Tonight was the last class for my Intermediate Wheelthrowing class… with a potluck to celebrate!
So I had to step-up and throw something together quick before class!!!

Still boiling… it’s coming together. Soon to be pie filling!!!

Last night I brought some good ol’ Halloween goodie bags to class for my beginning pottery students. Each one was different with assortments of candies, OREOs, pottery tools, Halloween toys, my clay fortune cookies… and one lucky bag even had one of my soda-fired pumpkins in it! Fun times for everyone who made it to class… trudging through the snow & foregoing trick-or-treating!!!

While we do get some pottery done in my classes, we do like our sweet treats too! And last night Jen brought a huge bag of “freshly-picked-that-morning” apples to class for all of us! Heirloom & organic from her family’s farm… two varieties… and so many we all left with a bag full! So nice, so yummy… thanks Jen!!! They might just wash down some of the cookies & candies we’ve been eating in class lately! HA!

Last night in class we had some pre-Halloween sweet treats! Yummy mummies from our own “Star Baker” Martin… lemon verbena shortbread complete with his own homegrown lemon verbena!!!

Plus the creamiest-ever peanut-butter buckeyes by Barclay!
A yummy way to kick-off our on-going holiday of Halloween treats!!!

Celebrating one of my favorite national holidays all-year long… today is NATIONAL CHOCOLATE DAY!!! You know, it’s one of my all-time favorites and it comes in so many varieties!!! How could I ever be expected to pick just one??? Tonight just happened to be CHOCOLATE CAKE!!! Celebrate!!!

Last night in my pottery class we had some sweet treats again! One of my students made these AMAZING cupcakes as a “test run” for a Halloween Party next week. She was being so hard on herself as she hated how the chocolate ganache & white piping didn’t drag together with a toothpick to form cute spiderweb designs as planned. However… they were full of ooey-gooey chocolatey yumminess! And it didn’t hurt any that there was a hidden marshmallow frosting center inside!!! She hated them so much that she asked me not to mention her name in connection with said cupcakes?! Okay… but her name starts with a P… and rhymes with Riya! HA!!!

Well, it looks like “Birthday Week” may have continued into “Birthday Two-Weeks”?! Tonight in my pottery class, one of my students Laury brought in “belated” birthday sweets… homemade OREO Rice Krispie Treats! While another student Katie found some imported mini-OREOs as a belated gift! Thanks you two… I have the BEST students ever!!!

Yesterday was the last Andersonville Farmers Market of the season… and I had to swing by to “stock-up” on a few things that might last me awhile. Including some apples fresh from the orchard. My plan was to get one apple of several different varieties to try some new flavors. It wasn’t until I got home and put them out on this platter that I “realized” that I have no idea what kind each one is?! So if I do LOVE a new variety… I’ll have no idea what kind it is!!! ugh.

Last night we continued BIRTHDAY WEEK with a yummy dinner at Macello on the Near West Side of Chicago. So much fun celebrating & eating with my friend Nancy… who has the same birthday as me!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO US!!!

Special THANKS… burp… to Jeni’s Ice Creams for offering free ice cream for your birthday celebration!!! You get a free TRIO of flavors!!! So Wednesday night I did… burp… a couple times! As no one ever said you’re limited to stopping at just ONE Jeni’s location!!!… burp!