"Remember Me? A collection of recipes from my years at the Courier Journal" by Alice S. Colombo

I have often said on this blog that I love cookbooks, especially local fundraising type cookbooks from Appalachia and I often buy them from Goodwill, Salvation Army, and and other independent "junk stores". Yesterday, February 14, 2025, I ran into a slightly different type of cookbook and bought it at Goodwill in Paintsville, Kentucky. The title "Remember Me? A collection of recipes from my years at The Courier Journal" is a bit odd for a cookbook. But this one was compiled by a former food writer at the Courier Journal in Louisville, Kentucky. Even though it was from well outside Appalachia, I bought it. It was compiled by Alice Colombo and contains many recipes she had been allowed to publish over the years by restaurant owners she had met in her work, some of her own recipes, and others from God only knows where. It was published by a company called Publishers Printing Company in Shepherdsville, Kentucky, and that company now appears to be defunct since I can't locate a website or anything about them other than one article saying they had moved several years ago to another location they owned in Lebanon Junction, Kentucky. The book is spiral bound, 8 1/2" x 11" and printed on high quality, heavy, slick paper. It does contain a note from the author saying that any of the recipes which carry the "Copyright" symbol had previously been published in the Courier Journal and are copyrighted. This is not either Appalachian or purely Kentucky in nature since it contains several recipes from restaurants the author had either visited in her professional writing days or during personal visits for other reasons and had obtained the owners permissions to publish them. The most interesting of these recipes are from the first three chefs at the famous Brown Hotel in Louisville and are there particular and progressive recipes for the famous Kentucky Hot Brown. They include the recipe of Laurent Gennari who was the first chef at the hotel and worked from 1923 to 1927 and presumably invented the Hot Brown. The next is labeled "The original Hot Brown by Fred Schmidt who worked at the hotel from 1927 to 1930. Although it is labeled "The original Hot Brown...", it is clear that if Mr. Gennari was using his own recipe in the preceding four years, Fred Schmidt didn't invent the Hot Brown and his recipe is not the original. The third Hot Brown recipe is credited to "Mr. Harter" who seems to have worked at the hotel from 1930 to some unknown date which Ms. Colombo reported by saying "Mrs. Clark didn't give the year Mr. Harter left the Brown." But considering the fame which the Hot Brown has achieved in Kentucky and elsewhere, it is nice to find these historic recipes of its development over the early twentieth century. For those of you who don't know about the Kentucky Hot Brown, it is a construction of sliced turkey, cheese, and bacon on white bread toast and is served all over Central Kentucky and several other areas since its invention by whomever, most likely Laurent Gennari, at the Brown Hotel in Louisville close to a hundred years ago. The three recipes in this cookbook don't agree on the spices and minor ingredients. But they show some combination of the following: butter, milk, eggs, salt, pepper, white pepper, and whipping cream. The book also contains recipes from famous or somewhat popular restaurants in Kentucky, Nevada, South Carolina, Indiana, North Carolina, Minnesota, New York, Louisiana, Florida, California, Ohio, Tennessee, Massachusetts, Illinois,Georgia, Missouri, Michigan, and Virginia. The book is broken into somewhat more sections than most cookbook authors bother to do. They include Appetizers and Beverages; Soups, Chili, and Stews; Salads and Salad Dressings; Breads, Rolls, Muffins, and Sweet Rolls; Vegetables; Grits and Rice; Dairy and Cheese; Sandwiches, Stuffings, and Dressings; Marinades and Sauces; Entrees; Seafood; Casseroles, Eggs, and Quiches; Pasta and Pizza; Nationality foods; Cakes; Frostings, Fillings, Sauces and Syrups; Fruits;PIes and Tarts; Cheesecakes; Cookies and Brownies; Desserts and Puddings; and Candy. Other than the Hot Brown, I have not found a particular recipe which stands out to me as one I would love to try. But the book is over 352 pages and I have to admit that I have not yet fully examined it from cover to cover. The information page of the book states that at the time my copy was published two printings had been produced, the initial of 1,000 copies and a second of 500 copies. Somewhere in a used book store, junk store, or yard sale, you might be able to find a copy. The book does list a website which works as of February 16, 2025, which has a page with a contact form for interested parties to fill out along with an e-mail address for the author. If the book interests you, take a shot at it and you might find a copy. There is also a list of businesses which were selling the book at the time of publication. But with the 2011 publication date, it is probably not a good bet that they are still holding unsold copies.

Edward Melcarth Exhibition "Points Of View", University Of KY 2018

Edward Melcarth & his painting "Last Supper" Photo by Lexington Herald Leader

First and foremost, I need to apologize for not having written and posted about this exhibition as soon as I was first aware of it so some of my readers might have been able to go to the exhibition.  But a combination of my schedule, my personal life, and other commitments prevented me from doing it when I should have.  But this exhibition was far too good to see it without attempting to write about it and inform other people of Edward Melcarth and his work.  The exhibition called "Edward Melcarth Points Of View" was at the University of Kentucky Art Museum and ran from January 13, 2018, to April 8, 2018. As I recall, my wife Candice and I saw it on the last or next to last day in April just before it closed.  There was also a second exhibition of Melcarth's work in Lexington for part of the time this exhibition was open.  That exhibition took place at Institute 193, 193 N. Limestone, Lexington, KY.  It was labeled "Edward Melcarth: Rough Trade”  and ran from Jan. 13, 2018, to February 10, 2018.  I had hoped to see both exhibitions on the same day but the weather in January and February prevented me from doing so.  I had learned about both exhibitions from an excellent article by Herald Leader columnist Tom Eblen which appeared online on January 11, 2018.

Edward Melcarth "Amendment" Photo by Lexington Herald Leader

But the major exhibition at UK was a real joy to see and gave us an opportunity, as well as the rest of the Lexington market to see work from an artist whose work had nearly fallen through the cracks into oblivion and was rescued from anonymity by a strange quirk or circumstance.  Melcarth had been born in Louisville in 1914, and early in his career was receiving critical acclaim.  He created murals which are still on display at the Pierre Hotel in New York City.  He received an award from the Art Institute Of Chicago in 1951.  His works are in the private collections of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Whitney Museum Of American Art, the Museum Of Fine Arts in Boston, and the Art Institute Of Chicago.  Yet no one has ever written a biography of him.  He has no biography on Wikipedia.   He had nearly disappeared from view in the ever changing world of American Art and art appreciation.  But an unusual set of circumstances served to bring Melcarth back into the public eye and to motivate the two exhibitions in Lexington.

Lexington historian Jonathan Coleman wandered into Melcarth's art while working on other projects including The Faulkner Morgan Pagan Babies Archive of Kentucky LGBTQ History.   Edward Melcarth, who was openly both gay and a communist,  had been born into a prominent Louisville Jewish family but changed his name from Edward Epstein for unknown reasons to Edward Melcarth.  He also moved to Lexington which has had a long and interesting history as somewhat of a minor gay Mecca for more than a hundred years.  Later in life, he moved to Venice, Italy, where he died in relative obscurity in 1973.  But Jonathan Coleman discovered his work and learned that upon Melcarth's death the publisher Malcolm Forbes had bought his entire estate.  Coleman approached the Forbes Collection and eventually arranged through his Lexington and University Of Kentucky connections to bring about the simultaneous exhibitions in Lexington which were the first public displays of Melcarth's works in many years.  Thanks to Jonathan Coleman art aficionados in Kentucky have at least had recent opportunities to view Melcarth's work and he has been rescued, at least temporarily, from obscurity.  He deserves to remain forever in the public eye.

Edward Melcarth "Motorcyclists" Photo by Lexington Herald Leader

Melcarth's works are powerful, emotionally evocative, and often unforgettable.  As an openly gay man, he frequently painted male subjects with striking appreciation of their bodies.  As a communist, he also created works involving strikers and working class subjects.  He worked in both paints and sculpture.  His wood carving "Amendment", seen above, is a wonderful construction but had visible damage and repairs from the past.  However those blemishes do nothing to keep the work from burning itself into an art lover's brain.  His use of light and shadow combined with his depiction of motion in "Motorcyclists", above, is also powerful and memorable work.  The male subjects in "Excavation", above, are wonderfully rendered and the painting gives insight into the lives of the working class.  I will not soon forget the works of Edward Melcarth.  If I ever have another opportunity to see his work on exhibit, I will beat a path to the gallery's door.  So should you!  Let us hope that these two recent exhibits serve to keep the works of Edward Melcarth in the public eye for many years to come, generate a desire on the part of other gallery officials to show his work, and facilitate his rebirth as a darling of the world of American Art.  

Read more here: https://www.kentucky.com/news/local/news-columns-blogs/tom-eblen/article194180314.html#storylink=cpy