Way Too Hot

Dear friends,

As it has become clear that there's no way I'm working on my illustration project in this weather (it's hot enough without the photo lights), I 've decided to post a new entry to create the illusion that I'm being productive.

With that, I present to you some recent photographs of the very first of my garden produce (okay, so I guess I actually am being productive):





Green beans and basil, which I chopped up with some red onion and dressed with the standard olive oil and vinegar combination, salt, pepper, and possibly some other things that I can't quite remember.





The second small batch of beans and my very first homegrown squash which, disappointingly, looked a lot better than it tasted.

And here's one more for the road:





This one isn't from my garden; it's an artichoke grown by my dad and step-mom which has since been delivered to my house, steamed, dipped in salty lemon-butter and eaten.

That's all for now!

Until next time,

Lea Z.

At Long Last

Dear Pals,

I've finally gotten off my butt to create this newfangled blog which I will be using to share my work.

Food and art are at the very top of my list of favorite things. I have a degree in photography, practice the obsessive-compulsive art of needle-felting and, when either or both of these things have caused my blood sugar to plummet to the point of hysteria, enjoy cooking and/or baking something tasty. Combining two or three of the aforementioned activities makes me happiest; I'm currently working on a series of photographic illustrations based on felt and photographic sculpture (whew!), and when I need a break from that I take pictures of the food that I make.

Since I've managed to drink about seven or eight cups of tea today, I decided to kick off with this image from my illustration project:







And, since you can't have tea without cookies (well, I suppose you can, but what's the fun in that?), I've also included a photo of today's baking endeavor: cardamom cookies from The Finnish Cookbook by Beatrice A. Ojakangas.






If these look tasty to you, I highly recommend picking up a copy of the book. It's my favorite cookbook and has never let me down.


Till we meet again,


Lea Z.