Judith Jerome

Item Data

  • Collection Title: Judith Jerome Collection
  • Item Title: Chicken & Dumplings: A Home Documentary
  • ID Number: JJ-001
  • Date Range: 1989
  • Description: "Chicken & Dumplings: A Home Documentary" is at once a home movie record of a group of friends in Idledale, CO, making & enjoying a meal on Valentine's Day 1989 and a spoof on the tv shows "French Chef" and the "Andy Griffith Show." As one of its creators, Meg Fremaux explains, it's "about chicken and dumplings, community, love, and one not-so-foxy pair of boots."
  • Biographical/Historical Note: Bios of Kelly, Meg, and Maureen to come. Judith Jerome is a writer and theater maker, with a PhD in Performance Studies and a love of academia and gardens. She was founding artistic director of the Stonington Opera House, and a freelance writer, actor, director, and teaching artist. She raised and butchered the chicken in the film "Chicken 'n Dumplings."
  • Genres: Amateur Films, Home Movies, Home Documentary, Comedy
  • Places: Idledale, Colorado; Colorado
  • Access & Use: Contact Lesbian Home Movie Project (LHMP) info@lesbianhomemovieproject.org. No re-use without permission.
  • Color or B&W: Color
  • Related Versions:
  • Running Time: 01:03:12 (with slates) 01:02:52 (without slates)
  • Rights: Lesbian Home Movie Project holds all rights. [? shares with Judith?]
  • Sound: Sound
  • Subjects: Valentine's Day, 1980s, Cooking, Lesbians, Hippies
  • Creators: Meg Fremaux Judith Jerome Kelly Payton
  • Collaborators & Participants: Maureen O'Donnell Shaina O'Donnell
  • Source Format:
  • Format: VHS tape. Shot with Pentax.
  • Viewing Log: Note: The date that appears on the reel 1.31.00 is incorrect. The correct date is 2.14.89. Opening slate: Lesbian Home Movie Project presents Chicken & Dumplings A Home Documentary Idledale, Colorado Valentine's Day 1989 Transferred from VHS May 2015 Judith Jerome Collection Slate 2: Repeats the summary. Note: The date that appears throughout the reel -- 1.31.00 -- is incorrect. The correct date is 2.14.89. :25 Meg & Judith prep dumplings & salad while Kelly directs the action from behind the camera. 02:35 Meg puts dumplings into broth 02:44 Maureen O'Donnell and her daughter Shaina arrive. Shaina is selling candy bars to fundraise for her school. Dinner prep continues. 06:15 Judith explains how she will dress the salad. 16:50 Dinner is served 21:12 Dinner eaten. Cat jumps on the table. 23:52 Kelly & Meg do & narrate doing the dishes 28:49 Meg in Kelly's slippers 33:28 Meg displays her new foxy boots 38:48 Maureen & Kelly bundle up to go outside to the porch to smoke. Meg narrates an episode of Andy Griffith show 43:35 Judith is taking a bath 45:34 Kelly announces it's bedtime. 46:41 Dog doesn't do trick. 49:25 Meg behind the Pentax camera 49:54 Kelly models her pjs & robe. Judiith in background. Meg tries to warn Judith she's in the shot. 50:50 Judith brushes teeth 54:17 Judith & Kelly in bed. Judith welcomes cat in too. 55:18 Meg prepares to leave when does meg tell mayberry episode