Studio Day: Hand Built Ceramics

Today I spent a good 6 hours in the studio finishing up some sculpted tiles and hand building six plates.  First the tiles.  They needed to be finished -- I had started them over the last couple of weeks:

These will later be sanded, fired, partially glazed and mounted into frames.

On this particularly large tile, I rubbed fine sand into the surface.  I am curious how it will fire up.

I then set about to make a set of Antipasti plates. In total I want four rectangles as serving plates and 8 small squares as plates to eat from.

Hand building is something I do when I want irregular shapes or very large bowls which are too fatiguing to make on the wheel.  Here's how it works:

First, I cut the clay bases from the large block....

...much like slicing a piece of bread from a loaf with a wire.

Then I rolled long strands of clay, much like we all learned in kindergarten...

...and attached the rolls to the edge of the base which I cut from the block.

I managed to get the four rectangles formed as well as two squares.  I wrapped them up in plastic and will wait a couple of days.  When they have firmed up a bit, I will  go back and completely clean them up.  

On these particular plates, I want the irregular edge. I am not sure how I am going to glaze them yet.  It was a productive studio day.

Here is an example of a large bowl which I also hand built -- it is approximately 23 inches in diameter, is glazed on the inside and raw on the outside.  

To Iron or Not to Iron

I am SO happy to be able to line dry my linens again!  To me there is nothing nicer than real 100% linen, washed in pure soap, rinsed with a few tablespoons of fresh lemon juice, line dried in the sun and put freshly on the bed.  

Up until now I have been ironing (or letting someone iron) the linen sheets for my bed and breakfast.  But I am starting to wonder why.  I mean, ironing takes away that breezy feel and the scent of the outdoors.  It makes them "perfect" but that perfections lasts only until someone sits on them, because linen is a natural wrinkly fabric.

So here is my question to you.  If you had your choice, would you want to come into a room with perfectly ironed 100% linen or with line stretched and breeze dried linen?  I am talking the full program -- duvets, sheets, pillowcases.  What would make you feel the most comfortable?

i think am in over my head....

but there is no where to go but forward because

well

it's my turn i guess

An Interesting Post for all who love Italy.

Go to this link. Alex of Blog from Italy has written an excellent post about a topic which concerns us all in this country.

The Nasty Cliff Negotiation

The discussion involved how best to terrace this cliff behind the barn.  

Present:  Architectural Engineer.  Geologist.  Excavator.  Me. Micha.  Giovani Piacenza, our house wine producer (his cousin is the Excavator Gisuseppe Piacenza). Max.

Giovanni likes to negotiate for his cousin over a friendly table.

The heavy artillery is brought out.  That's Norwegian Aquavit and Italian Grappa on the table.

A deal is struck.  We smile nervously while reviewing our checkbook balance in our heads.

The deal is sealed.

My adrenaline has kicked in. I am feeling unsettled and overwhelmed by everything. I go outside and look at our ugly nasty cliff, hoping for some shred of inspiration to keep me going.

And there it is.  It whispers to me.  Don't be scared. If I managed to survive and blossom on this nasty grey cliff, just imagine what is in store for you.

 Everything will be fine.

Gotta Love It

This country drives me nuts.  I mean it.  Sometimes it frustrates the hell out of me, sometimes it seduces me, sometimes it makes me laugh, and sometimes it makes me pull my hair out, straight out of my head.  

Let me give you a couple of examples.

First, an unbelievably good one.  March is the month of the Woman for Piemontese Health Services.  All women who are registered with the National Health System over fifty receive a letter in the mail, where they are given an appointment at the local hosiptal for a mammography.  That's right, the state sends you a note, you go, and they pay.  This is my second time.  It works like a well oiled machine.  They even did a couple of extra shots this time because the tech noticed on my file that I said last year that my mother is a BC survivor.

You can say whatever you want about "socialized medicine" (I personally have been one government subsidized system or another since coming to Europe in 1994, and have to say that worrying about medical coverage has never crossed my mind in 15 years. That alone is a health saver).  There might be weaknesses in medical care here, but you would be long dead or buried before anyone from a government agency in America sent you a letter to come to an appointment for a pre-paid mammography.  Seriously.

Ok, and something to drive a person nuts.  I have gotten three sets of bids for the construction of our project.  All three are totally different, but not consistently.  One is 50 percent higher on one thing, another is 100% higher on another. There is absolutely no rhyme or reason.  When you ask why one price is so much higher than the competition, you get the look like you have two heads.  It is driving me nuts because I don't know who to believe.  I try to get an answer what a "standard price" is.  My architect can help me on some things but not on others.  The process of making a decision is unbelievable painful.  

Another thing.  I cannot seem to drive off my property without taking my life in my hands.  I have had more near misses since coming to this country than ever in my 30 plus years of driving.  I swear they are out to get me.  People entering traffic circles by cutting me off, little old ladies walking directly in front of my car.  And then there is my personal favorite. Car stopped illegally in the oncoming lane, and the cars behind it go AROUND it without looking to see if anyone is coming. Surprise, there is someone - me.  

One more.  Tuesday we had gale force winds. You could not go outside and stand up straight. Our neighbor, clearly a rocket scientist, seemed to think it was the perfect day to burn a pile of dead branches.  On the border of our property.  Two hours later, three fire trucks were here, putting out 20 foot flames. The fire had just missed jumping over to our woods. I saw our neighbor over there flailing his arms around in front of a fireman as if to say "I have no IDEA what happened".  Then of course, there was the matter of the six tires he put into the fire, which, even in Italy is totally illegal.  He's getting a massive fine. Franco, our neighbor and guru, was so worked up I thought he would have a heart attack.  

Oh.  I just had to leave and come back. One of the guys who gave us a bid came back and asked if he could make a copy of the bid he gave us because he forgot to make a copy for himself. Makes you wonder if you want him high on a piece of scaffolding on your property, doesn't it? Time to break open some wine.... 

Dad, circa 1938-40

Food

I have been thinking a lot about food lately.  

After reading Mark Bittman's article concerning eating sensibly and Michelle Obama's roto-tilling the back yard of the White house to put in rucola,  it hit me how far we have come from eating real food and how we really need to get back to what Italians have been doing all along: eating what we grow.  

I know it sounds simple, but it's not.  Our lives are rushed and we need to get something on the table quickly.  Food preparation becomes a chore and we need to cut out the time it takes. Entire industries have been created out of making our lives more "convenient" -- or, in other words,  by enabling us to pack even more business into our lives by removing the time it takes to prepare something nutritious, our lives are supposed to have gotten better. But it seems to me that we have just gotten more stressed.  And tired.  And malnourished. 

It is like we are starving while shoving the food into our mouths. 

Our food comes from places very far away.  It takes trains, planes and automobiles to get it to us.  It is picked early and rushed to markets half a world away.  

I come from a family which always grew what it ate.  We always had huge vegetable gardens, and my mother and father kept the gardens impeccably.  We had beefsteak tomatoes in the summer and swiss chard which had been blanched and flash frozen in the winter.  My father hunted, and we had venison all year.  Venison chops sauteed in a little olive oil with garlic, deglazed with dry white vermouth.  That is how we ate.  I was jealous of my friends who had prepackaged ham, canned peas and potato buds.  I did not know how good we had it. But I do know now.  I think that it very much had to do with my family being of Italian heritage.  My grandfather, while living in an apartment, always had tomatoes and basil growing on his small balcony.  I did the same when living in an apartment in Germany.   It is in the genes.

Now we are all learning the benefits of sustainable gardening, small agriculture and vitamin content.  Eating well, unlike just before the bubble burst, does not mean eating fancily. It means eating simply.  It means knowing what you are putting into your mouth, and knowing where it came from.

I have taken to making my own muesli.  Breakfast is:  Italian strawberries, muesli, plain Italian yogurt and honey from my neighbor.

Dinner is:  Italian asparagus and leeks, sauteed in Italian olive oil with rosemary from the garden.  Half the sautee goes into the blender and is smoothed with parsley and a ladle full of the boiling pasta water.  

It is then all tossed with Italian spelt, or farro pasta.  It took exactly 16 minutes, start to finish.

Simple foods have color, have texture, are appetizing.  They beckon us to eat them.  They are not overdone.  

Buon Appetito!

Daytripping in the Monferrato: Agliano Terme and Costigliole d'Asti

Yesterday we gave ourselves the afternoon off and made a small tour in the direction of Asti - into the heart of Barbera country.  

Our first stop was Agliano Terme -- the other thermal town in the Monferrato.  We were enchanted.  The terme facilities are on the lower part and the town itself is perched on a hill with views all the way to the Alps..  The facades have either been completely restored or are in the process of being redone.  The town has everything -- butcher, pharmacy, grocery store, churches, cafes.... and beautiful homes...

One of our favorite wineries in  Agliano Terme is Tre Acini, which is an organic farm that produces outstanding Barbera.

The ride on the back roads from Agliano to Costigliole is gorgeous; Barbera vineyards, freshly plowed fields waiting for planting.

Costigliole d'Asti's historical center is dominated by it beautiful and newly restored castle, which houses a cultural museum.  In fact, the entire town is tasteful, elegant, and very liveable.  One of the best Barbera enoteche in the Monferrato is located here, to no surprise.  The castle is surrounded by park grounds and gardens -- in spring it is especially beautiful.

Reusing Tiles - The Sequel

As I stated in my last post, I have finished cleaning the tiles for the new roof terrace.  I scraped and chiseled  over 300 pieces, and they are now sitting and waiting for their new home.

My work, however is far from over.  I am about to start the mother of all tile restoration projects -- the tiles for the new guest bathroom.  Here is the ultimate before picture:

I have laid out the tiles to make sure I have enough for the bathroom.  In case you are having some very justifiable difficulty visualizing this, I have wiped a few of the tiles down with water just to show how gorgeous they are.  The wet tiles resemble how they will all look after they have been sealed.  They were removed from the downstairs of our farmhouse and date back to the original construction in that newer part of the house -- around 1850.  They were made with a combination of sand and cement, and colored by hand.

Aren't they amazing?

Yes, and an amazing amount of work, too.  These 6 square meters of tiles will take me longer than the 19 square meters of terracotta I just cleaned. They were put down with a quartz based cement which adheres like crazy, and  I will have to use a flexible grinder to get it all off.  I plan on doing 10 a day until I get them done, in a well ventilated environment, fully protected with mask, shower cap and goggles.  I will look fabulous.  No one will be allowed to photograph, of course, at risk of personal bodily harm.  If I am still breathing and of good humor during this process, i will post an update.  

This should prove that there is nothing I won't do for my guests.

Dinner 21.3.09

After a hard day's labor, it was time to prepare an extremely simple, rustic and healthy meal to congratulate ourselves.  I finished cleaning up 19 square meters of cement encrusted terracotta tiles (that's around 200 sf worth) and Micha got the entire upper level of the property clear of overgrowth and downed trees.  

Nothing is more satisfying for two hungry workers than premium quality chicken, slowly roasted in its own juices.  We went into town in the afternoon and picked up a 6 pound free range chicken at Moretti, our favorite polleria, and some fruits and vegetables.  Our herbs are all growing again, so I picked some and stuffed the chicken, basting it with some local Chardonnay.

The Italian flat beans looked great a the market, so I picked up a bunch.  My favorite way to prepare them is to let them saute slowly in brown butter with some fresh chives thrown in. The new potatoes are cut and tossed with lots of fresh spring rosemary, onions and garlic.

For dessert, I simply peeled two pears, and poached them in a local sparkling wine, lemon and sugar.

We opened a bottle of 2003 LaGuardia Leone, which is a Monferrato Rosso blend from the LaGuardia winery in Morsasco near Ovada.  This particular blend is one of our favorites -- Dolcetto and Barbera.  The acidic barbera cuts and complements the high tanin of the Dolcetto, and we think that we drank it at its perfect time,  5.5 years after the harvest.

Candles lit, Miles jamming on the CD player.

After dinner, I whisked four egg yolks (picked up fresh from Franco's chicken coop) with some sugar and the leftover sparkling wine from the pears...

...and served both together while still hot.

The highest quality ingredients, simply prepared to bring out their flavor.  Excellent (but not over the top pricewise) wine, served at the right temperture and time.  That is Italy at its best, in my view.

some days require more patience than others

some days require remembering that there is a bigger plan, a greater good, and that we are only human and can only do so much

today was definitely one of those days.  not everything is in my control. In fact, almost nothing is in my control.  and that has to be alright. because there is nothing i can do about it.  so i have to let it go. 

 

The Cooking Couple does Fish Tacos

Our honeymooners Elizabeth and Michael strike again with another TV appearance on Connecticut Style in New Haven.  

Keep an eye on these two, folks.  You will be able to say you knew them when.  

Acqui Terme on Slow Travel

I recently wrote an article about my favorite Italian small city for the Slow Travel Website.  It got published yesterday.  Here's the link to go directly to the article.

Recuperando!

Magical things happen sometimes if you just look around.

I was looking for tiles for the roof terrace of our new guest room, and could not find any that did not look brand spanking new and sort of out of place.  Ok, there were SOME that looked like they would work really well.  Hand hammered slate, for example, which would have cost almost as much as the whole project together.

Then we thought of the pile of tiles we had taken out of a guest room a couple of years ago.  The tiles are terracotta which had been painted over time and time again over the years.  But by standing outside, some of those layers of paint had started to peel, revealing the frost resistant terracotta beneath:

I have about 18 square meters of these tiles, and the roof terrace is 28 square meters.  I have found a supplier in Tuscany which carries the same size and thickness of these tiles and now only have to order up 10 square meters of them.  We will mix the new ones into the old ones.  I am sure the paint will continue to peel for a few years.  Kind of cool, actually.

Now here is the sweat equity part.  I have to chisel off the old cement from the backs of the tiles.  I do this using either an actual chisel or a flexible hand saw (which I hate because of the dust. If I don't want dust I have to wet the tiles down.  It's messy, so I chisel off as much as I can by hand).  So far I have 4 square meters completed (see photo above).

Oh, and here's another one!

This might be the coup of the century.  I was lamenting to Franco that in order to fulfill the Commune's room lighting requirement, I have to order a huge window for the guest room.  A rectangular window of at least 250x130 cm.  The facade is the one facing the pool.  I would love to use something decorative but these windows are monstrously expensive. 

Franco said, "WAIT!  I have an iron framed arched window next to the chicken coup which might work! " 

(next to the chicken coup?  What in the world is it doing there?)

He explained. His friend Felice, a blacksmith, had made it for his daughter years ago but she changed her mind and renovated her house and had it removed.  Felice had worked so hard on making the window (which is double glass clad and has opening panes) that he could not bring himself to throw it out.  He gave it to Franco instead, who has no use for it.  

I went down to the chicken coup to look at it, and I think I might have found my new window. I think it is gorgeous! There is actually a second one behind there the I might be able to put to use as well!  

So what do you think?

After all that excitement it was time to go for a late afternoon walk with my two favorite guys.