Dinner Party

She was born Judith Sylvia Cohen in 1939, but the world knows her as the pioneering feminist artist Judy Chicago, whose installation The Dinner Party (1974-79), which celebrated important women throughout history, became a leader of the women's movement. Now a new exhibition at the Jewish Museum of Maryland explores how Chicago's secular Jewish upbringing shaped her artistic vision and her compassionate identification with the plight of oppressed people the world over. Judy Chicago: Jewish Identity presents artworks from throughout her career that challenge injustice and express the artist's long-standing aspiration for universal tolerance, understanding and peace.

"The horrors of the material are such that I have to go slow or I shall go mad!" wrote artist Judy Chicago soon after beginning the research for the emotionally wrenching series of mixed-media artworks titled Holocaust Project: From Darkness Into Light, which she embarked on in the mid-1980s. By then, the Chicago native, who was born Judith Sylvia Cohen in 1939, had already won worldwide renown as a pioneering feminist artist and creator of The Dinner Party (1979), a monumental installation honoring great women throughout history that has since become an icon of the women's movement.

Tidbits: Beloved PB&J in mobile unitsPB&J goes on the road. Just in time for summer travel, Smucker's has come out with a nonrefrigerated snack, containing peanut butter, grape or strawberry fruit spread, and eight crackers, that can stave off little ones' hunger pains while you're on the road -- or anywhere. A free brochure also is available with puzzles, mazes and games for the kids by calling 888-550-9555.Krispy Kreme takes Glen BurnieGet ready for "Hot Doughnuts Now" in Glen Burnie. Krispy Kreme Doughnuts of Maryland is planning to open its third store in September at 6604 Ritchie Highway.

I WAS HOT FOR the pasta casserole, but the plot left me lukewarm. That is my summary of New Yorker Molly O'Neill's "The Pleasure of Your Company" (Viking, 1997), a new cookbook that at times reads like a novel.The pasta recipe, a layered mixture of lasagna, sliced potatoes, green beans, basil, cream and Parmesan is one of the best-tasting vegetable dishes I have eaten all year.As for the book's plot, I would describe it as an attempt to save the dinner party from neurosis, both personal and societal.

Giving a party is about as stressful as preparing a tax return and ranks slightly above visiting the dentist, according to a Gallup poll taken last year. Sounds like fun, doesn't it?No wonder we dread the approaching holidays. America's fear of entertaining is at its worst at a time when, at the very least, we're expected to have the family over for a lavish Thanksgiving feast. Not to mention possible cocktail parties, Christmas dinners, Hanukkah celebrations and New Year's Eve festivities.

It is one of those fantasies that sounds utterly creative, fulfilling and fun, in other words everything your present career isn't shaping up to be. The fantasy? Opening your own restaurant.Sure, it's crazy, but after cooking the best meal of your life, or better yet, the morning after throwing a splendid dinner party, you imagine it could happen some day. You're Rick in "Casablanca," running the most popular night spot in town. Or Sam Malone on "Cheers," hanging out behind the bar with your buddies.

WINTER IS usually a good time to stay indoors. However, after a few days of being holed up in your abode, you can get lonely and bored. One remedy to winter's isolation is to invite some friends over for a meal. You can call it a dinner party if you like. But, according to Elaine Corn, the idea of giving a dinner party makes some folks break out in cold sweat.Corn is an experienced hand at having people over. For example, back in the 1980s, when she was a newspaper reporter in Louisville, Ky., she had about 80 people over to her house for country biscuits and coleslaw.

OPERA ALWAYS HAS been a chichi production. Whether it's a stage production or a Baltimore Opera Guild dinner party, it's grand. The guild's most recent party, "Romeo et Juliette," was a black-tie event at the home of Donna and Sterling Leppo, whose lovely home is in the Cold Saturday development, once the privately owned Cold Saturday Farm. The Leppos very kindly lent the use of their home and its outdoor setting for the party.Cocktails and silent auction items were served up in a terrace-level tent and a buffet was served later in a tent on the lower level.

THE HOPKINS clan in Harford County celebrated the Maryland Million's 10th anniversary with a dinner party for 200 friends at the family's Elberton Hill Farm in Darlington. Martha and Frank Hopkins Sr. held forth with their children: Frank Jr. and his wife, Liz; Mike and his wife, Carol; Amy and Mike Daney; and Boo and Brady Chrismer.The party, held under a lovely tent, was a nice way to begin the Maryland Million festivities, plus it gave the Hopkins family a chance to show off Smart Alec, a former Maryland Million winner who stands at Elberton Hill Farm and is owned by Mr. and Mrs. Wally Tuttle.

The awful icy weather has played havoc with my social life, which in turn plays havoc with my work life. Not only could I not get to parties last weekend, but when I finally managed to get out Monday, I fell on the ice and am now a member of the hobble set.For instance, last Friday night, I was so sorry to miss a dinner party for Mrs. Helmut (Danna) Swarovski at the home of Stiles Colwill, one of the owners of Colwill-McGehee Antique Decorative and Fine Arts who is best known to me as the former curator of the Maryland Historical Society.

A gem of a theater can be found only one mile over the Anne Arundel-Prince George's line at Bowie Playhouse in Whitemarsh Park, which reopened last December after undergoing a half-million-dollar renovation. Bowie Playhouse is home to three groups that alternate shows: Prince George's Little Theatre, Bowie Community Theatre and 2nd Star Productions, which opened its season last weekend with Neil Simon's "The Dinner Party." Despite a distinguished 13-year history that includes winning three Ruby Griffith Awards presented by the British Embassy, for "Guys and Dolls" in 2002, "Mame" in 2004 and "Man of La Mancha" in 2009, 2nd Star has struggled to survive the recession and only gained enough support in June to mount its 14th season.

"The horrors of the material are such that I have to go slow or I shall go mad!" wrote artist Judy Chicago soon after beginning the research for the emotionally wrenching series of mixed-media artworks titled Holocaust Project: From Darkness Into Light, which she embarked on in the mid-1980s. By then, the Chicago native, who was born Judith Sylvia Cohen in 1939, had already won worldwide renown as a pioneering feminist artist and creator of The Dinner Party (1979), a monumental installation honoring great women throughout history that has since become an icon of the women's movement.

She was born Judith Sylvia Cohen in 1939, but the world knows her as the pioneering feminist artist Judy Chicago, whose installation The Dinner Party (1974-79), which celebrated important women throughout history, became a leader of the women's movement. Now a new exhibition at the Jewish Museum of Maryland explores how Chicago's secular Jewish upbringing shaped her artistic vision and her compassionate identification with the plight of oppressed people the world over. Judy Chicago: Jewish Identity presents artworks from throughout her career that challenge injustice and express the artist's long-standing aspiration for universal tolerance, understanding and peace.

Kitchen Tip For the flair of the season, try adding some pumpkin spice or cinnamon, nutmeg and clove to a hot coffee drink or to creamy crab soups. The flavor makes you feel like snuggling in front of a cozy fireplace! Kimberly Highsmith, Virginia Beach, Va. Know a helpful shortcut in the kitchen? Send it to Liz Atwood, Food Editor, The Sun, 501 N. Calvert St., Baltimore 21278 or e-mail it to food@baltsun.com. Events Turkey-less Thanksgiving -- Join the Vegetarian Resource Group for its annual vegetarian Thanksgiving potluck dinner at 5:30 p.m. Sunday at the Bolton Street Synagogue, 212 W. Cold Spring Lane.

What it is: -- A fondue fountain by Fundue Foods for the home. How it works: -- Place chocolate used for dipping into the bowl. When plugged in, the heater underneath melts the chocolate. The auger inside the fountain tower, attached to the bowl, guides the melted chocolate up and out of the tower to produce a constant flow of chocolate over the tiers. What we like about it: -- Just like the fancy fondue towers seen at VIP parties and exclusive events. What it costs: -- $239 How to order: -- Can be purchased online at funduefoods.

Plays about dinner parties appear to be in vogue in this area nowadays. Olney Theatre Center is serving up a gourmet meal nightly in the apocalyptic Omnium Gatherum, and on a smaller scale, the Vagabond Players has set the table for Neil Simon's 2000 comedy The Dinner Party. The setting - a private dining room in a chic Paris restaurant - is something of an oddity for Simon, and the Vagabonds' elegantly detailed set, designed and built by Tony Colavito, is a piece de resistance. But the play itself is less satisfying.

There's a genre of jokes that begins: "A rabbi, a priest and (whoever) walk into ... " That's close to the set-up of Theresa Rebeck and Alexandra Gersten-Vassilaros' Omnium Gatherum. The play, receiving its area premiere at Olney Theatre Center, takes place shortly after 9/11. Its title is translated by one of the characters as "a collection of peculiar souls," but this particular collection is more stereotyped than peculiar. A Martha Stewart-like hostess is giving a gourmet dinner party for a half-dozen guests, including a best-selling spy novelist, an African-American minister, a feminist vegan, a British writer, an Islamic scholar and a New York fireman.

The theme may have been James Bond, but the man himself (or a good facsimile) was a no-show at the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation "Spring Swing" party. "James Bond was supposed to be here, but he's MIA. So you'll have to make do with Bobby Ehrlich," event co-chair Stuart Amos explained. The governor was the night's honorary co-chair along with wife Kendel. So, who cares if 007 was off on another secret assignment? At least the "Bond Girls" made an appearance at the Grand Lodge in Hunt Valley as live mannequins atop four pedestals scattered just inside the foyer.

Carl Birkmeyer, a low-key bureaucrat in the Baltimore County Public Library, gave his first - and probably his last - dinner party in Hollywood last night. The guests included some of the big, if retired, names in television: Leonard Stern, for starters, who was the force behind Get Smart, the wacky 1960s spy comedy, the show's star, Don Adams, who played the bungling spy Maxwell Smart, and his sidekick, Barbara Feldon, Agent 99. It was the first gathering of the Get Smart cast and crew since the show ended its five-year run in 1970.

Rudys' 2900 kicks off its year-long 20th anniversary next Tuesday, with a "Mardi Gras Dinner." It's a four-course Creole-style prix-fixe meal for $49.50. Then, on March 12, co-owner Rudy Speckamp will offer a cooking class at the restaurant. Speckamp says each month after that, Rudys' will offer a culinary event - alternating between a themed prix-fixe meal and a cooking class. The real biggie will be Rudys' "Fifth Annual Dinner With the Masters" Sept. 8 - when the restaurant brings in at least a half-dozen master chefs from around the country, each preparing one course for a $200 dinner.