Gary Jackson: Fire When Ready Pottery
A Chicago potter’s somewhat slanted view of clay & play
Categories: classes, food, friends, television

Oh, the pressure… how do you throw a party and make snacks to celebrate a TOP BAKER?!

Sure, our treats might be tasty… but nowhere near the fancy delicacies that Martin could make! But we tried our best… lots of treats… some “inspired” by the final four contestants of the show!

Categories: classes, television

So… with Martin as the BIG WINNER of The Great American Baking Show… we had to throw a big party, right? So our final class of the Spring pottery session was a full-on potluck party celebration of Martin & all-things Baking Show! And what’s a party without a bunch of signs all over the place?! Some to celebrate Martin, and others to embarrass Martin!!!

Categories: friends, television

HUGE CONGRATULATIONS to our very own Martin Sorge… as well as the other two Top Bakers! Sarah & Dyana gave it their best… but couldn’t quite catch Martin in the end!!!

Categories: friends, television

And the WINNER of THE GREAT AMERICAN BAKING SHOW is “our very own” Chicagoan Martin Sorge!!! Such a wonderful opportunity for Martin… to show off his skills in the kitchen on reality TV!!! He did a wonderful job in each of the challenges… sometimes surprising the judges with CORN as a primary ingredient of his bakes!

CONGRATULATIONS MARTIN!
We’re all so proud of you! Now get back to pottery class…
and bring some award-winning treats!!!

Categories: television

Can you read her lips?… host Ellie Kemper…

“And the Winner of THE GREAT AMERICAN BAKING SHOW is…”

Categories: friends, television

So it’s down to the THE GREAT AMERICAN BAKING SHOW Final Three… and Sarah tells us she believes “someone from Chicago is winning today!”

Reminder… Sarah & Martin are BOTH from Chicago!!!

Categories: friends, television

So now we’re down to the big finale of THE GREAT AMERICAN BAKING SHOW!!! And it’s down to the Final Three… each of them a great baker. Will it be Sarah, Martin or Dyana who takes the top baking honors?!!!

SPOILER ALERT… the big reveal is coming soon!

Categories: friends, television

Just a quick “refresher”… Martin was one of my wheelthrowing pottery students while THE GREAT AMERICAN BAKING SHOW was streaming on TheRokuChannel.com! And while we all now know that Martin is a great baker… he also makes a LOT of amazing faces & quirky comments. Perfect for reality television… and so much fun to have in class! He definitely gave us good reason to celebrate & follow-along with the show. Celebrating each of the bakers as they were voted off with class snacks “inspired” by the losing baker! And when we last discussed the show… we were down to the Final Four.

Categories: food, friends, television

Well, it’s been over four months since THE GREAT AMERICAN BAKING SHOW started streaming for free on TheRokuChannel.com… and it seems like that’s been long enough. Just to refresh your memories… Martin, one of my pottery students, was one of the baking contestants!!! Tomorrow I will “reveal” the final results of the show! So be prepared… and don’t read the posts tomorrow if you want to be surprised. But seriously, you’ve had over four months to watch the show!

Categories: television

Okay, so there “might have been” a bit of streaming & binging this weekend! One of my beginning students recommended “THE TRAITORS” featuring some of my favorite reality TV celebrities! I mean, if you loved Kate Chastain before… you’re going to REALLY love her after her turn on “The Traitors”! Picture a reality game show… part Big Brother living together, part Amazing Race challenges, part Survivor voting people out and part the game CLUE with the whodunit twist. It’s a little “shmarmy” in the best way possible… and I couldn’t take my eyes off it. So much so… that I actually binged the US version… and then the Australian version… and then the UK version!!! So much fun… and I’m already looking forward to when the release Season Two!!!

“The Traitors Australia”…

“The Traitors UK”…