clay and cook: succulent planters and what should I prepare for a holiday gathering?

I was always plucking and pocketing little succulent plants on my pandemic walks, which I haven’t done in a while with the return to in-person learning. And as wonderful as moving my body in exercise classes has been, I miss my walks and wandering explorations on foot. I’m resolving to slow down during the winter break while taking stock of where I’ve been and are and what I want in the future. In the meantime, I’ve been absorbed by ceramics. Cecilia has been shopping from my pots of succulents (which will hopefully all sell in next weekend’s popup) in the community garden and commissioned me to make a dark clay succulent planter for her nephew. I didn’t want to construct another larger and low cylinder because I didn't have the patience to smooth seams and decided to go simpler and roll out as big a slab I could and slump it over one of the plaster molds I had poured a couple months ago.

I wish I had cut a larger circle for a deeper bowl, but I do like it even more than the cylinders I’d been scoring and slipping.

The bowl measures 7” across, and I’m guessing it will shrink down to 5” which is a rather small pot, and so really it's a maquette and not the large succulent pot Cecilia was wanting. That's okay. I can go bigger later. I had compressed enough Obsidian clay to make two more even smaller pots. 

I hope they’re not too shallow for succulents. And while I was at clay club, I also glazed the tree ornaments. Gawd what a pain in the arse it is to glaze pots with text. I used Western Deep Red and Foliage low fire glazes on the stars and nautical blue underglaze in the dreidels.

That was a lot of labor filling in the recesses with glaze and then sponging off excess and then painting wax resist into the text in order to then dip them in Colonial White overglaze.                  

In looking at the picture of the underglazed text ornaments above I’m pleased. But later I dipped them in overglaze and just YUCK. I may have to re-do the final glazing. I put them away for next week and went home to slice into matchsticks a daikon and salt with carrots already julienned and then pickle them.

Finally a task whose end at which I was satisfied. Patrick ate more pork and made latkes with leftover mashed potatoes for his dinner. Now I wonder if there's any left for the bahn mi sandwiches I was planning to use these pickles in. When I told Patrick I wanted to roast another porchetta and make sliders for his family's Christmas Day noshing, he kind of balked. Okay then. Roast beef sliders or a Beef Wellington, which I've never made either. Or I just might cook reliably tasty hamburger sliders, making sure to buy brioche buns. Oh and I would serve too, Yotam Ottolenghi's Charred Brussels Sprouts with Lime Basil Dressing for a holiday meal.

craft: ornament for a secret santa

I didn’t grow up playing nor ever really participated a lot in that holiday game where you pick a number and wait your turn to open a present while coveting and strategizing how you would steal someone else’s gift. I played the other night that game called Secret Santa or Dirty Santa with my slow sewing circle, which I mistakenly called the white elephant game in an email and was told, no it’s an ornament exchange and then later was reminded during the game that you have to steal someone’s gift before you open a wrapped present. Doh! Last night I opened a box containing a lovely glass ornament of a sewing machine and then tried to replace it AFTER I opened it by stealing Amy’s Santa Claus ornament. No, no, no you have to steal BEFORE you open a present. I was embarrassed because I unwittingly revealed I was NOT into an ornament of an old fashioned Singer. And I was kind of embarrassed that I painted an inexpensive chip board house as my ornament gift. Over the weekend while cooking up a storm, I crafted that ornament for this exchange. It started with this modern house ornament I bought at World Market. It’s one of three.    

All 3 are so adorable! I wanted all 3 for myself! But no, get just the 1 for the ornament exchange. I reminded myself not to be a greedy Gus and remembered Patrick’s admonishment to not be obsessed by tree ornaments. I chose the pink modern house because well, it’s pink, and its lines remind me the most of the suburban tract home in which I grew up in my Californian hometown and even though I loved the rooflines of the other houses more. But then I was a thirsty bitch and decided to keep the cute pink home and let it be the color reference for painting a similar wood house from the craft store.

I decided instead to paint it the same colors of the Modern Quilt Guild logo, but didn't have any gray paint for the roof. Doh! Helen said mix black and white. I went a bit too dark. I wish I had painted it a lighter gray or just kept adding white to the palette. Or just adhered glue to the roof and covered it in much more white glitter.

While at Mary's house for the ornament exchange and sewing, I admired her wreath wall quilt. This is the perfect pattern for using up my Kona solids. And I've all manner of greens to make it an interesting or variegated wreath. 

Here's the ornament I stole from Amy because thank goodness someone stole my sewing machine ornament. 

I stole well--my final ornament was "locked" or mine, all mine after my steal and Patrick quite liked this ceramic Santa when he asked what ornament I got. We've a collection of Santas on our tree--all given by his mother in a manner of styles from folksy to ethnic to midcentury and in wood or glass or tin or felt. Such a fun and sewy night.

cook: porchetta sandwich

I still have porchetta from Friendsgiving, and so I thought I’d try to make an Italian version of a Vietnamese bahn mi and use the chicken liver truffle mousse (that I thought was going to put into a charcuterie board for the holiday)instead of French pate. Instead of hoisin sauce, I drizzled balsamic glaze on the sliced pork. Instead of pickled daikon radish, carrots and cucumber, I substituted giardinera and pepperoncini. 

And because I had no bomba sauce, I subbed it out for shatta. I used classic mayo too instead of Japanese kewpie. Oh yeah, I remembered too the sliced ham and instead of cilantro, I used a few basil leaves.

Of course, it's all piled into an Italian baguette roll.

Taste test? Meh. Unlike a Vietnamese bahn mi with loads more freshness and raw vegetables, I wish I had kept the porchetta sandwich simpler. And so the next day when I made the sandwich for Cecilia, I omitted the truffle mousse and piled on more pork instead. I still sandwiched meat into the bread with a generous slather of mayo and a generous drizzle of balsamic glaze. And just used a lighter hand with the giardinera and basil. There was still a bit of the porchetta seasoning on the pork. If you ate this sandwich in Rome, you would eat it even more simply. No condiments. Just the juicy and flavorful porchetta and the bread. Some day I'll get there with my porchetta. Watch out pork belly, here I come.

cook: paella

Yesterday was my wedding anniversary. Patrick asked if I wanted to go out to dinner, and I said hell to the noooooo. I’m back to being a bit paranoid with the Omicron variant making Covid more transmissible. However, I’m not going to schedule my booster (and flu and other vaccines) until after December. My favorite exercise instructor will be gone in January, and so I’m taking as many of his aqua, dance, and core fitness classes I can in his last month at my gym. Sigh. I like the community college gym; it’s conveniently close, and I love its two Olympic sized pools. The other gym where my favorite instructor works is in a neighboring city with congested highway ramps in and out and doesn’t have as nice a pool. Anyway back to our celebration dinner. One dish I feel proficient at cooking is a paella. Coincidentally, Patrick just grew crocuses from which he painstakingly plucked its stamens.                                

In addition to the saffron, I happened to already have seafood in my freezer, a box of seafood stock, and Spanish rice.                   

The recipe in my America’s Test Kitchen also called for 8 medium cloves of garlic, a yellow onion, vegetables like a red bell pepper, which I had though it was green, and the requisite green peas. I decided to also add sugar snap peas, chives, and parsley.                   

I always get the stock hot, ready to pour onto and cook the rice. And of course, the chopping of the aromatics and vegetables for a mise en place.

First things first, I seared the scallops. And soaked the saffron threads in a bit of hot broth.                                  

Next the sofrito or sautéing of the onions and garlic before adding the rice so the grains can be coated with the oil and toast. Then the addition of white wine and half the can of chopped tomatoes. A fond was forming at the bottom of the pan, which is a signal to add stock to deglaze its browned bits.

I tried to add the vegetables toward the end of cooking the rice because I don't like my vegetables too soft and for them to retain their vibrant color. The prawns, mussels, clams, and squid were already precooked and went into the rice along with the scallops the last 5 minutes to get hot. Dinner is done and ready to serve with wedges of Meyer lemon.

The last time I cooked paella, I shared the meal with my friends, Cecilia and Rosanna. I halved the recipe for our anniversary to 4 servings instead of 8--and so 2 for leftovers during the week.

And coincidentally the next night, Rosanna stopped by and rhapsodized about my paella, which I mentioned that I had just cooked and which made her pout. Of course, I'm going to have to make it again. I think this time it will be for Cecilia's birthday and to which I must invite Rosanna.

clay + cook: obsidian plates & a red curry

Every other week I’m at a school where I get to do clay the last period on a Friday, and yesterday was that day. Finally my slab plate of obsidian clay had dried and pulled away from the edges, so that I could place it in the kiln along with all the white clay ornaments I had formed in clay club.                              

I so love the simplicity of this round shape. Three plates are already bisque-fired, and so next week will be devoted to glazing them in Colonial White.                  

I wish the three I threw away because of cracking hadn’t, but live and learn. I need to remember to bring the two porcelain vases that are also in the bisque cupboard to the clay studio in Central Park, where I’ve a wider array of Cone 5/6 glazes. And I had time to prep two speckled buff mugs with tape resist, which will also be dipped into Colonial White.                            

I’ll spend my prep period on Tuesday applying white underglaze to the undersides and wax resist to all the undersides of these plates, mugs, and vases and colored underglaze to the tree ornaments. When I got home from the gym last night, I grated the zest and a bit of the pith of the makrut limes.           

My gosh are these citrus fruits so fragrant! In my hurry, I forgot to add the miniature corn to my curry. I thought the red curry sauce I bought was a paste that you had to add coconut milk, so the meal came together faster than I’d expected. I added chopped red bell pepper, green snap peas, leftover turkey, a little more fish sauce and tamarind paste and palm sugar as well as the zest and pith of the makrut limes.

The leaves have the same flavor as the lime zest but its scent and flavor is more subtle. I made the mistake of putting a julienned sliced leaf atop my finished dish. Oh was that bitter! Okay next time just throw the leaf into the beginning of the curry to discard later. But honestly it’s the zest and pit that is more flavorful than the leaves, and I’m glad I didn’t make the mistake of squeezing the juice and putting that into my dish.

cook: orzo salad

I had lots of odds and ends in the fridge: a bit of feta, lemon feta olive salad, green olives, kalamata olives, roasted red bell pepper, marinated artichokes, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, a package of Moroccan tofu. Plus an almost empty box of orzo pasta. And because I’d been craving and finally got around to making it--hummus. Nothing beats a creamy hummus sprinkled with dukkah, hot paprika, a spoonful of shatta or Middle Eastern pepper sauce, and a generous drizzle of fruity olive oil. All of the bits and pieces went into an orzo salad, and all these viands from the fridge made for a very fine dinner. My winter mezze is starchier than the mezzes I assemble in summer. But thank goodness for plant proteins like tofu to add more complexity to the carbs.      

Tofu may be quite bland, but easily takes on the flavors of whatever you cook it with. I imagine my Moroccan tofu was steeped in lots of paprika, turmeric, cinnamon, cumin, ginger, cardamom, which I browned in a skillet. There was a delightful contrast between soft and chewy and crispy. I’m such a fan of this particular brand of tofu that I asked my husband to look for it (and any kind would've made me happy)on the shelves at the warehouse we shop.                  

Alas no hodo to be had on that trip, and so I’ll have to find it at the supermarket where it costs a bit more. 

However, I do love that these tofu products expand my ethnic meal rotations. For dessert, I usually eat an orange or a tangerine, but the winter holidays means that Trader Joe’s is carrying almond Kringle from Racine, Wisconsin. And so that baked good is alongside my fruit bowl with the rest in the freezer for desserts the next couple weeks until I break open into another seasonal pastry, panettone.                      

These pastries are not what I would’ve relished a couple decades ago. As a staid middle aged woman, I'm usually happy with some nuts and cheese and fruit to nibble after dinner.

communal feeding: friendsgiving

My porchetta style roast was delicious y’all. I panicked and cranked the heat toward the end, and then had to go to the clubhouse to decorate and rearrange furniture. While I was gone, my two hour timer went off. Patrick looked at the roast, cranked the oven even more and burned the fat cap. He felt bad about that and scraped off as much blackened crust as he could. We worried that an internal temp of 180 would result in overcooked meat or a dry roast, but I also worried about undercooked pork. We did let it go to 180 degrees Fahrenheit in a less thick part of the roast and the fat that didn't burn remained.

Then I sliced the rested pork and kept tasting--it was that delicious. Even Patrick kept breaking off bits of crispy fat and saying yum. I said wow you’ve never expressed that kind of pleasure over fat (he usually complains to me about it and gristle and leaves it on his plate). He said when it’s crackling like this, it’s delicious, too rich, but delicious. I then remembered that he does like crispy bacon. The pork was the perfect pink and tender and juicy. 

There were things I didn’t get done for the party. I never did hang my paper mum wreath, nor nailed up the icicle lights—which I merely draped on the window sill with the wooden signage I bought at Hobby Lobby. I bought pine wood signs with my favorite-style of lettering surrounded in pumpkin hues and motifs with homey sayings like “gather” or “happy harvest” and “welcome” that looked lovely. Because they were thanksgiving-themed, they were 75% off the day before the holiday which of course, I couldn't help myself from buying. I was in too much of a rush to take pictures of everything including my herb encrusted roast. Oops. Oh well. The food was DELICIOUS y’all. And I managed to capture a few images before we partook of dinner. Below Jillian is hamming it up in front of Chia and Jo and Nancy while Kathy played with the dogs and Helen and I took pictures.                       

Below are Nancy's dressing, her mashed potatoes and Cecilia's turkey gravy.

Kathy's spinach salad with fresh blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, and dried cranberries dressed with a champagne viniagrette (Girard makes an awesome dressing). Chia's homemade green bean casserole with thick sliced mushrooms and a brothy homemade sauce and lots and lots of crispy shallots.

Helen's canned cranberry jelly and store-bought soft dinner rolls. She also bought the flowers for the table, which I had put into small bud vases to decorate the long table along with many votive candles.

Cecilia's roast turkey and my roast pork. She said she only sliced 3 pounds off her 13-pound bird. And I sliced the same off my 6-pound roast. Some of the leftover pork went home with the guests, and I made bahn mi sandwiches and tacos as well as dog food for Sadie and Wallace.

I took some turkey to make a Thai red curry. I'm back to Thistle and am inspired to incorporate organic spinach and baby kale and grains like brown rice and quinoa into our meals. I was talking to Chia who loved the pork, especially the crunchy fatty bits. We talked about the gelatinous textures that Asians like that White people don't. She wondered if pork belly could be roasted, and so I had to mention J. Kenji Lopez Alt's All-Belly Porchetta. And I mentioned that I just went simpler with Epicurious's Porchetta-Style Roast Pork(which they got from the New York Times recipe which was buried behind their pay wall).

And after dinner even though I was tired and longing to send guests home so I could clean up the clubhouse, I wanna do it all again for a Xmas cocktail party. Next month, I won’t line up the tables, but will keep them separate for smaller congregations and conversations. All the food will be brought again by each guest and will be appetizers which is my favorite kind of dinner. I will clean up the bookcases in the clubhouse and get rid of some of the junk--trashy books, board games missing pieces, dusty old candles. I did leave my glasses of votives for the next party as well as the gold rimmed dinner plates and my Picardie glass tumblers. And next time, I will make a mulled wine which guests can go to the kitchen stove to refill their cups—the drink station can be there too. And food buffet style on the long light tables which I can again cover with green art paper. I’ll measure tables, so I can cut the paper to size. The ladies want to install a Xmas tree, and I ain't messing with that design decision. I'll nail up the icicle lights next time and start constructing giant snowball wreaths to hang with the twinkling lights.