Designing Cook
![Merle Armitage, 1933. Henrietta Shore Merle Armitage, 1933. Henrietta Shore](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffc29f64f-c72b-4e3d-a366-65861e4b182d_786x1045.jpeg)
Merle Armitage was the Benjamin Franklin of LA modernism. He was an old-fashioned connoisseur and impresario (he facilitated the work of George Gershwin, Henry Miller, Martha Graham and Edward Weston, among others). He collected art. He loved to cook. (And here he is, as drawn by Henrietta Shore.)
But his true love was typography.
When he first met Henry Miller, Miller said,
"I've heard you were an author?"
Armitage confessed: "If the truth were to be known, I write books so that I may design them."
Looking at this cookbook - and these recipes - one can't help but believe the guy. It's a beautiful, lovingly-designed book:
![20160615_215232 20160615_215232](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F96024c9b-a94a-4c6f-aa1b-946e6a6fb50e_2097x2513.jpeg)
A later edition included the tagline "For those who like sophisticated food."
He includes these incredible Edward Weston vegetables:
![20160615_215110 20160615_215110](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd2888e3c-61dd-4349-8d46-15a480dfe57a_2175x2773.jpeg)
But then we get to the recipes. Candied ginger, mayonnaise, celery - cooked pears? Quite the time capsule.
![20160615_214759 copy 20160615_214759 copy](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F66c01b28-a8ea-4c92-ad26-1c1a9e960f7b_1471x1847.jpeg)