Illustrative (il-lus-tra-tive) adj/ serving as a true example, designed to illustrate/
“Freedom from Want” is a work of art, cherished by Americans as being one of the most joy-giving. The painting was created in 1943 by our country’s most popular artist/illustrator, Norman Rockwell. You may recall the heart-warming image more readily by its popular name, “Norman Rockwell’s Thanksgiving.”
The painting is one of a series of four works Rockwell created which were inspired by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s 1941 “Four Freedoms” State of the Union address. In this masterful speech, the World War II era American leader identified what he considered to be the essential rights of all humans which should be universally protected: Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Worship, Freedom from Fear and Freedom from Want.
Even though we are celebrating American joy-givers born in late-Jan. and early-Feb. (Mr. Rockwell was born Feb. 3) our “fantasy birthday party” is inspired by “Norman Rockwell’s Thanksgiving” illustration and we are calling this joyous event “The Illustrative Americans Birthday Party.”
You sense the joy the minute you enter the room. HOORAY FOR THE JOY-GIVERS! (Note: The comments attributed to these famous joy-givers come from words they have written or said.) The destination party venue is in Colony, Alabama, a community founded by freed African-American slaves after the Civil War. Colony, still predominantly Black, in the forested countryside about 40 minutes north of Birmingham, joyfully celebrates American freedoms 365 days a year.
The birthday party décor is created from 20-feet high, computer digitized versions of Rockwell’s “Four Freedoms” series which were originally 46” x 34” paintings. At the center of this immersion into warm, joy-giving Americana is the masterpiece “Freedom from Want”- “Norman Rockwell’s Thanksgiving.”
Please give A ROUND OF APPLAUSE for these American joy-givers: Jan. 30—Brett Butler, stand-up comedienne, television comedy star; Jan. 31—Carol Channing, Tony-winning Broadway singer/dancer/comedienne best known for “HELLO DOLLY” which she performed more than 5,000 times; Feb. 1—Jason Isbell, alt country, Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter from north Alabama known for heartfelt lyrics with wrenchingly beautiful street cred; Feb. 2—Ina Garten, host of “The Barefoot Contessa” Food Network television show and cookbook author; Feb. 3—Norman Rockwell, the beloved, prolific artist who created more than 4,000 works including the popular “Four Freedoms” series mentioned above and one of the most-enduring salutes to women in wartime, “Rosie the Riveter,” (Note: one of Rockwell’s works known as “Saying Grace” sold for $46 million in 2013); Feb. 4—Charles Lindbergh, an obscure, U.S. Air Mail pilot who at age 25 was the first to fly solo from North America to Europe in “The Spirit of St. Louis” single engine airplane (Lindbergh also invented a heart pump that was first used in surgery to save his dying sister-in-law); also Feb. 4—Rosa Parks, whom the U.S. Congress called “The First Lady of American Civil Rights,” the activist/freedom fighter whom the NAACP chose to resist segregation in public bus seating as a symbol for equality in court challenges; and Feb. 5—Red Buttons, born Aaron Chwatt, the Broadway and nightclub comic performer, named for his red hair and the shiny buttons on his bellhop uniform when he first started playing hotel cabaret gigs; he is on Comedy Central’s “100 Greatest Stand-Ups of All Time.”
COMMENTS OVERHEARD at “The Illustrative Americans Birthday Party:”
“I’m so Southern, I’m related to myself…My mama would say, ‘Y’all quit. Don’t make me stop this car.’ And I’d say, ‘You’re not in a car, Mama. You’re in a hammock with a jelly glass of whiskey in your hand.”—Brett Butler
“I hate bigots so much it makes me one.”—Brett Butler
“I would like to be known as a person who is concerned about freedom and equality and justice and prosperity for all people.”—Rosa Parks
“Freedom, science, beauty, adventure: what more could you ask of life? A pilot was surrounded by beauty of earth and sky. He brushed treetops with the birds, leapt valleys and rivers, explored the cloud canyons he had gazed at as a child. Adventure lay in each puff of wind.”—Charles Lindbergh
“Orville Wright said to his brother, ‘Wilbur, you were only in the air for 12 seconds. How could my luggage be in Cleveland?’”—Red Buttons
“You know, laughter is much more important than applause. Applause is almost a duty. Laughter is a reward.”—Carol Channing
“Fun is the most important. If you do stuff for money, it never works out.”—Ina Garten
“I decided even if it wasn’t an ideal world, it should be. So, I painted only the ideal aspects of it—pictures in which there are no drunken slatterns or self-centered mothers- only foxy grandpas who played baseball with kids and boys who fished from logs and got up circuses in the backyard.”—Norman Rockwell
“If a picture wasn’t going well, I’d put a puppy in it…I keep the pornographic stuff in a bus station locker.”—Norman Rockwell
“I’ve never been someone who’s very prone to boredom. Boredom seems like something you should grow out of in your teens. There’s so much that needs to be done.”—Jason Isbell
“I believe we are here on planet Earth to live, grow up and do what we can to make this world a better place for all people to enjoy.”—Rosa Parks
“I’ll never have enough time to paint all the pictures I’d like to do.”—Norman Rockwell
“The secret to so many artists living so long is that every painting is a new adventure. So, you see, they’re always looking ahead to something new and exciting. The secret is not to look back.”—Norman Rockwell
“Sure, I’ve gotten old. I’ve had two bypass surgeries, a hip replacement, new knees…I’ve fought prostate cancer and diabetes. I’m half-blind, can’t hear anything quieter than a jet engine, and take 40 different medications that make me dizzy, winded and subject to blackouts. I have bouts with dementia, poor circulation, hardly feel my hands or feet anymore, can’t remember if I’m 85 or 92, but…thank God, I still have my Florida driver’s license.”—Red Buttons
“Early on, I had to structure my ideas of success around things like, ‘Can I go back and listen to the record months or even years after I made it and still get some enjoyment out of it?’ or, ‘Have I said what I wanted to say? Did it connect with people on a personal level, even if it’s a small number of people?’”—Jason Isbell
“You must never be fearful about what you’re doing when it’s right.”—Rosa Parks
“If one took no chances, one would not fly at all.”—Charles Lindbergh
“I am terribly shy, but no one believes me. Come to think of it, I wouldn’t believe me, either.”—Carol Channing
“I want to be free so other people would also be free.”—Rosa Parks
“A female president of the United States—maybe they’d call it the ‘Ova Office.’”—Brett Butler
“Never raise your hand to your kids; it leaves your groin unprotected.”—Red Buttons
“I’m not trying to steer people in a direction. I’m just trying to move them.”—Jason Isbell
“One of the great gifts you can give people is to cook for them.”—Ina Garten
PARTY MENU for “The Illustrative Americans Birthday Party”:
Appetizer—Brett Butler Georgia Peach Bruschetta; Cocktail/Mocktail—Red Buttons’ Jolly Ranchers (apple vodka, Peach Schnapps and cranberry juice) or simply Red Buttons’ Cranberry Juice if you prefer a no-alcohol drink like Isbell, who says “Rehab is an amicable divorce;” Entrée and Salad—Ina Garten’s Turkey Sandwiches with Brussels Sprout Slaw as a salute to Charles Lindbergh (see recipe below); Dessert—Rosa Parks’ Favorite Sweet Potato Pie and/or Hello Dolly Bars (www.allrecipes.com).
PARTY MUSIC: Isbell with this sample lyric from his hit “Cover Me Up”— “Girl, leave your boots by the bed, we ain’t leavin’ this room ‘til someone needs medical help or the magnolias bloom.”
ONE TO GROW ON: Her autobiography, “ROSA PARKS: MY STORY,” is engaging and inspiring, a celebration of American freedoms; this book would make a lovely and memorable birthday or any day gift.
At the end of “The Illustrative Americans Birthday Party,” Rockwell gets the final word in for these ever-contributing, American joy-givers, “I’m not going to be caught around here for any fool celebration. To hell with birthdays!”
TURKEY SANDWICHES WITH BRUSSELS SPROUT SLAW
The American joy-giving adventurer Lindbergh carried five sandwiches, water, maps and no radio or parachute on his amazing trip as the first solo airplane pilot to cross the Atlantic Ocean from North America to Europe. Food Network celebrity cook Garten created the turkey sandwich recipe below and has this to say about America’s other, great national bird “If you think about a Thanksgiving dinner, it’s really like making a large chicken. It’s so important that you don’t put the stuffing in the bird, where in order for the stuffing to get cooked you have to overcook the turkey. It’s better to do it on the side.”
Ingredients
- 12 oz. brussels sprouts, trimmed
- ¾ cup good mayonnaise, extra for spreading
- 2 tbsp. whole-grain mustard
- 1 tbsp. good Dijon mustard
- 1 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 6 individual or 2 large ciabatta breads, halved and toasted
- ¾ lb. sliced turkey breast
Directions
- Set up a food processor with the slicing disk and process the brussels sprouts through the feed tube. Transfer to a large bowl.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, whole-grain mustard, Dijon mustard, vinegar, 1 tsp. salt, and ½ tsp. pepper. Add the mayonnaise mixture to the sprouts and toss well.
- Place the ciabatta halves, cut sides up, on a cutting board. Spread a thin layer of mayonnaise over each half. Place a layer of turkey on the bottom halves, pile some of the slaw on top, and place a second layer of turkey on top of the slaw. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Cover with the top halves of the breads, cut sides down. Serve the individual ciabattas cut in half or cut the large ciabattas in thirds and serve.
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