http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/31/di....html?_r=1&hpw

August 31, 2009

Sheila Lukins, 66, Dies; Awakened Taste Buds

By JULIA MOSKIN

"Sheila Lukins, who, as an owner of the Silver Palate food shop and an
author of four Silver Palate cookbooks, helped usher in the new American
cooking of the 1980s, died on Sunday at age 66, at home in Manhattan.

The cause was brain cancer, diagnosed three months ago, said her daughter
Annabel Lukins Stelling.

The Silver Palate opened in 1977 on New York's Upper West Side, when few
Americans had heard of raspberry vinegar or ratatouille. "Entertaining" was
still a wifely responsibility, and cooking as a hobby was just becoming
popular among educated women like Ms. Lukins. She had graduated from New
York University in 1970, moved to London with her husband, Richard Lukins,
from whom she was divorced, and took classes at the Cordon Bleu cooking
school.

On returning to New York, Ms. Lukins, by then the mother of two small
daughters, ran a catering business out of her apartment in the Dakota -
called, in the racy spirit of the time, the Other Woman Catering Company.

"Back then, New York bachelors would throw dinner parties, but all they
really wanted to do was pick out the wine," said Julee Rosso, a marketing
executive who became Ms. Lukins's partner in the Silver Palate.

Ms. Lukins experimented by serving Greek mezes, Moroccan chicken pies and
gazpacho at a time when only French-style standards like duck à l'orange
were considered elegant enough for entertaining.

The partners spotted a niche that had been created by the emergence of
working women, who were interested in good food but lacked the time to
produce it. "In my neighborhood, the supermarkets closed at 5, because women
were home during the day - and if they weren't, their maids were," Ms. Rosso
said.

From a 156-square-foot shop and kitchen at Columbus Avenue and 73rd Street,
the women and their recipes - Mediterranean chicken salad, curried butternut
squash soup, spicy carrot cake - intrigued, and then guided, the
increasingly adventurous palates of New Yorkers.

In 1979, Patricia Wells, writing in The New York Times, called it a "tiny
food shop with big ideas," referring to its handmade zucchini pickles and
blueberry preserves, made from local produce whenever possible. Silver
Palate products were the first foods sold at Saks Fifth Avenue in Manhattan,
reflecting an upswing of interest in cooking by affluent residents. (Dean &
DeLuca in SoHo and E.A.T. on the Upper East Side, both of which opened
within two years of the Silver Palate, were exploring similar cuisine.)

The shop reached a national audience in 1982 with the publication of "The
Silver Palate Cookbook" (Workman), which has sold more than two and a half
million copies. Its recipes, like chicken Marbella (with olives, prunes and
capers) and blackberry mousse (garnished with trendy kiwi fruit), became
dinner-party classics for a generation of modern cooks.

The book's big, sophisticated flavors were produced from accessible
ingredients and modest cooking skills, not from French techniques or canned
cream soups. Editors admonished the authors for their exuberant seasoning
style. "No, girls, no," a copy editor wrote on one recipe. "No one puts 25
cloves of garlic in ratatouille!" The authors retested the recipe and kept
it.

Ms. Lukins, who was an artist and collector of photography, drew the
illustrations for that book and ones she later wrote with Ms. Rosso and
alone, including, "The Silver Palate Good Times Cookbook," "The New Basics
Cookbook" and "All Around the World Cookbook." In all, her books have sold
more than seven million copies.

The Silver Palate was sold in 1988, and the store closed in 1993, but the
name continues on a line of specialty foods including sauces, condiments and
oatmeal, some of which are still made according to Ms. Lukins's recipes.

Since 1986, Ms. Lukins had been food editor of Parade magazine, writing a
monthly column.

Sheila Gail Block Lukins was born in Philadelphia in 1942 and spent her
childhood in Norwalk and Westport, Conn. Besides Ms. Stelling, of Boulder,
Colo., she is survived by another daughter, Molly Burke of New York City;
two grandchildren; a sister, Elaine Yanell of Westport, Conn., and a
brother, Harvey Block of Branchburg, N.J."

</>

Gregory Morrow wrote:
> http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/31/di....html?_r=1&hpw
>
> August 31, 2009
>
> Sheila Lukins, 66, Dies; Awakened Taste Buds

What a shame, I'm sorry to hear this.

nancy

Nancy Young wrote:

> Gregory Morrow wrote:
>> http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/31/di....html?_r=1&hpw
>>
>> August 31, 2009
>>
>> Sheila Lukins, 66, Dies; Awakened Taste Buds
>
> What a shame, I'm sorry to hear this.


Yup, and makes me feel old, lol...were the 80's *that* long ago...???

I bought a number of her books back in the day, mostly for gifts. The
recipes were not complicated but somewhat "exotic"...very "accessible", good
for peeps wanting to upgrade their cooking abilities.

This was also around the same time that Cajun cuisine a la Paul Prudhomme
became a big rage...

My local supermart around that time started carrying Dean & DeLucca spices
and stuff, in those metal canisters, oh so sophisticated. I'll have to
check to see if they are still around...

:-)


--
Best
Greg

On Mon, 31 Aug 2009 18:08:07 -0400, "Nancy Young"
> wrote:

>Gregory Morrow wrote:
>> http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/31/di....html?_r=1&hpw
>>
>> August 31, 2009
>>
>> Sheila Lukins, 66, Dies; Awakened Taste Buds
>
>What a shame, I'm sorry to hear this.
>
Way too young.

--
I love cooking with wine.
Sometimes I even put it in the food.

Greg wrote:

> Sheila Lukins, 66, Dies; Awakened Taste Buds

:-(

Great cook, great recipes, great cookbook author.

Bob

Gregory Morrow wrote:
> http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/31/di....html?_r=1&hpw
>
> August 31, 2009
>
> Sheila Lukins, 66, Dies; Awakened Taste Buds
>
That's quite a shock. Sorry to hear it.

sf wrote:
> On Mon, 31 Aug 2009 18:08:07 -0400, "Nancy Young"
> > wrote:

>>>
>>> Sheila Lukins, 66, Dies; Awakened Taste Buds
>> What a shame, I'm sorry to hear this.
>>
> Way too young.
>


I sympathize with her final illness.

Cancer is such a vicious disease.

gloria p

Gregory Morrow wrote:
> http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/31/di....html?_r=1&hpw
>
> August 31, 2009
>
> Sheila Lukins, 66, Dies; Awakened Taste Buds
>
> By JULIA MOSKIN
>
> "Sheila Lukins, who, as an owner of the Silver Palate food shop and an
> author of four Silver Palate cookbooks, helped usher in the new American
> cooking of the 1980s, died on Sunday at age 66, at home in Manhattan.
>
> The cause was brain cancer, diagnosed three months ago, said her daughter
> Annabel Lukins Stelling.
>
> The Silver Palate opened in 1977 on New York's Upper West Side, when few
> Americans had heard of raspberry vinegar or ratatouille. "Entertaining" was
> still a wifely responsibility, and cooking as a hobby was just becoming
> popular among educated women like Ms. Lukins. She had graduated from New
> York University in 1970, moved to London with her husband, Richard Lukins,
> from whom she was divorced, and took classes at the Cordon Bleu cooking
> school.
>
> On returning to New York, Ms. Lukins, by then the mother of two small
> daughters, ran a catering business out of her apartment in the Dakota -
> called, in the racy spirit of the time, the Other Woman Catering Company.
>
> "Back then, New York bachelors would throw dinner parties, but all they
> really wanted to do was pick out the wine," said Julee Rosso, a marketing
> executive who became Ms. Lukins's partner in the Silver Palate.
>
> Ms. Lukins experimented by serving Greek mezes, Moroccan chicken pies and
> gazpacho at a time when only French-style standards like duck à l'orange
> were considered elegant enough for entertaining.
>
> The partners spotted a niche that had been created by the emergence of
> working women, who were interested in good food but lacked the time to
> produce it. "In my neighborhood, the supermarkets closed at 5, because women
> were home during the day - and if they weren't, their maids were," Ms. Rosso
> said.
>
> From a 156-square-foot shop and kitchen at Columbus Avenue and 73rd Street,
> the women and their recipes - Mediterranean chicken salad, curried butternut
> squash soup, spicy carrot cake - intrigued, and then guided, the
> increasingly adventurous palates of New Yorkers.
>
> In 1979, Patricia Wells, writing in The New York Times, called it a "tiny
> food shop with big ideas," referring to its handmade zucchini pickles and
> blueberry preserves, made from local produce whenever possible. Silver
> Palate products were the first foods sold at Saks Fifth Avenue in Manhattan,
> reflecting an upswing of interest in cooking by affluent residents. (Dean &
> DeLuca in SoHo and E.A.T. on the Upper East Side, both of which opened
> within two years of the Silver Palate, were exploring similar cuisine.)
>
> The shop reached a national audience in 1982 with the publication of "The
> Silver Palate Cookbook" (Workman), which has sold more than two and a half
> million copies. Its recipes, like chicken Marbella (with olives, prunes and
> capers) and blackberry mousse (garnished with trendy kiwi fruit), became
> dinner-party classics for a generation of modern cooks.
>
> The book's big, sophisticated flavors were produced from accessible
> ingredients and modest cooking skills, not from French techniques or canned
> cream soups. Editors admonished the authors for their exuberant seasoning
> style. "No, girls, no," a copy editor wrote on one recipe. "No one puts 25
> cloves of garlic in ratatouille!" The authors retested the recipe and kept
> it.
>
> Ms. Lukins, who was an artist and collector of photography, drew the
> illustrations for that book and ones she later wrote with Ms. Rosso and
> alone, including, "The Silver Palate Good Times Cookbook," "The New Basics
> Cookbook" and "All Around the World Cookbook." In all, her books have sold
> more than seven million copies.
>
> The Silver Palate was sold in 1988, and the store closed in 1993, but the
> name continues on a line of specialty foods including sauces, condiments and
> oatmeal, some of which are still made according to Ms. Lukins's recipes.
>
> Since 1986, Ms. Lukins had been food editor of Parade magazine, writing a
> monthly column.
>
> Sheila Gail Block Lukins was born in Philadelphia in 1942 and spent her
> childhood in Norwalk and Westport, Conn. Besides Ms. Stelling, of Boulder,
> Colo., she is survived by another daughter, Molly Burke of New York City;
> two grandchildren; a sister, Elaine Yanell of Westport, Conn., and a
> brother, Harvey Block of Branchburg, N.J."

How truly sad for her to die so young. I looked forward to her Parade
columns.



--
Janet Wilder
Way-the-heck-south Texas
Spelling doesn't count. Cooking does.

On Aug 31, 5:43*pm, "Gregory Morrow" > wrote:
> http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/31/di....html?_r=1&hpw
>
> August 31, 2009
>
> Sheila Lukins, 66, Dies; Awakened Taste Buds
>
> By JULIA MOSKIN
>
> "Sheila Lukins, who, as an owner of the Silver Palate food shop and an
> author of four Silver Palate cookbooks, helped usher in the new American
> cooking of the 1980s, died on Sunday at age 66, at home in Manhattan.
>
> The cause was brain cancer, diagnosed three months ago, said her daughter
> Annabel Lukins Stelling.
>
> The Silver Palate opened in 1977 on New York's Upper West Side, when few
> Americans had heard of raspberry vinegar or ratatouille. "Entertaining" was
> still a wifely responsibility, and cooking as a hobby was just becoming
> popular among educated women like Ms. Lukins. She had graduated from New
> York University in 1970, moved to London with her husband, Richard Lukins,
> from whom she was divorced, and took classes at the Cordon Bleu cooking
> school.
>
> On returning to New York, Ms. Lukins, by then the mother of two small
> daughters, ran a catering business out of her apartment in the Dakota -
> called, in the racy spirit of the time, the Other Woman Catering Company.
>
> "Back then, New York bachelors would throw dinner parties, but all they
> really wanted to do was pick out the wine," said Julee Rosso, a marketing
> executive who became Ms. Lukins's partner in the Silver Palate.
>
> Ms. Lukins experimented by serving Greek mezes, Moroccan chicken pies and
> gazpacho at a time when only French-style standards like duck à l'orange
> were considered elegant enough for entertaining.
>
> The partners spotted a niche that had been created by the emergence of
> working women, who were interested in good food but lacked the time to
> produce it. "In my neighborhood, the supermarkets closed at 5, because women
> were home during the day - and if they weren't, their maids were," Ms. Rosso
> said.
>
> From a 156-square-foot shop and kitchen at Columbus Avenue and 73rd Street,
> the women and their recipes - Mediterranean chicken salad, curried butternut
> squash soup, spicy carrot cake - intrigued, and then guided, the
> increasingly adventurous palates of New Yorkers.
>
> In 1979, Patricia Wells, writing in The New York Times, called it a "tiny
> food shop with big ideas," referring to its handmade zucchini pickles and
> blueberry preserves, made from local produce whenever possible. Silver
> Palate products were the first foods sold at Saks Fifth Avenue in Manhattan,
> reflecting an upswing of interest in cooking by affluent residents. (Dean &
> DeLuca in SoHo and E.A.T. on the Upper East Side, both of which opened
> within two years of the Silver Palate, were exploring similar cuisine.)
>
> The shop reached a national audience in 1982 with the publication of "The
> Silver Palate Cookbook" (Workman), which has sold more than two and a half
> million copies. Its recipes, like chicken Marbella (with olives, prunes and
> capers) and blackberry mousse (garnished with trendy kiwi fruit), became
> dinner-party classics for a generation of modern cooks.
>
> The book's big, sophisticated flavors were produced from accessible
> ingredients and modest cooking skills, not from French techniques or canned
> cream soups. Editors admonished the authors for their exuberant seasoning
> style. "No, girls, no," a copy editor wrote on one recipe. "No one puts 25
> cloves of garlic in ratatouille!" The authors retested the recipe and kept
> it.
>
> Ms. Lukins, who was an artist and collector of photography, drew the
> illustrations for that book and ones she later wrote with Ms. Rosso and
> alone, including, "The Silver Palate Good Times Cookbook," "The New Basics
> Cookbook" and "All Around the World Cookbook." In all, her books have sold
> more than seven million copies.
>
> The Silver Palate was sold in 1988, and the store closed in 1993, but the
> name continues on a line of specialty foods including sauces, condiments and
> oatmeal, some of which are still made according to Ms. Lukins's recipes.
>
> Since 1986, Ms. Lukins had been food editor of Parade magazine, writing a
> monthly column.
>
> Sheila Gail Block Lukins was born in Philadelphia in 1942 and spent her
> childhood in Norwalk and Westport, Conn. Besides Ms. Stelling, of Boulder,
> Colo., she is survived by another daughter, Molly Burke of New York City;
> two grandchildren; a sister, Elaine Yanell of Westport, Conn., and a
> brother, Harvey Block of Branchburg, N.J."
>
> </>

A shame, as I LOVE the two Silver Palate cookbooks.

Not to speak ill of the dead, I never found her solo stuff to be as
good. Anyone else have an opinion?

No matter, for the Silver Palate alone, she will be both missed and
remembered.

Kris

On Mon, 31 Aug 2009 16:43:00 -0500, "Gregory Morrow"
> wrote:

>http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/31/di....html?_r=1&hpw
>
>August 31, 2009
>
>Sheila Lukins, 66, Dies; Awakened Taste Buds
>
>By JULIA MOSKIN
>
>"Sheila Lukins, who, as an owner of the Silver Palate food shop and an
>author of four Silver Palate cookbooks, helped usher in the new American
>cooking of the 1980s, died on Sunday at age 66, at home in Manhattan.
>

Sorry to hear about this.

Just this past weekend a friend made her Chicken Marbella and I made
her banana cake. Some of the dishes in the early books are now
classics, although at the time of publication, they were a little more
out of the mainstream, although easy to make.

She was an interesting cook, cook book writer and entrepreneur.

Boron

Gregory Morrow wrote:
> http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/31/di....html?_r=1&hpw
>
> August 31, 2009
>
> Sheila Lukins, 66, Dies; Awakened Taste Buds
>
> By JULIA MOSKIN
>
> "Sheila Lukins, who, as an owner of the Silver Palate food shop and an
> author of four Silver Palate cookbooks, helped usher in the new American
> cooking of the 1980s, died on Sunday at age 66, at home in Manhattan.
>
> The cause was brain cancer, diagnosed three months ago, said her daughter
> Annabel Lukins Stelling.
>
> The Silver Palate opened in 1977 on New York's Upper West Side, when few
> Americans had heard of raspberry vinegar or ratatouille. "Entertaining" was
> still a wifely responsibility, and cooking as a hobby was just becoming
> popular among educated women like Ms. Lukins. She had graduated from New
> York University in 1970, moved to London with her husband, Richard Lukins,
> from whom she was divorced, and took classes at the Cordon Bleu cooking
> school.
>
> On returning to New York, Ms. Lukins, by then the mother of two small
> daughters, ran a catering business out of her apartment in the Dakota -
> called, in the racy spirit of the time, the Other Woman Catering Company.
>
> "Back then, New York bachelors would throw dinner parties, but all they
> really wanted to do was pick out the wine," said Julee Rosso, a marketing
> executive who became Ms. Lukins's partner in the Silver Palate.
>
> Ms. Lukins experimented by serving Greek mezes, Moroccan chicken pies and
> gazpacho at a time when only French-style standards like duck à l'orange
> were considered elegant enough for entertaining.
>
> The partners spotted a niche that had been created by the emergence of
> working women, who were interested in good food but lacked the time to
> produce it. "In my neighborhood, the supermarkets closed at 5, because women
> were home during the day - and if they weren't, their maids were," Ms. Rosso
> said.
>
> From a 156-square-foot shop and kitchen at Columbus Avenue and 73rd Street,
> the women and their recipes - Mediterranean chicken salad, curried butternut
> squash soup, spicy carrot cake - intrigued, and then guided, the
> increasingly adventurous palates of New Yorkers.
>
> In 1979, Patricia Wells, writing in The New York Times, called it a "tiny
> food shop with big ideas," referring to its handmade zucchini pickles and
> blueberry preserves, made from local produce whenever possible. Silver
> Palate products were the first foods sold at Saks Fifth Avenue in Manhattan,
> reflecting an upswing of interest in cooking by affluent residents. (Dean &
> DeLuca in SoHo and E.A.T. on the Upper East Side, both of which opened
> within two years of the Silver Palate, were exploring similar cuisine.)
>
> The shop reached a national audience in 1982 with the publication of "The
> Silver Palate Cookbook" (Workman), which has sold more than two and a half
> million copies. Its recipes, like chicken Marbella (with olives, prunes and
> capers) and blackberry mousse (garnished with trendy kiwi fruit), became
> dinner-party classics for a generation of modern cooks.
>
> The book's big, sophisticated flavors were produced from accessible
> ingredients and modest cooking skills, not from French techniques or canned
> cream soups. Editors admonished the authors for their exuberant seasoning
> style. "No, girls, no," a copy editor wrote on one recipe. "No one puts 25
> cloves of garlic in ratatouille!" The authors retested the recipe and kept
> it.
>
> Ms. Lukins, who was an artist and collector of photography, drew the
> illustrations for that book and ones she later wrote with Ms. Rosso and
> alone, including, "The Silver Palate Good Times Cookbook," "The New Basics
> Cookbook" and "All Around the World Cookbook." In all, her books have sold
> more than seven million copies.
>
> The Silver Palate was sold in 1988, and the store closed in 1993, but the
> name continues on a line of specialty foods including sauces, condiments and
> oatmeal, some of which are still made according to Ms. Lukins's recipes.
>
> Since 1986, Ms. Lukins had been food editor of Parade magazine, writing a
> monthly column.
>
> Sheila Gail Block Lukins was born in Philadelphia in 1942 and spent her
> childhood in Norwalk and Westport, Conn. Besides Ms. Stelling, of Boulder,
> Colo., she is survived by another daughter, Molly Burke of New York City;
> two grandchildren; a sister, Elaine Yanell of Westport, Conn., and a
> brother, Harvey Block of Branchburg, N.J."
>
> </>
>
I was very saddened by this news. Some of those Silver Palate
recipes remain favorites to this day. I will think of her
whenever I cook them--or thumb through those and other books.

--
Jean B.

Nancy Young wrote:
> Gregory Morrow wrote:
>> http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/31/di....html?_r=1&hpw
>>
>> August 31, 2009
>>
>> Sheila Lukins, 66, Dies; Awakened Taste Buds
>
> What a shame, I'm sorry to hear this.
>
> nancy

Yeah it is a shame that she passed too early.

Too bad that useless greg "faggory" morrow could not have died in her
place.

"Gregory Morrow" > wrote in message
m...
> http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/31/di....html?_r=1&hpw
>
> August 31, 2009
>
> Sheila Lukins, 66, Dies; Awakened Taste Buds
>

A real shame. I have one of her/their cookbooks and it has become a guide
for some of my mainstay recipes.

nospam wrote:

> Nancy Young wrote:
>> Gregory Morrow wrote:
>>> http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/31/di....html?_r=1&hpw
>>>
>>> August 31, 2009
>>>
>>> Sheila Lukins, 66, Dies; Awakened Taste Buds
>>
>> What a shame, I'm sorry to hear this.
>>
>> nancy
>
> Yeah it is a shame that she passed too early.
>
> Too bad that useless greg "faggory" morrow could not have died in her
> place.


Steve SQWERTZ, is that Y-O-U...!!!???

Lol...


--
Best
Greg