Cook: Greek Pita Sandwich

Last week I made huge Mezze platters the kind I imagine are served in casual breakfast restaurants in Jerusalem. And so I had a lot leftover in the fridge. After an arduous 5-mile loop (hello wind sprints!), I was famished for lunch.        

I de-seeded and minced a cucumber to mix with labneh and opened a jar of shatta.

 

Plating matters. I should have centered the hummus salad and pita sandwich.

And there's still leftovers! Today's lunch on repeat for tomorrow.

Mantra for Creativity

What I love about summer is not just the time off to not work, but the time I get to just be. When I became a teacher, I finally discovered a vocation, not just a job but meaningful work. However, I had no balance. I was so consumed that all I did was work though I loved it. When I decided I wanted a personal life with partner and companion too, I discovered recreation, i.e., a re-creation of my self, not just as a teacher but as a girlfriend (later a wife) and a more well-rounded being who could enjoy friends and family in addition to work.                          

But then work became a bit less meaningful and stressful, and balance less attainable. During summer or on any break from work, I make. I’m a maker. I feel like I used to “make” at my day job when I was an English teacher. I was constantly playing and experimenting with lessons to engage high schoolers at reading, writing, speaking, and listening. I just wish I were that creative at being a school librarian. Maybe that’s why I craft so much. I get to see my labors concretely. There’s a vase or a quilt or a dish that I hope is beautiful and feeds and nourishes body and soul. And so during all my work and play with ceramics and sewing, I’m also pondering how to not let job burnout happen. And how do I integrate that sense of purpose and zeal during creativity into routines at a school library so that they don't feel so hum drum?

Zine: Happy Summer

During quarantine last spring and summer, I was making various zines for grandnephew and grandnieces besides the quilts and salt crocks—some of which I still need to gift and will resume making salt crocks this summer. This time I’ll put a flange inside the crock and make a lid that fits over the flange.... but I digress. This summer with quarantine lifted, I’ve still yet to meet up with family. They’re in Disneyland, and in the meantime, I made zines for them to further welcome summer and in order for me to get back into sketching and doodling.

I didn't get as detailed with instructions or drawings like I've done in past zines.

 

and the next page, not included here are instructions to put the popsicles in the freezer for at least 6 hours or overnight. And then a message that if they can't wait that long, to go bug their parents to take them to an ice cream shop, which I thought would be a cruel injunction without $ to go buy a cone. Or water balloons to pelt each other.

I've still yet to mail them...waiting for the kiddos to come back from Disneyland. And so back to clay and seeking the dream.

Clay: Bud Vase

 

Clay: Laguna's Electric Brown

Overglaze (in text and interior): Colonial White

Clay: Bud Vase

 

Clay: Quyle Kilns' Sandstone Buff

Glaze: Coyote's Mediterranean Sea

Clay: Bud Vase

 

Clay: Laguna's Frost porcelain 

Glaze: Coyote's Oxblood

Clay: Bud Vase

 

Clay: Laguna's Frost Porcelain 

Glaze: Coyote (Archie) Opal

Dimensions: 5" high x 4.75" wide

Cook: Eggs Benedict for One

I had a couple slices of honey ham left in my fridge that I wanted to use up, and so that meant one more stab at perfecting the mother sauce of Hollandaise. And the sauce was. Perfect.        

  

And the eggs too. Poached. Perfect. Firm whites with runny yolk.

And I've got lemons to make more Hollandaise sauce for a steamed vegetable at dinner...

...as well as a sink full of dirty dishes to show for my labors.

Cook: Not-so-paleo, Not-so-gluten free Lasagne

I don’t think I had cooked lasagne for at least a couple months while trying to change up my rotation by adding more Asian and South Asian and Latino dishes into the dinner menu. I’d been craving Italian American and decided to cook lasagna last night. Hubs came home with this summer harvest the other night. Rather than microwaving with salt and butter and rosemary or sautéing with garlic and chili flakes or even roasting, I grated two yellow squash and a wee zucchini with red onion (also from the garden), sprinkled with salt and then let it drain in a colander for at least 10 minutes. I then tossed it with a little flour and garlic powder and black pepper and then spooned it in 1/4 cups into sizzling canola oil until browned. Yummers.      

And this afternoon, when he came home with more yellow squash and another wee zucchini, I decided to halve, salt and season with red chili flakes before broiling for 10 minutes and then turning over and broiling the other side for another 5 minutes to drive off steam and caramelize for more depth of flavor than if I’d just sauté it.                            

A few days ago, a fellow gardener gave us New Zealand spinach, which I chopped and sautéed with minced shallot and garlic. Once cooled, I combined with ricotta and Parmesan.                                         

 

Next I made a semi-quick marinara by sautéing the rest of the shallot and almost half a head of garlic in a couple tablespoons of butter and olive oil and then snipped some oregano which I crushed and ground in my hands to separate from the branches. I also put in generous teaspoons of dried thyme and basil.                                  

While I was at it, I opened a bottle of Chardonnay to toss half a glass into the aromatics along with red pepper flakes.                                

While the marinara was simmering, I admired and then took photos of all the bouquets hubs had arranged and placed throughout our home. When I first met Patrick, I remember in his spartan condo, he had a huge bouquet of flowers made from two bunches he would buy weekly at Costco.                                                 

I do so love our vegetable garden for the dahlias, lilies, roses, and gladioli it grows too. Afterward it was time to construct the lasagna. I layered the broiled summer squash at the bottom (oops I snacked on one of the squashes) and filled in the gaps with browned Italian sausage I had removed from its casing.                                             

I had boiled some eggs earlier, and after removing the eggs, I had taken two lasagna noodles out of the package, broken them in half and then put them in the very hot water for 10 minutes before drying them in a colander. Marinara and then noodles and then marinara atop the vegetables and meat. Next layer was the ricotta and cheese mixture to which I had added parmesan for a bit of salt and sprinkles of nutmeg. I was too lazy and pressed for time to make a béchamel.                               

 

And then a layer of marinara followed by a layer of noodles followed by a layer of marinara.                                   

 

Lastly because I hadn’t used any mozzarella—tiny balls of them with generous sprinkles of grated Parmigiana Regianno and Pecorino Romano.                            

And because we hadn’t eaten lasagne since winter or early spring, our meal was wondrous on our taste buds as well as a celebration of our early summer harvest. I forgot to take a photo of the final bake, but did remember after serving.             

Seriously yummy.                        

I’ve no more New Zealand spinach, but I do have a package of spinach in the freezer, which I plan to turn into another lasagna or a macaroni bake to put in the freezer to bake when I don’t feel like cooking from scratch.

Clay: Putter and Play

Yesterday for ceramics club, I had no plan for what I was going to do in Zan’s classroom, nor knew that it was going to happen because I didn’t even bring my tool bag.

I was finishing up my daily 5 mile loop when Zan messaged me that she was on her way to clay club. I intended to just deliver greenware to campus, but ended up loading it all into the bisque kiln. And afterward I used slab roller, rolling pins, cookie cutters, rubber stamps, needle and loop tools and slab roller to make little heart-shaped jewelry dishes and pendants.            

I also played with a plaster cast that Erika had made of a TV dinner tray—I might use it to hold food sculpture but it could also turn into a trinket tray. I also remembered to take out of plastic, the paintbrush vessel I made a couple weeks ago. I gotta remember to bring to the studio my plaster mold of a Patty Pan squash and the Oriental slip and finally make some vases with it. And plan and sketch the lamp I’m going to make. 

Clay: Iron Oxide and Commercial Decals

I had this Duncan plate laying around, which I intended to use as a plate mold. But as a rookie ceramicist, I was startled and displeased by shrinkage, especially of porcelain clays. For example if I’m cutting a slab porcelain plate, it needs to be a 12” diameter to shrink down to a 10” plate. I discovered that with Coleman porcelain (which also warped AF). And so I used the Duncan plate as a test pot to see if there was enough iron oxide in the laser printer I use to make water slide decals.                            

The iron oxide in the toner cartridge is at least 30% or enough to make an image on to ceramic. A cone 04 firing was hot enough for the image to be permanent and not rub off. I particularly love this quote from Frida. And I especially loved this image of Kahlo on a rooftop in NYC (I imagine Brooklyn), smoking a cigarette in her blue dress. Next I want to figure out how to add color to these red brown images. But in the meantime I can add color on this plate by adhering colorful floral commercial decals to this plate.            

I also couldn’t stop fussing with my sea mug and adhered an Isak Dinesen quote to its interior.  

 And so here’s Frida so far.            

But I’ve just found even more flower decals, and of course I’m gonna go maximalist with them. I also need to figure out where to cone 016 slow fire her.