Word Salad, a Smorgasbord of Poems
Selected and edited by Barbara Adams

ONE PERFORMANCE ONLY!
Saturday. December 10, 2005
8 PM
The Cheese Plate at Water Street Market
10 Main Street in New Paltz
Admission: $10 including cheese tasting
Call 255-3102 for reservations. Limited seating.
* * *

“We should eat to live, not live to eat,” said Samuel Johnson. 

Most poets and writers, however, love to eat,
judging by how often they write about food. 

“What’s for dinner?” is answered daily by cooks and often by poets. 
We always hope it’s our favorite.

Poets write about foods they love:
strawberries, potatoes, ribs, ham, beans, lobster soup, onions, animal crackers.

They write about food they hate:
tofu, ham, new hamburger dishes.

A healthy diet wars with gluttony in poems about salads. 

Of course, poets write about drinks that go with their food:
“a meal without wine is like a day without sunshine,” said Brillat-Savarin.
 
Poets add a few other beverages: ale and whiskey, and even water.
 
Tastes for dessert range from fruits and cakes, to cheese and chocolates.    

Some of the poet-chefs on this menu include
Richard Wilbur, Eamon Grennan, Lewis Carroll, Phyllis McGinley, Ernest Hemingway, Roy Blount Jr., Wendy Cope, Noël Coward and several sous-chefs.

And all at The Cheese Plate! The Cheese Plate is
a lovely little shop in the Water Street Market on Main Street in New Paltz. Kat Alexander sells cheeses from Europe and Ireland, as well as local favorites like the creamy semi-soft Ouray from Sprout Creek Farm in the Town of LaGrange. In addition, she carries a line of gourmet chocolates and features an old-fashioned ice cream parlor. The admission charge includes a complimentary cheese tasting. Seating is limited. Don't miss out.