Book: Food Heroes

Food Heroes: 16 Culinary Artisans Preserving Tradition

by Georgia Pellegrini '03 | 240 pp. Abrams. $24.95.

A shoutout to '03, and an alumna some of you may know -- Georgia Pellegrini -- which profiles sixteen foodies around the world.

Here's an excerpt from her blog that describes the book:

The pace of rural life in the south of France was an exercise in extreme patience for someone who had the current of New York City coursing through her veins. I lived in a run-down house crowded with frogs and cobwebs set back into a deep field along the Rhône river. I slept under a tablecloth I took from the restaurant and woke to the sulfur smell of the marsh every morning, a particular Camargue charm that I never did get used to. My head spun with French words, the French language a thousand little dots in my head, which connected at random moments, while rolling out pasta dough or pulling heads off sardines.

As I worked in all of these restaurants I found that I was much more interested in the people who came to the kitchens to drop off their goods, than I was peeling and deseeding grapes with a paper clip. I often befriended these people and when I had a free day, would visit them at their olive oil vineyards, or in their farm that housed 160 varieties of figs, or in the woods where they foraged.

The blog also has a ton of recipes from her food travels and links to buy the book. Ale cuisine!

Wellesley Connections Strengthening Women's Education in Afghanistan

You may have seen this on the Wellesley homepage, but I encourage you to listen to this radio interview on WBUR from early August with a member of the Class of 2010, Parnian Nazary, and the mother of Paula Loyd, an alum who was working in Afghanistan when she was killed by the Taliban.

The inspiring piece discusses the many benefits of educating women, as well as Wellesley's role in empowering young women.

You can listen to the piece here:

http://www.hereandnow.org/2010/08/rundown-89/

Design by Emily Saunders '06 Featured in NYC

Emily Saunders '06 has a design on display in New York until September 3rd. Emily and her classmate from Parsons The New School for Design were selected to be part of Sidewalk/Catwalk public art display in New York this summer. Sidewalk/Catwalk brought together 32 major fashion designers to decorate a Ralph Pucci mannequin with one of their designs.

Emily's design is featured on Broadway between 40th and 41st streets until September 3rd, so stop by and check it out. You can also see some of Emily's designs and work on her blog: http://www.ishouldcoco.tumblr.com/.

Submitting class notes

The time has come again to submit class notes! Send a quick update (it doesn't have to be more than a sentence or two or three) to 2006notes@alum.welllesley.edu. To be included in notes in the Fall 2010 edition of the alumnae magazine, submit your notes by August 28th.