Author Julie Powell will address the Oct. 21 Downriver Town Hall audience at Crystal Gardens in Southgate.
By Evelyn Cairns
Julie Powell, the author of “Julie and Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously,” which became a hit movie, will invite the Oct. 21 Downriver Town Hall audience into the tiny kitchen where she prepared all 524 recipes in Julia Child’s famous cookbook “Mastering the Art of French Cooking.”
Powell’s year-long project to escape boredom from her secretarial job first became the subject of her popular internet blog, then a hardcover book titled “Julie & Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, One Tiny Apartment Kitchen,” and eventually the film starring Meryl Streep as Julia, and Amy Adams as Julie.
The book was later retitled “Julie and Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously.” Powell wrote a second book, “Cleaving: A Story of Marriage, Meat and Obsession,” published in 2009, about her marriage problems and learning to be a butcher.
The author received an honorary Le Cordon Bleu diploma in Paris last year from Andre Cointreau, president of the Le Cordon International. Child became a celebrity chef after graduating from the pres-tigious cooking school.
For tickets and more information about Powell’s talk and other lectures in the Town Hall series, call (734) 783-9224.
Lectures begin at 11 a.m. at Crystal Gardens, 16703 Fort St, Southgate. Lunch is available for an additional charge.
Arts Festival seeks entries
Works of art and handcrafted items are being sought for the annual Fall Festival of the Arts, a juried fine arts show and non-juried Christmas boutique to be held Nov. 4 through 7 at the Trenton Village Thea-tre, 2447 W. Jefferson.
The event is being sponsored by the Acanthus Art Society, Art Ambience, the Downriver Arts & Craft Guild and the Downriver Council for the Arts.
Only original artwork and crafts of artists 18 and older will be accepted for the show and boutique.
The following prizes will be awarded: $300, first place; $200, second; $100, third; and $100, artist choice.
Awards will be presented at a reception and ceremony from 6 to 9 p.m. Nov. 4. The show will continue from noon to 6 p.m. Nov. 5 and 6, and noon to 4 p.m. Nov. 7.
For entry information and forms, e-mail [email protected]” [email protected] or call (734) 634-4800. More information about the event is available from Maureen Keast at (734) 777-6109 or [email protected].
Daniels’ play will be staged
“Escanaba in Love,” by Jeff Daniels, the comedy prequel to the actor’s “Escanaba in da Moonlight,” will be staged at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 15 and 16 at the Wyandotte Arts Center, 81 Chestnut.
Set at the Soady Deer Camp during World War II, the play features a cast of Yoopers including young Albert Soady Jr., who falls in love with Big Betty Balou during his final hunting season before heading off to serve in the Army as a sharpshooter.
Big Betty and Soady Jr. are portrayed by April Denny of Dearborn Heights and Jay Carter of Taylor. Other cast members include Don Westerdale of Lin-coln Park, as Great-Grandpa Alphonse; Karl Beers of Hamtramck, as Albert Soady Sr.; and Raymond Carter of Taylor, as “Salty” Jim Negamanee.
Tickets ($11, adults; $10, students and senior citizens) are available by calling 734-775-9635 or e-mailing [email protected]. For more information, call Danielle Swint at (734) 365-1553 or Lynn Babchek Tate at (734) 558-2635.
Dinner to star state products
My palate is poised for a sumptuous harvest dinner spotlighting Michigan’s bounty at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 14 at Opus One.
The main entrée on the six-course menu will be from a 4H Blue Ribbon-winning steer, the fish (perch and walleye) from the Great Lakes, the cheeses from local dairies, the fruits and vegetables from Michigan’s orchards and farms, and wines to complement each course from the award-wining winery Black Star Farms on the Leelanau Peninsula.
The piece de resistance will be an apple and cherry tart with housemade black cherry ice cream.
The cost is $65 per person, plus tax and gratuity. Reservations are recommended.