Cooking and Clay: Red Beans & Rice and Another Bud Vase

Before I left for clay, I boiled presoaked red beans and a smoked turkey wing and drumstick for an hour while I chopped a red onion, 3 celery ribs, and a green bell pepper for a trinity.

In Meral's studio, I glazed a few bowls, experimenting with my new pint of Coyote Oxblood and some drips of Really Red and Red Gold and glazed one bowl in Wrought Iron. They're packed in plastic and ready to transport to the glaze kiln along with a Chinese decal bowl that I glazed with clear and some bunny rocks. And had time enough to make a another sandstone buff bud vase. I botched the bottom, but I'm gonna fire it and see how it turns out.

I am liking these little vases and can't wait to try some different surface techniques that resemble this abstract design and color palette at a slide I saw at a QuiltCon lecture. I should maybe make the pendant as well from this Sandstone Buff clay

I can't ever seem to translate the ideas that fly into my brain fast enough onto cloth or clay, but I hope I remember this inspiration.

Once I got home, I boiled the smoked turkey and beans for another 40 minutes until I noticed that meat was slipping off the bones, and so I emptied the pot of beans into a bowl and shredded the turkey on a cutting board.

I also put the trinity into the pot with some pork and chicken fat to soften and caramelize a bit while chopping garlic.

I then added the garlic to the trinity as well as some seasoning and spice. I also noticed that my mixture was dry and suddenly remembered, oh yeah tomatoes need to go into this dish.

And so I turned down the heat of sautéing vegetables while I chopped about 7 Roma tomatoes. And waited for the tomatoes to break down and add its liquid before finally dumping the chopped turkey and red beans and cooking liquid into the pot of vegetables. I also added some leftover bacon.

And then let the red beans stew until it was time to walk the dog at the park. When we returned, I turned the pot back on and let it simmer. That's how I cook without an electric crock pot.

And while just zoning out and watching t.v., it was then dinner time. I had promised the hubs that I would cook leftover ribeye into steak tacos. I cubed the meat and tossed it in hot smoked paprika, chipotle and Mexican chili powder, Mexican oregano and a little Old Bay. T'was a delicious dinner. And checked and tasted my red beans. It was still pretty liquid and bland, and so I added more Creole seasoning as well as hot smoked paprika and hot sauce and Old Bay and tried not to overdo it so it wouldn't be too salty when it cooked down.

And done. I divided the stewed red beans into two containers: one for me and one for Cecilia and then cut up Andouille chicken sausage and put on top of each stew. I plan on cooking some long grain rice before eating. I've loved my lazy Saturdays and Sundays in this month of February. The weather may be mostly chilly, but there are days here in California when the temperatures climb into a low 70 degrees with lots of sunshine. It's also the season for citrus, my favorite dessert and cooking ingredient.

Chilly February evenings are also made for cozying up in a sweater and reading a novel and burning a scented candle. I want some fond memories to harken back to when this pandemic is over and remember to appreciate that I got to enjoy some downtime.