Did you ever get so lost in a book that you wanted to live within its pages? When I was a kid, I certainly did, and the book was Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs. Although I was definitely a Judy Blume and Beverly Cleary fan (as pretty much all 80s kids were), Judi Barrett’s book about grandparents, storytelling, and food falling from the sky was absolutely delicious to me.
I don’t know how the stars aligned, but the opportunity to interview Judi Barrett fell into my lap, just like hot dogs that fell in Ralph’s Roofless Restaurant (causing one lady to lose her dentures). I knew that I would take my well-worn copy of the book for the cover shoot, but I wanted something…more. Something to stand out from the millions of other interviews that the award-winning author had done.
So I got into the kitchen and started cooking.
Without being boastful, I’m a pretty great cook. But spaghetti and meatballs is a dish that I’ve yet to master. It’s not like I’m a Nonna cooking up Sunday gravy and makes meatballs that are legendary. Still, it was worth a shot, so I made the best meal that I could on the morning of the cover shoot, put it in some Tupperware and a cooler, and headed to Barrett’s house in Brooklyn.
Sigh. What can I say about meeting one of my childhood heroines? It was magical. From Judi’s easygoing demeanor to her amazing library, my inner 8-year-old was in heaven. As we were setting up the first shot, I picked up my cooler and presented the idea of taking a picture of her with a big ol’ plate of spaghetti and meatballs. She laughed, agreed, and when she opened the container, she took a deep breath and told me that it smelled great. (Woohoo!)
As I adjusted the lights, Judi said that she couldn’t wait a minute any longer, and I thought she was referring to the setup time. I turned and saw Judi diving into the dish! I laughed partly out of relief and pride, and almost internally combusted when she told me that it was really good! She even told me to leave the leftovers so she could eat it afterwards for dinner.
To this day, this experience still ranks as one of my favorite moments in the history of Celebrity Parents Magazine.
After our interview was over I showed her my original copy of her book, and she commented that it was evident from how much I had loved it. She signed the book (and even drew some meatballs in her inscription!) and before I was really ready, it was time to part ways.
Now, I couldn’t swear to it, but as I made my way down the stairs of her brownstone, I could have sworn that I smelled some fantastic foods wafting in the air. Could it have been a mountain of mashed potatoes at the end of Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs?
(No. It was the pizzeria on the next block.)
But no matter. For one moment, I was lost in the pages once again, where anything (even food falling from the sky) is possible.