"when life gives you mangos... make mango tacos!"

Or mango burritos, curried mango burritos!
OK, I like to experiment with making tortillas, and I am probably gonna nail down a recipe I like later TODAY.  I make gluten-free rice flour tortillas and corn tortillas.  Corn tortillas are wicked easy, just get masa harina and follow the instructions on the bag :)
Flour tortillas are not difficult, but recipes seem either easy to make but the result is a little dry and cardboard-ish OR recipes are VERY complicated and tasty.  I want easy and soft and yum! 2 nights ago I combined 3 recipes, and while easy, they were not soft enough, and last night's experiment was soft and yummy but a little tricky to make...so I tweek the recipe again and tonight I bet it is perfect:  EASY AND DELISH.

ANYWAY, yesterday I am like "we have 2 mangos, and if I use a Vegan stoner recipe for mango curry combined with their bean dip, tortillas, fresh tomato and spinach I WILL BE GENIUS." **  And so I did, the result was sooooooo delishious, and the dog now knows she loves mango....

**curried mango burritos or tacos--it is really quite easy :)

prepare either tacos or tortillas, so, like make them or open a bag!
-mango curry inspired by Vegan stoner: chop a mango, saute in olive oil and add 1/4 cup or a little more coconut yogurt, spoonful of chili sauce and a lot of curry powder, warm on low for several minutes
-bean dip from Vegan stoner:  drain and rinse a can of black beans, add some salsa and mayo and spice, blenderize
-top taco or tortilla with a layer of bean dip, spinach leaves, mango curry and tomatoes, HOLY CATS that is YUMMY!

freestyle Friday...

Let me say first, you would NEVER see me walk onto a glass panel 103 stories above earth...or even on the second story.... I mean, I DREAM about being scared of climbing heights! ***
Of course, you will remember that, like Charlie Brown, I am afraid of everything.... ;)
Lucy Van Pelt: Do you think you have pantophobia? 
Charlie Brown: What's pantophobia? 
Lucy Van Pelt: The fear of everything. 
Charlie Brown: THAT'S IT! 

ANYWAYS, so yesterday, as you can see, I was out and about on a dog walk job with Nook..and brought Penny.
You will not be surprised to hear that I get emails and phone calls "how is PENNY?" and bump into people on the street who rub her belly and notice she is doing quite well, thank you, a week after major surgery...biopsy results soon, I think....

SO, my weekend, you ask?  I am involved in a new store opening next week AND I am featured artist at another and a person with pantophobia is like "OH GOD I think I wanna hide under the covers with my cute beagle and hiiiiiiiiiide!!!!!!!".
But no.  The proper response is to make a boatload of mugs and vases and sculptures HOT DAMN things in the studio are busy :)

***speaking of dreams and night, GOOD GOLLY I cannot stand the new single by Saint Vincent, BIRTH IN REVERSE, but the fukking thing IS catchy and you find it bouncing around in your brain at midnight when you get up to pee...ARGH!

So, how about you, any interesting things going on for ya this weekend and week upcoming?

ever had....?

Ever had a night where you had 2 meetings and were out waaay past your bedtime?
Then you might be up early to make the blog post and....well, you're like
"*blink* bowl and wee pitchers today, I can do that *yawn*"

Have agreat Thursday :)



(new pottery by Gary Rith)

mug musings, day 2...

OK, so Like I say yesterday, I am thinking about mug shapes that I like to make and use... I better take notes, because I am FORGETFUL!

I think of these as pretty basic...I add ridgies, then a little stamping, but a nice tall, mug works for most people...


This guy below has become a FAVE in our house...and I add a splash of blue inside, as a surprise...


(mugs by Gary Rith)

But then I am making these too....the faceted one is a favorite type of mine, but the other is sort of a good and old-fashioned mug shape--stable, fat, fits great in the hand....have an awesome Wednesday!

messing around with mugs, day one...

Oh I know, I am restless, have a poor attention span and today should be teapot Tuesday, but that is not what is on my mind.  Actually, as I sit here, MORE mugs are on my mind...but here are some favorite shapes freshly out of the kiln... I like these 4 colors together, and I like making a spiral swirly pattern on mugs.  You like to make a fun decoration, like spirals, but not mess up the USEFULNESS of the item or ruin its function, right? I am not sure what I like most.  I am exploring that this week....
have a great Tuesday!


(new mugs by Gary Rith)

doing really well...

Yesterday Penny is playing with the neighbor's dog and they ask how she is doing... she is doing so well I had nearly forgotten she had surgery Thursday...believe me, she is 100 percent now :)

I got another load of flowers Saturday so that the wife could fill in the corner of the garden there, rocks too...suddenly it is nicely filled in and perfect!

I wonder if we could imagine a Memorial Day without war dead to commemorate?  What if, like John Lennon, we tried to imagine a world without war? Memorial Day would become just another pretty summer day.....

"Imagine"

Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today...

Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace...

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world...

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one

go DOG go!

You figure pretty much NOBODY is watching blog posts Sunday of a gorgeous Memorial Day weekend, right?  But still I post :)

You will recall I made a rolling pottery car in turquoise...now it can race against a yellow car!
This is a pic of Penny and me a couple years ago...she is quite inspiring! Have a great weekend!


(New pottery by Gary Rith)

after a messy week: centering with a side of gluten-free blueberry cake :)

(new wee pitcher given to the wife, it is so cute you know I had to keep it for us:  I was at a friends house the other day peeing and saw a tiny glass pitcher in the bathroom with a pretty way of doing the top, pinching it up there where the handle goes...and that is lily of the valley from my great-grandmother's garden now in OURS and it is in the kitchen smelling GREAT)



I found 2 four-leaf clovers the other day.  The week has been turning out that way indeed!
What better way to get back to normal than THROW pots and bake blueberry cake?

People talk about CENTERING.  You know, chilling out, meditating.  Potters are lucky in that our practice and discipline literally involves centering clay...and the brain! I swear nothing is more relaxing and contemplative than making pots. You wonder why I do it and maybe that is why.  I am a totally hyperactive social weirdo and pottery brings me down to..... the best me, the best mood.

Baking too. Which is similar, right? You have the powders, the water, forming, baking, and it is also productive:  make pots all day or bake and you have a table covered with work, makes you feel good to make things.

SO, yes, a challenging week, but I made things, fired the kiln.  I have an order for a bowl type I like to do in green with frogs...except, hold the frogs and go denim blue... still looks NICE eh? And the wee pitchers? You know I like to make those and it is the easiest thing to do and sell, a small inexpensive item like that at an art fair.

Finally:  gluten-free blueberry cake!  I have zillions of recipes for gluten-free cakes, but the wife was like "soy flour and protein, what do you think?" and I was like "I have a bag of it and should remember to use it!" and my friends at Bob's Red Mill had this great, simple recipe for a plain cake, ready for anything, like blueberries and nuts... so MOIST and tasty :) (click here for recipe-I used sugar, not splenda...wtf is SPLENDA?)
 Have an awesome Saturday!

like I said earlier this week, things look good by Friday :)

Sorry about my little soap opera of a week.  People have been SO nice.  If you have not read up till now, on the weekend my father was about to turn 80 but collapsed and was sent to the hospital for awhile.  He is out now but very ill...HOWEVER, it is possibly just complications of a new medication (um, aren't those s'posed to HELP you, not KILL YOU????) and his doctor probably straightened him out Thursday and he can rest at home... but then I also had a boatload of work to complete and other dogs and cats to care for AND there was the thing with his 80th birthday party and out of town guests PLUS unrelated to that were some visiting cousins AND... Penny my little beagle. It was all just a cascade of CRAP in the space of one or 2 days.....

Here is Penny's story so far, because really, she has fans DYING to know how she is right? AND AS YOU WILL see below, she has received get Well cards...

A disclaimer: I SWEAR my dog never smoked ...not even cigars or chewing tobacco!

A few days ago our vet did Penny's yearly.  She was like UH OH.  Our vet had Penny's same age beagle cousin.  Identical looking, and it is likely that many of the beagles in this county are related (Cornell University Vet School raises beagles for... research...they all look the same....their offspring, rejects, retired subjects are all adopted out to good homes and...well, you get the idea).
So, our vet's own beagle developed a mouth tumor last winter which seemed ordinary enough BUT turned out to be cancer and the dog died soon thereafter! And our vet saw THE SAME tumor mass in Penny's mouth and jaw.
SO, we got the emergency appt. with Cornell Veterinary Hospital dental surgeons.  They took blood Wednesday and found a lot of problems in her mouth and scheduled one surgery and possibly a second surgery.  The large mass to be removed and biopsied and other stuff. They took blood, and she was back for surgery all day Thursday.
So, Thursday she is gone all day and we sit down with the doctor at 6pm: The biopsy comes back in 2 weeks and they do not know if it will show cancer, hopefully not. Her blood shows that her organs are healthy which is a good sign.  They believe they removed the whole tumor AND... what is probably the troublemaker (drumroll please)
She had an extra tooth.  The extra tooth was loose, became diseased, the tooth next to it also became diseased AND it is possible that like one domino falling after another, caused the tumor.  So, two teeth removed, a mass removed and being tested, and she is home with a bag of medicine.
Friday, today, she hops off the bed bright and early saying "whaddya say we go outside, then jump on the cat like usual, and have an omelette for breakfast???" which I gave her :)

a family story or 2 :)

(you have been very kind in your comments and thank you for listening to this challenging week)

Penny the beagle met with the Cornell vet school surgeons yesterday.  She has surgery number one today with a biopsy and radiology and maybe that will:  hopefully show that she merely needs more surgery and treatment done either today or in surgery number 2 OR it will show she has terminal cancer.  The surgeon cautiously thinks it is NOT cancer, but will know more later :) If it is not cancer but cureable instead, it involves complicated surgery and treatment costing 3 times our vet's high estimate...which will be worth it :)

My father is about the same, but home still.  Hospitals are awful places, whether you are a dog or human.

OK, stories????



1)  My great-grandmother is the grandmother I grew up with, living an impossibly long life near us.  I never saw my other grandmothers, but we saw her all the time.  She was delightful and tough.  She had limited mobility as she aged but always had an immense garden.  She would be out there with her cane or walker, with sight and hearing not what it had been, with a million flowers and veggies.  She had a big fat cat named Mi Mi allowed everywhere (table, counter, etc)  and she cooked immense feasts...walker, failing sight and hearing and asst. chef basketball sized cat included.  I remember at least once chowing down and my mother saying "Gary that is enough!" and grandmother saying "eat, eat, let the boy eat!" guarenteeing my mother would be cleaning up little boy puke later :)

ANYWAY, I was at my parents' farm the other day, as you know, and filled the trunk of the car with lily of the valley, my wife's favorite flower AND my great-grandmother's.  My parents had dug up some of it from her garden and have a lot of it, now our yard will have some too :) Can you imagine, having your great-grandmother's flowers growing in your own yard, something she originally planted 70 years ago?

2)  I steal rocks and come from a long line of rock thieves.  I remember as a little kid my father would grab a nice big rock when we visited a park, building what was surely the only rock wall in Iowa (where we lived at the time).
I steal rocks too.  But of course, they are abundant in the northeast....and we are making a new wall to mark the new lily of the valley garden in the corner :)

"no....breakfast???"

Try explaining to your small and adorable BUT voracious little beagle that she cannot have breakfast today because she a pre-op appt. at Cornell Vet School surgery... I DID give her a huge bowl of treats last night, which is long forgotten, but, oh, that little face.... "so, uh, Gary, did I do something wrong, are you not forgetting something here?". And she sits on my feet.

If you read the last couple of days, things here are a bit challenging.  Penny the beagle is sick and has pre-op today and surgery Thurs or Fri and anybody who knows me is aware that no human can match my love for her (well, there is my wife...).  My father left the hospital yesterday for his 80th birthday.  He should not have left.  My sister is there helping them, but I would not be surprised if he went right back into the hospital, hours after leaving.  BUT, for all that, of course, as were we all, he was happy to be in his home for the 80th birthday party....

I feel like I am spinning out a soap opera for you, sorry about that!  I have a feeling news will be good soon :)

strangely...

Strangely, considering what I posted yesterday:
  if there is a bit of a DUMP from the universe, help comes from all corners, here, friends, relatives.  It is like "our barn burned down and here are all the neighbors with pies and potato salad, hammers and boards to help us build another!".  Thanks for your support here, it is most surprising and welcome, nothing is changed or better but we DO have a feeling of resolve and I bet things look good by the end of the week :)

WHAT IF: laying it out...

What if the vet finds what looks like a cancerous tumor on your adorable beagle who will have emergency surgery this week?
What if 2 days before your father's 80th birthday he went to the emergency room in the middle of the night?
What if your mother is not as young as she once was and is by herself on an isolated farm miles from even a neighbor?  (and an hour from yourself)
What if cousins were coming from out of town?
What if others were coming into town for that 80th birthday? (remember that???)
What if you yourself had a stack of dog and cat babysitting jobs to take care of, on top of that?
And a business too? Etc etc?
What if that was how the weekend was, and your week ahead?
Well then, you might not be posting pics of new pottery, THAT's what if today, sorry.

the tale of 2 pizzas day TWO: a mountain of mushrooms!

Vegan Stoner, as I say, has both the blog and the cookbook, so simple! So tasty and cute!
I wanted to make their mushroom pita pizzas (recipe click here)..but with a regular gf pizza crust and OH GOSH what a yummy item.... basically, you lay down the sauce, spinach and shrooms, toadfood and cheese, mmmmmmmmmm... I put on way too many shrooms MUCH to our personal delight...
have an awesome SUNDAY!

a tale of 2 pizzas...day one!

You will recall that a couple of days ago I made a stellar artichoke-avocado pesto pizza!  Gawdamn that was some good green pizza....

I have The Vegan Stoner's cookbook... so easy, simple, unusual and tasty!  I just make them gluten-free  and they encourage creative thinking and improvisation.

They have had a  blog (click here!) for awhile and published the cookbook... Thursday I made the cookbook's broccoli breakfast pizza.  I do not think I would want a heaping helping of broccoli at breakfast time, but DANG, yes, at dinner!

It is SHOCKING how yummy this simple veggie pizza is, what kid grows up guessing they would kill a broccoli slice and GO BACK FOR MORE?
(I can't find a link for this recipe.  It is a pizza crust topped with tomato sauce, then crumble together 1/2 pound tofu with some nutitional yeast, add chopped broccoli and diced bell pepper and a little vegan cheese on top, bake 10 minutes more or less)
Have a great weekend, and check back tomorrow for the next pizza of theirs, which I make today....

speaking of YELLOW

(a yellow bowl with Gary Rith, the guy who made it, and why, say, lookit the yellow tee...)
Yellow could be one of those things where you wake up one day in your 40s and realize you are VERY fond of a color you have seemingly ignored your whole life.  Is it part of the maturation process?  Like discovering you love French and Italian white wines and can't remember your last beer????
I find myself admiring buttery yellow houses...daffodils and iris too!
I am even exploring the delights of .... pink.  Not bright bubblegum pink, but a nice floral pink, as you will recall in Sundays post about pink drinks....
but really, the group of 4 new bowls below shows my biggest favorites together...have an awesome Friday!


(new pottery by Gary Rith)

"it was all yellow..."

(new pottery by Gary Rith)
I don't like Coldplay much, but, well, the line fits today!
I DO love a nice buttery-lemony yellow color.  My fair display is yellow, and I have a killer yellow glaze.
These are not meant to go together, but they go together.  The teapot is quite small.  It made the wife swoon.  It is cute sized! About one cup.
The cups and saucers are the next step for me:  remember when I told you last week about making saucers that I LIKE?  But that I don't use spoons. The wife reminded me about when a clothing designer was interviewed about purses, and while sipping during the talk said "see how my spoon slips into the middle of the saucer each time I  lift the cup?  This is badly designed" which gets a potter thinking.... PLUS, of course, a larger saucer allows space for a cookie...and I like to add the little ripple there, which, SURPRISE! Helps hold the spoon....and you might be able to see I added a ridge in the middle to keep the cup in place and keep the spoon from wandering....
have an awesome Thursday!