sip and read

The Food and Pottery Connection is about sipping something sweet from a handmade source while exploring NEW cookbooks.

To Sip in Summer:

Watermelon Berry Sparkler 

recipe from Redbook - makes 16

• 2 cup(s) watermelon, cubed and seeded
• 1 container(s) (6 ounces) red raspberries
• 2 tablespoon(s) superfine sugar, use 3 tablespoons if too tart
•  cold brut champagne or prosecco (dry Italian sparkling wine

1. Puree watermelon and raspberries in a blender. Scrape mixture through a fine sieve into a bowl; discard seeds. Stir sugar into puree (adding more if too tart). Puree can be made up to 1 day ahead and refrigerated.
2. For sparklers, pour 2 tbsp puree into each champagne glass and top with 4 oz cold brut champagne or prosecco. For a nonalcoholic version, use club soda or seltzer instead.

To Sip from:

Pretty dishwasher safe tumblers

dedham square artist guild

To Read (while sipping):

1. The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Food from My Frontier by Ree Drummond

2. Dinner: A Love Story: It all begins at the family table by Jenny Rosenstrach

3. The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook by Deb Perelman (due out in October!)

Cup of Coffee. Mug of Tea.

Sue Brum's (Hogwild Pottery) high fire mug on the left.

There is nothing better in my book than a cup (or two) of coffee in the morning and a mug of tea in the afternoon.  The biggest dilemma I have is choosing the vessel.  I'm a big fan of the story behind the pottery, so it will come as no surprise that I choose my cup or mug based on who I want to share the time with.

The top shelf in my kitchen cupboard is reserved for my collection of handmade mugs.  These are the ones I reserve for tea in the afternoon.  

Each has a story and is symbolic of something I love.

Debbie McCarty's elements of surprise, paintings, and mug shape make this a favorite.

Couldn't live without this Wayne Fuerst soda fired Mug - purchased at Harvard. 

One of two given by to me by a dear friend.  It's the glazing that I love!

A Lizanne Donegan mug...the textural quality could only be made in clay.

This little gem I made in college.  I love the glazing and the awkward handle that fits just right in my hand.

On my way to the Dedham Square Artist Guild for my afternoon shift this past Sunday, I stopped into Mocha Java.  I'm trying their signature lattes as a special treat that I spend the afternoon at the Guild sipping away on. First it was their Pumpkin latte, this week their Cinnabon latte, next time I might try their Nutty Irishman! Many of the Guild artists have their art up around town. My handmade mugs are displayed and for sale at Mocha Java.

Mocha Java in Dedham Square

The shape, size, color and design of a mug, whether it be for coffee or tea or hot chocolate, has to work for the person utilizing the pottery.  

Handmade functional pottery is all about 

finding that connection.  

I find the story of the mug - who made it, where they made it, why they made it - works in tandem with the enjoyment I feel while sipping what it holds.

You can check out more of my handmade mugs on my flickr photo sharing site. 

21 days til Valentine's Day

Luxurious Hot Chocolate 

- recipe makes enough for 4 servings

Pour 2 1/2 cups milk into a saucepan followed by 3 1/2 oz dark chocolate. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until chocolate has melted. Bring mixture to a boil, then whisk in 2-3 Tablespoons heavy cream until frothy. Test for sweetness, add sugar to taste.

Pour into handmade mugs, like the one pictured here... and enjoy.

This recipe will give you and your sweetheart 2 cups each :)

More Valentine's Day gifts ideas are featured on my website.

Soda Fire

Last week I finished up a workshop on soda fire.  It gave me a whole new way of looking at surface decoration.  I then took my new pieces to a Farm Stand at Powessit and shared my new work with CSA members.  Here are some photos of my new work:

Soda Fire Cups 

Carbon Trap Bowls

Leaf Bowl

I made sure when I was glazing to choose food safe liners as I wanted all my work to be usable as vessels for serving and eating from.  I might not throw these in the dishwasher as I would my cone 6 ware because the results are so unique and hand-washing would add yet another way of interacting with the work.

What would I serve in my new work; well, what's in season?  There will be beans in the garden today, so my suggestion would be a SLAW!  Here is the recipe from the Powessit Blog.  Enjoy!

Powessit Slaw
created by Tod Dimmick


1 pint green beans
1 apple, sliced, with peel
4-5 carrots
4-5 scallions, minced
a handful of basil leaves, minced
a handful of parsley leaves, minced

Juice of 1/2 lemon
4 TB good olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Run the beans, apple slices, and carrots through a food processor equipped with a shredding disk. Scrape that mixture into a serving bowl, and stir in the scallions, basil and parsley. Drizzle with lemon juice and olive oil, and toss. Distribute to serving plates, seasoning to taste with salt and pepper.


If you would like to see more of my soda fire work, click the link on the right to access my flickr account.  

Blue Sky Pottery

Deb Babcock is the artist behind the clay creations of Blue Sky Pottery. She is also a Colorado Master Gardner.  The work I am most drawn to is her "aspen/birch forest" functional pottery. It is a beautiful collaboration between Deb's interests: the natural world and clay.

Deb is a studio potter who works in porcelain and stoneware creating one of a kind, functional pottery including whimsical teapots and tea cups, bowls, casseroles, plates, tumblers, platters, vases and tiles. She has studied under many renowned potters that have helped her with her own pottery voice. 

What about her connection between food and pottery?  

Deb says," Frankly, I'm not an avid cook and prefer pretty simple meals. I like to garden and am especially happy when I can pick lettuce, pea pods and the like out of my garden during the summer and fall and use them for dinners." 

For dessert, here is 
her favorite brownie recipe that she bakes up in her Pie Pan

1 c butter3.5 oz unsweetened chocolate
3 T cocoa
1.5 c flour (plus 2T if you live high altitude)
1/2 t baking powder
4 eggs
1 t salt
2 c sugar
1 t vanilla extract
1 c chocolate chips
1.5 c dried cherries

1. Preheat oven to 375.
2. Melt butter with unsweetened chocolate and set aside to cool. 
3.Sift cocoa, flour baking powder and salt in medium bowl. 
4.Beat eggs until creamy in large bowl, gradually adding in the sugar. 
5.Add vanilla to the cooled chocolate and stir into the egg mix. Stir in the dry ingredients.
6.Then add the cherries and stir until combined. 
7.Pour into a buttered baking pan (I use my pie pan, but any 9 x 13 pan or similar will work) Sprinkle the chocolate chips on top and bake 30 - 35 minutes until the center no longer jiggles.

"These brownies are rich and delicious with the added surprise of dried cherries. Coming from Michigan where cherries are found in abundance, I order 10 pound boxes of them a couple times a year to be sent to Colorado and use them in salads, trail mix for our hikes, and in brownies."

All of Deb's glazes are food safe. They can withstand use in the microwave, oven and dishwasher, unless specified otherwise. However, as with any handmade pottery, it will retain its fresh, good looks longer with limited microwave use and hand washing. 

Deb's etsy shop is the best place to see her work unless of coarse you live in Steamboat, Colorado where you can visit her studio/gallery.  She is a founding member of the Steamboat Clay Artisans, a member of the etsymudteam, and accessible through facebook.

In Honor of Dad's 75th Birthday Today...

We always celebrate Dad's birthday with a slice of his favorite cheesecake.  Made best by Mom, of course...

"Mom's" Cheesecake - servings depend on how much you like cheesecake...
Gourmet Cookbook

crust
1 package of Graham Crackers, finely ground
1/2 cup melted butter

filling - 1st layer
12 oz cream cheese
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs, beaten
1 tsp lemon juice
cinnamon

filling - 2nd layer
1 1/2 cup sour cream
2 T sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
dash of salt

1. Combine crust ingredients and press into the bottom of a spring form pan.  Bake 10-15 minutes at 375.  Cool.
2. Use a beater to combine all ingredients but cinnamon in filling - 1st layer.  Pour into cooled crust.  Bake at 375 for 20 minutes.  Turn off oven, open door and let pie cool there.  Remove and dust with cinnamon.
3. Mix ingredients in filling - layer 2.  Pour over cake and bake at 425 for 5 minutes.  Cool in oven as before.
4. Chill in refrigerator.  Best if made the day before.

A toast to Dad in a cup made in his favorite glaze combination....

Pancakes Anytime

This is the best pancake recipe I've come across. I think the key ingredient might be the melted butter.

Serve these anytime of the day or night. Slice in fresh fruit or sprinkle in chocolate chips while cooking. Serve hot with butter and REAL maple syrup. Any leftover batter can be stored in the fridge for later.

Pancakes - serves 10-12 6"ers
Dawg Chow Cookbook

2 eggs
1 1/4 cup milk
3 tsp sugar
1 1/2 cup flour
1 tsp salt
1 3/4 tsp baking powder
3 tsp melted butter

1. Mix eggs and milk together. Combine sugar, flour, salt and baking powder. Add wet to dry ingredients with a whisk.
2. Add melted butter to batter and stir.
3. Pour batter on preheated, coated skillet in 1/4 cup measurements. Flip when bubbling.

Cup for Juice...

Apples and Cider

When I was a child and my family would visit my grandparent's farm in the fall, I would help make the apple cider the old fashioned way: with a basket of apples and a press. The cider would dribble out and I'd watch anxiously as it filled up a container soon to be sampled. Food can be comfort in ways that are outside of basic hunger; sometimes it is the memory that needs fulfillment and that is why we choose what we do.

"Crescent Ridge Dairy gets apple cider from Carlson's Orchard in Concord Massachusetts. All we do is pasteurize it and bottle it. Talk about local flavor. Try the Apple Cider heated during those cold nights. You could even add a little cinnamon or lemon for that zest. With a taste like it was picked from the orchard and pressed just for you, Crescent Ridge 100% Apple Cider comes in our environmentally friendly half-gallon glass bottles"

... so memory will be quelled with a cupful.

apples