Hiya Internet my friend
what a whirlwind.
A truly spectacular combo of injury and then, moving. Major moving. Moving truck moving.
Has kept me once again, from the attention you most assuredly, deserve.
So, let's see.
How can I make it up to you?
Clearly, I owe you dinner.
A story maybe?
flowers?...

I'll be back soon. Really.

Well?
Hiya Internet! (and my sweet Beth)
I really have been letting you down.
Yes, oh how I could list the reasons why, but really?
Let's just say I missed you, and it feels so good to be home.

Dressing

Hiya Internet,
So I told you I would show you some reasons for having that Bruschetta topping on hand.
Here's the most basic.
Have it as a 'Dinner Salad Topping'.

The Dressing

This is SO easy.
SO good.

1 big scoop of Cabot Greek Strawberry flavored yogurt
Rice Vinegar (enough to make the yogurt 'loose')

It is essential, you use this BRAND, "Cabot" Greek.
I could be their spokesperson. I can not stress how good their Greek Yogurt is. Amazing. Try it.
(They - Cabot - also make my favorite cheese in the world.
'Seriously Sharp Cheddar'.
Cheese being, maybe?... my favorite food Ever... that's sayin' something.)
Anyway,
I often make a dressing using plain flavored Cabot Greek mixed with rice vinegar.
That's it.
It makes a creamy 'faux ranch' vinegar dressing that I am a fan of. The other day my mom brought over this 'new-to-me' strawberry flavored version. Yum.
It was delicious by itself, full of real strawberries, creamy, tangy, good, but it was dinner time and I was hungry for something more substantial;
looking into the fridge I saw a Sam's Club rotisserie chicken, (love these things! They cost less than 5 bucks and last forever. SO many meals!!) fresh mixed greens, sweet onions my yummy bruschetta topping and blueberries....
What a perfect time for a strawberry vinaigrette! non?!?!

It was delicious.

Just because I am

Hiya Internet
what an amazing day. Crisp. Breezy. Cloudless.
I am crawling out of my little funk, sucking in this beautiful day and turning on some Nina Simone....

show more

more to SHOW

Hiya Internet.
Don't think I am not thinking about you. I have been a little under the weather.
You know? I was thinking Internet, how grateful I am to you.
How much of a comfort you are.
Look; as I write these words it is a truly terrible hour, one that is meant to be spent alone, or with a love, (because, at least for me.. unless there is love, I would prefer to sleep alone thanks very much and goodnight....) and here you are.
Waiting patiently for me.
And here I am, happy to see you.

FOOD

Well, the watermelon-Feta apps should really be under this title, I'm learning Internet....

Here is another of my all time favorite summer recipes.

Bruschetta Topping

-I am clear to specify it as the topping, because I use this mix for so much more than only adorning grilled garlic-ed bread (yup, it IS incredible in this form, but, it has so many other uses!!)

Here it is:

That's:

2 Ripe Tomatoes, de-seeded and diced
2 gloves of garlic finely minced
A good handful (er... 1 tbls - more/less to taste) chopped fresh basil
A half a pint of cherry tomatoes or those super sweet orange ones pictured above (have you tried these yet Internet?? Very yummy.)



Add Salt (to taste -maybe 4 grinds of the grinder?... ), and olive oil (around a 1/4 of a cup)

AND?.... Stop there for the classic topping,


Or....
and I must recommend this Internet,
add about a third of a cup of Mozzarella,
diced to about the same size as the tomatoes
















And Finally,

Serve the traditional way over grilled Italian bread, rubbed with a clove of raw garlic,

or? as pictured above, served on toasted focaccia.
There are a lot of great uses for this mix - as a topping for green salads and mixed into cooked dishes. I am a HUGE fan of always having some of this in my fridge throughout the summer.
It is a great and glamorous (if garlicky!!) 'save' when unexpected company arrives and adds that punch to lots of 'traditional fare'.
I'll show you;
tomorrow I will use it as an ingredient to make something else delicious.

TELL

June 22

so, I did say today was a Show and Tell kinda' day non?
well then Internet, my faithful friend, I am striving to "stick to my guns" and do what I say.
So, for the TELL...

I was stuck here Internet.
I feel I have done nothing but talk on and on about myself.
I have been having these 'breakthrough moments' writing away to you in my dreamy little third floor room.
'Big Fat Loser Moments' I call them in an ode to one of my favorite shows - The Biggest Loser
(a show I enjoy watching while riding my spin bike AND while eating dinner equally).
In every season there is the moment for each contestant...
The moment one of the skinny 'tough love' trainers is yelling, pushing, an inch from their face... and it happens.
The breakthrough.
The tears. The release. The discovery. The moment.
Yeah, well... I've been having them all OVER the place...
moments galore.

And, while that has actually been pretty fabulous and cathartic and amazing for me, and, I do in fact plan on sharing it with you Internet, my trusted friend... cos' I plan on sharing my Ugly with you too, my big fat loser moments of every sort (*shudder* ...so many.....)
I am honestly just, sick of it.
I need a break, so?
I thought I would tell you a story.
Well, Start one anyway...

============================================
=============
=======================

Searching for a Title

A Story Based Loosely and Lovingly on Me, the People I love and adventures we have had



CHAPTER ONE:

Her name was Louise Anderson Nils Dahl.
L.A.N.D. ho.
She hated her name in so many ways - had from as early as she could remember, maybe even most in those terrible earliest playground years.
Kids can be so F-ing mean! What was worse... while yes, childhood had been terrible indeed, it seemed that with every new monumental stage in her life there was some hideous variation of humiliation in the form of a new nickname....
Loo-eeeeeeeese.
Rhymes with disease.
uch. She Hated it.
WHAT were her terrible parents thinking?!?! Giving her... HER! this, Flower Child of Light... this 'Ariel' this 'Celeste!' such a cumbersome, clunky, old-lady name?!
Louise??!? Really???
The alternative nicknames she had been saddled with were equally horrible in a wide and varied manor of ways.
Lu-Lu was the name of her childhood... the first name she hated with fervor; a name that on hearing even now, some 50 plus years later, could still bring the crimson burn of shame to her face...
remembering the sing-song calls of the children, her face flaring deeper and more shocking a hue of red to her tormentors delight and tears running down her cheeks.
"Coo-Coo!! Lu-Lu!!" the girls chorused with glee, spinning their fingers in circles by their ears and rolling their eyes.
The boys preferred "Moo-MOO Lu-LU" peppering their songs of torment with the truly alarming 'bleating noise' assumed to be a cow. An unhappy cow.

It really was a dreadful ordeal. kids... man they can be SO mean.

Not long ago she had come across a photo of herself from this period of her life - her Kindergarten Grade Class photo.
Ancient now and worn with age she had pulled it from it's longtime spot in the album and peered closely at her 5-year-old self standing there in the front row... completely blocking out the face of Julia Benson who was standing just behind her, with her trademark hairdo.
She had not been able to stop herself from bursting into great gales of laughter.
Her mother who was a character in her own right and excelled in many talents, was not the most proficient with fixing her daughters hair for school. She attempted, and all three sisters would sit patiently with barrettes and elastics and looks of dread, until at last she reached that point of ultimate frustration and very... rigorously... gathered the hair of the daughter before her, into one large pony tail shooting straight from the top of her head - Dr. Seuss style. The other two sisters would soon be donning the same trade mark spike of hair.
She also let Louise pick her own outfits from a startling young age resulting in some truly wonderful and alarming combos of orange and greens, polka dots and stripes.
All-in-all, she was quite a sight to behold... and... if she was being really honest... 'Lu Lu' seemed a pretty fitting... a far too fitting... name, for the hilariously attired child staring frankly back at the camera so long ago.
She was a pretty well title "Lu-Lu" in those days after all...
in fact, maybe 'Lu Lu' hadn't been nearly as big a problem as her wardrobe/hair... still, it was the first in a long list of her hating the nicknames bestowed upon her.
Her laughter reached the heights of tears when she remembered that horrible time in the late 70's, when the Jefferson's were Movin' on Up...
If she had though 'Lu Lu' was bad...
nothing had been worse, more unsettling or terrible than having to endure the obnoxious and expectant howl of "Weeee-zeeeee"
Nothing about her was Weazy
Nothing.
And so? Lu-Lu it had remained for far too long... opting for a title fit for a 'lunatic child' rather than settle into "Old Lady Louise"
Once, as a child of 12, she had attended an overnight summer camp for one week and her parents had agreed to let her register under the name of Lucy.
They had in fact, told her that if she still wanted to change her name to Lucy in one year from then, they would get the lawyer and the papers and have her name legally changed.
This feeling she could also still remember some 50 years later...
The thrill! The disbelief! the incredible liberating world changing opening of all possibilities idea of this!! First, that her name was just another word! It did not define her!!
If she did not like it, she could just.... Change it!!
And OH you Better Believe! Change it she WOULD!!
Secondly, that there was NOTHING, nothing in this world that you could not change if you were determined and set your mind to it.
She was so proud of her choice of the new name 'Lucy.'
Such a normal name, not very far from her own, just not... horrible.
She had gone to camp that year a brand new girl; everything was going to be FAN-tastic.
She proudly introduced herself that first day; loving being a 'Lucy' sitting with a 'Mary and a 'Beth' and a 'Jane'.
She loved it that whole first day - was ecstatic that the day One activity was hand-painting her NAME across the 'forehead part' of a pale yellow or white or pink cotton sun visor. She sighed in joy to know for once she did not have to write the so baby-ish 'Lu Lu'
She chose a pale yellow visor, and unlike some of the girls who were using glitter and colors and designs,carefully and precisely, as neatly as her child's hand would allow, outlined in big black block letters L-U-C-Y.
There it was. Official.
Now everyone could see, would know. No disputing it.
She was Lucy.
She went to sleep that first night, listening to the sounds of strange girls and stranger bugs chirping away outside, happier than she could recall.
Life was changeable! Who knew what tomorrow would bring...
and watch out! Lucy was in town...
She was woken abruptly and reluctantly in the grey hours of early morn by the sound of the bugle. Time to get up, brush teeth, head to breakfast - a wide variety of brown cereals or fruit, and then off for 'morning activities' (something that was billed as 'fun' but was clearly devised to get your heartbeat racing) - was this a fat camp she wondered?...
After 'Morning Activities' (read: aerobics) came 'Morning Crafts'
in which they were making something in clay.
She felt the day was off to an odd start.
No one was really talking to her, in fact it seemed almost like they were talking about her whenever she looked up from her table of snake coils ready to be made into useful art.
Often when she looked up one of them, Mary in particular, was staring right at her as if she had been for some time.
Lu-Lu. No! Scratch that! LUCY, went back to her task.
When craft time ended it was off to lunch and she set off, looking for Jane and Beth and Mary to sit with.
Mary was whispering with the other two girls - who had been in a different Craft class - and was wearing that same expression she had on all through 'Craft time' when she had looked up to see her staring.
When she sat down to eat, the three girls smiled (sympathetically??) up at her, "HI LUCY!!" They all chorused in full unison and as loud as their powerful young lungs would allow.
Lucy looked at them in confusion and horror. What sick new game was this??
She sat down, smiling, playing it off, as Mary began making wide gestures with her hands - a bizarre form of signing that was clearly an attempt to invite her to sit, lot's of arm flapping and bowing... quite a scene.
Lucy, like Lu-Lu before her, was not a fan of big scenes...
especially when they centered around her.
Meanwhile, as Lucy sat quickly as Mary continued her strange 'welcoming performance', Beth and Jane began murmuring to each other, doing truly terrible ventriloquist impersonations, big open smiles plastered to their wide eyed faces.
"I Uhn-derr if 'eee 'an ear us now?"
They asked each other back and forth at growing decibels, their clown-like open face not friendly smiles, plastered oddly and unflinchingly on their faces.
Mary looked uncomfortable and was quick to flee the table.
Lucy followed quickly behind.
"Mary?" she called out, catching her as she was heading back to the girls cabin. This was a 'Free time' and Mary was going to get her suit and go for a swim in the lake.
"Hi Lucy, I am going for a swim" Mary said loudly and overly clearly, exaggerating every syllable. She waved, in a huge exaggerated wave, and turned her back quickly setting off.
As she turned Lucy heard Mary say under her breath 'and no... I do NOT want to take the 'special kid' to the lake with me'
"Special Kid?!" Lucy said loudly to Mary's now turned back.
Mary froze, and then turned slowly....
"I'm sorry" she said, her face that familiar 'schoolyard-red',
"but wait??!?!... you could HEAR that???" she asked, looking at Lucy with wide-eyed and honest amazement.
"but... but.... everyone thought you were deaf!! Every time someone asks you something you never even look up! All DAY yesterday it was "Hey Lucy!... Lucy?... hello?! Lucy??.."
"Someone told me they thought they had seen a hearing aid in your suitcase, and, well... we just thought... it made sense..."
Lucy, turning that same 'schoolhouse red' coloring as Mary, understood at last... it was this ridiculous NAME!! 'Lucy'??
She was no Lucy!! It clearly did not suite her, and suddenly, with crushing realization, it became a chore of certain magnitude that she should have to bare and overcome; the challenge of remembering that this, LUCY, was the word she was to respond to!
It seemed particularly odd to her that she should have such a struggle with it... it being after all, so close to her own true name, a name which she actually MISSED at this moment, if only for the sheer convenience of it... Who CARED what her name was anyway!?? she just wanted to go laugh and have fun...
these girls would not have liked her less as a Lu-Lu! she just would not have had to suffer this PAIN IN THE ASS ordeal of remembering to respond to a name that was NOT hers!!
What had she been thinking?!?
eesh.
It was a tough, highly focused, week.
She refused to admit that she had been so ashamed of her true name she had 'faked' the silly Lucy title and so she had spent that week as Lucy - a bit of a spacey girl who stayed pretty much to herself.
When she got home after that long week, her parents did not ask her if she wanted to be called 'Lucy', and she did not bring it up.
She kept her Lucy visor for many years, just in case she ever again needed a good disguise. (you know...deaf grumpy camper.)

================================================================
=============
===============================June 23

OK, so?
I did NOT quite make it to the TELL last night, but do not think it is for simple negligence or frivolity! I was up until past 2 am, plugging away, just to "do as I said"...
But listen Internet, you are talking to a girl that gets up around 6, often a bit earlier every morning. Two am is LATE these days. I did not want to just 'shove it through' for the sake of my earlier claim.
Later maybe? when I get 'into this', you know ... when you, my sometimes reluctant Internet start to count on me. Until then, I choose quality over deadlines.

That said.
I hope you like it.

xxoxZo

SHOW

Hiya Internet, my patient friend.
I have decided that Wednesday shall be my SHOW & TELL day.
Offering you either a photo, or a tale, or if I am feeling particularly generous, (or guilty...) both.
Today is just such a day.
I will start with the SHOW, and begin that with pictures that are both dear to my heart and right for the season. Here are a few pictures from a memorable trip to the English shore.










Added Tuesday, June 28th, 2011~

Summer has arrived.
Here are two of the beach, the one on the left, another from the trip to England on the right, Sweden.













































Added Friday July 1,2011~

A last batch of England

Canals

Rainbows

And a red door

Hi Internet.
I am sorry for being remiss in writing you.
I have been loving being here, in this house that 'speaks to me' so strongly;
has so many little nooks and gardens that pull me away.
I have been outside getting dirty and sweaty, my hair getting lighter my skin darker.
I have been thinking about you though Internet, fear not, and feel truly sorry for not posting yesterday as I had so genuinely intended.
I DID write a very long letter to you though.
In fact, it became so personal the pages I wrote it on are smudged and puckered with my tears.
I shall finish that, and until such, I have something far more delicious to share with you.

I went to the Costco with my Dad not long ago, and one of those white clad sweet old ladies offered me a 'taste' of something - I love this part of the Costco experience.
Usually it is a bit of sausage or some chip of some sort, on this occasion however it was something I had never seen!....
Never Seen?? me? a 'foodie', born of 'foodie parents' (that is making me smile. How noble it sounds ja? 'I am a Second Generation. No. Scratch that! Both sets of Grandparents were ALSO, so? "I am a Third Generation Foodie"! Nice.)
I was beside myself.
Being offered a tasty treat from a Costco employee I had never had... No!! so much more than this!... something I had never even thought of before?!?!? With only TWO ingredients?!
Ingredients that I love?!?....
Inconceivable.
What this sweet lady had on a plate was chunks of watermelon topped with chunks of Feta Cheese.
That's it.
I went ON and ON.... She must have been pleased to have SO transformed someone's day in the way she did mine!! (I was VERY vocal about my delight in this amazing new discovery!)
So, while I plan on doing more of a 'step-by-step' recipe section of blog, I thought this was a pretty good beginner!
I can't think of a more perfect, festive and (man!) unusual, party food, porch food, afternoon summer snack than this.

WATERMELON & FETA APPETIZER
(I need a better name maybe....)

(And if you thought the name was bad, brace yourself for the instructions...)

This is a pretty obvious one.
It is the idea that is so good, the green stuff on top is fresh tarragon, but basil and lemon thyme would also be delicious.
Here's how:

Start with a ripe seedless watermelon really good feta cheese and fresh herbs

Slice your watermelon into good, standard looking 1"-ish slices and cut off all traces of the rind.
The Costco lady then just chunked hers up and put on the feta (and this was really, fine.) but I wanted to make it look a little more 'festive' and I thought making my watermelon slices thin like a cracker would be an elegant alternative and so after de-rinding and cutting the melon into easy to work with pieces I sliced the piece down it's center (making big, half-inch thin pieces) and then cut these into their final triangle and square 'cracker forms'.

Cut feta into chunks about (a little less than) the size of their 'melon cracker'. It is fine if it crumbles - make little piles.

Sprinkle with chopped fresh herbs (tarragon, basil, thyme)

No fresh herbs?
Not a problem.



Serve immediately to hungry people or for a party I was thinking a tray of ice underneath the plate (and a mesh thing for the flies....) would be good.

Happy First Day of Summer Internet!

Show and Tell (aka why I love Providence)

Hiya Internet.
Hot for you too?... I am not big on heat.
I am big on the amazing details found all over the city I love, Providence RI.
Here's a few to start with.

1. Nautilus man-hole covers, India Point Park, Providence, RI



2. Amazing mural off of Elmwood Ave




3. View from The Hot Club - a great downtown bar.










3. Little shops, big character






And.... Introducing The 'Mother Shop' of them all...
Best Store EVER....

It's time to begin.
Hi Internet! - longtime love, here I am at last,
your houseless wife, making myself at home.

I suppose it's proper to offer a formal introduction,
intimate strangers that we are;
I am Zoe.

I am a skilled photographer, gardener, writer, comedian, lover and cook.
All my talents bring me enormous satisfaction and sense of accomplishment, none bring me income; until now I have managed remarkably well, but suddenly I find myself here...
Somewhat adrift.

My life thus far has been quite extraordinary so it is not with regret that I look back upon the years, in fact in all honesty I consider myself the luckiest girl I know.
I have been so fortunate. So blessed.
I was given funny, interesting, free-thinking parents to nurture me, a truly great education,
and the incredible opportunity to travel extensively throughout the US and Europe.
I have eaten amazing foods, had extraordinary adventures, seen breathtaking sights.
It is astounding I have reached such an age of maturity ( ...ok, here it is Internet - ladies are not supposed to be so forthright with their age, but, you will learn if you stay to play - I am nothing if not honest - I'm 36. Still young but... you know... not that young anymore....) without ever having a 'real' J-O-B.
So?
Either, why have I not put one of my self-lauded talents to work in the form of a career?
or, what on earth is the problem exactly???
Well, starting with the first issue, in my short list of skills - the "what I do" list - I left off the top position. My greatest skill.
I am a homemaker.
A housewife extraordinaire.
There is nothing in the world I enjoy more than creating a feeling of home.
There is a magic in the decor, the lighting, the sounds and the smells all working together in perfect harmony to create this deep, earthy,welcoming atmosphere of home.
In creating this perfect symphony, I am a maestro.
It is this skill that has allowed me to manage so well, be welcomed into the beautiful homes of others so graciously.
I actively go beyond 'helpful' and instead go right ahead and make home wherever I am.
So then, what's the problem?
Well....
Last year I got married. Yes. Mahh-reed?!?!
Due to a WHOLE LOT of BS, and red-tape and bureaucracy that I am really not that clear on, I can not be with him.
It has left me feeling...
lost.
frustrated.
useless and scared. and most of all?...
homeless.
My solution?
You. This. Here. Now.
I will make a home of my own right here; one that goes where I go and never requires crossing a border patrol to reach.
A little haven here, on these wild and complicated Inter webs.
A place full of striking images and delicious food, interesting conversation, creative stimulation and laughter.
I welcome you, and beg your patience.
I am unfolding. Exploring, and most of all, building a house.
The first room I shall open to the public will be the kitchen, and that shall be coming soon.
check back again.
Cheers!

It's a strange way to begin this little project.
You know, with a HOUSE... and while, it, like all the other beautiful houses I live in, is not mine,
this one is perhaps my favorite.
The closest to my heart.

It is located 4 miles from the heart of the city of Providence.
An awesome city.
My favorite city in all of the world - and I have done some traveling,
seen some amazing places.
If you like architecture there is no place in the country better than here for variety.
If you like food there are so many amazing choices.
Huge variety of ethnicities = huge variety of great food.
Bars are cheap and fun and some are in really beautiful locales.
The ocean, the gorgeous long sandy beaches surrounded by dune grass, a 30 min drive by car, or a gorgeous ferry ride leaving right from downtown

THE HOUSE

THE ROOMS

Your bedroom









The Dining Room,






The Living Room,

(you can't see it, but there is a fireplace across from the sofa. so good.)

The Kitchen

The Feel of the place

Your meals on the Porch?





Three blocks away is a huge (more than 100 acres) park, Roger William's Park, with lakes and paddle boats - a zoo, botanical garden, carousel, mini-golf, and really gorgeous Japanese and rose gardens to list only some of it's attractions.

Go a little farther to Newport to visit the mansions, like 'Rough Point' - home of Doris Duke

and experience the so beautiful Newport Cliff Walk