(Photos from ISpy65.com)
Forget that Bill Cosby was the first black American to star in a network TV show. This show continues to be groundbreaking, and not just for great dialog and on location shoots.Even the casual viewer will appreciate the wealth of images from a time not too long ago when men dressed in suits to save the world and great American leisure wear the rest of the time. Sure some of it is dated, we don’t do a lot of terry cloth cabana sets these days, but who can argue with white jeans, flat front khakis, white sneakers or mocassins, and pale, finely woven v-neck or cardigan sweaters?

None of it is earth-shattering, but a lot of it would go unnoticed in today’s world. And isn’t that always the definition of easy and elegant?

Go for yourself, Jack! Dig the wonderfulness that is “I Spy.”

I wish you would.

(Gerald and Sara Murphy on La Garoupe beach, Antibes, Summer 1926. Gerald and Sara Murphy Papers, Yale Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library. © Estate of Honoria Murphy Donnelly/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY.)

I should have entitled this post “Living Well is the Best Revenge” but I’ve already used that… It is the title of a book by Calvin Tomkins about Sara and Gerald Murphy. If you haven’t met the Murphys yet, I can’t recommend highly enough Amanda Vaill’s wonderful book

Everybody Was So Young

The Murphys were often thought of as wealthy patrons of the arts and counted among their friends Picasso, Dos Passos, Hemingway, Cole Porter and the Fitzgeralds. Their life inspired numerous works of art by those lucky few who ran in that circle between the wars. The Murphys are also widely credited for popularizing (for better or worse) the French Riviera as a summer resort destination.

While we were living in St. Raphael, the Inimitable Mrs. E and I picnic’ed on the same beach (La Garoupe) where Gerald Murphy first cleared seaweed and rolled out the Oriental rugs and umbrellas to enjoy the sun. In the front of my journal I pasted a color reproduction clipped from The Washington Post of Gerald Murphy’s painting “Cocktail.” I had no idea of the enduring legacy that they had left behind them, nor of the impact that their story would have on me.

A new exhibit dedicated to the Murphys and their influence (the first of its kind, I believe) is being unveiled at Williams College, July 8 - November 11. It will also travel to Yale University and to Dallas Museum of Art. If you can get to any of the shows, do.

As you will see, the Murphys cultivated the art of living well, refining their aesthetic with doses of modernism, French and American culture while they and their circle of friends helped to birth the modern movement. If there are role models to follow in our examination of an everyday elegance, I think it is safe to say that they are the tops (as Mr. Cole Porter wrote.)

I can’t do their story justice. In my mind, they glow. The life that the Murphys built for themselves, despite a number of tragic events, continues to inspire me. I hope it does you, too.

It’s always a good idea to have a few “go-to” recipes that make good use of regional specialties. Especially if you’re entertaining out-of-town guests. Last night the divine Mrs. E. cooked a magnificiant meal and managed to sit down and visit with our guests all at the same time. Her secret is to prepare the main course and ingredients for the salad during the afternoon and preheat the oven just before the guests arrive. As we linger over cocktails, she pops the dinner in the oven and tosses the salad at the last moment.

Like Ginger Rogers, who “did everything Fred Astaire did; only backwards and in heels,” Mrs. E. manages to plate and serve her Chicken Virginia, Spinach Salad with Walnuts and Raspeberry Vinegrette and local corn on the cob without wrinkling her white linen trousers. That qualifies as an easy and elegant dinner in my book.

Mrs. E’s Chicken Virginia for Four.

4 thinly sliced chicken breasts or use boneless skinless breasts and pound them flat between two sheets of plastic wrap.

4 thin slices of Virginia Country Ham (we like Red Eye brand)

Grated cheese (cheddar, swiss or gruyere)

Dijon Mustard (Maille is delicious)

Salt and pepper.

Preheat oven to 350º F.

Spray a non-stick muffin tin with cooking spray.

Spread each chicken breast with Dijon mustard, salt and pepper. Sprinkle a little grated cheese inside and roll up into a ball, placing the stuffed breast into one of the muffin cups. (Optional sprinkle a little more cheese over the top. Cover with aluminum foil. Bake for 20 minutes.