homemade tastes better on handmade.: December 2015

Saturday, December 19, 2015

Plough to Pantry

I'll post proper links as soon as they're available, but I am so excited to share this I just couldn't wait. I am beyond grateful to be included in this fine publication, and more so in a feature about homemade and handmade (as you might expect). Many thanks to all involved - Plough to Pantry is available at various locations in Asheville, and you can also subscribe to a digital edition via their parent website.

Cover Photo by Megan Authement: A ploughman's lunch by Budy Finch Catering and Revelry of Flat Rock, NC, featuring Blue Ridge Mountain Creamery's Ugly Baby Swiss and Cana de Cabra goat's milk cheese from Spain, a puree of roasted local butternut squash, sweet potatoes, carrots and rutabagas with toasted pepitas, sourdough bread from Candler's Farm & Sparrow Bakery and Highland Brewing's Cold Mountain Winter Ale in Pottery by Lori Theriault of Crazy Green Studios and The Village Potters in Asheville's River Arts District, shot at Villagers urban homestead supply store in West Asheville.

Artist: Lori Theriault. Restaurant: Curate. Photo by Paul M. Howey

Above left: Restaurant: Glass Onion, Artist: Magnum Pottery. Above right: French Broad Chocolate Lounge,
Artist: Lori Theriault, Photos by Paul M. Howey. Bottom left: Artist: Lindsay Rogers Ceramics. Photo courtesy of the artist.

"Does the pot look better because of the food, or does the food look better because of the pot?"
Artist: Lindsay Rogers Ceramics. Photo courtesy of the artist.

What's this About?

Homemade: "made or prepared at home, or by the maker's own efforts." This includes wild concoctions inspired by random ingredients as well as divine multi-course sensory feasts. The maker could be a chef or just someone who loves food, from the look of a seasonally ripe vegetable to the aroma of freshly pinched herbs to the sound of a just right sizzle, and of course the taste. It's mostly small batch, done in a personal kitchen, but it could also be a small business that manages to keep the love inside each bite of what they serve in restaurants or pack into containers. It doesn't travel very far, if at all possible, and it involves seasonal ingredients. Every grain, leaf, teaspoon, pinch, and drip of goodness is touched by the maker, and the whole is a reflection of that heart and soul.

Handmade: "made by hand, rather than by machine." Pretty simple, and yet not simple at all. A wheel thrown bowl involves the combination and coordination of materials, physics, and aesthetics. It must survive the making, the trimming, the drying, the firing, the glazing, and then the firing again. Again the maker has touched every grain of clay, a thousand times over. And just as the heart and soul of the cook is evident in every bite, so the heart and soul of the potter is evident in the look, the touch, and the feel of every piece of pottery made.

When you put your heart and soul into making a meal, you want the dishes you use to be worthy of that meal. And when you make or use beautifully crafted, handmade pottery, you want the food to be worthy of its creation.

Life slows down when you sit at a table, in good company, and find it set with handmade lovelies that are laden with homemade love.

Homemade just tastes better on handmade.

homemade tastes better on handmade.

Saturday, December 19, 2015

Plough to Pantry

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