Burnished Pots

Just got some GREAT burnished pots out of the kiln. Burnishing is an old method of finishing a pot, and is a soothing way to 'get in touch' with the clay.

Burnished pots are not glazed. The clay is rubbed to a gloss with an object (such as a smooth stone, or a spoon) and fired to a low cone that keeps the gloss brilliant.

Burnished pots FEEL wonderful...smooth and warm.

Scruffy the Chickadee

Scruffy came into our world about a week ago. Although we have a bevy of chickadees that feed on our many feeders and 'hang out' in the tall trees that surround our big 'upper deck', Scruffy was 'different'.

He wasn't afraid of us at all.

At first, we thought Scruffy was injured, and we watched him closely. But he flew, he perched, he ate and he drank.

He jsut refused to be leery of us. We could not touch him, but we could be inches away, and Scruffy would be calmly working on seeds, confident we would not harm him.

We think he is young, because of all the downy feathers he still sports, and we wonder if he is from a second hatch in this bountiful year for birds. Brave little dude! In a week we have become quite attached to him.

Early this morning, about two am, the winds began to howl, and storms blew in. The wind did .

not abate, plants were whipping on the deck, leaves were flying off the hickory trees. Today, while I cleaned the deck, I looked for Scruffy. I haven't seen him all day and I am quite concerned that the powereful winds have taken our little guy away somewhere.

Old Barns

Maybe this should be country song: "I love falling down old barns...." but there is something that tugs at my heart strings when viewing old barns in the country. Neglected, decaying...they were once vital parts of agricultural endeavor.

Let's Get Back To: FOOD!

Now...what is more important than FOOD! I have been posting on Facebook a lot, and sharing my creative dinner photos there, and I noticed that there is a distinct LACK of food postings on Blogger. Hmmm.

Tonight, I want to share a photo of our dinner: we had a big salad (no photo, sigh) made with our organic greens! Then came our main course: grilled tuna! Our sides were: grilled falafel balls and broccoli (home grown, but still from our freezer), pickled beets (ours also...from the freezer),whole grain bread served with homemade hummus.

Dessert was a homemade strawberry/rhubarb pie (yes, our berries and rhubarb!) Eat well, my friends! And think: SUSTAINABLE!

Who IS this woman????

At a recent 50th High School Reunion, this woman was spotted doing the TWIST with the other women after dinner. The men were ... not there. They were??? Sitting??

Grandma & Grandpa do Sunday Dinner

This past Sunday, we were tickled pink (a lovely expression...) to host a SUNDAY DINNER for our family at our house! Oh...what to cook, what to cook??? With our family focus on local food and cooking green, and eating more veggies, less protein, we delved into our freezers and found:

turnips (from our last year's garden), broccoli (ditto), carrots (ditto), boneless skinless chicken breast and strawberry frozen yogurt. In the fridge we found: farm eggs, fresh greens, mushrooms, sweet peppers, scallions, and one avocado. On the counter we found: organic sweet potatoes, fresh garlic, lemons and a butternut squash. In the pantry: a large can of garbanzos, tahini paste, and brown sugar. We bought some fresh strawberries (okay...broke the locavore rule, but...hey!). The menu fell together:

Appetizer: homemade garlic hummus. Served with pretzel crisps and bagel crisps.

Salad: Baby spinach salad with balsamic dressing.

Crunchy bread with garlic olive oil.

Sides: FRESH AIOLI served over broccoli. Sliced, baked sweet potato...seasoned with salt, pepper and red pepper. Balsamic glazed butternut squash cubes (super YUM!). Mashed turnip and carrot, seasoned with salt, pepper, butter and herbs. Grilled mushrooms drizzled with fresh aioli.

Protein: chicken breasts marinated in kefir (overnight); grilled. rubbed with crushed pecans and spices.

Dessert: Strawberry frozen yogurt with fresh strawberries and ... Cool Whip.

We are so happy that everything was fresh and good, and that we all had such a wonderful afternoon together!

SPRING!

I know, you thought this would be about our vacation. Well, that's going to come a bit later. I just had to post these flower pictures...the gardens are coming alive!

Vacation: Day Three

A perfect weather day! We left Macon, GA after breakfast at the Holiday Inn Express and headed off East to Savannah to see this famous Eastern Georgia city that Sherman did not burn.

Savannah is all you have heard. We want to go back and spend some time here among buildings that date back to the early 1700s, and to walk the stone streets and be part of history.

After a GREAT bus tour of Savannah, we took off Southwest to the Okeefenokee Swamp...an area we always wanted to see, but never got to before.

At the Okeefenokee Wildlife area, we were lucky to get the last train ride tour around part of the vast swamp area that was populated by Cherokee and other tribes. The train driver, Bill, is 80 years young, and a wizard at the flora and fauna of Okeefenokee.

The train ride took us past many of the beauties of the area. We saw soapweed, blue flag, blueberry, and many medicinal plants that flourish here.

We heard what we thought was a Great Horned Owl, but Bill assured us, when we aked what species it was, that it was a 'Hootie Owl'. Okay.

And there were gators: We saw a 'mamma gater' who had just hatched 30 little babies. We saw adult gators and younger gators. They are relaxed and in control here.

We also saw the homesteads of the original white settlers. Why anyone would want to settle in a swamp, with the insect life, the gators, the bears and the snakes is a mystery, but settle they did.

Huge dough trenchers, iron pots and pans, primitive bedding and hand-hewn furniture were proudly displayed in the reconstructed cabins, worksheds, and outbuildings.

DAY TWO OF THE SENIORS TRIP TO FLORIDA

Our cheerful couple popped (well...you should have HEARD the sounds!) out of bed this morning, and tripped down to the Breakfast Room at their Holiday Inn Express. A wonderful breakfast awaited. And coffee. Coffee!!!
We met the Holiday Inn Express Breakfast Greeter/Concierge and learned all about her goat that produces wonderful goat milk. It was an educational morning.

On the road again, we passed through Kentucky to Tennessee, all the while trying to recall our History and incidents from a recently read life of Daniel Boone. Who hunted. A lot. Wherever he could. We approached Chattanooga, after a GREAT drive through the mountains. Beautiful, and we had perfect weather.
As lunch approached, we decided to stop at the first local park we saw a sign for.
That's how we found: Old Stone Fort State Park!
A lovely site at the confluence of the Duck and Little Duck rivers, the Old Stone Fort was actually an Indian Mound that surrounded the confluence of the rivers for safety. We had our 'from Illinois' food: chicken breast, salad, and fixings. A picnic in 65 degree weather was so very, very welcome! Now, before we settled in for lunch, we had an 'incident': our 10 year old road refrigerator tanked. This 18 volt plug in the car fridge is a lifesaver and a BIG money saver.We bring all our own bottled water, juice, bread, cheese, sandwich meat, salads. It saves a bundle on the road! We had to stop at a truckstop to get a new one. Sigh. And, while we were there, we were hit on by a very plausible panhandler to whom we gave $5.00 for a hamburger.

They ALL talk to us!

After lunch, there was a PUSH to get down to Macon, GA for the night, since we were losing an hour.

Atlanta has the very worst traffic in the US that we have discovered yet. We say this EVERY time we go through Atlanta!

We settled in to our Holiday Inn Express in Macon by about 6 pm. After the most amazingly good sushi dinner at a restaurant called Shogun, here I am blogging and getting ready to get a decent night's sleep before hitting the road again.

More tomorrow.

Florida Vacation: Day One

Up at the crack of dawn (okay, 7 am) our sleepy seniors packed their trusty new van with: POTTERY! Before the vacation could begin, we had to run off to Ottawa, IL to put our newest pots in the Ottawa Art League Gallery, and to pick up last months unsold selections.

On the way to Ottawa, we stopped at the local Subway/BP Amoco to treat ourselves to Flatbread omelettes and a BIG Ronocco coffee! Woo Hoo! (Hey, this is exciting stuff to us!)

After doing the pottery exchange, we were finally able to leave Seneca and head off to Florida.

Except, we had a slight deviation in plans on the way.

Our first stop was in the Rend Lake Area, to visit the Illinois Artisan Gallery. Did you know that the Illinois Museum (Springfield, IL) sponsors several galleries in Illinois for artists? They can exhibit and sell their works from these locations. We knew that our friend Juanda Sims had some of her wonderful pottery at the Rend Lake location, and we had to stop and view. It was a worthwhile visit. There were many artists of all disciplines exhibiting: potters, painters, stained glass artists, fabric artists, wood carvers, glass blowers and more. Check out Illinois Artisans on the web.

A short and scenic ride down 57 brought us to Paducah, KY where we chose to spend the night.

The local Holiday Inn Express became our home for the night, and Applebee's our dinner restaurant. I recommend the Weight Watchers Lime Tilapia!

Tomorrow, we head to: Savannah, GA! Why not! We will get to Florida eventually.

See you all tomorrow!

It's FRIDAY night!

Dinner at our place on Friday night: pan-roasted baby carrots from our garden; cous-cous (made with beefstock, garlic, scallions, sweet peppers, and mushrooms); sirloin steak (organic, farm-raised) grilled (marinated in our dry rub and mushroom soy). Dessert was a fresh fruit salad.

Find A Hawk

Our resident Cooper's Hawk, perched anonymously in the crabapple tree by the bird feeder. Discreet as he is, there were NO birds in the feeder after he silently landed!

Thursday Night Salmon

A wonderful dinner on a cold Thursday night. Pan-seared salmon filet (marinated in lemon/ginger) and topped with a white wine/dill/pan sauce reduction. Blue fingerling potatoes, sliced and pan-seared with garlic and shallots. Home grown broccoli and cauliflower, steamed with salt, pepper and cilantro. All served on our favorite Blue Fish Platter. Note the side of fresh baked bread and olive oil for dipping. Mmmmm.

A Poem to Share

The Farmer’s Pavane

Old beige skeletal

unharvested corn stands defiant,

braced against December snows

Green harvest machines

have rooted, unmoving, silent

where they were left last week.

Wondering hopeful horses

look out of their barn

waiting release to paddocks.

Cows lowing patient

huddle for the warmth

with sisters in the barn.

Village residents flock

to the barnlike church

and huddle with their brethren.

The soul

of the farm

mourns.

A Few More Pots

On the left is a set of really cool porcelain cereal/snack bowls. All wheel thrown, with happy colors to brighten the day.

On the right is "Homage Mecanic" ... now with a cheerful, whimsical flower.

More from the Kiln

THE WESTERN JUG!

Proudly standing at about 22" tall, this coil and throw stoneware jug, built by Phyllis, is a totally functional whimsy.

New Pots! New Pots!

New from our kiln yesterday: the HOLEY BOWLY!

Rich created this awesome bowl using slabbed stoneware, hand-punched holes and a lot of patience. This piece is approximately 12" across. The glazes are food safe.

Holey Bowly!

Drama In The Snow

Seen in our front yard today:

Weekday Dinners

We are having a GOOD FOOD WEEK! We wanted to share our dinners with you all.

Tuesday, I selected the protein:Tuna steak. I pan seared a mushroom soy marinated tuna steak in my grill pan. The tuna was served over arugula, drizzled with a ginger sauce. Our sides were home-grown (from our freezer) broccoli and organic polenta with sun-dried tomato spread.

ON TO THURSDAY:

Tonight, Dad chose the protein: Boneless, skinless chicken breast. He marinated the breasts in our own juiced lime juice and garlic. My turn came next, and I lightly dusted the chicken breasts in a panko/wheat flour seasoned mixture, and pan seared them, using white wine to prevent stickage (is that a culinary term?) The marinade was added to the pan after the chicken was removed, and we deglazed with white wine and chicken stock, and reduced the liquid. The chicken was served over mixed Spring greens, again using the the ginger dressing.

Winter Friend

Meet my moose. This is my favorite Winter bookmark. Everyone deserves a bookmark that they love, don't you think?

Enterprising Senior Chefs

Last night, we had salmon on the menu. Yawn, you say? No! Not when 1/2 of the team, whose initials are Richard, maintained for the last 20 years or so that he "DOES NOT LIKE SALMON!".

Willing to try this incredible fish once again, I, his wife and the resident fish chef, was looking for a way to prepare a dish that would have a 'wow' factor. Then, an idea flashed in my brain: smoked salmon, like on a grill, but done on the stove! Like they do on the Food Channel.

I grabbed my trusty Wok ($10, 15 years ago at Cost Plus World Market...they don't make 'em like this anymore). I lined the wok with Heavy Duty Aluminum Foil (does this need to be capitalized?), added a goodly handful of soaked hickory chips, a cake rack for the fish, and a lid from another pan that fit exactly. I turned up the heat, waited for 'smokeage' , and then tossed in some dried sprigs of rosemary. On went the fish, that had been marinating in citrus and pepper. In less than 20 minutes, we had an AWESOME entree of smoked salmon! And...Rich LIKED it!

NOTE: I did occasionally sprinkle water onto the chips. There was not a bit of smoke in the kitchen, either. I had been concerned that 'Shriek', our smoke alarm, would object to this cooking method, but he never noticed. The wok is fine. I am going to use this method again...maybe also for veggies! Happy cooking!

Stealthshroom

Our wonderful mushroom farm had finished producing, but there was the empty box. The box full of wonderful, earthy-smelling, composty stuff. Stuff BEGGING to be used. So, I did! I took scoops of the good, friable, crumbly mixture and treated my Christmas cactus to layers of delight. The cactus showed gratitude, by sending out a second set of buds (I should mention that my Christmas cactus is really a Halloween/Thanksgiving cactus...it's unclear on the concept).

Today, I checked the buds and found: The STEALTHSHROOM!

We plan on harvesting this shroom for our Super Bowl Dinner. Why not?

Tuesday Night Tilapia

Is it any wonder that the best meals are sometimes the ones you don't plan. I had NO idea of what to cook tonight. I rushed into the kitchen at 5:30 with a plan to cook some frozen tilapia filets (fast and good).

I made the usual BIG salad, and then everything went morphing along as I checked the contents of the frig and crispers and pantry.

We dined elegantly on: Ginger Citrus Tilapia over brown rice (Schwan's frozen...awesome and fast). I created a coconut milk/citrus/curry sauce for the fish and rice..using a touch of cayenne pepper and turmeric. Our vegetable side was steamed green beans with dill and cilantro. This was such a good supper, and dessert was our homemade fruit salad!

We had to take pictures of the food tonight. Yum! Happy eating!

On The Way to the Kiln

The following pots will soon be bisque fired and will be coming soon to a gallery near you. If they stay in one piece...it's clay, ya know??

Check back soon for further developments!

Tracking In The Snow

Oh, what a beautiful Winter day! The temperature shot up to about 33, and the brilliant sun just demanded that we take a walk.

As usual, we found evidence that we were NOT alone! Here's a quick series of animal tracks that you are (probably) familiar with:

This multitude of tracks was found in our backyard. Clue: the little black dots are Thistle seed. Hmmmm...... This track was made by my Daughter-in-law's favorite furry rodent. Hmmm.......

And this is the track of my daughter's favorite lagomorph. Hmmmmm.....

These tracks run all over our area, next to the houses, and ... in some instances...right UP TO the houses! Hint: in Winter, they eat just about

anything. Hmmmm....

But THIS track is the MOST PUZZLING one of all! Do you think...can it be??....BIGFOOT?????

(We had a LOT of fun with this...)

January with the Seniors

The snow has fallen, and the sun came out in all its brilliant January glory. Who could resist a walk in the woods?

Bundled up and ready, we started out down the Canal Path in Seneca, heading West toward Marseilles. The weather was, indeed, perfect. Snowmobiles had blazed the trail for us, and walking through the fluffy snow was easy.

We checked out the tracks on the path as we

always do. It's fun to see which animals are out and about in Winter, and how many we can identify. One of the first we spotted today was this one.

Do you know

what critter this is?*

Living rural, we are up to date on the farm scene. A lot of corn is still in the fields, and because of this, the blackbird population did not leave the area this Winter.

We spotted many a tree full of blackbirds (usually a mix of grackles, cowbirds and the occasional Red-winged Blackbird), and many a cornfield with the

stalks supporting a huge cast of the birds. In our backyard

at home, the tree behind one of our feeders is ideal perching for the gang.

Along this section of the path, with the old canal (or what is left of it to the North), we have spotted signs of what it must have looked like earlier. Some of the trees still retain hooks for barbed wire fencing in

their thick bark. In fact, some of the old cottonwoods have embedded barbed wire under new bark growth. And there are the abandoned farm buildings. What a story they could tell if they could speak.

With 2010 upon us, and the wonderful January air

filling our lungs, it seemed only natural to make

the first snow angel of the year here on our very

own Canal Path.

After quite a trek, we

called it a day, and headed home, But we had to snap one more photo

by the I&M Canal Path sign for Seneca's historic site: The Hogan

Grain Elevator, which was THE hot spot during the heydey of the

Canal, with barges of grain headed to Seneca for storage.

So don't be a couch potato in Winter. Put on the long underwear and

GET OUT THERE! It will put the roses in your cheeks.

*The print is a Wild Turkey. We saw him, too, running down the path

ahead of us. He obviously chose the path over the deep snow...Wild Turkeys

are not dummies!