keeffe, food was elevated to an art form, both as a frequent subject in her work, and in its preparation and consumption. It was a conduit to her beloved Irish and Hungarian heritage, as well as a culinary memoir of her childhood on the family farm in Wisconsin. Food was also used as the primary tool in the artist’s life to promote health and well-being.
Featuring recipes collected from O’Keeffe’s preferred cookbooks with her handwritten notes, and prepared for her by cooks and caretakers including Christine Taylor Patten and Margaret Wood, Dinner with Georgia O’Keeffe balances the fresh local and traditional ingredients the artist sought and the New Mexican landscape and culture that constantly influenced both her art and sense of self. Through Georgia’s personal letters and interviews with friends and staff members, Robyn Lea explores the artist’s relationship to food via art and nature, capturing photographs of the recipes and scenic views that celebrate this beautiful connection.
From soups and main courses to vegetable dishes and breads to sweet treats and drinks, fifty of O’Keeffe’s favorites are presented here, including Brightest Borscht with Sour Cream & Fresh Dill, Christine’s Cream of Mushroom Soup, Hungarian-Style Chicken Paprika, Marinated Green Chile with Breakfast Eggs, Tortas de Huevos Tradicionales, Yogurt-Cucumber Dressing, Tiger’s Milk, and Isadoras.
Punctuated by O’Keeffe’s artworks and archival images of her years in New Mexico, this volume also includes a preface by Christine Taylor Patten, one of the artist’s caretakers in her later life. Dinner with Georgia O’Keeffe is a singular portrait of the artist and a unique taste of the American Southwest.
