Last Farm Stand Sale of the Season

To get ready for the next distribution, I was cooking up all my winter squashes last night.

"Summer squash swell from blossoms to fruit in a matter of days, while winter varieties absorb energy from the sun and soil for months on their way to harvest - no wonder they are such a good comfort food.  The dense, sweet flesh of winter squash brings the light and warmth of the whole summer to your winter table." Farmer John's Cookbook

The three squash I have on hand are Buttercup, a red kuri variety; a Butternut, an all purpose favorite; and a sweet dumpling. 

Peel, remove seeds, cut and cook in a 1/4" of water to steam in a 350 oven.

Bake 45 minutes or so, then drain.

Mash each type of squash and set aside to cool overnight.

When mashed and cool, I will freeze squash for easy cooking with breads, soups or just a warm puree.

Sweet or savory winter squash puree
Joy of cooking

for a sweet puree... add for every 1 cup puree
1 T butter
1 tsp brown sugar or maple syrup
1/4 tsp ground ginger
salt and pepper

for a savory puree...add for every 1 cup puree
1 T butter or olive oil
1 small garlic, minced
1 T choped fresh parsley or sage
salt and pepper

Beat in warm heavy cream or orange juice to sweet or savory mix.

Serve plain or:
top with sauteed onions, zest of lemon, marscapone or sour cream, Parmesan or Gruyere cheese.

While I was baking, I was thinking back to the soda firing I did this past summer at Harvard.  The process creates such beautiful orange colors when the fire and soda connect with an unglazed surface.  I'm already looking forward to the next summer workshop. A group from my cooperative studio, Potters Place plan to attend this friday's ceramic show at Harvard.  I'm looking forward to spending time with them.

my soda fired vases from summer workshop

I was also thinking about the new friendships I'm developing at the Dedham Square Artist Guild, ...after a great Saturday shift, I went home with a homemade mini pumpkin pie made from buttercup squash.

The reason for all this late night baking is to make room for more veggies. This Saturday, December 10th is the last farm stand sale of the year.  It is the second of two winter share distributions and the last pottery sale at Powessit in 2011.  Stop by from 11-4 to pick up your local veggies and check out my handmade pottery.  The two go together so well.

Westwood Land Trust Art Exhibit

Tonight, Tuesday, October 25th from 6-8pm, the Westwood Land Trust will sponsor its 5th annual "Capturing Nature in Art" exhibit.  Located in the Westwood High School, the exhibit will feature art from Westwood residents that celebrates Westwood's beautiful natural environment. Students of all ages using all types of media will exhibit their creative work.  

"Last year, over 250 Westwood community members viewed the wide variety of artwork submitted by students and residents. Exhibited items included: nature-inspired collages; contour line drawings, charcoal drawings, and paintings of ferns, twigs, pine cones and trees; watercolor and acrylic paintings of Westwood wildlife; photographs of Westwood landmarks, familiar landscapes and wildlife; watercolors of cone flowers; sterling silver jewelry such as a vine bracelet and leaf necklace and earrings; and a “Falling Leaves” ceramic bowl.  Diane Kaiser, Westwood Public School Art Director, and all the Westwood Public School art teachers support this event in their classrooms when they link art and nature."

Find out more about the Westwood Land Trust and the work that they do to preserve land in Westwood. Or better yet, stop by and see the influence this not for profit has on the residents of Westwood.

I'm exhibiting three soda fired vases (Thanks Gallery 9 for letting me borrow these!) because I feel they capture nature best.  So much of my fall collection celebrates the natural world and the leaf has become symbolic for that connection.  These vases stand out as some of my best work and I'm excited to exhibit them in my home town.

I'm not only an exhibitor, but also one of the committee members who installs the exhibit and therefore I get to see the amazing response year after year as the exhibit continues to grow and more residents find out about the work that the Westwood land Trust does to keep our town open and green!

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.