Hobbit Mugs

Andrea spent the evening watching the first Lord of the Rings this past weekend. I was busy doing something else but I kept coming in to the room right during scenes where there was pottery prominently portrayed.

Well, actually I see pottery everywhere but in my defense these cups are cool! I don’t know why I never noticed them before.

Mine came out a bit more curvy and I love it. Enjoy!

As always you can check out my etsy shop to buy pottery made exclusively by me!
www.potterybycuchulainn.etsy.com

Garlic and Dill Potato Salad

What would summer be without potato salad? It would be a dismal affair no doubt! For a little variety I offer Andrea's Garlic and Dill Potato Salad. I'd recommend cutting back on the garlic a bit but with the new Twilight movie out it might be prudent to protect against prepubescent tweeners...


- 3-ish pounds of red potatoes
- 1 rib of celery, diced
- less than 1/4 onion, diced
- 3 large cloves of garlic, minced
- 2-3 Tablespoons capers, drained
- 1 squirt or 2 of prepared mustard
- couple dashes of hot sauce
- 1/2 -1 cup Mayonnaise
- Dill, dried or fresh

Cut whatever size potato you like and boil until tender. Drain and place in a large bowl. Let cool a bit.

When still warm add celery, onion, garlic, capers, mustard, hot sauce and salt & pepper. Mix gently. Start adding mayonnaise and dill until desired amount is reached. Mix gently and transfer to a prettier bowl. Can either serve right away while warm or cool down in fridge, covered.

Chicken and Plantain Stew

I have a serious problem. We make better food than I can get at most restaurants in the area, at least on our budget. The latest transgression was a chicken and plantain stew which was both savory and delightfully sweet. Recipe follows you can all share in my misery!

- 5 or 6 red potatoes diced
- 2 yellow plantains sliced
- half of 1 large white onion sliced
- 1 poblano pepper, de-seeded and chopped
- 1 whole chicken, butterflied or cut into pieces with bones and skin
- 1 cup-ish chicken stock
- Salt free Adobo seasoning
- Salt & Pepper
- Cooked Rice

Add potatoes, plantains, peppers, and onions into a large casserole type dish. Season vegetables and all sides of chicken generously with the Adobo. Season with S+P to taste. Pour stock into dish- it should not come up past the halfway point of the wall. If you go over the halfway mark the liquid coming out of the chicken will cause juice to spill over the side. Place chicken on top of veggies and stock, skin side up.

Bake at 350F for approx 1.5 hours, or until the chicken is cooked. Remove chicken to a plate and let sit. Blend/puree about 1/4- 1/3 of the vegetables and stock. I used an immersion blender and just stuck it in but you might have to use a blender or some other means of blending. Pour a generous amount of the liquid over some cooked white rice in a bowl. Shred in some chicken and enjoy!

Northern Ireland

The BBC reports that there was an explosion alongside a road in Northern Ireland today. They are mum on most of the details while CNN reports that it destroyed a bridge and may have been designed to draw police into the area.

Meanwhile there were shots fired at police as they detained five people under suspicion of trafficking explosive across the border with the Republic. It is unclear whether these two incidents are related.

However, it certainly represents a significant escalation of violence in Northern Ireland since the Real IRA claimed responsibility for a March of 2009 killing of two British Soldiers outside their barracks before they were to go on tour in Afghanistan.

Most pundits I have read claim that the sectarian mood in Northern Ireland is the worst it has been in over a decade. Since I was giving a mini lesson in Gaeilge earlier today I couldn't help follow-up...

síochán = peace

Gaeilge Mugs

I thought it would be fun to give a bit of a behind the scenes edition of the blág. This week is focused on mugs!

First up is the Gaeilge mugs. I made about a dozen of two different varieties. “Sláinte” (SLAWN-chuh) is an Irish-Gaelic toast meaning literally health. It can be used much like the English “cheers” so I thought it would work well on a mug.

Meanwhile, “mo chuisle” (muh CHWISH-luh) is a term of endearment. It was made famous in Clint Eastwood’s Million Dollar Baby although it was mispronounced and even misspelled if I recall. It literally means “my pulse” and references a poetic turn of phrase only the Irish could produce: “You’re as close to me as the pulse of my own heart.” It is pronounced with an unvoiced fricative which I transcribed as “CH.” Think of the Hebrew, Scottish, German, or Arabic gravelly “H” sound and you’ve likely got it.

The mugs were thrown large. I aimed for approximately 16oz a piece although this is the first time I’ve thrown this shape so I was just guessing. I thought they’d be a fun, whimsical mug. The stamp I used is not in Comic Sans Font but it does have a similar juvenile appeal. So I left the letters a bit off center and didn’t fuss too much if they were a bit crooked.

I think I’ve blogged about these espresso cups before but I wanted to show them again here so that you could see my new toy, or the results of my new toy anyway. My father-in-law is a fantastic, creative woodworker and I wanted to give him the credit he is due here. He made for me many of my tools but this gauge is the best. I use it to measure the height of my pottery while it’s still on the wheel. It swings in and out of place so I don’t have to worry about knocking it accidentally. I can use it as a simple gauge or I can actually score the pot with it and then cut off the top. In combination with my calipers I can throw essentially the same pot over and over again!

As always you can check out my etsy shop to buy pottery made exclusively by me!
www.potterybycuchulainn.etsy.com

Beet Your Ravioli

Skeptical about beet ravioli?

I have wanted to make ravioli with beets for a while and since they were on sale at the store the other day it seemed like the perfect opportunity. But word to the wise, if you plan on making beet ravioli just know that it will be RED (and delicious)!

Honestly, I don’t have much of a recipe. I just took two medium beets and pureed them in the food processor. I found it worked better when I added a little liquid. Although I didn’t want to add too much olive oil so I added egg instead. I figured it was going to go into the pasta dough anyway.

After they were pureed I sieved them to remove all the liquid from the pulp then added half the pulp back into the dough with plenty of semolina and all-purpose flour.

Not much of a recipe, I know, but the pictures are stunning…

In the end the taste was subtle. I stuffed them with classic ricotta and spinach so as not to distract too much. If I ate this blindfolded I don’t know if I would have picked out the beet flavor but I swear it was there.

Slán,
Colin


As always you can check out my etsy shop to buy pottery made exclusively by me!
www.potterybycuchulainn.etsy.com

Bicycle Powered Waste Vegetable Oil Fired Kiln!?

I know that I've been basically reposting from my subscriptions lately but this was too cool to pass up. Ceramic Arts Daily highlighted various university and private green ceramic programs. Many are extremely useful programs like the creation of paving bricks from waste clay and glaze.



My favorite however was the alternative kiln which used waste vegetable oil as the firing fuel and a bicycle to run the pump and blower. Amazing.

Check out the full article here...

http://ceramicartsdaily.org/ceramic-supplies/ceramic-raw-materials/the-wisdom-of-crowds-green-research-in-universities/

Working with Reed

I found two great videos about working with reed that I thought I'd share. The narrator, Sheila Clennell does a great job at explaining the process. She is patient if not methodical...

Though I have to admit I have ulterior motives... I wanted to share them as much for everyone's enjoyment as for me so that I can find them again later!

Nevertheless, enjoy they're great!

Intro video

Advanced video

Slán,
Colin


As always you can check out my etsy shop to buy pottery made exclusively by me!
www.potterybycuchulainn.etsy.com