Part of the fun of Thanksgiving is sharing food with your friends & family. Taking time
to make something homemade to share. And I always find it better to share my homemade
treats in homemade pots! So this year, I was in charge of appetizers. So I made a cheese
spread with sundried tomatoes, kalamata olives, feta cheese and more! So yummy.
Special thanks to Rosene & Gerry for sharing this yummy recipe… so I could share!

My cousin Kim was in charge of the vegetable. And Thanksgiving wouldn’t be quite the same
if we didn’t have that “traditional” green bean & mushroom soup casserole! Which, if I must
say myself, always tastes better when baked in one of my own handmade oval casseroles!

I also made another pumpkin marble cheesecake with gingersnap crust.
My sister was in charge of the pies. I figured you can always have more dessert, right?!

And a little plate of chocolate fudge is always a welcome addition… even if it does have
a “secret” ingredient in it. I got the recipe from one of my Lillstreet students. We talked
about it in class, she shared the recipe and I just had to make a batch to share with everyone!
Of course I would never share the “secret” ingredient until AFTER they’ve tried it!!!

One more thing… here’s what’s left of the cheese spread.
Luckily, you can see the bowl even better!

Well, it’s six-o’clock and my Holiday Home Show has officially come to an end.
A lot of pots in clay box “shopping carts” went home with a lot of happy shoppers!
Thanks again to everyone who made it out this weekend to kick-off holiday shopping
season! And if you didn’t make it… don’t worry. There’s a “really good chance” that
there “may” be another chance somewhere around Saturday, December 8th.
More details to come… and thanks again!

Still setting up for this weekend’s Holiday Home Show…
and I just surpassed 100 MUGS!!! Whoo-hoo! Plenty of mugs for everyone!

This weekend is my big Holiday Home Show. And I’m setting up all day today.
While unpacking crates I found this bowl that apparently didn’t “survive” the trip
home from the Art Detour Northwoods?! At least it’s good to know that my wall
thickness is pretty darn consistent!!!

And it’s also good to know that there are a LOT more crates and a LOT more bowls
to unpack. Plenty of great pieces in every room of my place!!!

It’s always fun to go through all of your work down in the storage room. And to see everything
one more time before it goes upstairs to the Home Show. This large stamped bowl caught my
eye. Mainly because I know that the glaze is “supposed” to be a beautiful red color. Not blue.
But it’s one of those glazes that can be easily affected by the kiln firing. If there’s a little too
much oxidation in the kiln, the red glaze turns this beautiful blue-ish color.

Sadly, nothing you can ever bank on happening ever again.
Just another “happy accident” coming out of the kiln!

Mark your calendar for TWO WEEKS from this weekend for the Big Event.
My Holiday Home Show is my biggest pottery event of the whole year. With the most
posts up for grabs – just in time for the holiday shopping season! There’s pottery in
practically every room of my condo, as well as festive food & drink in the kitchen.
So much more fun than a 10’x 10′ tent in some park somewhere!!!

Saturday, November 17th & Sunday, November 18th from 10:00am-6:00pm.
Always the weekend BEFORE Thanksgiving!!!

And don’t forget the annual “Tired Of Shlepping” Sale on the back porch.
A great chance to scoop up some great deals & bargains on some of the pieces I’m just
tired of shlepping around from art fair to art fair, as well as seconds, class demos and
so much more. Great discounts if you get them before someone else snags ’em!!!

If you’re in the Chicagoland area and would like to come play with us in two weeks,
just send me a quick e-mail for my home address and full details. Thanks.

Fresh from the kiln… more soda-fired textures on the sides of my new slab vases!
All of which will be available at the Holiday Home Show in two weeks!

A box full of holiday fun! All of my ornaments turned out great.
No mishaps. No jumping off the tripods. No problems with the risky-balanced-ornaments!
Now I need to add a shiny metal ring to each of them before the Holiday Home Show!

Here’s a sneak peek into my recent soda kiln. It’s always such  fun surprise to unbrick
the door and see what’s waiting for you inside! So you take out the bricks one-by-one
revealing what’s inside layer by layer. When they’re all gone, the kiln is wide open…
and ready for some quick photos before packing it all up!

As I unloaded the kiln, most of the pieces go straight into crates & boxes so I can get them
home. Along the way this time, I stopped and took a few more photos than normal to share.
Nothing too professional, no graduated gray background… just some quick snapshots in
the empty spray booth with existing lighting! Like I said, nothing too professional…

Plus, something that photos can’t always show… both sides of some pots! Frequently, the
beauty of a pot is in the holding, touching & fondling. Being able to see the pot from all sides.
Noticing all of the details – both inside & out. So here’s one of my new stamped bowls…
both inside with temoku glaze, and outside with more stamping & flashing slip!

And another bowl… this time squared off with a very light layer of temoku glaze inside
along with some flashing slip on the outside.

And I love when you can see the direction of the flame as it passed the pot during the firing.
Where the slip is orange, the flames hit it and deposited some soda. Where the slip band
is still white, the soda couldn’t quite “hit it” as the flames could wrap around the bowl before
moving on & exiting the kiln. So on this bowl, you can see that the flame hit the left side,
and not so much on the right.

Plus, we also have a new Stoneware clay with Ochre in it at Lillstreet. The clay is darker than
regular stoneware and it fires to a dark chocolatey brown. This is the first “ochre” bowl I’ve
ever fired in the soda kiln. It’s a little more dramatic, a little darker… and the flashing slip
band around the foot ring has a great “directional” flash to it. Kinda likin’ it…

Unfortunately, after emptying the kiln, the work continues. It takes quite a while to scrape
and clean all of the kiln shelves, put on a new layer of kiln wash, clean the fire boxes, sweep
& mop the floor… let alone shlepping it all home at the end of the night! A long evening.
But a great reward to have a full kiln’s worth of pots ready for the Holiday Home Show!

I unloaded my soda kiln tonight and was thrilled with the results.
It’s always a fun “treasure hunt” as you uncover it layer by layer, shelf by shelf.
I got some great colors, a lot of fun flashings… and more importantly, no kiln splats
or chunks in any of my pieces. A very clean firing. I took some photos and hope to
have more time soon to post them! Sorry, you’ll have to wait…