"I am a maker of useful things,"Eva Zeisel told The New Yorker magazine in this Talk of the Town piece.

"Play" she said helps her know when a model is right. This organic sense of playing with shape reminded me of how we home cooks play with the flavors of our food -- a little more white pepper, less nutmeg next time, I wonder if lemon zest would wake up this spinach artichoke dip?

Zeisel, creator of high-design housewares including this line for Crate & Barrel and a teakettle for Bloomingdale's, has lived on Manhattan's Upper West Side since 1938 and recently celebrated her 100th birthday, the article says.

"A piece is ready when it has the shape of something to cherish,” she said.

We can't help feeling just a bit reflective as 2006 winds down. I'm so happy to be a part of our Kitchen community here, a place to shape and cherish our daily cooking routines.

This week, Time magazine is busy wrapping itself in a foil mirror and calling "You" the Person of the Year. While I agree completely that the collective "Yous" who meet and learn together on the Internet were a major theme of 2006, I'm glad The New Yorker stopped in the middle of the holiday shop-a-thon to point out Zeisel, a creative pioneer.