On the subject of Fine Dining and Dinosaur Pasta

“When life is hard and the day has been long, the ideal dinner is not four perfect courses, each in a lovely pool of sauce whose ambrosial flavors are like nothing ever before tasted, but rather something comforting and savory, easy on the digestion – something that makes one feel, if even for only a minute, that one is safe.”  ~Laurie Colwin

My friend Kay Crane posted this quote at the bottom of her recent post on her blog, Big Fat Art Cloth. She wrote on the occasion of her birthday, which, as I notice the clock ticking over as I write this, is today. 

Enjoying one of many lovely meals in Italy with Kay. Grappa Limone!!

As you may read on her blog, we've known each other a good while and yes I used to really have a thing for Tupperware. We've shared many a meal, and many of them quite spectacular in composition and quantity. But our beginnings were much more humble, and in truth, I was always a bit surprised at how impressed and grateful Kay was to have me offer her up dinosaur pasta with butter and cheese. That was my go-to meal on the go when we were in that short rest between our day jobs and our evenings working on a production of "The Miracle Worker". I thought she was just happy someone else was cooking, and that it wasn't peanut butter crackers from the gas station, but I do believe more it was good midwest manners that her Mama Ceil instilled from an early age. 

When I read that quote by Laurie Colwin, the last line really rang true for those experiences we shared and the vast amount of dinosaur pasta we ingested. It's no wonder they're extinct, but in those moments, we were safe. Safe from the crazy of the day behind us, safe from hunger, safe to take our day, part two, well into the evening. That alone would make me want to read more of Laurie Colwin's writing, and now I won't have to wait as Kay has sent me one of her books and I know I'm going to love it. 

So in honor of my good friend's birthday, I have re-invented our dinosaur pasta. If you've read my blogs and 'recipes', you know I am challenged to follow a recipe to its word. That goes for my own recipes, too. I regret I no longer keep dino-pasta stocked in the pantry, but I did have some rice penne. And the cow dairy products don't sit too well with me anymore, but I did have some goat butter and odds and ends of lovely sheep's milk cheese. And the basil - well, one does want a touch of color!

What Dinosaur Pasta Looks Like almost 20 Years Later (ok, gotta work on the name for this one):

Rice Penne (I use Tinkyada - the only rice pasta I've found that doesn't go all mushy)
Goat Butter, a couple of knobs
Mangego Cheese, finely grated
Pecorino Romano, finely grated
Salt - a sprinkle in the water while boiling the pasta
3-4 leaves of Basil, julienned

Quantities: start with how much pasta you're cooking, and use an amount of the other ingredients that fits the amount of pasta. No, I didn't measure, I was too busy being nostalgic, but I have great faith that you can work this out. Boil the pasta, drain it and put it in a bowl that already has the butter, which is close to room temp. Melt the butter on the pasta, then add the basil, then the cheese and combine. 

In honor of Kay's birthday, I ate this out of the bowl with the wooden spoon sitting cross-legged on the couch. There's no real relationship to Kay or her birthday and this style of eating, I just thought I should do something special.

Happy Birthday, Kay!

into the stretch, refreshed!

What a wonderful little break I had while Isabel, Jason & Sam visited Asheville. I knew I'd take a day off to play with them, but ended up really having a mini-vaca with them. Isabel will post (with great cropping discretion, I trust!) all the action photos on facebook - I only grabbed my camera the day they left. But we had a great afternoon at Lake Powhatan where I went lake swimming for the first time in years, and had my first experience with the noodle. LOVED it. And yesterday we had a day with double the mud fun! First, Sam had an impromptu lesson on the wheel, and made a very lovely piece.

Sam's bowl - he has a very nice touch on the wheel!

Then, we found a great place not far from town to do some 'gemming', and now I'm waiting to hear what happens to the big rock Sam found that was described mainly as 'money', when we asked our guide what it was.

hmmmm....was I always this much shorter?
somebody get me a half apple!


one more squidge before they go

So now they're on the road to Pawley's Island (believe me, I tried to figure out how to close the studio another few days to hit that beach as well, but since I don't yet control time and space, I couldn't do that and get the kilns filled....), and I'm back to my lovely studio.

the welcome pedestal, abloom with the promise of a productive day!

It's another gorgeous day, breezy so far, so with windows open and fans running, it's quite nice.

Plenty here just waiting for my attention, plus the list I have yet to make!

oh wedging fairy...?!


ready to load...

ready for ...

So I may daydream about getting back in that lake, but I've got some new energy to crank out the pots so maybe I WILL go float in the lake (gotta get a noodle...)!

Back from Atlanta

Feeling much more alert now that I've caught up on sleep, and ready to hit the studio and start another frenzied production schedule for another firing in a few weeks, but first a recap of the weekend's events!

Friday I opened the kiln and shot a few pictures of the new work as I unloaded, sorted for orders and packed for the show.








(some of the new tile tests)

The firing overall was great, although I still want to work on the copper green glaze and/or the application of those we have. The glory of that glaze for me is the range it gives in firings, depending on the clay body, place in kiln, firing, etc., but I want to set the parameters of that range a bit more to my liking. The new brush work and glaze combos were good again in this kiln, and again I ran out of time and wish I had done more, but it just gives me a good starting place for what I'm throwing when I get in the studio today!

Once loaded and deliveries made, I finally hit the road around 5pm. A few traffic slow downs and my usual confused navigation through I-285 and missing my exit, and I was finally at my host destination around 9:45. I did a little car re-arranging and organizing, but realized that I might as well just wait and price when I unloaded at the show. I did go through my tent-mate's goods to make sure I found everything she left for me, and got that packed into the car.

I meant to take some pictures of the town square that hosted the event - as much as the continued build up all around Atlanta always confuses and confounds me when I try to make my way around areas I used to know so well, the development of this little Village Market in Smyrna has the opposite effect - it's really lovely, and I think it has the potential of really being an event destination for this area if they can let more people know it's here.

The set up went pretty well, considering I'd never dealt much with gallery set up construction. I need to tell my potter friends who make wall hanging pieces that they should look into this for shows - the cables holding Anne's pictures hold up to 40 pounds each, and it's so much easier than transporting fake walls and dealing with hardware and tools! Luckily, the set up time 'officially' ended about two hours before the show started, so I made sure everything was out by the end of set up, but then spent a more leisurely time pricing and organizing back stock.



Crazy Green Studios with tent-partner Bark Photography

So all the elements of the show were in place for a great result - the backdrop of the Village Market was beautiful, the weather was perfect, the booth looked great. Now just for the people! Ah well, that's where the road takes a turn. From what I could gather from the people who did come through, nobody seemed to know about the event, other than those I had invited on my own mailing list and a few others attached to the other artists. Nearby Dobbins Air Base was having an air show that rattled the ware every few minutes, but it ended in the early portion of our show - only it didn't seem to bring any of that crowd our way. Based on the number of people who did come through the booth, sales were great, which does make me think that if people actually knew about the show, they would come and it could be a good show worth traveling for. Otherwise, it was just a nice vehicle to see old friends, but I'd rather do that without the hassle and stress of filling a kiln, loading ware and setting up a booth!

But friends did come! I didn't have my head on to get pictures of everyone again, but here's one gang of high school and college friends:


Good friends Anne, Ginny, Lee & Edie


It was so great to see everyone, and next time maybe no show so I can take more pictures and just hang out more!

Sunday I took some ware over to MudFire Gallery for their upcoming holiday show, and got to visit a bit with Erik and Luba while they were on a workshop break (and then Luba kindly let me steal her to go rummage through my boxes of pots!). Sunday night my hosts Anne & Steve joined me in meeting my 'god-family' Nancy, Gordon, Anna Lori & Alex for dinner (again forgot the camera!!!!), and yet another friend was dining a few tables away.

Monday, I was able to have a lovely brunch with more gal pals then hit the road back to the mountains. The colors are starting to show, and it was a gorgeous day for the drive. Now everything is dumped in the studio and waiting for my organizing and cleaning, so it's back to the daily show!

Open House, pt.1

Well the house is open, it's official! We had great weather for the open house on Saturday, and a nice stream of friends old and new come check out the new studio. This is part one of my report, as I took a couple of shots when I finished setting up, then promptly forgot the camera but for a few other random shots. Luckily, dear friends Anne & Steve drove up from Atlanta for the event, and I think it's a safe bet that Anne-the-professional-photographer got a few shots herself. I'll post those as soon as she sends them to me when she returns to the big ATL.

The studio cleaned up nicely, with all the elements working together: things on wheels pushed out of the way, new, portable slab roller (thanks Dan!) to easily roll out slabs for the tile project then move into a corner, fabulous risers and ware shelves (thanks Alex!) to use 101 ways and another fabulous table (thanks Annie & Dan!) to help show off the working space and still have a party feel.


I'm between firings, so there was probably more bisque ware out than finished!



The slab roller becomes a bar, wheels become welcome tables, toss a nice cover on the work table for the knosh and we're ready to go!

Thanks to good help from all corners for the big day: Heather and Michael who brought the flowers and the food processor for the dip, Judith who picked up the figs from Clingman, Cynthia who brought the platter just perfect for the truffles. My mom who sent me these fabulous white bread cloths that turned out to be just perfect for display and table covers before they forever become clay-spattered. And huge thanks to Anne & Steve who came early, brought the new stools, helped set up, helped throughout and helped shut it down. Going far above and beyond the call, they even came back this afternoon to help drink up some of the leftover beer!

The bowl decorating table got a lot of action from visitors - it was so cool to go out later in the afternoon and find so many beautifully decorated bowls. Hopefully Anne has some more pictures of artists from earlier in the day, but I'm glad I remembered my camera at least to capture some of the great work:

Busy at work: Anne and Teva on the left, Steve taking a break at the top,
and that's Karen Etheredge from Manna Food Bank herself making some gorgeous bowls!

A glimpse at some of the great works produced. All of these bowls will be available
at the Empty Bowls event on October 16.

Special kudos to our youngest artist, 3 year old Sam Rattigan, for his beautiful bowl that will be,
as he hopes, a 'nice surprise for somebody':

There were also a few hearty souls who took up the challenge to decorate tile pieces for the future 'Crazy Green Studios' mosaic sign. I think they'll be very nice as background pieces, although the 'nose' mold may be a bit of a challenge.

can you see the nose?

So now the studio is pretty much back in working order, and now that the opening is done, it's back to the calendar crunch! There are more bowls to make for the Empty Bowls firing, plus more of everything to make for my own firing to fill orders and for the Resident exhibit and the holiday art walk. And I'll be adding an evening hand building class in October, running down to Atlanta to do a show...much more to report, but right now the official dog of Crazy Green Studios is wanting a walk, so more reports and pictures to come from a very grateful girl! peace.