Soda fired bowl

This was one of the first pots sold during the tour. This bright blue liner is popular and it's a result of a glaze mistake! A friend admired my blue green celadon and asked me to make a batch for a firing in her soda kiln; but when we opened the kiln, we had a lot of pots with a bright blue liner. It turns out, someone had labeled her cobalt oxide, black iron oxide; but everyone loved the blue liner with the avery slip and shino pots. Sometimes there are good accidents in the studio!

We canceled our Asheville trip due to the strong storms coming through this morning, so it will be another paper work day, unless this weather miraculously clears a bit later.

The sourdough bread and soup came out fine. Jim really loved the soup and he's not a broccoli fan! I wound up with two loaves of sourdough, not as pretty as the last loaf; but I was afraid a single loaf would be too big because the dough kept taking more flour in this high humidity, much more than the recipe calls for, so I decided to make two smaller loaves. The dough was too sticky, even with all that extra flour; but the finished bread tasted fine.

Here's the recipes for my rich Potato, broccoli, cheddar soup if anyone wants to try it:

2 cups chopped onion
3 cloves minced garlic
2 T butter
2 1/2 -3lbs of potatoes, peeled and diced into about 1/2" cubes
3-4 cups of broccoli florets cut into small pieces
5 cups of low sodium chicken broth
1 cup of 1/2 and 1/2
3 cups of grated sharp cheddar cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Saute the onion and garlic in the butter till softened. Add the chicken broth and diced potatoes. Cook about ten -15 minutes till potatoes are tender. While potatoes are cooking, steam the broccoli florets till done and set aside. When potatoes are done, add to the broth/potato mix. Cook a couple of minutes more and then puree the soup or just part of it if you want some of it chunky. I have a new portable, hand blender that I used for the first time yesterday and it works great!
After pureeing, add the 1/2 and 1/2 and stir well. Then add the grated cheese, stir to melt the cheese, keeping the heat around medium. Taste and then season with salt and pepper. If the soup is too thick for your taste you can add some more chicken broth to thin it. This is a rich soup. Serve with some nice, crusty bread. It should serve 6.