clay: frustration with frost

Handbuilding with Laguna Frost porcelain clay has been incredibly frustrating. Out of 5 pots, only 1 did not crack. Into a bag went the 2 Xmas trees and 2 sea mugs to be hammered into smaller chunks and dust and then reclaimed with water. I’m not giving up on building a ceramic lamp, but I did take a break from porcelain and started throwing tiny pots from reclaimed stoneware clay. They were boat anchors and almost too dry, but I trimmed them anyway.

I was careful to not get too mesmerized by flying ribbons of clay and a spinning wheel, so no pots with holes on the bottom. 

I like 'em.

The one on the very far left though has a rather funky foot. And I will probably dip them all in Caramel and then layer on Teal Appeal on the ridges if I don't just glaze them all in Gloss White.

clay: speckled buff mugs

 

 

Clay Body: Speckled Buff

Glazes: Gloss White, Blushing Pink, Muddy Waters

Method/Tools: hand built, slab roller

cook: candied kumquats

I've been snacking all winter on citrus, mostly tangerines, and so when my friend, Feliz gave me thumbprint cookies filled with kumquat jam, I gobbled them as my evening dessert. Recently, she gave me a pound and a half of kumquats, which I decided to candy. What's interesting about kumquats is that the whole fruit, including skin, pith and seeds is edible, but what's sweetest is the peel. The juice is what's most bitter of the fruit. I started de-seeding the kumquats late one evening and then gave up to go to bed even though I'd only a handful left. I was exhausted that Saturday after my first morning of outrigger canoe paddling a few months after the off-season practices were over and then shuttling all over a few towns over to grocery shop.

 

I resumed on a super bright Sunday morning to slicing and removing seeds from the rest of the kumquats.

The recipe is super easy to candy kumquats. You merely boil sugar and water to make a syrup for 10 minutes and then add kumquats to simmer for another 15 to 20 minutes. Then you strain the kumquats and let its syrup simmer for another 10 minutes.

 

I decanted the kumquats back into the quart jar and then poured most of the boiled syrup over them.

I love how jeweled the fruit looks in the jar and decided that a little of the candied kumquat would be tasty in a buttery shortbread cookie.

cook: sinigang baboy

I made the mistake a few weeks ago of buying pork spare ribs at the Filipino grocery and then pork shoulder country ribs at Safeway. Too much pork to indulge my nostalgia for endless childhood meals of "soup bone" or sinigang baboy. I had tamarind paste in the fridge for a souring agent and eggplant and green beans from the grocery store as well as fish sauce, onions and cabbage in my pantry.

 

I also added hot yellow peppers that I had pickled.

I've learned that you boil the meat on the bones for a couple hours or until it's fall off the bones tender. And then only put the vegetables the last 3 to 4 minutes of simmering.

On Saturday night, I found a forgotten and neglected school lunch of sinigang baboy in the fridge but had to toss it. I hate food waste, and so more than ever I'm trying not to cook more than 2 different dishes over the weekend and to eat what's leftover in the fridge for dinner over the work week. And because it’s been so cold this past February, I’ve been cooking soups. Tuscan bean with fennel and kale. Potato leek. Spicy black bean. Tonkatsu ramen.

craft: seaweed pressing + santa cruz

Last weekend, I persuaded a friend, Cybil to take a seaweed pressing class at Cabrillo College. She and I got up early on a Saturday morning and drove to Davenport Landing Beach, and we had time enough beforehand to eat a pancake breakfast at Whale City Bakery. The beach was glorious, surfers showed up even if the waves were flat, and Cybil and I managed to gather some interesting eel grass as well as get drenched from the knees down by a wave. We had a ton of time before meeting up in the classroom, and aargh had I known, we would have eaten breakfast at Gayle's Bakery, but we went there anyway to buy Patrick's $100 worth of cookies and a loaf of their sourdough. And even though I wasn't hungry, I bought an Italian ficelle sandwich because their baguettes are that good. I guess the rack on the beach was unusually scarce because the instructor then went to Cowells to gather giant sea kelp and more rack. The giant kelp is my favorite plant life, which I'd been intending to draw and water color.

 

The instructor also shared a little marine biology with us and also gave us this slimy seaweed at the below left. I particularly love the red fronds I collected at Davenport at the below right.

 

And then I pressed the variety I had collected on the beach to dry on one sheet of watercolor paper. I'll find a sea plant identification book later to write what each plant's genus and species name is.

 

In the meantime, I'll continue letting the seaweed dry and maybe hunt for tiny frames at thrift shops in order to display them. After the class, Cybil asked to go to Bookshop Santa Cruz. Of course, I wanted too. I debated buying the two below but did not.

 

And I love the concept below, which I'll need to do some day at my school library.

I also perused the latest America's Test Kitchen even thou we still have ours from almost 20 years ago. I took a pic of the macaroni salad as I want to make it to go with brisket and coleslaw if I have any after making curtido.

Afterward Cybil and I walked downtown Santa Cruz, where I bought flip flops from a surf shop, frozen custard from the vegan burger place for her, and even more cookies from Pacific Cookie Company. Oh and she said I needed to bring Patrick here for dinner some time.

Chocolate is not my thing, but it is my husband's passion.

For Patrick, I would take him here for dinner. However, I looked at the menu, and the only chocolate items for dinner are mole plates of chicken and shrimp and a chocolate bbq pork. Kind of underwhelming, and so I'm leery.

Back at home, I just cooked and cooked. First though I stopped at Feliz's house because she had a bunch of kumquats to give me. The plan today is to make marmalade. I would've yesterday, but frankly I was fatigued from  outrigger canoe paddling (my first practice for the new season). I trimmed the pots I threw in my frustration with frost and then grocery shopping in Redwood City.

But last week and weekend, I had time to cook Tuscan salmon and buttered garlic pasta after my day in Santa Cruz.

T'was a fine meal.

Last Sunday was also leisure time enough to make Ina Garten's French baked eggs in the morning. The large brown organic eggs I found at the Business Costco are gloriously orange, and I'm gonna return there from now on to buy those eggs.

And that Sunday was time to clean out my freezer and cook ravioli and an Italian sausage marinara to top them and cook the purple cauliflower Patrick brought home.

My other shopping that weekend was for soap. Not. Amazon. I've never bought those plastic pods for either laundry or dishwasher machine cleaning. Recently I bought Earth Breeze sheets that turn into soap in the washing machine and these tablets for the dishwasher. 

Yah and I've never used oily dryer fabric softener sheets in the dryer. I'm trying as much possible to not shop for anything but what is needed and just groceries. Either I make it or buy at the thrift shop.

clay: sgraffito caprese salad plate

 

Clay Body: Bmix

Glazes: Amaco Velvet black underglaze, Cone 6 clear

Tool: Diamond Core and mini loop tool

clay: black candelabra

Clay: Bmix with Grog

Cone: 6

Glazes: Black Pearl, Nights in Black Satin, Amaco Velvet Jet Black