Al Fresco by Julie Pointer Adams
Al Fresco, by Julie Pointer Adams, is a visual and literary invitation to step outside and partake in the company of nature, food, and friends as a healing antidote. We share Sharon and Paul Mrozinski’s story from their home in Vinalhaven, Maine.
Photography: Julie Pointer Adams
‘Now we have the opportunity to eat outdoors on our deck over the water on Vinalhaven,’ says Sharon Mrozinski. Photo: Julie Pointer Adams
‘We walk in nature or sit at water’s edge reading to each other, feet dangling in that cold salty tidal water, on Vinalhaven,’ says Sharon Mrozinski. Photo: Julie Pointer Adams
Sharon and Paul Mrozinski split their time between the coastal isle of Vinalhaven, Maine, and the Luberon region of France, finding antique treasures near and far to sell in their Vinalhaven shop, Marston House. Here, Sharon gives us a window onto life at the waterside.
Where does your love of the outdoors come from?
My upbringing in Arizona in the desert—as a child, I was free as a bird to wander. Nature has been my lifelong caretaker, best friend, confidant, and guide.
What in nature brings you joy?
The sounds of the water, the wind, and the birds, and the smells of the earth. For us, our walks and the tides running past our island home provide us with all the meditation we need.
How do you define well-being? What tangible daily acts do you practice to claim it for yourself?
Well-being is a lifelong commitment. I was born a mover, and I have always been physically active: swimming, running, walking, and biking are all part of my life. I’ve added yoga to the mix over the past twenty years, and I cannot live without it. I enjoy ice cream every day—everyone needs a guilty pleasure—but mostly we eat spicy green veggies. Our forty years of love has a lot to do with our well-being too.
How has your relationship with the outdoors affected and informed the way you live in your home?
On our morning walks, we forage for greens and flowers for our big daily salad. I never come home with empty pockets. My “collections” are found and gathered in nature. I pick up stones and dead birch or sumac branches to use as sculptures, and I’ve covered our walkways with shells of all kinds.
We are working on our teeny-tiny bit of land between us and the rock wall at the water’s edge. Paul forages for beach roses, wild peas, and ferns.
What do you find to be the true value of gathering around food with friends?
Communing with friends and family is the most delicious part of a meal for me. We’ve always enjoyed making meals as a family. All four of our kids are great cooks as a result. When we moved to our 1780s sea captain’s home in Maine, we had no stove or oven until early winter. Paul became a grill master, and I became a one-pot-meal expert, with the pot hanging over the fire in the fireplace. With almost no heat on the second and third floors, the fireplace became our gathering spot for everything.
‘I loved growing up in the desert but longed to live in Maine. I was always looking at picture postcards of Maine, with its water, its seasons, and its mountains,’ says Sharon Mrozinski. Photo: Julie Pointer Adams
‘I enjoy ice cream every day—everyone needs a guilty pleasure—but mostly we eat spicy green veggies. Our forty years of love has a lot to do with our well-being too,’ says Sharon Mrozinski. Photo: Julie Pointer Adams
What are your favorite rituals around food and eating with others?
My best memories around meals as a kid were picnics. I still love them best, probably because they are outdoors. Paul did not do picnics growing up, and I work hard to persuade him to enjoy them.
Now we have the opportunity to eat outdoors on our deck over the water on Vinalhaven, and in Bonnieux, with our dining room windows open wide, it’s almost as though we are outside. We overlook the water in Maine, and in France we overlook the Luberon hills, so it is close to being on a picnic.
What kind of food or meal do you most enjoy sitting down to?
We fix fresh veggie soup for a late breakfast and a big spicy green salad for a late lunch. We get excited to make them together and share them with each other. During our busy summer season, Paul prepares the salads for us, and we often eat them sitting out in front of our shop rather than closing for lunch. That has actually become a ritual since moving to Vinalhaven; the locals love seeing us enjoy our lunch on Main Street. When family and friends are dining with us, Paul grills fish, lobster, oysters, chicken, or lamb. I usually slice potatoes, shallots, and heads of garlic, toss them with a little sea salt and olive oil, and throw them into the oven.
“The sounds of the water, the wind, and the birds, and the smells of the earth. For us, our walks and the tides running past our island home provide us with all the meditation we need.”
You both originally came from drastically different landscapes than that of coastal Maine (Chicago for Paul, the Arizona desert for Sharon)—what drew you to the rugged beauty of this particular island?
I loved growing up in the desert but longed to live in Maine. I was always looking at picture postcards of Maine, with its water, its seasons, and its mountains.
I first visited Maine in 1974, and I had to return. I brought Paul to Maine in 1984, both of us divorced and with two kids each. He loved the early architecture and the classic simple Capes, with wooden clapboards and cedar shingles.
I refer to days that are totally free of obligations and expectations as ‘free-range’ days. How do you two like to spend your free-range days together?
We walk in nature or sit at water’s edge reading to each other, feet dangling in that cold salty tidal water, on Vinalhaven. Or we nap on the hills, surrounded by the orchards or the vineyards of the Luberon. I always bring a good old piece of homespun we can lie down on, just in case.
Big lunch salad from Al Fresco by Julie Pointer Adams, we share the recipe below. Photo: Julie Pointer Adams
Picture-perfect scenes from the coastal isle of Vinalhaven, Maine. Photo: Julie Pointer Adams
BIG LUNCH SALAD
This salad is good at any time. Switch up any of the ingredients depending on what you can find and what local farmers are growing, using whatever is fresh and seasonal and never the same. Preserved lemons can also be used to garnish soups or grilled fish, either chopped or topped as thin, long strips.
METHOD
Start with the juice of a half lemon in your favorite salad bowl. Add enough good olive oil (nonfiltered if possible) to make a dressing, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until emulsified (I count to 12 as I pour the olive oil). Add 4 garlic cloves, minced, or less if garlic frightens you.
Add the following roots and stems to the bowl, stirring briskly to coat.
A red beet, or any color beet of your choosing, thinly sliced
A radish-sized white turnip, thinly sliced
A radish or two (we prefer watermelon radishes, but your choice), thinly sliced
A head of broccoli, cut into bite-sized pieces, including thick-sliced stems (our favorite part)
A thinnish crosswise slice from a head of red cabbage
Add a few handfuls of the spiciest greens and sprouts you can find and toss well with your wooden salad servers.
Top off your salad with strips of rind from Preserved Lemons (recipe follows), blueberries, and raspberries, or any fruit in season, such as strawberries and sliced or chopped cantaloupe and kiwis. Don’t throw away any leftovers—eat them later or the next morning while you’re fixing breakfast.
PRESERVED LEMONS
Cut 5 to 7 lemons in half and squeeze out as much juice as possible. Save the juice for another use. Cut the bottoms off the lemon halves, completely removing the pithy parts; you want to use only the cleaned rinds.
With kitchen shears or sharp scissors, cut the lemon halves into ¼-inch-wide (6 mm) pieces, going diagonally across the rind. Transfer to a glass jar with glass lid and rubber seal.
Add 1½ teaspoons kosher salt to the lemons and enough boiling water to cover. Let cool.
Seal the jar and let the lemons stand in a cupboard or other cool, dark place for 4 days or so, then transfer to your fridge and enjoy on most everything.
