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LAST MINUTE POTTERY GIFTS

December 2, 2008 By 2 Comments

We get a rush right at the end and try to help. Some of the more popular (and unique) items for holiday gifts are here along with links to the web pages. We have a good selection right now (Dec 1) and still have a couple of firings to go.

Personalize your gift by adding a favorite recipe for the piece you’ve chosen.

A big hit is the Clay Coyote Chip and Dip. Center bowl is loose so you can use the platter for meat and cheese trays and….?
Maybe next would be a Coyote Chicken Baker. Still unique and the best chicken they’ll ever have. If you’re good, maybe they’ll invite you over.

Next to that for unique-ness is the Coyote French Butter Dish or butter bell.

A Veggie (Vegetable) Steamer is another unique piece (actually 3 pieces). Steam veggies in the bowl with lid, and serve on the plate.
We have a large selection of all sizes of casseroles. Small and medium casseroles (below) hold about 1 and 2 Qts respectively and the Large holds at least a gallon (RIGHT).
There are always mugs…we’ve got several shapes and many glaze colors.

Slip in a couple of packets of hot chocolate and a bag of microwave popcorn and you’re good to go.

New this year are a series of trays…perfect for entertaining.
For the FOODIE on your list Clay Coyote can really help you out. Our well-known Cassole has been written about in several magazines and if you go back to last January on the blog, you’ll see the whole cassoulet story.
And last, but not least is our new line of Ceramic Flameware Pottery Stovetop Cookware, starting with the 10 inch skillet.
Please feel free to give us a call…1-888-737-4014…to check glaze colors or what we can still do custom. Shipping direct to your lucky giftee along with free gift wrapping and we can enclose a card for you.
And Merry Christmas from all of us at the Clay Coyote.

Filed Under: Clay Coyote Blog, Foodie News

FLAMEWARE!

November 25, 2008 By 3 Comments

Here it comes, new CERAMIC FLAMEWARE from Clay Coyote Pottery. It’s ceramic cookware for stovetop cooking! We’ve spent nearly 2 years working on this to get it right…

It started a couple of years ago as Paula Wolfert was looking for a source for pots to emulate some of the indigenous cookware traditionally used over open fires and charcoal. trouble is, our modern stoves have much higher heat.
A few potters have made stoneware flameware over the years, but conventional wisdom was that it was risky and devilishly difficult.
Well, we can attest that it’s difficult, but after cooking with a number of pieces over the last 6 months, and recruiting a number of our friends to do the same, it’s ready for you.
The first piece is this skillet…

about 10 inches in diameter and 2 inches deep. Fry, saute, bake, roast…do just about anything. Good in the microwave, cleanup easily in the sink or dishwasher. Tom’s used it for eggs almost every morning for 5 months and finds it has much less of a tendency to burn food, and the eggs are more tender that in metal cookware.

Betsy’s been doing the same with oatmeal every morning in a small saucepan and with the same result.

Paula’s been doing a lot of work on cooking in clay, as she has for years, and has decided that it’s the way to go. “These are absolutely fabulous” she says.

Next was a cazuela, about 11 inches in diameter that Paula needed for gratins and some other dishes started on the stovetop, and finished in the oven. This one’s got a smaller ‘trumpet’ handle with a small ‘hot-pad tab’ on the other side for easy handling in and out of the oven. Betsy just used one to make an apple tarte tatin.

We’ve done a couple of saucepans but are just finalizing sizes and shapes. Finally, we did a 3 qt. casserole for Paula, and she found it made the best daube ever and that it cooked simmered dishes better on the stovetop than any crockpot does.

casserole photo by: ed anderson photography 1105 thompson lane petaluma, california 94952 707 981 7957 office http://www.edandersonphoto.com

We aren’t sure why these ceramic pots cook so well (and clean up even better). After a lot of testing, we think that it’s because the ceramic is an insulator, heat comes through more gently, so food has much less tendency to burn, even slightly. The secret, though, is to slow down, put the heat where you’ll need it eventually, and then wait for the pot to warm up. If you punch in high heat initially, the heat keeps coming through and can overcook the food. You also have to learn to either turn the heat down or off earlier, or remove the food as soon as it’s done. But these pots go from stove to table so beautifully that the turn down early is the way to go.

Right now glazes are limited to the one blue-gray shown. We’ll have more later, but never the same as our regular glazes. The clay that makes these pots possible limits the glaze possibilities.
As we get them ready, we’ll post them on the website for sale.

Filed Under: Clay Coyote Blog, Clay Pot Cooking, Foodie News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

GLAZE NAMING CONTEST

November 22, 2008 By 20 Comments

Earlier this year, Betsy developed a new green/black glaze combination. It was a hit at summer art fairs. Food looks fabulous on it….but it doesn’t have a name! That’s up to you. It combines the rich warm black of Old Black Magic and a new kind of celery green…very like old celadons of ancient China and Korea.

As a starter, some of our other glaze names are, Old Black Magic, Midnight Garden, Tequila Sunrise, Todd Lake, Old Celadon, etc. There could be $25 bucks in it for you. Just click on the ‘comments’ section below and let us know your idea. Enter as many as you wish per comment.
We’ll make our decision (over a couple of glasses of wine down at Zella’s (Hutchinson’s spiffy new restaurant)) by December 15th.
Filed Under: Clay Coyote Blog, Events Tagged With: , ,

HERE WE GO AGAIN

November 7, 2008 By 2 Comments

Here we go for the next 6 months. This morning we woke up to a good 4″ of fresh new snow. Not too much shovelling thought as the ground’s still too warm.

The back porch (above)…the view from the kitchen below.

But looking north off the back porch, it’s really beautiful (in a masochistic way).

The jeep and plow are ready….the tractor isn’t.
The pond has almost gone dry this fall with the lack of rain, but strangely there’s still a lot of corn in the fields. Farmers are trying to get it to dry naturally rather than by using gas dryers.

Filed Under: Clay Coyote Blog, Events, Potter's Life

MINERAL POINT

October 16, 2008 By Leave a Comment

HIDDEN ART GEM UNCOVERED!!! Travels with Tom & Betsy

On our way to Chicago for the Frankfort Fall Fest, we uncovered a hidden gem this year…Mineral Point, WI. It was an old mining town that had been pretty near shuttered in the 1950′s and 60′s. The a few artists discovered it and began to build studios. Shops followed. Now it’s an amazing array of galleries and artist studios.

Down towrds the bottom of the main street hill we were attracted by something on the ‘balcony’ of one shop. (You’re going to have to click on this to figure it out).

It’s the home of Howdle Gallery and Bruce Howdle. Bruce is most famous for his large ceramic wall sculptures (here he is working on one), but one of his fascinations is pigs.
He has done wonderful sculptures, mugs, wall pieces, you name it, with pig themes. Ask him how he came to have this old building and out comes the picture album. He’s done much of the work himself over more than 20 years. The character of the building is wonderful. We’d strongly recommend Clyde and Carolyn stop in….you too!
Mineral Pt. is about 1-1/2 hours SW of Madison…a bit out of the way, but well worth the trip. Look at their website for special celebrations during the year. For Chicagoans it’s an easy day trip. If you’re headed north or south along I-94, plan a few extra hours.
Filed Under: Clay Coyote Blog, Events, Potter's Life Tagged With: , , , , , , ,
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