In Season: Baskets of Berries
On the moodboard and menu + a recipe for berry ice cream from Marie Frank
Maybe it’s because they have been around as long as we have, maybe it’s because of their utility–and ubiquity–but baskets are such an important part of our visual vernacular.
Baskets literally and metaphorically conceal and reveal, store and care for, contain our treasures and trash, and carry our objects and traditions. They’ve inspired idioms, shrines, still-lifes, poetry, and (I say this humbly and sheepishly) the food I made this month.
Below is the full moodboard that started it all, the curation that spurred the creation: baskets (with berries, cherries, eggs, etc.) in art, writing, pottery, and cookbooks. Then, for the ‘main course,’ the menu: every basket dish that came from the moodboard. From eggs in a brioche basket to berry basket cakes, cookies, and cruffins. Plus a berry ice cream recipe from Marie Frank’s (of More Than Sweet) new cookbook.
On The Moodboard
Bountiful baskets – Painting at the Pinacoteca di Brera + a photo from Stissing House’s Instagram. I love all the different shapes and sizes of overflowing baskets and the stacking of plates. The hands in the upper left of both images feel caring, while the goods on display feel so generous.
Whimsical baskets – A picnic-themed garden party I catered a few summers ago where every item on the checkered tablecloth was placed in a basket, including a build-your-own hot dog station in sourdough potato buns. Plus this painting of waffle cookies and candies at the Museo Nacional del Prado.
Cherries and porcelain bowls and/or baskets (clockwise from upper right) –
