I’m Zoe.  I like to bake, cook, garden and drink cocktails. I like other things too. In fact, I’m kinda complex and simple all rolled into one.

I’m also Canadian, and can easily take you’re ‘ooot and abooot’ jokes. Go ahead try. I’ll just look bored and smile.

I live in Oakland. Oakland? Yes, Oakland, California. It’s not scary like you might think. I live in a little area called Temescal. It’s where the sun almost always shines, where bikes are the main mode of transportation…where the food is always good, and people are nice. Yes, I can get to San Francisco quickly, if I really wanted to. Mostly I stay here when I can. Warm, in the sun, and in our cute little house.

With my dog. And my husband.

You see, the dog came before the husband. My tried and trusted pal, Sherpa, who has gotten me through rough times with a tail wag and a smooch. Dogs are the best. Actually Sherpa is the best. Don’t try and argue that. You’ll lose.

Then the husband came. Out of the blue. I didn’t want to get married. Neither did he. But that opinion changed when we met each other. Ten months later we were married, in the cutest little wedding ever. We rode our beach cruisers to the ceremony, I swear. You can watch the cool video here if you’d like. Even though we’ve been married for over two years, we’re still those newlyweds that you’d like to strangle ’cause we’re just so damn cute.

In any of my grilled recipes Erik is the master behind the grilling – he considers it a science. Cocktail hour is another favorite past time of his. He also likes good music and girls with proper sized booties (ahem…like mine). Erik is also an amazing designer – and we run a fantastic design firm, 20/20 Visual.

On a side note, he’s darling, and you can’t have him.

Erik is from New Jersey. Yes, I married a Jersey boy. But don’t worry, he’s been in California long enough to turn into a bit of a West Coaster…although I love East Coasters. I’ve never been to Jersey, but when I do, I’m going to eat. In fact, it seems that’s the reason to go. The first thing I will eat is pizza.

I love champagne. Any way you serve it, I’ll drink it. It makes me happy.

I also like to take pictures, especially of food. Food doesn’t complain that it looks fat or greasy or ugly. Food stays quiet, still and happy.

I shoot using a Nikon D70S with a simple AF-S Nikkor 18-70mm lens. I dream of owning a macro lens in the near future. I take donations.

I don’t use a flash. Why? Because natural light is so much nicer. Sometimes this is a pain given many of my recipes are cooked in the evening for dinner. I’ll try my best to get you decent photos, or I won’t give you any at all.

I am also a nurse. I do Pediatric Critical Care, Neonatal Intensive Care and Pediatric Cardiac Critical Care. It’s hard work, but I love it. If you find I’ve disappeared off the blog for a day or two, it probably means I’m caught up in the medical world. But I’ll emerge at some point and cook some more.

Oh, I forgot to mention that I really like to eat. I always have. Out of hunger I started dabbling in the kitchen and realized that I like to make the food myself, and I’m not too shabby at it. I like to bake the most. But I can’t eat only cookies and cakes, right? So I make other things as well. And I blog about it. I started a blog in 2009, called Fraiche Beets. It ended up a little too French Provence for me, so I decided to start this one. A little more edgy and fun, and much more me. Yes, me. I think that’s better, don’t you?

This blog was designed by Erik, powered by WordPress, inspired by life, written by me.

I’m so glad you’re here. Visit often, say hello, use the recipes. And most of all, have fun.

Zoe