Ermie

Another pot. This one is so funny. The inside looks like mold or lichen. The outside is mostly bare, unglazed. My instructor declared this one "earthy."



My friend Cate sent me an excerpt from a poem by Kate Tuthill:

At night the heavens are starry and black
up here on top of the world across the sky,

northern lights dance

reds and greens a-twirl.

The Inuits say don't whistle, when the
lights are high, lest they swoop to
earth and carry you up to the
luminescent sky.

-Kate Tuthill
"Labrador in Winter"

Besides being a lovely bit of writing, I thought it matched my Solstice Print nicely. The Northern lights were intense on the evening of 10/24/11. They could be seen as far south as Georgia in the States. We could not see them in Los Angeles. Did you see them?


For Eve: the recipes for Max Cambras' Oven Roasted Potatoes and Roots & Cream as seen here.

Oven Roasted Potatoes

Ingredients (works with any quantity):

Red potatoes, all of similar diameter ~3”

Full head of garlic

Salt

Black pepper

Olive oil

Butter

Par-boil potatoes until tender, set out to dry, cut in half.

Cover bottom of heavy oven pan with 1/8” of olive oil (glass, ceramic or anodized—will not work with thin non-stick baking pans). Set potatoes jacket side up in the pan in a single layer & brush jackets with olive oil. Bake at ~400 degrees until oil has been absorbed and pan-facing side is crisp, about 30min. Cut heads of garlic in two, brush with oil and put in pan. Flip potatoes and bake until jackets turn crisp—add more oil if necessary. Stir and bake 10-20min more, being careful not to burn garlic.

Remove from oven and stir with a knob of butter. Salt and pepper to taste.

Roots and Cream

Ingredients:

~20 Pearl Onions

2 cups cubed turnip

2 cups cubed parsnip

4tbls sweet butter

1.5 cups whole milk, room temp

.5cup cream, room temp

1/8-1/4 tsp. mace

Salt

¼ tsp. cayenne pepper

Fresh parsley

Cut parsnip and turnip into ½” to ¾” cubes, keeping size as similar as possible. In a large covered pan, melt butter at medium heat. Add onions and salt (1/2 teaspoon). Sweat onions for 15min covered, careful not to brown at all. Add cubed turnip and parsnip cook covered for 5min, careful not to brown. Add milk and cream—raise temp, but do not boil. Turn down to simmer and cook for ~1hr.

After ~30min add Cayenne pepper and mace. Check to make sure all vegetables are fork tender, and milk has cooked down. Adjust seasoning and serve. Tip: if it is too dry, finish with a little more cream.