Thursday's Breakfast

Cereal and coffee with John Zentner (bowl) and Gary Rith (mug). A great pair.

Life's been crazy. The daily struggle is finding a balance between work in the pottery studio and getting this move completed. Jeff and I have spent too much time this week wrestling with curtains. The only reason we are hanging them is because the windows are big and we need to filter some of the wonderful sunlight that comes streaming in. If we didn't, we might bake in the southern heat... and boy is hot this week. Mid to high 90's everyday.

We have a few finishing touches to complete in the kitchen. Maybe there will be photos here tomorrow. Have a great day!

The Story of the "Briar" Mug

I am sure that many readers here, also follow Gary Rith's blog. If you are a follower, then you may know that a couple of weeks ago I asked Gary if he would a make a mug with a Jack Russell Terrier on the handle. Jeff and I wanted it as a gift for our dear friend Roni in New Hampshire. Roni's Jack Russell, named Briar, has been her companion for 14 years. We knew she would absolutely love a "Briar" mug. Gary even wrote the name "Briar" underneath the cup...

Gary shipped the mug directly to Roni. When it arrived she was in Seattle visiting family. Last night she returned to New Hampshire and opened her box. Roni loves her mug. It came at a very special time. A couple of weeks ago, Briar took a turn for the worse, and Roni had to make the difficult decision to euthanize her. Jeff and I didn't know about her loss when we ordered the mug.
Once again the universe spoke, and I am glad we listened.
A big thank you to Gary Rith, for helping us help a friend through a difficult time.

Photo Credit: Gary Rith

Time Warp Tuesday!

Yes, it's none other than potter Gary Rith, when he was living in NH and a member of the NH Potters Guild! Gary does this thing called "Time Warp Tuesday" on his blog. Jeff found this file oh his computer the other day while we were getting some documents together. Right away I said, "E-mail it to me, it will be the perfect post for Tuesday!" The guild used to have a featured potter each month in the "Potluck" newsletter. Gary was the "Winter 2004" potter. Gary now lives and makes pots in Etna, NY. We have never met in person, but we have all these connection to people and organizations that we both have been members of.

When you are done reading here be sure to head over to Gary's blog and see what he is up to on "Time Warp Tuesday".

It was a muggy holiday

If you read yesterday's post you know that Jeff gave me TWO Ron Philbeck mugs for Christmas. Well I gave Jeff this beauty from Dover Pottery...

It's wood fired and has a great sturdy handle. Under the Dover Pottery stamp there is a "J" inscribed. Jeff told me who he thought that was, buy I have already forgotten.

And then, my pottery pals Gary Rith and Lori Bluff sent me mugs!!!

It was such fun to get these in the mail! Robots and Goddesses are such good company. Today I am going to sort through my mug cabinet and pack a few away that don't really get used. I have to make room for our five new favorites.

Yesterday I was back in the studio, but it was slow going. Today I have to pick up the pace... I have many, many piggy banks to assemble. I want to get my stock of pigs back up so that I can get out some porcelain and get really creative.

and now the fun begins!

The hardest work is over, the booth is built, the pots are on shelves, and we were ready for customers when two craftsmen blew the traditional horns at 10:00 this morning.

Wouldn't you know it was a hot day on the Mountain (still not as humid as NC) and the crowds were thinner than usual.

We still had a good day. A visit from extended family that I hadn't seen in years made it extra special. AND... I met blogger buddy Gary Rith's good friend, and newly juried League of NH Craftsmen, member... Michael Gibbons!

This is Michael's first year doing the Craftsmen's Fair and his booth looks great. We are in the same tent and our booths back up to each other.

Day one is done. Eight more to go. Looking forward to a visit from Smartcat!

3 Potters, 3 Bloggers, 3 Beer Lovers - "An Online Pottery Show"

Potters Gary Rith, Lori Buff, and I have been tossing around ideas of how to do a show together, despite the fact that we live hundreds of miles away from each other (and have never met in person!). We finally decided to do a virtual show, using Etsy as our venue, and beer mugs/steins as our theme.
Our show went on line yesterday and you can see it on our very own new blog:

POTTERY PALS

This is just the beginning of an adventure for the three of us! Please add the new site to your blog roll to see what the three of us are up too. Our plans are to do a number of shows each year and each with a specific theme. We are excited about how this will motivate us to stretch our creativity in clay in new directions... who knows where it will take us! Perhaps in the future we may invite other potter/bloggers to be guest artists.

All the mugs and steins are available for purchase through Etsy...click on the mug you want to purchase and it will take you directly to that potters shop. If you order this weekend, depending on your location, we may be able to ship in time for Fathers Day. Wouldn't Dad love a new mug?

...now we need to figure out how to have a virtual opening reception that involves beer, wine, and cheese... ideas anyone?

The New Trendy Pizza!

FRIED!  If you read potter Gary Rith's blog, you will know that he got me into this fried pizza thing. I make pizza once a week. It's my favorite food and there are no pizza joints in Seagrove so that means you have to make your own. Even when I lived in NH I usually made my own because I can be picky about pizza and it's way cheaper to make yourself.
After reading Gary's post I knew I had to try this so I did a little research of my own. I read a few different ways that restaurants were doing it and decided on a cross between those and Gary's pizza making demo. Like Gary, I used my cast iron skillet to fry the dough prior to baking. I decided to use canola oil because you can heat it at a higher temp than olive oil. My dough recipe made two small pizzas, one at a time in the cast iron pan. The first one I put too much oil in... the second one I didn't add any more and it was perfect. I won't give you all the steps, I am too lazy to type them out, so go to Gary's blog and read them!
I made a fresh tomato topping...

One tomato chopped, 1 garlic clove minced, lots of chopped fresh basil, a few grinds of Himalayan Pink Sea Salt & fresh ground pepper. I let this sit on the counter and absorb the flavors while I fried the dough. This is also a good sauce on pasta in the summer, after pouring onto hot pasta add chunks of fresh mozzarella.

Pizza #1 - fresh sauce, parmigiano-reggiano & fresh mozzarella. I went ahead and cooked the other one too, I figured leftovers are good and while I have all that stuff out and ready to go...
I didn't get a picture of it but it was the fresh sauce with a little jarred sauce added (I ran short on tomatoes) parmigiano-reggiano, pepperoni, mushrooms & shredded mozzarella. The #2 pizza was puffier than #1 and I think that was because of the difference in oil.
I have to say that frying the dough prior to baking, gave it a whole new taste and texture. It was excellent. A little more work and since I am lazy I don't think I will do it every week.
Just for a special treat.


Here is my favorite pizza dough recipe:

Dissolve on packet of yeast in one cup of lukewarm water, let set about 10 minutes and then add 2 tblsp. of olive oil

In a medium bowl, mix together:

2 cups bread flour
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. sugar

Add the yeast, water, olive oil mixture to the bowl and mix until it comes together. Don't over mix. Cover with kitchen towel and let rise... usually only takes 1/2 hour to an hour, depending on the weather. I have found that the crust is more tender if you don't let it over rise.
This dough doesn't need any kneading. I roll it out on a pizza peel that is dusted with a mix of flour and cornmeal. I throw a little more flour on top of the dough when I pick it up so that it doesn't stick to my hands.
I bake my pizza on a stone that is preheated at 425 degrees. I preheat the stone for at least 1/2 hour. The pizza should only take about 15 minutes to bake.

a day of surprises...

Yesterday was a fun day and full of surprises. First thing in the morning I packed an Etsy order and placed it in the big mailbox for pick up. Later when I went out to be sure it was gone, I opened the box and it was FULL of mail... and it wasn't just bills! There were three packages inside.
One was a new type of mask that a company wants me to try out and write a review (more on that later), the other was a laundry line cup that I ordered from Ron Philbeck... it's as sweet as can be and it's in good company with my dinner plate and small bowl. The THIRD package was from Gary Rith! I helped him out with a real estate question awhile back and he sent me one of his dogs chasing cats (or is it cats chasing dogs?) mugs as a thank you. He really didn't need to do that, but I am real happy that he did. Gary and I have soooo many connections in NH but we have never met. He met John through the League of NH Craftsmen (LNHC), Jeff was one of the jurors when Gary applied and was accepted into LNHC. From these connections we have a whole bunch of mutual friends and acquaintances. One day Jeff and I will have to take a road trip so that I can meet Gary, Maude, and there menagerie of pets for real.
Now that the weather is great we moved the glaze operation outside to give us a little more elbow room. I brewed a pot of coffee and enjoyed it in my new mug while glazing in the afternoon sunshine...

Thank you Gary!

Today is a finish glazing and load the kiln day. Jeff is going to fire tomorrow while I am working at the co-op. Have a great day everyone.

Thursday Treats

Potter Gary Rith posted a recipe yesterday for raspberry bars. I didn't have raspberries, but I still had some blueberries from Meredith at Whynot Pottery. They were easy to make and delicious! If you don't already read Gary's blog, be sure to check it out... great pots and often some yummy recipes.
Jeff and I have been working right through this heat despite no A/C in the studio. We have to have lots of pots made for the League of NH Craftsman's Fair at the beginning of August. The booth will have only Jeff's pots... I can't be a juried member anymore since moving to NC :-( . Jeff can maintain his status because he has was juried in a gazillion years ago.
Never the less, I am helping him by weighing clay so he can throw 100 mugs & 100 bowls quickly, loading the kilns and glazing. I have had some time to work on some of my own pots as well.

I have continued to play with slip trailing. I enjoy the process, it reminds me of decorating cakes when my girl was little. The unbisqued wares remind me of fondant... they make me want to take a bite!

can't keep my hands out of the clay...

we are moving within the month... i really should NOT being making more pots.  i just can't be at the studio and not make SOMETHING!  all my glazing is done, jeff is finishing up with his glazing and the goal is to fire the gas kiln next wednesday. i spent a couple of hours at the studio today and this is one of the things i did...

it's a cat!  but i am not sure it doesn't look like a dog...hmmmm.
the next idea i have dancing in my head are "girly-girls" made of clay.  or maybe i will call them
"swirly girls" :o)

speaking of girly things... a few years back i traded a raku piece and a bowl of candy for this beauty...

it's a two section ceramic purse made by keith martin.  i LOVE IT.  i keep jewelry in it (of course).  i like to tell people that i have keith martin's purse.  keith also makes great pots with frogs on them AND he is a talented caricature artist.  i have been bugging him to get juried into the league of nh craftsmen...since gary rith left the state we need someone new who puts animals on pots.

there's no business like monkey business...

this week has been rough. i have been feeling overwhelmed by the "BOLD" course i am taking, along with finalizing john's estate in probate. when i arrived home this evening there was a package waiting for me and when i opened it, it made my day...

potter gary rith from etna, ny has had an extended house guest named georges le soq. georges is a very handsome and clever sock monkey. he was gracious enough to pose for gary so he could create mugs with his likeness. as soon as i saw the mugs on gary's blog, and being a huge fan of monkeys, i knew i had to have one.

...and gary sent a special surprise as well... an ELEPHANT PENCIL!

my coffee will taste extra special tomorrow in my georges le soq mug... thank you gary!!