My morning started with making Jim a special birthday breakfast of Eggs Benedict. That dish is way too rich for my blood, so he wound up eating his and half of mine!
After breakfast and dishes, I got the electric kiln emptied. The re-firing lightened up the soda/salt fired pots as hoped, and did a good job on some glaze touch ups. Some pots from this firing and a wood firing which are were too dry from not enough soda, will need re-firing next week in the small Olympic gas kiln which has been converted to use as soda kiln.
Next on the agenda was writing Skutt to see if I could get a replacement bar to hold up the lid which got lost in the move, and ordered another Green gorilla battery operated sprayer for soda firing. For five years I've had to struggle with that Skutt lid and have no idea why it's taken me this long to see if they'll sell me a replacement!
The next chore of the day was to take some pot photos from last Sunday's firing. It's been a while and I think I've forgotten everything about these digital cameras and lighting setup, so I'm going to have to spend some time reading the manuals again. My white balance card has gone missing which didn't help either.
There are some great looking pots in the kiln there! I mixed up a shino from the recipes on your website for a firing next week. hope to get some nice results as well! happy birthday to the hubby!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful
ReplyDeleteJune, I enjoy reading your blogs, especially with the dinners & recipes you mention. I wish I had that recipe for that escarole soup with the sausage. Perfect time now with winter closing in. Anyway, I hope Jim had a great birthday yesterday. I was just watching a rerun of Card Sharks on GSN. Man, I respected him so much. Great host (underrated in my opinion) & great class. He always treated the contestants with class, never rude or demeaning to anyone. Please wish him the best, he was great to watch on Sharks & Sale of the Century. Best to Erin as well with the music. Take care.
ReplyDeleteHere's the recipe I've been using. There are others on the net that are similar which would give you a smaller batch. It freezes well, so I like to make a big pot of it.
ReplyDeleteSAUSAGE AND WHITE BEAN ESCAROLE SOUP
3 15 oz cans cannellini beans (can substitute great Northern white beans).
1 pound sweet, medium or hot Italian pork sausage, casing removed
1 large onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped or put through a garlic press.
8 cups chicken broth
1 head escarole (about 1 pound), chopped
grated parmesan cheese (optional but best with it)
freshly ground black pepper
2 potatoes, peeled, cut into 1" pieces and steam or boil and add to soup a couple of minutes before the escarole is finished.
Brown the sausage in a 6-quart saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring often to break up sausage. Remove the sausage from the saucepan with a slotted spoon. Drain well on kitchen paper towels to remove excess fat.
Add the onion and sauté for 2 minutes. Add the garlic and sauté for 30 seconds. Stir in the broth and beans. Bring to a boil.
Return the sausage to the saucepan along with the escarole. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes or until the escarole is tender, add cooked, boiled or steamed potaoes.
Taste and adjust seasonings.
* I like to serve this with Italian bread, cut in half, rubbed with garlic flavored olive oil, sprinkled some grated parmesan on and put under the broiler till lightly browned. The crusty texture of the bread goes great with this one meal dish.
Serve with grated Parmesan cheese sprinkled on top and some fresh ground black pepper.