Southern comfort food.....

Southern comfort food, with a few little twists - collard greens cooked in olive oil with spring onions and balsamic vinegar, baby back ribs smoked over hickory, and boiled new potatoes drizzled with melted butter and fresh rosemary. Pat gave me 2 oval cast iron trays a few years ago for my birthday, which I usually use for platters when cooking on the grill, but tonight we used them for dinner plates. I love 'em.

foe-CAT-cha.....

Saturday I whipped up an olive oil bread recipe to try for use as a pizza dough later this week, and ended up baking a Focaccia with part of the dough on Sunday. It was delicious along with the baked pasta dish I had for lunch Sunday, but the peasant boule (whole wheat/rye) is still my favorite. It's great for breakfast with homemade honey butter smeared on top, with wine, fruit and cheese after supper, and for sandwiches. Both the peasant bread and the focaccia recipes came from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day.

Better late than never.....

Slate and I had a birthday party for Jeff last night (4 days after his birthday), Jeff being one of Slate's CAP workers. When I asked what he wanted last week, he replied, "pear and gorgonzola pizza." No problem there. I've been making this particular pie for about a year now, and it has become a favorite with guests. The first pie had cheddar and mozzarella cheeses, deli ham, scallions, and dehydrated Roma tomatoes (again) that were soaked in olive oil with fresh basil and garlic cloves since last fall, and chopped and tossed on top. The gorgonzola pie is as simple as it gets. Toss a good handful of mozzarella on the dough, then slices of fresh pear followed with a handful of chopped walnuts, then crumbled gorgonzola on top. Happy birthday Jeff!!!

Revolution, food crisis, tailgating.....

There is a (not so) quiet revolution going on. It has actually been going on since the 1960's, although some of us baby-boomer's tried to cover it up with respectable(?) jobs and political and corporate ambitions. There have been hold-out's all along, people that were never satisfied with the 9-5, live for the weekend lifestyle, and even some that realized early on that greed never really accomplished much more than bitterness. Add to that small army of counter-cultural adherents an immigrant work force who have spent most of their lives eating whole foods, foods they grew themselves, and sooner or later there appears to be a movement going on. After a while some people with more influence than those that live under the radar start doing some research, and lo and behold, these researchers discovered what those under the radar folks knew all along. The Pew Charitable Trusts and Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health recently conducted a 2 1/2 year survey concluding that the cost-effectiveness of factory farming operations was an illusion, one that didn't take into account the hidden, down-the-road costs to public health, and the environment. Read it and weep, and try to start supporting local, family farmers, or better yet, start growing at least some of your own food yourselves. Even growing a few of your favorite herbs in a container on your apartment's patio is a step in the right direction.
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The food crisis has hit home. We bake all our bread around the Gray abode, a whole wheat/rye recipe I discovered in the Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day cookbook, plus made from scratch pizza dough. A month or so ago I bought King Arthur all-purpose flour and bread flour for around $2.89 for a 5 lb. bag. Two days ago those same brands and weights had jumped to $4.65. After an appointment in Greensboro yesterday, Slate and I picked up a few things in Costco. I didn't ask an employee, or go through all the food aisles, but I failed to see any rice. Usually, in the area where there were formerly at least 3 pallets full of 25 lb. bags of rice, plus assorted other rices, there were none. I had heard they, and Sam's Club, were beginning to ration rice, due to the international shortage. I have read that as much as 40% of the world's population depends on rice for it's daily survival. I was clueless as to what a big part grains play in our diet until I started making bread, and trying to adhere to a Mediterranean diet. The Washington Post has an excellent series on the food crisis, which I discovered while reading one of my favorite food bloggers, Ed Bruske, the slow cook.
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In the practicing what we preach department, we are now working Monday evenings and Saturday mornings in the Seagrove Community Garden. Last night we planted okra, created some signage for different beds, and installed about half of the irrigation system. Pretty soon we will start harvesting some of the onions, thereby thinning them out as well, and hopefully some of the lettuces too. Last night a couple of us came prepared to do a little tailgating as well.

Jones for pizza.....

It's been almost a month since we've had pizza around here, and, well, you know how that is ..... sooner or later you gotta have some. Two cheeses, deli ham, and some Roma's (dehydrated last year and stored in jars with basil, garlic and olive oil) became the toppings. I ran out of bread flour while making this batch of dough and had to substitute all-purpose flour, which isn't as high in protein. It didn't have the "snap" I like, but it was better than any pizzeria in this neck of the woods.

A Good Year.....

I've mentioned in earlier posts how much I've enjoyed the movie A Good Year, and today I visited a place that is probably as close as I'll ever get to Provence, where the movie takes place. To the west of Asheboro, on the edge of the Uwharrie mountain range, nestled between 3 knobs lies Zimmerman Vineyards. Norm and Leslie Zimmerman were gracious hosts, and I thoroughly enjoyed spending part of Sunday afternoon in their company, on the front porch of their tasting room, trading stories, surrounded by vineyards, pasture land and old timber. The pictures tell the story.

April occasional newsletter.....

Every now and then I send out a Tom Gray Pottery occasional newsletter, by e-mail, and this month's edition can be read below the dotted line. If you're interested in receiving it, please subscribe by sending a note to tgraypots at yahoo dot com, with the word "subscribe" in the subject header. Thanks!
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Dear friends,
Spring is a pretty special time for we potters in Seagrove, as the 3rd. weekend in April (19th. and 20th. this year) is when we celebrate our annual Seagrove Spring Kiln Opening. My shop is full right now as Pat and I have fired several kiln loads between us in preparation for this weekend. Additionally, I still have some of the pieces I mentioned in my last newsletter from my personal collection for sale. (More on that below) Most every potter in the community has been busy preparing for the weekend. We hope you come out and visit with us for a while!

While I’m here minding the store on Sunday the 20th., Pat will be exhibiting at the Farmer’s Curb Market in Greensboro, and after that she will be exhibiting at the Piedmont Pottery Festival in Eden, June 7, and the Festival on the Eno in Durham, July 4, 5 and 6. If you attend any of these shows please drop by her booth and check out her latest wares.

I mentioned in my last newsletter how we’re attempting to lead a much simpler lifestyle, and about how we are learning to say yes and no. Needless to say, it takes practice and intentionality. Part of this process for Slate and me is to look at life through a different lens, one that focuses on quality vs. quantity, and sometimes less being more. As a result I’m trying to make some choices that a few years ago would have been impossible to make, but now, they seem to be right. Here are a few of the yes and no decisions I’m working on now, ones that affect you as my customer and someone who appreciates handmade pottery.

(1) I am allowing n2clay.com to drift off into cyber-heaven. I will continue to have a web presence, with my blogs. The first is more of a journal about our lives here at the Gray ranch, and is a repository for images of my latest kiln firings too. The second is an outgrowth of my web site’s old recipes page, and is entitled The Gray’s Table. Blogs are free, fun, and allow feedback - who can argue with that?

(2) Having had a retail store front for 30 years now, minding the store 6 days a week has finally become too much. I will be spending many Saturday mornings (until 12 PM, more or less) in the Seagrove Community Garden, and the last Saturday of every month between now and the end of July I will be at day long workshops for the same. Sometimes Pat will be here minding the store, like this coming Saturday morning, but not always. Sometimes I will leave the shop open and trust you to add up your own sales, wrap your pots, and leave me with a check. On those days I will leave a note on the desk with detailed instructions as to sales tax, where the wrapping paper and bags are, etc. If you are uncomfortable with this concept, please e-mail me in advance to make other arrangements. In order to facilitate this idea, please remember to start bringing your checkbooks to Seagrove!

(3) The mention of checkbooks leads me to another thing I’m hoping I can say no to by year’s end - accepting credit cards. I know that for most of us credit and debit cards have become THE way we pay for most of our business transactions, but having accepted them since 1978, I’m tired of paying some bank for the privilege of exchanging my pots for your money. I so much want to eliminate the whole credit/debit card process from my shop that I’m offering what I consider a pretty good incentive - a 5% discount (on the sale of my pots only) between now and Labor Day weekend, provided you pay with a check, AND remind me of this offer. Oh yeah, I will accept cash too, with the same incentive, provided I’m here (see #2 above.)

(4) As I put the finishing touches on this newsletter today, I added 3 more pieces to my shop’s "for sale from my personal collection section," one of my way’s of saying no to way too much stuff. Two of those pieces are gorgeous chalices by Ann Riggs of Greenville, NC, plus a temmoku glazed and fluted pitcher I made about 10-12 years ago. Since my last newsletter the section has dwindled, but still has some excellent pots!

(5) That sounds like a lot of NO’s, huh? but sometimes saying no allows us to say yes to things that increase the quality of our lives. I’m hoping to say yes to a more diverse lifestyle. For much of my adult life making handmade pots has been so intense a focus that other parts of my life have suffered, including my health. I’m hoping to spend a great deal of time in our community garden, and more time in the kitchen cooking for my family, friends, and whoever arrives on the doorstep hungry.

Speaking of cooking, I had planned on including another recipe in this newsletter, but this month I’m just going to direct you to my new recipe blog for our favorite soup recipe from this past winter, a delicious Italian style soup…..
http://thegraystable.blogspot.com/2008/03/italian-soup-for-soul.html

Whew! That’s it for this edition. We hope to see you soon!
Blessings-Tom and Slate Gray and Pat Newby

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Victory Junction.....

Slate and I spent this weekend at Victory Junction Gang Camp in Level Cross, NC. The following came from their web site. "The Victory Junction Gang Camp enriches the lives of children with chronic medical conditions or serious illnesses by providing life-changing camping experiences that are exciting, fun, and empowering, in a safe and medically sound environment." In addition, they have special weekends, like the one we attended, for kids with physical disabilities and their families. We had a "crew chief" named Paul who was assigned to us for the weekend. Paul made sure we were where we needed to be when we needed to be there, and if we had had the opportunity to hand pick a staff member especially for us, we could not have made a better choice than Paul. We arrived Friday night at 5:30, left Sunday at 12:00, and the whole weekend was geared toward activities for kids with physical disabilities, and their non-disabled siblings and parents. We came home exhausted.....and feeling loved.

Yo ho, yo ho, it's a pirate's life for me. The opening night of "Pirate Weekend."

Slate and Paul working on one of Slate's art projects.

Paul, a systems analyst by trade and not at all creative according to him, putting on the finishing touches.

Slate and Paul in front of the Adam Petty Race Shop.
Slate's favorite part of the weekend - a drill in hand, bolting and unbolting lug nuts.

The Fabulous Hot Dog Daddy-o's from Durham provided Saturday nights entertainment, including covering ZZ Top, Rick James, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Jimmy Buffett.

Slate riding Hawk.....

.....and leading Gordon the Llama around his paddock.

Sunday morning - bowling before breakfast,

and our last breakfast with our cabin mates.

After a talent show, the staff packed us off with a lunch for the road, a dvd of the weekend's highlights (Slate appeared 4 times), a goody bag, the handmade quilts off our beds and the handmade stuffed teddy bear from Slate's. It was an awesome weekend, put together as a result of the generosity of a huge group of awesome people.

Making progress.....

Having lost so much productivity while my thyroid gland was under active, I'm sometimes amazed now when I look back at the end of a day's work. When I add a few spoon jars (not shown) to the quantity of bowls above, I figure I've had a decent day. Admittedly, long gone are the days when I can fill up my kiln in 3-4 working days, but I'm pleased with today's output. Still shooting for another kiln load between now and the 19th!

We gotta eat too, and we try to eat well. "Well" doesn't necessarily mean expensively or exotically, but maybe with forethought and intent. Pizza, even homemade, may not always be the healthiest choice in the world, but it's much better than speaking into a box and driving up to a window and receiving a bag of food-like stuff. Plus, pizza is comfort food for us, up there in the same stratosphere as spaghetti with meat sauce, pot roast, or vegetable soup on a cold winter day. Tonight's pie was topped with cheddar, mozzarella and pecorino-romano cheeses, sliced onions and tomatoes marinaded in balsamic vinaigrette, and a little deli ham. Yep, that's comfort food.

Back to work.....

I'm trying to get another kiln load out by the 19th., the weekend of the annual Seagrove Spring Kiln Opening. Most of these big, fat pitchers are a special order, but a few will be on the shelves. I also have to make communion sets, cruets, salt pigs, ice cream bowls, teabowls and serving bowls, and have my neighbor Danny make slab pieces, all prior to the kiln opening. Whew. I also have to spend time in the community garden putting up a deer fence, and go to Victory Junction Gang Camp with Slate the weekend of the 12th. Lots going on this month!!!