clay: 4-taper holder candelabra

Clay Body: Laguna Speckled Buff

Glazes: Clay Life's Majolica (white gloss)

Method/Firing: Hand built/Cone 6  

After seeing one of my posts of one of my candelabras in action and after a basically no-sale pottery pop-up, Cybil offered $25 for one of my candelabra. I didn't want to give her the one I've been using, and so I made this one. And it was in my car, and so I gave it to her after seaweed foraging and told her to message me a pic of it with tapers in it because I didn't get a chance to photograph it in the light box. 

clay: sea-themed candelabra in workshop

I was home from Santa Cruz and was finally able to easily fall asleep at bedtime. I was also back to imbibing wine. Just for a little longer before another sober curious break.                     

I forgot to bring this bottle to the beach cottage. Upon my return, I stuck the Chardonnay in the freezer to chill, drank a small glass and then put the wine in the fridge and went to bed. Finished the white wine the next night. Oh shit. That was a lotta alcohol. But I’ve another bottle in the pantry. That’ll be for a supper to share with friends sometime this summer. A bottle of soju too, and so I may host a Korean supper to share and get rid of that bottle too.

Last week at Clay Club@Capuchino, I extruded coils of red clay and formed the shapes for a candelabra and humped a slab over a plaster mold for a base as well as hand built taper and tealight holders. I constructed the piece this past Tuesday and started embellishing it.

I liked the shape a lot though I worried that it was too large. I used the silicon molds I ordered from Temu in China. I like how the coral and mermaid sprig molds turned out.

I kept knocking the candle holder off kilter though while decorating and hoped that it would by Thursday. Jeffrey helped with bringing props and casting a critical eye.

And I just kept trying to build up a coral reef...

...but also embellish the sea floor with a little crab and seashells.

I wanted to paint porcelain slip over the piece, but this build took too long for me to do that. I was also trying to add texture with stylus and scoring tools. All that messing around with the candelabra led to its collapse on the following Thursday. I knew that would happen though, and I remember when trying to build with this red clay before that it just didn't have enough grog. IT'S ALL LEARNING and A-okay. I'm gonna attempt this sea-themed candleholder again, but with Dixon Red and then use the Smooth Red for the sprig molds.

cook: birthday breakfast burritos and a cake

For a Saturday morning to celebrate my neighbor, Helen's birthday at a breakfast party, I volunteered to make burritos AND bake the cake. She wanted bacon in her burrito, and so I decided to cook San Diego-style burritos with chorizo (fried the day before), bacon, eggs, tater tots, refried beans (also prepared beforehand), cheese, salsa, sour cream, and guacamole.                        

And first, the bacon and the tater tots, which I baked in the oven. I think I overcooked the bacon, but I knew the guests would want the meat very crisp.

I beat the 5 eggs for 7 burritos with heavy cream and dashes of Old Bay seasoning. And then I soft scrambled them in lots of butter. I constructed each burrito with a slathering of refried beans, slices of cheddar, sprinklings of chopped cilantro and red onion, the chorizo and bacon atop the scrambled eggs, then tater tots and a stream of my red salsa with chipotles in adobo sauce and roasted tomatoes with onions, garlic, and chili peppers.

 

Then it was a process of rolling and enfolding in aluminum foil and then setting in a 250 degree oven to stay warm.

Giant breakfast burritos done, but wait there was more and not really. And since I didn't want to add guacamole to the burrito to then bake in the oven, I opted to have my Christmas salsas alongside--the cooked red salsa and the raw green salsa with tomatillos and avocados.

I declined the steak and shrimp birthday dinner the night before, so I could bake Helen's cake. Unfortunately when I finished decorating, the cake resembled a mouse more than the dog that I wanted the cake to look like. I tried moving the ears. Nope.                         

 

And so I ran the cake over to my neighbor, Nancy's home, where Cecilia happened to also be and asked help. They had me flop the ears to look more like Sassy and Rosie (the white dogs belonging to the birthday girls), and that difference made it look much more dog-like. I also ran my fingertips through the icing to resemble dog fur, even better looking. 

 

The next day, I lit the candles and we sang happy birthday and sliced into the cake.

I love any occasion to bake a pride cake, and especially a pride puppy cake.

(stay)cation: santa cruz

My getaway to Santa Cruz was not as relaxing as I thought it would be, but I'm not unhappy. I always want to see and window shop everything whenever somewhere new, which I think I did. Our first stop was at a favorite coffee shop of Cybil's called the 11th Hour. 

I stopped at the gift shop around the corner and admired all the ceramics, soaps, housewares, and this big stitch quilt.       

 

While sipping my decaf almond latte, I also looked at the schedule of the neighboring yoga studio and stepped briefly into the knitting shop. Lyra bought herself an empanada, Cybil and I checked out Manresa bakery and then I bought a used Spanish text/workbook at a brewery.

We had time before check-in and went to Costco for Bulgogi and Salmon Milano (no real seafood road show products at all. not. at. all. to which Lyra said Santa Cruz Costco be white people Costco). Where are the miso cod? the clams? the mussels?  Onward to Trader Joe's for eggplant, cucumber, corn on the cob, chili lime spice, lemons, lime, eggs, English muffins, watermelon, strawberries, olive oil, lime juice, sparkling water, Italian pasta, English peas, kale, parmesan, ciabatta, baguette, heavy whipping cream, a mini bouquet, and carnations. Right away at the cottage, I arranged the flowers and moved knick knacks around. I did love that the nautical and beachy art and decor in the cottage looked to be local and not from a Home Goods spree. On walks everywhere, I foraged more flowers like the alstroemeria for the bud vases flanking the mini bouquet.

Cybil and Lyra colored and did calligraphy while I sketched and journaled on that first afternoon. I put away groceries and explored drawers and cupboards in the kitchen. Cybil had chosen the cottage because cook and house guests could interact in the open plan. Just a couple doors away was a convenience store, where Cybil and Lyra bought more craft beers. 

 

I did not drink a lot. Just small glasses of beer. No wine at all. I stuck to mainly coffee in this Molly Hatch mug that I made my favored cup. 

We did walk down to and along the Twin Lakes State Beach, and I showed them the Santa Cruz Harbor from where I had launched outrigger canoes with my club and pointed where in the horizon we had raced.

Returning from that walk, we also missed the opening hours of the sushi market but found a poster in the window about the Japanese festival the next day at a local park. And so on that first evening, I tried to cook our bulgogi on the outdoor grill (not enough propane, and so I ended up cooking the second batch on the stove which set off the fire alarm because of no hood over the stove!) in the open space. We then read tarot cards and played Scrabble. 

On the next day, we ran an errand to the post office for Cybil to pick up art mailed to her from an artist in Vermont and then shopped downtown Santa Cruz, where I saw abject homelessness near the shelter after shopping for t-shirts and books and ephemera in all the gift shops. Back to the cottage for a lunch of leftover Korean food after going to the Japanese festival. There were bonsai, of course, but didn't see an Ikebana or kimono workshop at the site though I did a craft activity sponsored by the public library, which I hung on the chandelier.

I pottered around the kitchen that evening while Lyra made strawberry daiquiris.

 

I cooked salmon... 

...corn lathered with butter and chili lime and Parmesan cheese...

and pasta with vegetables.

More tarot readings on the deck that Lyra and I bought for Cybil though we also read from my deck. I really, really appreciate and like my Mystic Mondays deck. 

Golly was I tuckered out and hoped to get sleep that night.

I didn't sleep well. Whatever. I always just soldier through when insomnia happens. But first the Harbor Cafe for breakfast. I ordered a bloody Mary before our meal while Cybil ordered a riff on the Capri Sun pouches of her youth.

 

I didn't ask to taste her cocktail because she had a cold, but I did take a photo of the recipe. 

Cybil and Lyra were lovelies and paid for my pancake breakfast as a thank you for all my cooking. I admired this hanging display of fish, which is giving me ideas for one that's the same BUT ceramic.        

On our last full day in Santa Cruz County, Cybil kindly agreed to drive me to Capitola, so I could return to the gift shop that sells the lovely stoneware ceramics from Thailand I admired with my friend, Preet. We stopped at Gayle's, so I could buy Patrick's coma cookies and brookies.

 

I ended up not finding the indigo and off-white vase I wanted, but we all got postcards and magnets at that gift shop. And in another gift shop we liked, Cybil got herself a puzzle and a poster of a hand drawn inked print of the Santa Cruz coast. I was exhausted and drank tea while overlooking the Capitola pier.

Farewell Capitola! You're gorgeous and charming.

 

Until next time! Last stop was Aptos St BBQ because I said we had all this bread from Trader Joe's and didn't get to eat my favorite breakfast tacos. Instead I was going to serve brisket and tri tip sandwiches and coleslaw in ciabatta and baguette. We also stopped at New Leaf Community Market, so I could buy pickles. Back at the cottage, Lyra made watermelon daiquiris this time. I also got my friends started on decoupaging our shells. Then we played a national parks board game, which I enjoyed, but golly was I tired and hoped to sleep well that night.

Departure day. I slept longer, but not long enough. I hustled to cook kimchi bulgogi, vegetable, and Chinese sausage fried rice. I also fried eggs to order.

No time for cooking Salmon Benedict too. I took the salmon home with me to eat for lunch. Good trip. Maybe we'll do it again in July midweek after Cybil gets back from Japan and before Lyra leaves for Spain.

cook: christmas salsas

I'd been invited to a tacos dinner party. I volunteered to bring a green and red salsa. For the raw salsa, I needed tomatillos, a jalapeno pepper, a serrano pepper, avocados, lime, cilantro (not pictured, but probably 8 stems and leaves--keep the stems as they contain a lot of flavor) and salt and maybe a bit of water.

All of the green ingredients went into the blender except for the avocado and lime juice. Also I had de-seeded and removed the membranes of the peppers to make this a mild salsa; I pulsed the blender in order to keep the ingredients coarse.

 

I love onions in a salsa, and so I chopped and minced what I had in the fridge, a couple tablespoons of red onion and soaked in cold water. I also put it in the fridge to chill more and remove its bite. I then added the avocado into the blender and pulsed again just for 5 seconds.

 

For my cooked salsa, I put a large tomato, cut in half; half a yellow onion; 4 cloves of garlic; a serrano pepper; and a jalapeno pepper on a baking sheet and broiled.

I also brought out dried oregano, coriander seeds, hot smoked paprika, and chipotles in adobo sauce for the mise en place.

I think the vegetables roasted for 15 minutes which was too long as my garlic was mostly burned. I could only add a couple cloves to the salsa. I'll need to remember in the future to remove the garlic sooner. 

I then added the roasted vegetables and generous sprinklings of the spices as well as a couple of chipotles and tablespoon of adobo sauce and a tablespoon of honey to the blender and let it whiz for a few minutes. My red salsa was thick! And so I added another tomato which then made it too thin:( Oh well. And so I added Valentina's to thicken it again.

Tomatillo avocado salsa and Tomato chipotle salsa done! I decanted the Christmas salsas to take to the taco dinner.                     

I also found beers at the Grocery Outlet to bring.

Once at the party, I helped as a sous chef and brought dishes to the table.    

I chopped Romaine and had also brought pickled radishes to which Zan added her newly pickled radish and red onion made just that afternoon.

Jeff had de-leafed the cilantro leaves from the stems, and I decanted my red salsa into a handmade ceramic bowl.

We decided we wanted tomato too for the tacos, and I decanted my green salsa into another handmade bowl to sit next to.

Zan had bought mango pico de gallo at the market which I set next to the bowl of Cheddar cheese I had grated.

I had also grated the Cotija cheese and set it next to the marinated mushrooms Zan had sauteed.

Jeff chopped and sliced yellow onion and red bell pepper which he sauteed while Zan grilled chicken breasts marinated in lime and tequila. And all together the taco condiment bar looked pretty darn impressive. One of those bowls of cheddar cheese disappeared because I had sprinkled it on to tortillas and popped into a 350 degree oven to melt the cheese. And from the kitchen, we plated chicken and cheese tacos, Elote corn, and Jeff's frijoles cooked in a crockpot with onion, peppers, Epazote, and avocado leaves--no ham hock as the other men didn't eat pork. We were starving while guzzling margaritas and trying not to eating too many blue corn chips and salsa while waiting for Markos and Aaron to arrive. But yeah taco condiment bar is a fun way to feed a dinner party, buffet style.