Roma's Italian Deli

Standing at the helm of this deli, Rosario Mazzeo, nearly tells you what to order when you walk into Roma’s. Each time I walk into Roma’s Italian Deli the smell of rich meats, cheeses, and wines almost overwhelms. Pungent at first, after a few minutes of browsing the imported pastas, sauces and produce one hardly notices. In fact, it becomes downright pleasant, especially after consulting with Mr. Mazzeo as to what ingredients you should buy. Or, more likely, Mr. Mazzeo asks what you are cooking and he tells you what to buy. You thought parmesan completed the sauce for tonight’s dinner? Wrong, looks like a large chunk of gorgonzola made its way into your shopping at Mr. Mazzeo’s command. Each imported Italian cheese available for sale at Roma’s contains a story that Mr. Mazzeo tells with gusto. He also crafts a house-made Italian sausage every day in both mild and spicy varieties. The quality of the semolina flour in their impo rted Italian pastas really shines. They serve up one sandwich at Roma’s Italian deli — a small loaf of Italian bread drizzled with olive oil, proscuitto, ham, and mozzarella cheese. I thought the sandwich a little bare bones because I am used to more sauces, more vegetables, more seasonings on a sandwich. I was wrong. Biting into this sandwich was pure bliss. The simple combination of high quality ingredients makes this sandwich delicious. The meats are well seasoned, the rich olive oil mingles well with the bread, and the cheese adds terrific flavor. Each bite tasted better and better. This delicious sandwich makes the top three sandwiches I ever at in my entire life.

Mazzo himself!

The interior of the deli has a lot going on. 

Tulip Festival 2010

Bets and I

Mom and Bets

April rocking up the baton routine.
This is before she spotted me taking pictures of her, which,
subsequently, caused her to become embarrassed.

Nora

Two years away from being Tulip Queen and this year's festival was still just as stressful, but just as rewarding, as 2008's tulip festival. Nora was a page for the 2010 Queen and court, so snapping photos in her Huizen (same city as my costume) girl garb was a blast. I was also blessed enough to attend a queen and court reunion luncheon. Seeing queen's and courts from as early as 1941 gave me a real sense of the heritage involved with tulip court. Come out to the festival sometime and you'll probably see my in my saucer hat and voluminous costume calling out "bloomen te koop" as I walk along the parade route.

Sugar Hearts

At the Fruited Plain, the Chestertons found endless inspiration within hearts and sugar.

Miss Katie enjoys her cup of chai tea!

Practicing food photography!

Abandoned

My mom and I went shooting earlier this week. She took me to this old, decrepit farm house surrounded by a sea of earth already planted with corn. It was amazing, yet haunting. The small house an island of what used to the be small rural farmstead. I'd love to do a series on the house imagining what people might have done there when it was all ship shape.

Popsicle Bombs

Lately we've been having fun with Popsicle Bombs in the scene shop...

Easter

I know it's past easter weekend, but I finally got all of my pictures off my camera. I had so much fun seeing Chance over his spring break. We even got to paint eggs with his sister and brother. Taking pictures with all that color was the best. After Chance left, I went to a couple concerts as a pick me up. This Easter was a good one.

To one of my favorite photographers...

The day I found Elliot Erwitt within the online gallery Soulcatcher Studios, I fell in love with his beautiful black and white images of France and Coastal America. His images always tell a story and evoke an emotion. If I can become half the photographer that Elliot was I will die happy. He pohtographed the likes of Marilyn Monroe and Jaqueline Kennedy. He even created one of the iconic civil rights photo- the colored drinking fountain. His portfolio bursts with genius. Here's a few of my most favorite photographs of his.