Cookbook

Tastefully Done Cookbook and Calendar:

Garden club adopts 'Calendar Girls' concept
By ANN JOHNSON-STROMBERG- MediaNews Group
chicoer.com 9/8/2006

Posing nude is a brave undertaking for even the most confident women, but a group of Red Bluff seniors have taken the plunge and shed their clothes for a good cause. Red Bluff Garden Club President Diane Cleland sought out Jodie Beck, owner of Madison Grace Photography in Red Bluff, to take the pictures. Cleland said every year the Red Bluff Garden Club toils to run several fundraisers. The hope is that the cookbook -- "Tastefully Done: A Cookbook and More" -- will drum up enough interest that members can participate in more gardening events and less fundraisers. Beck said that while she was intrigued by the offer to do the cookbook, her first reaction to the idea was fear. Eventually the idea grew on her and the club's enthusiasm for the project was contagious.

The concept was borrowed from the movie "Calendar Girls," where a couple of senior women come up with a scheme to pose nude for a calendar to raise money in a hurry. Of course they are creatively positioned behind baked goods and other items -- and the Red Bluff women are also creatively veiled. "We would never do anything that was not tasteful or an embarrassment to our children or grandchildren," Cleland said. "I was hoping that the community would think it was fun and that the project would not raise too many eyebrows because this is traditionally a very conservative community," Beck said, adding that her studio is generally known for its wedding, high school seniors and family portraits.

The hardest part of the cookbook was the requirement that Beck include her own nude self-portrait, which ended up being taken just days before her son was born this summer.

Gentle encouragement for the subjects was a constant battle for Beck, who said some of the participants rescheduled as many as 10 times. She heard excuses like, "My perm is too tight, I'm going to have to wait four weeks until it grows out." In the end, Beck said it was an incredible lesson in self-love and embracing your body image no matter the age or body type. The book is slated to be released on Sept. 16 during an unveiling luncheon at the Red Bluff Community Center.

The 223-page cookbook includes recipes, photographs and lots of gardening tips. The cost is $20 and the proceeds will go toward the purchase of a Blue Star Memorial for past and present military, a memorial rose garden, an annual scholarship fund and a Penny Pines restoration project.

Ann Johnson-Stromberg is a writer for the Eureka Times Standard

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$20.00		 Package #2
$17.00		 Package #3
$35.00

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