Maira Kalman's Mother's Cookie Press

Illustration by Maira Kalman from New York Times article.

I enjoyed a recent article about an "installation" of Maira Kalman's mother's cookie press. I'm a big fan of her drawings and illustrations of her own stories; above is her picture of herself, her mother (who died in 2004 says the article), and the cookie press in use.

According to the article by Ligaya Mishan (published March 23) --

"The press, which belonged to her mother, Sara Berman ... is a sturdy thing among delicates, with a body like a biscuit tin’s, a fat column of aluminum that is colored muddy gold. The model is no longer produced, but it’s still coveted over today’s plastic versions. Fill it with dough, crank the lever, and the dough squeezes out the other side, through one of 16 metal stencils that make shapes like hearts, buttercups and inchoate mini-Bundt cakes."

As a great lover of the work of Maira Kalman, I wish I could make it to this little installation in a small gallery somewhere in New York, but I'm not planning any trips there now.

Lemon Layer Cake

My sister, Elaine, wrote me to be sure to read Maira Kalman's latest op-ed. We are all fond of her work. Elaine said:

"I was particularly struck that her family always celebrated the birthday of the Marquis de Lafayette with a lemon layer cake. I don't know why her family had this particular celebration, but having shared Maira Kalman with Evelyn, lemon layer cake with the rest, and living in Lafayette, I thought I'd suggest September 6 (which seems to be his birthday, but there are different ideas online) as a new holiday to be celebrated with lemon layer cake."

Thanks, Elaine, we should do that!