Ceramics Class

I was looking forward to class this week.  I'm getting used to it I guess, so not as nervous.

Here's Erick's maneki neko.  He kept complaining that it looked like a snowman, but we all thought that it was cute.

 

Here are Cleta's platters.  She was absent last week so didn't get to paint then.  So pretty, except I splattered the right one with rust-colored water.  Gaaaawd!  😩

   

Geri's plates.  Cool, right!?  She did the right one with a textured roller. 

   

Here's mine.  Do you know what it is?  😆

It's supposed to come out to something like this.  It's a portable cigar ash tray.  For Landon.

 

Here's my finished glazed cup.  It ended up being so small.  LOL.  The colors turned out different from what I expected, and I didn't realize the bottom part would be matte.  But I don't hate it.

Here's my bowl.  The one that I had issues with last week.  Let’s just say that it’s not a fave. 

  

And my wind chime.  I love how the colors came out. 

 

If you click on the photo below you can watch (and hear) the chime in action.

Bread Pudding

Do you remember the meatballs I made with Ikea sauce added in?  Well, the sauce called for heavy cream of which I used very little.  

So I followed an All Recipes recipe and made bread pudding so that I could use up the rest of the heavy cream.  I used leftover sourdough bread that Geri made and added diced up apples which Kai is somehow not too interested in anymore.

 

I had it with a "little" ice cream!  Hoo hoo!

  

 

Ingredients

• 6 slices day-old bread, torn into small pieces

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

• ½ cup raisins (Optional)

• 2 cups milk

• ¾ cup white sugar

• 4 large eggs, beaten

• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. Gather all ingredients. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

2. Place bread pieces into an 8-inch square baking pan. Drizzle melted butter over bread and sprinkle raisins over top.

3. Whisk milk, sugar, eggs, cinnamon, and vanilla together in a medium mixing bowl until well combined.

4. Pour mixture over bread, and lightly push down with a fork until all bread is covered and soaking up the liquid.

5. Bake in the preheated oven until golden brown and the top springs back when lightly pressed, about 45 minutes.

Butterfly

I missed it.

The cocoon turned black overnight and in the morning I set up my phone to try and catch the butterfly emerging.  But after filming for about 2 hours and with nothing happening, I decided to "quickly" use the phone.  😭

Well, hopefully I'll get another chance.  Even though the caterpillars ate up all the leaves on my crown flower plant, the leaves are growing back really fast.  🤞🏻

Ceramics Class

We got to glaze our pieces at this week's class, but I had issues with one of the pieces and with time running out had to rush to finish it. 

So I forgot to take pictures.  Here's my cat plate that I was allowed to bring home to paint.

I've been learning a lot.  Because I muck up a lot.  😝.  But me and Clay been getting along a little better now.

Cy's Breakfast

Won Ton Min ($17) from 97 Pho.

 

He also picked up look fun ($3 each) from Chi Kong Look Funn Factory. 

 

Dd's Baked Caesar Parmesan Chicken

 

BAKED CEASAR PARMESAN CHICKEN

 

2 TB Parmesan cheese, grated

2 TB breadcrumbs

1 ½ tsp. butter, melted

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, ¾ #, pounded to ½-inch thickness

¼ tsp. garlic powder

¼ tsp. salt

Pinch black pepper

2 TB dressing, plus more for serving

 

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.

 

In a shallow dish combine Parmesan cheese, breadcrumbs and melted butter. Season chicken with garlic powder, salt and pepper. 

Place chicken onto work surface; brush with dressing. Dredge into breadcrumb mixture pressing to adhere to chicken. Bake 10-12 minutes until chicken is cooked through. Serves 2.

Ikea Sauce

If you ever get to an Ikea somehow, make sure you buy this sauce mix.  You just add heavy cream to it and it comes out so ono!  Thank you, Sweetie!

 

I fried up some meatballs and mushrooms and added the sauce to it.  For the meatballs I combined 1 pound ground beef, 1/4 c. bread crumbs, 1/4 c. finely chopped onions, 1 slightly beaten egg and 1 clove minced garlic and rolled into balls.

Ceramics Class

 I actually made three pieces!  Two bowls and an owl. 

 

Cleta's.   They said that the baby's breath will burn away during firing.

   

Erick's red pieces.  Owl and penguin.  

 

Geri used stamps to decorate her two pieces.

  

Cocoon

This past Saturday, the biggest caterpillar on my crown flower plant was roaming around.  I knew that it was looking for a place to glue itself down, so I put it into a container and waited. 

I woke up on Sunday morning to find it dangling from the cover.  During the Super Bowl half-time show it started transitioning. 

I took a time-lapse video which you can view by clicking on the photo below.  It's not especially clear having to focus through the plastic container, but if you'd like to see footage that I did 10 years ago with my Canon you can click here. 

Crown Flower Plant

My puny crown flower plant has its first caterpillars!

 

 Unfortunately, I think I don't have enough leaves to feed all of them.

 

Click on the photo below to watch a cute, short video.

  

Kai - 11 months

Ceramics Class

All I can say about the piece that I did yesterday is that a second-grader would've been proud.

I pictured myself making a (3) cute little Japanese wind chime(s).  Instead I got a (1) huge bonshō temple gong.

It was my third and final attempt.  I squashed my first two pieces.  They were too flimsy, out of shape, and uneven in thickness.

I'll be honest.  Clay and me don't get along.  But we have around 8 more chances to become friends.

Cy's Breakfast

Beef Stew ($17) from Young's Fish Market in City Square.

🤣  You know what I laughing at, right?

Easy Baked Spaghetti

I was craving pasta so I made this fast-kine baked spaghetti the other night.  I followed the recipe from the Salt & Lavender site. 

I used a tube-shaped pasta instead of spaghetti and Italian sausage instead of ground beef.  Also, my bottle of marinara sauce was around 1 cup shy, but still came out okay.

Ingredients

• 1 pound uncooked spaghetti
• 1 pound lean ground beef
• 1/2 medium onion, chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano or Italian seasoning
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes, optional
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 cups marinara sauce
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella 
• 1 cup shredded cheddar
• 1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
• Salt & pepper to taste

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 375F and move the rack to the top third of the oven.
• Boil a salted pot of water for the pasta. Cook it for 2 minutes less than the package directions indicate. Once it's done, drain it and add it to a 9x13 casserole/baking dish.
• Meanwhile, add the beef, onion, oregano, and red pepper flakes to a skillet. There should be enough fat released by the beef to cook the onion, but if it's particularly lean, add a tablespoon of olive oil. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until the meat has browned/cooked through (about 10 minutes). If there's a lot of excess fat, spoon most of it out.
• To the skillet, stir in the garlic and cook for about a minute, then add in the marinara sauce and cook for a few more minutes until it's warmed through. I stir in some salt & pepper as well.
• Pour the beef mixture over top of the spaghetti. Toss until everything is coated. Smooth it out into an even layer.
• Top with the cheeses and bake, uncovered, for 20 minutes. Broil for a few minutes to brown the cheese if you want (watch it carefully). Let it sit for 5-10 minutes, then serve by cutting it into squares using a spatula.