Joy Tanner pots from the TRAC show

Jim and I went to Burnsville Friday for Joy Tanner and Anita Connelly's opening at TRAC. Joy is a young, very talented soda/wood firer, currently serving a residency wit her equally talented potter husband, Will Baker at the Energy Exhcange. Anita's watercolors and other paintings are wonderful. It's a great show pairing!

Yesterday we took advantage of the beautiful weather to drive up to Banner Elk for some shopping, antiquing and lunch. When we got home I baked another, different loaf of a sour dough nut and fruit bread. We decided that we liked the first recipe better. The evening was topped off with a lovely dinner with good friends.

Today has been a day for dealing with some paper work, getting my Thanksgiving turkey in a brining solution, and now time to start on some early dinner prep of salad, mashed potatoes and fried shrimp.

I got the last of the pots slipped Friday, but still need to do some decorating. Hopefully I should get a pretty full studio day tomorrow and Tuesday. Wednesday will be an all day of food prep and baking.

Yummy, Nutty, fruity bread

The fruity nutty sourdough bread I made yesterday is a wonderful breakfast bread. I have two other similar recipes to try; but this one is definitely a winner. I'd been looking for a heavy, chewy, nut and raisin breakfast bread for a while - similar to the ones you can buy at some artisan bakeries. It worked great with the new bake pan.

It's cold this morning and they predicting that it's going down to 17 degrees tonight, so I'll have to check those covered peppers and pick what I can as soon as the day warms up a bit, because even a thick layer of remay is not going to help with cold at that level. I should have put the cover on the cold frame and I'm just hoping my artichokes have enough life in the roots to save the plants if I cover them today.

I'm finally getting into the studio today; but will work part half a day. I have to quit early and head to Burnsville for some chores and then to Joy Tanner's and Anitas Connelly's opening reception at the TRAC gallery.