#tbt

Beard Papa’s in Boston

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Beard Papa's in Boston's ChinatownBack in 2006, when I was a wee baby blogger, I read an article about a place in San Francisco that sold the most amazing cream puffs called Beard Papa’s.

It was was one of my first blog posts about food and when I noticed a trend with food and lawyers. In the article, an attorney named Jordan Goldstein, gave one of my favorite quotes ever about food.

It was one of the best days of my life, said Goldstein, who returned with his friend 24 hours later to procure six more pastries. “These are like eating air.

I never forgot that quote and always remembered thinking about the cream puffs that inspired it.

cream puffs being filled collageSo last week I was at work and we were talking about food. Like always. We were saying how bringing food to employees, inspires so much goodwill and that we would all like a sweet snack. By the way, we have been bringing in snacks to share just about every week.

Then one of our supervising attorneys, who was not in the room while we were talking about wanting gifts of food, brought us some mini cream puffs. We were so happy!

smiling baker with cream puffsCome to find out, he got them from Beard Papa’s! They just recently opened in Chinatown, which is just around the corner from my current office.

After work last night, I decided to stop by and see the place for myself. There was a line of people and a bit of a wait for the cream puffs. By the way, the scent inside was thrilling and intoxicating.

The bakers fill each cream puff as you wait. I got two regular sized puffs so that I could share one with G.

We both inhaled them! The cream squishes out all over the place and the puff is delicate and crunchy. They are messy. But messy in such a playful way that you will need to lick your fingers and juggle keeping the puff together. Then you realize that you have eaten the whole thing in 5 seconds!

Ha! It’s wonderful. Now I know what Jordan was talking about.

#tbt: SwiftKids-Hillary’s Cookies

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I wish I were more excited about Hillary’s bid for President. But as I looked back at old material for #tbt, I came across several posts about her first campaign. I’m ambivalent to say the least.

Hopefully her campaign will not result in a Republican win. I want her to prove me wrong and end my doubts. Because in the end, I have to vote for her.

Corita Kent: Throwback Thursday: Boston Gas Tanks

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Gas tank art of Corita KentAfter reading a recent article about Sister Corita Kent, it reminded me of my 1991 picture of the two gas tanks. Now there is only one gas tank, but thankfully the beautiful art of Corita Kent was preserved.

As a child, I used to be so excited when I would see the familiar Boston landmark. The big splashes of bright colors painted on one of the two gas tanks as my father drove our family into Boston countless times on the expressway. Until I saw that gas tank, I never thought about art being placed on objects that weren’t necessarily art. Corita Kent brought art to the masses even if you weren’t looking for it. There it was.

On January 31st, an exhibit of her work will be opening at The Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh called Someday is Now: The Art of Corita Kent. The exhibit will be there until April 19th and covers more than 30 years of her work. Below is an excerpt from the website.

In her rich and varied career, she was a designer, teacher, feminist, and activist for civil rights and anti-war causes. Her thousands of posters, murals, and signature serigraphs reflect these combined passions for faith and politics. Kent became one of the most popular graphic artists of the 1960s and ‘70s, and her images remain iconic symbols that address the larger questions and concerns of that turbulent time and continue to influence many artists today.

While several exhibitions have focused on Corita’s work from the ‘60s, Someday is Now is the first major museum show to survey her entire career, including early abstractions and text pieces as well as the more lyrical works made in the 1970s and 1980s. The exhibition also includes rarely shown photographs Corita used for teaching and documentary purposes.

This looks like a great exhibit if you get the chance to go. It appears to be traveling to different cities, so maybe it will stop by a location near you.