whitney smith

Last year at the Palo Alto Clay and Glass Festival, I fell in love with the work of a local bay area potter named Whitney Smith. I bought two pieces (see below) - I went back two days in a row, buying one piece the day after. I am on Whitney's mailing list and she let us know she will have some new pieces. So excited to check them out!

I have been looking forward to this year's festival more than I should probably admit. It will be this Saturday and Sunday (7/11 - 7/12) in Newell Park in Palo Alto from 10am to 5pm. I can't wait! There are other potters that I look forward to seeing too - but Whitney is my favorite.

my bird plate

my bird bowl

(my mom has it in brown and teal)

my fiance's mom gave my mom this

lovely pomegranate bud vase

p.s. Whitney Smith allows couples to register with her for their wedding... I am SO going to register with her (although my fiance thinks a $130 cake plate is ridiculous). I tell him that it is art! Lovely ceramic art! I am not sure I can wait for a wedding registry... it is too far away!

full disclosure - I took ceramics in college, and again in grad school... I know my love is not rational. It started after a trip to Italy in college on a study trip. Piles of pots!

Renegade Craft Fair - SF

This weekend my parents were in town for my little brother's graduation from nursing school on Thursday and Friday.  Before my brother's graduation party on Saturday night, my mom and I set off to explore the Renegade Craft Fair.

the flyer!

It was huge!  Much bigger than I expected.  In the photo below, you can really only see half of it - there are two wide side aisles that you can't even really see.

renegade crowds

I found out about the fair from Whitney Smith's email update (she is my favorite bay area potter).  First stop?  Whitney Smith's booth!  I ended up buying a little one off blue dish with cherry blossoms on the bottom.  Not sure what I'll do with it yet - currently it is on my desk.  I have a weakness!

my Whitney Smith addiction continues...

Then, my mom treated me to an early birthday present!  She got me this amazing terrarium from Planted.  I had seen other terrariums in various shops - but they were always sooo expensive!  This one was just right.  It has already moved into a very happy, sunny spot in our kitchen.

I hope to keep this little guy alive... 

top view

Last but not least, I got a mounted rice paper butterfly from Bugs Under Glass.  I went back and forth in my mind about the sustainability of this purchase (even calling my husband for his opinion).  I talked over my concerns with the guy running the booth and he assured me that these were farm raised butterflies that lived a full live and were collected after death.  He said my butterfly had lived at the Cal Academy of Sciences in the rainforest exhibit.  I was in love with the butterfly at this point and it now lives on my desk. My husband even likes it (keep in mind is still very opposed to my reindeer pelt idea).  Now I need to come up with a name for my new friend.

rice paper butterfly under glass

I wasn't the only one to pick up a few treats.  My mom got some gifts and a pair of really cool earrings made from recycled cymbals!  They make a musical tinkle when she is wearing them.  A lot of the art and items for sale had a recycled element to them. Very San Francisco (in a good way). :)

Bell earrings from Chime Jewelry

This craft fair was a lot of fun!  I definitely plan to go back next year.

the spoils!

On Saturday Niki and I went to the Palo Alto Clay and Glass Festival and it was awesome. She got a cute vase in grandpa green and fell in love with a few other pieces to be custom made for her later (a sweet little sugar/creamer set). I came away with three new pieces of pottery myself. I got this cool praying mantis bowl from Catherine Reece of Village Clayworks. I think that guacamole will look really good in it (we already have used it for chips and for strawberries)!

I also got this little bird bud vase from Joanna Mendicino. She had so much cute stuff! I could really imagine getting a cute baby shower gift for someone there. She had little birds, bunnies, and other whimsical animals and shapes.

I also got this soap dish from Rae Dunn. I really like her stuff and there were lots of interesting things to choose from (Niki loved this cake plate). I have seen her stuff used creatively in weddings before, like this wedding that used her little love rocks in the place setting.

All in all it was an awesome day. I was so tempted by Whitney Smith, but I kept trying to remember that I am planning to register with her for the wedding.

summer's final blooms

With summer winding down, our flowers are putting out their last blooms.  Although I will miss summer's sunshine, roses, and bbq's, this year I am looking forward to some cozy, cold, and rainy nights at home after a summer full of travel and adventure.

mum's from the grocery, roses from the garden
whitney smith tulip vase

Black and Gold dessert!

I had a few people over to watch the Super Bowl.  Since my fiance wasn't going to be around (work travel), I decided to use my spare time on Saturday to make some food for the game.  Since our meyer lemon tree is full of fruit - and conveniently Saints colored - I thought that it was a good day for iron chef meyer lemon.  

Since it was one of my 2010 goals to make something from every cookbook, making this insane lemon tart from Tartine seemed like the perfect thing to try. 

I also had all the tools to make the dessert.  Katie Cole had given us a tart pan and cooling rack for our wedding - both of which I used here!  Thanks again!  A word of warning - this Tartine tart actually uses THREE recipes (the tart, the dough, and the lemon cream).  This is a trick Julia Child also uses, which makes it hard to fully estimate how long a given recipe will take. 

The finished product!  Not so bad!  Served on a red Whitney Smith cake plate that my future mother-in-law gave me for Christmas.  I love it!  

Amy and I enjoying the finished product!  Served with homemade whipped cream on top. :)

I should note that I am getting married in the year that the Saints won the Super Bowl and Amy is getting married in the year that Bama won the BCS Championship (her hubby to be is a fan).  Hopefully good luck coming our way this year! 

Vanilla Sugar!

As I like to have some vanilla in my coffee - yesterday afternoon I made vanilla sugar.  Turns out it is super super easy to make.  I used this recipe from Baking Bites as my guide.

It was simple - I started with 2 cups of sugar, and one split vanilla bean.  I also scraped the seeds out and threw them into the sugar, but that isn't required.  The vanilla bean pod on its own will flavor the sugar.  Now I just need to let it sit for a week!  The best part is - I can keep adding sugar as I deplete it, as the vanilla bean will last for a long time (I've read about a year).  I want to store it in my Whitney Smith bird sugar bowl.  I think that this would make a good Christmas gift for co-workers or friends as it is pretty inexpensive to make and quite wonderful. 

I also want to thank Peter and Meaghan for the Pryex set!  We have been trying to move away from plastic tupperware for a while now, and Peter and Meaghan just got us the most awesome set of glass storage containers (one used for vanilla sugar making).  Thanks so much!