LOVE...Need I Say More?
A nearly unbelievable thing happened last week! We, with the help of two talented people, finally launched the on-line store. Swear to God, it was like giving birth or marrying the third and (one might assume) final time. I believe this little caper will be a whole lot more fun than another marriage and maybe less work than a new infant. I hope each of you visit the store a time or two…let me know what you might be longing to see/buy or dream to buy. The products will shift and change like the weather and with luck, I will learn to navigate this baby myself!
Wegmans Has Arrived!
A week ago, on a cold, wet, and windy Wednesday evening, I drove to hell and gone for a hit of Wegmans splendor! Last August, I discovered Wegmans on one of those capers to upstate New York. I was gob-smacked by the place and nearly fainted when I found they were coming to our neck of the woods. Well, Darlings…make your market list, fire up the auto, and head out for shopping the likes of which you have never experienced.
First, may I start with the service…something, by the way, our local rather large chain market (that will remain nameless) could use a wee bit of help with! I stopped into said nameless market a few weeks back for something called “Pickling Lime” to make my green tomato pickles, which were rapidly turning red while I waited at the “Service” desk for the young man to return with same…instead he brought back a packet of French Onion soup. The response at the “Service” counter was “No one pickles anymore.” That would NEVER happen at Wegmans!
The prices are terrific and the veggies are still-life inspirations suitable for an Italian master’s brush. There was a table of white cauliflower so sharply white that it reminded me of one of my wedding dresses! Head out the Mass Pike to 495 West, go a short distance to Rt. 9 West, and bingo you’re almost there!
In My Next Life!
This could well be me! Give me an open field, assorted boxes of goods to sell, a warm afternoon, and I swear to you this could be it. Perhaps without the cigarette…and maybe the mix of “treasures” would be slightly different, but I admired this woman’s complete love of the moment. I swatted away no-see-ums that dove up my nose when I breathed in or down my throat or took passage in my ears or circled my head and shoulders…not so for Donna! We talked some and she seemed to not be bothered with the little critters. I think it was the cigarette smoke that kept her at peace with all the best that Todds Field had to offer last Sunday!
A Favorite Table at Rowley
Why did I not buy this dog? I loved it enough to take more than one photo. I pondered how this dog reminded me of my childhood boston terrier (known in our Locust Street house as the Boston Terror.) His name was Bows and he arrived tucked into my Dad’s work-coat pocket. I can’t remember ever seeing a more adorable living thing! He peed on the carpet, tore apart the cover for my mother’s treasured mangle iron and pooped in hidden places like closets and on the tops of black patent leather Mary-Janes. And he did other things that divided the house into war zones. We loved him even on his most out-of-control days. Back then, no one ever heard of dog trainers or dog training unless, of course, you had a big ole black lab who could fetch fallen ducks filled with buckshot from the pond while the brave hunter stayed cozy and tucked into his duck blind. So Bows ruled the roost at 1065 Locust Street. I can’t believe I didn’t buy this little chalk dog!
Sunday's Gift of Veggies
After Rowley, the open field and the dog I didn’t buy…I worked at the store. A lovely young man came in…we chatted about veggies and pigs (which he raises), and then he laid on my desk this divine little stash of fresh veggies from the gardens out in Dover! Thank you to the handsome young man whose name I don’t remember.
Well...It Is Time To Vote Again!
How can I even suggest you go online (to the city voter Boston A list) and once again vote for the store? We won last year, and I feel a tad ashamed to suggest you vote for me again. I guess I have no shame!
We had such a great time with Lisa Occhipinti last week at her book signing in the store for “The Repurposed Library.” She wrote this lovely sentiment on her blog:
“Two days prior I was in Boston, Roslindale Village to be exact, for the book signing at Joanne Rossman which was more like a cocktail party (and we didn’t even have any cocktails!). Side note: I think anywhere Ms Joanne is becomes a cocktail party, she is simply and divinely fabulous. We were so busy with people that we ran 90 minutes over the event’s time!”
We wish Lisa the best!
This Says It All!
April Fools Day brought snow…heavy wet stuff that I didn’t have the desire to remove given that two weeks ago I tucked away anything that smacked of winter and/or snow removal. These nasty snow accessories had become commonplace items resting the full winter on my front porch. There was no way I was going to the basement to seek out their company once again!
The end of March and into the first week of April brought house guests (hence the photo). Folks from Denmark that I have known for a hundred years…old friends who are now old acquaintances, which is such a quaint word but fits the week nicely!
My friend John loaned me his delicious house in Provincetown. It was early in the week and the weather was divine. Mid-week, we took in the most recent exhibit at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem…if you haven’t been to see the private collection of Flemish art do so immediately! The Museum supplies a hand-held magnifing glass for closer inspection of each painting. What a treat!
Bauhaus Pink Balcony of the Gropius House
The last day of the Danish invasion, we went to the Walter Gropius house in Lincoln, MA. This is one of the Historic New England’s properties, and one I was quite certain I would not entirely enjoy. Wrong again! It was terrific and the Danes loved it also. We then wandered along the small roads of Lincoln, which remind me of why I love New England. When I dropped off the guests at their Icelandic Air Terminal and we said our final good-byes, I noticed the week’s accumulation of pug hairs on their chic black clothes…there might have been just enough of those stray little hairs to create a whole new pug suitable for Denmark!
Now I must set about with the beading for Rita Rose’s frock for the royal wedding! She has decided on Italian silk taffeta with a little nipped-in waist and an off-the-shoulder bodice with plenty of pug cleavage. Her chiffon shawl will have tiny silk rose petals and small seed pearls around the edge. That dog insists on a pair of Manolos for her hind feet, which are, to my mind, a bit too strappy and way too tarty for such an elegant event.
Cheers Darlings all and happy spring!
Sure Sign of Spring!
Well, look at that! Sheets out on the line and today at Forest Hill Cemetery I spotted my first Snowdrops. Can the real honest-to-God season of Spring be far behind? In my fantasy life, every March, I would get out my hot pants and the little strappy tank tops, and the open-toed 6″ weggies so I could strut my stuff when the temperature even looks like it might get to forty degrees! My fantasy life says these are the days when I think of lounging at the beach. (I don’t swim but I do know the art of lying about on a sand-free towel.) I think about long bike rides down tree-lined country roads in the south of France. (I own a black bike that has seen fewer miles than I care to admit, but it does have a chic little Nantucket basket attached to its handlebars.) It is good to have a fantasy life during the month of March!
Ana Sortun's Magic!
Last night I sat at Sofra watching Ana Sortun, chef and owner of Oleana in Cambridge and Sofra Bakery and Cafe also in Cambridge, give a cooking class on “One Pot Meals.” If you haven’t taken a class from Ana, you haven’t lived! I adore Oleana and Sofra; I adore cooking and eating…these classes have it all. Good wine, great food, and I leave the place well fed, clutching copies of four new recipes. Who could ask for more!
Life More Abundant
Well Darlings…the pugs took me back to Forest Hills this past Wednesday. The place still has that damn snow on the ground, but those two pugs Dino and Rita Rose have a passion about the walkways. Can’t say I blame them! I came upon this Victorian marker and thought it said it all…”Life More Abundant.”
The morning’s New York Times had page upon page of reported struggles complete with photos. It is hard to ignore and also to read of the pain that exists both in the Middle East and in our own part of the world. The owner of my little local gas station keeps a ladder under his sign now so he can scamper up as the price jumps a notch or two. It is difficult to chatter on about the unnecessary and irresistible goods at 6 Birch Street when the dreary cold month of March has arrived…add to that the world with all its over-throws and you got yourself a fine case of depression!
Which brings me to Life More Abundant…may I suggest:
#1 Hot bath by candlelight with something deliciously scented in the water (not your mate); #2 Cups of hot cocoa with heaps of whipped cream on top (screw the diet); #3 An afternoon movie or better still a morning movie matinee (leaving the dishes in the sink, the bed unmade, and the ring around the tub); #4 Pot luck suppers with folks you keep wanting to have over (don’t forget to add candlelight); #5 Curling up with your dog/cat/partner for an afternoon nap (draw the drapes and turn the clock around). I could go on but you get the drift…LIFE MORE ABUNDANT!
A Beauty on a Winter Day
Wish I had paid better attention to the name of this beauty. It was stunning even without a name. When winter has you in a funk, as this one has had most of us, take yourself to Wellesley College, leave your coat in that car you have just parked over there next to a snow bank. Now, dash for the Margaret C. Ferguson Greenhouse door. You will not need a coat in there, I assure you. It is damp and misty where you’re headed and best of all…heated! I took endless photos of leaves and plants and a fern grotto, while outside the greenhouse, snow banked up the glass window walls of this Victorian gem. Really, I was so sorry I didn’t bring my pajamas and a toothbrush to stay for an overnight.
Another Storm
Same Spot This Past June!
Well, here we are again…more snow, add some ice, maybe a little bit of rain and you got yourself February 2011! This lusty little corner of my back porch reminds me to think Spring. And, as I slide around on icy walks, I remember to pray. Now you should all know I am not a praying type of gal but this winter has done it to me! I just returned from New York and the Gift Show…which is usually a whole lot of fun…though even New York City had snow and slush and icy puddles that I could have used a canoe and a nice set of paddles to get across. I prayed there too…maybe in all this, I might find religion!
What I do want to tell you is this…the Gift Show was divine. There were the usual tempting goodies and the favorite booths and the very favorite artists and vendors. I bought amazing things I believe you all might enjoy.
The best part of it all in New York is the after-hours! I love the delicious nonsense of eating out each night with friends old and new. This time in New York was different and maybe even better. I dined, once again, at Bombay Talkie on Ninth Avenue with dear friends who own Bon in Tucson. And I ate, once again, at Malatesta on Washington Street in the Village. There was snow (piles of it) outside our window, worn wooden floors under our feet, and in front of me, a dish of spinach gnocchi with gorgonzola cream and sage leaves! Bottles of wine, the company of good friends…who could have asked for more? One night, my friend John and his friends from Astier de Villatte in Paris gave a buffet supper party. The meal was catered by a chef named Amy Chaplin. This was the most amazing food I have eaten in a very long time! Amy has a blog called Coconut and Quinoa. This blog is a must for anyone who loves to eat! Please check it out, and did I mention…there are recipes. Each one sounds more delicious than the next.
New York was a wonderful adventure with a great deal of work and the best ever food! Now… if only we can get past this winter and into spring, hang up the snow shovels, and put away the fleece…imagine!
There You Have It!
Thank you darlings for all those votes! The store loves you for it, I love you for it and were it possible I would take each and everyone of you to Paris!
