For the music buff with a culinary fancy, there is now a cookbook encompassing artistic and gastronomical genres from Tony Bennett to Sonic Dissonance, from otter tail chili to paella Valencia.
It serves a social purpose, too."About 70 percent of the profits from `A Musical Feast,' an eclectic and colorful collection of recipes from 100 artists, will benefit organizations that aid the homeless," creator Wendy Diamond said recently.
The 25-year-old entrepreneur got the idea after working as a volunteer with the homeless in Mew York.
"I wanted to do something, and I'm a big music fan, and this is what came out of it, some two years later," Diamond said.
Pier 1 Imports, based in Fort Worth, has bought 10,000 copies of the book for sale in its stores, the result of a chance meeting between Diamond and Pier 1 President Marvin Girouard at a Grammy Awards party.
"Tanya Tucker, who'd already committed to `A Musical Feast,' said to him, `How can you not sell this book in your stores?,' " Diamond said.
The hardbound volume, retailing at $19.95, includes a lasagna recipe from Tony Bennett's mother, mocha tarte de la noche from Placido Domingo and smoked corn chowder from the chef of the Grateful Dead.
Other contributing artists apparently enjoy eating more than cooking.
Randy Newman offers his primitive cheese sandwich: three slices of Old English brand Cheddar cheese between two slices of white bread. End of recipe.
Diamond chose organizations to
receive donations from "A Musical Feast" based on their "large-scale effectiveness" in working directly with homeless people, for influence on national policy and for histories of cooperative projects, she said.
Theresa Stawski, spokeswoman for the National Coalition for the Homeless in Washington, said her organization has so far received $8,000 from Global Liaisons, Edwards' company and the book's publisher.
The estimated $17,500 her organization could eventually receive would equal about 3 percent of its current annual budget, Stawski said.
"It's a major boost of us and a great project," Stawski said. "It's got a lot of broad appeal."
Other organizations that will receive funds are the National Coalition for the Homeless, New York; Empty the Shelters; and the Coalition on Homelessness-San Francisco.