On Eating Al Fresco

Author Klancy Miller talks about her glorious new picnic project; plus, "The Odyssey" and other good things.

Hello readers,

Boy, do I have a treat for you today!

When is the last time you had a picnic? If it has been a while, perhaps pastry chef and author Klancy Miller can convince you it's time to pack a basket full of goodies and change that. Klancy is the author of the award-winning book For the Culture: Phenomenal Black Women and Femmes in Food (published by Harvest Books/Harper Collins 2023) and Cooking Solo: The Fun of Cooking for Yourself (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 2016). After graduating from Columbia University, and working in international development in French Polynesia, Klancy earned a diplôme de pâtisserie from Le Cordon Bleu Paris and apprenticed in the pastry kitchen at the Michelin-starred restaurant Taillevent. She later joined Le Cordon Bleu’s recipe development team, during which time she was featured on the Food Network. Now based in New York, Klancy continues to write about food for publications that include The New York Times, Vogue, The Washington Post, Food and Wine, and Bon Appétit. She is also a James Beard Foundation award finalist and was honored as a 2022 IACP Trailblazer Awards Winner and winner of the 2024 IACP award for Literary or Historical Food Writing. Lucky for us, she is here today to talk about her forthcoming cookbook, The Picnic Project.

Q: Tell us about your next book, The Picnic Project. How did the idea come about?

A: My cookbook is focused on picnics, and its mission is to encourage people to have more picnics, gather, build community and have conversations over a meal outdoors. I would like to connect the cookbook to this moment when people are, in my opinion, desperately in need of connection, conversation and sites of care, collaboration and strategy sessions to address the violent moment we’re living in—I believe a picnic is a joyful site where those things can potentially happen. I’ve observed that when we gather on the ground, on a picnic blanket, and break bread together, something happens that does not necessarily happen at a dinner party or restaurant—people go a little deeper in their conversations, vulnerability is as present in the conversation as frivolous topics, there is an air of play or creativity (I’ve had friends start painting at a picnic and sometimes people dance), people recline and rest, and time stretches out because no one is rushing you out to seat the next table. I started the Picnic Project because I wanted to make new friends, feed old and new friends, create community and ask people how they’re really doing—especially in these acutely wild times.

Q: Have you always been a picnic person? If so, what are your favorite picnic memories and foods?

A: YES. I have always been a picnic person. I have wonderful memories of going to concerts in Piedmont Park in Atlanta with my family when I was a kid. My mom always brought a picnic with lots of delicious snacks. I remember there was often smoked blue fish, cheese and crackers, fruit, cookies, lots of treats.

Q: How does your book meet this moment we’re in? And tell us what went into writing the book.

A: I think we’re living in times when people often feel isolated or alone or overwhelmed (sometimes hanging on by a thread) and needing to talk about all of the really wild things happening everywhere—globally and locally. I think we need to connect more in person and use third spaces such as parks to do so. In some ways this book is as much a love letter to picnic gatherings as it is to parks and outdoor spaces that are free for us to meet and break bread together. I spent a lot of time observing parks and beaches and people having picnics and think parks are the most accessible gathering places.

Q: What did you learn in the course of writing the book that surprised you?

A: I learned that on the one hand a picnic is quite simple—it’s just a person getting together with another person or group of people to have food outside. On the other hand there are potentially a lot of details to explore—such as food allergies! When I first started having picnics on a weekly basis two years ago (an endeavor I call the Picnic Project) I would ask people if they had food allergies before I shopped for ingredients and I was surprised by the wide variety of food allergies that exist and the large number of people who have them. 

Q: Tell us about your residency at Denniston Hill and how your time there will support your book’s mission. You’ve mentioned some interesting things about art installations and public events, so could you elaborate a little bit about how those will go hand in hand with the book?

A: While I was writing the manuscript, I applied for a new residency program called The Rise Residency, which is a program for people in the food world to develop a culinary project. The Rise Residency partnered with the well-established Denniston Hill artist residency program in the Catskills so that culinary people can focus on a project and rest while spending time at Denniston Hill in the company of three other artists in residence. I would like to create a few public Picnic Project events that involve having a picnic, dance and some talk or visual reflection on the civil rights movement as inspiration for the times we are living in and ways to have conversations and act/react/engage with this moment. The project is independent of the cookbook but inspired by the same subject—picnics.  

Q: You’re in the process of raising money for the book’s photography. Tell us more about that and how we can help.

A: I need to raise $30,000 to cover the costs of hiring a photographer, food stylist, prop stylist, and renting a studio to photograph the recipes for my cookbook. 

Perhaps you’re thinking—doesn’t the advance cover that? In theory it does however I also had to use the advance to develop recipes (i.e. buy food to create and perfect recipes), test recipes, hire recipe testers, and I had to pay taxes on the advance. As a result there is very little left to cover the photoshoot and I’m in the humbling position of asking for help—specifically in the form of donating to my crowdfunder to raise funds for the photoshoot. 

Q: And finally, say someone invites you to a picnic. What is the best dish, etc. to contribute to the get-together and why?

A: If you want to bring something simple to a picnic and you don’t feel like cooking or it’s too hot to cook, bring cheese and a baguette or a charcuterie board and crackers from a gourmet store. Another idea is to bring cookies—almost everyone likes a sweet treat. Fruit is a good idea too. Also you can’t go wrong with bringing a couple of beverage options—one non-alcoholic and one bottle of wine. Those are my easy contributions to a picnic—and the good thing is these are the kinds of things you can get when you want to have an impromptu picnic on a gorgeous day.

A big thank you to Klancy for joining us here today. You can find her on Instagram at @klancycooks and, of course, support her fantastic cookbook project by donating what you can here.

Writing prompt: Imagine the perfect picnic. Now write about it. Describe the weather, the contents of your picnic basket, your cohorts, and the conversation. What problems do you solve? What fun do you have? What's the soundtrack for your afternoon? Spare no detail. Then, maybe plan a real picnic sometime soon.

I realized very early the power of food to evoke memory, to bring people together, to transport you to other places, and I wanted to be a part of that.

-- Jose Andres

Endnotes

Thoughts on "The Odyssey"

I went to see "The Odyssey" this week. You know the story, right? Man goes off to fight a big war, and while he's gone some dudes move into his house to drink all his wine, eat all his food, and flirt with his wife. There is also a cute dog, and weird monsters, and an angry sea. Anyway...I joined the hordes and saw the film and wow, was it a very loud, very wild ride! I know that certain folk (ahem) have made much ado about some of the casting decisions in this flick, but those didn't bother me one bit. The one that bothered me in a minor way was Matt Damon as Odysseus, because I kept wondering when George Clooney as Danny Ocean was going to show up and talk about the swindle they were going to pull on Poseidon. If you know, you know. Sometimes I felt like there was a little TOO much star power going on to be honest, and it could a little distracting if you think of Tom Holland as Spiderman and Jon Bernthal as Mikey from "The Bear." But it was a good film, all in all. And I loved that choker Anne Hathaway wore at the end while the suitors fought for her hand. Could someone please get me that for Christmas? Thank you in advance.

A Few Good Things

• I've been reading Richard Holmes' The Boundless Deep: Young Tennyson, Science and the Crisis of Belief. Before you start up with the "Paige, what in the dork are you steering me towards?" hear me out. This biography of a young Alfred Tennyson reads like you're sitting in front of a roaring fire with the most charming, erudite raconteur. I wasn't sure I'd like it, but I wound up loving it and think you will too, especially if biographies are your thing.
• This LitHub feature about the time Johnny Cash almost started a prison riot at San Quentin painted quite the picture.
• Speaking of painted pictures, one Emory professor is illuminating the cultural and historical significance of street art.
• Oh! I am officially a proud subscriber of The Cloud Report, a monthly risoprint newsletter. Written and produced by artist Christine Tyler Hill, it's a playful ode to the things she notices while working as a part-time crossing guard. And, yes, I just love it so much!

Until next week!

Paige