I love rhubarb.  Last week I re-planted another rhubarb plant that my parents had planned to let die this summer.  With two rhubarb plants in the garden, we are sure to have quite a bit of rhubarb to freeze!  This would usually be awesome, but we still have a good amount frozen from previous years.  I am attempting to power through what we have this Spring, in preparation for late summer harvesting.

We were firing a wood kiln this weekend, and one of the days we also fired the pizza wood-kiln.  I made this pie for people so that there was more then just pizza to eat.  Russell and I had an errand to run the evening this was happening, so I dropped it off at the school, and when I returned 20 minutes later it was devoured.  The people in the studio made quick work on the pie!  I will say, it was darn delicious.  I cut down the sugar in the recipe, which was a good call.  It came out almost perfect.  I didn’t defrost the fruit, so the bottom crust wasn’t crisp, but it still tasted great.  The butter crust on top though was amazing-crisp and buttery and delicious.

Butter Crust:
2 c. flour
1 c. butter, chilled
1/2 c. cold water

To make the crust: Cut the butter into the flour until coarse. Slowly add the water in, gently tossing with your hands. When the dough sticks together (but is not wet), form into a ball and refrigerate while you work on the filling. When the filling in ready, cut the dough in half. Roll one half out for the bottom crust, and the other half for the top. I used a 9″ pie plate. Keep your extra pie crust to use later.

Pie Filling:
2 c. fresh or frozen rhubarb
1.5 c. fresh or frozen blueberries
3/4 c. sugar
1/4 c. flour
2 TBS butter, cut into small pieces

To make the filling: Toss all ingredients except butter together. Pour into prepared pie plate, dot with butter, and top with another layer of crust. Bake at 375 degrees for an hour, or until the crust is browned. If the sides of the crust are starting to get too brown part way through, cover the edges with foil.

Let cool, and enjoy!

What to do with your extra crust: roll out and cut into 3″ square (or triangle or whatever it turns out to be) place in the center chocolate or jam. Roll up, place on a small baking dish and stick it in the oven. Cook with the pie until the tops are golden brown. Let cool somewhat before eating (molten jam on the tongue is not fun!)

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It’s been a while. Recently my blog was hacked and I was unable to post anything until it was fixed. After not having motivation to post for a while, followed by a hacking, it’s taken me a bit to get back in the game.

My job continues to be very busy, and I spend most of my free time either working on my own art or knitting. I’ve found a wonderful knitting group at Seaside Yarns in Juneau, and have made new friends in the community. I really value the time I get to spend with other women, since many of my close friends are men.

Being so close to ceramics all the time with little ability to make my own work (teaching and managing takes up 90% of my work day) has made me consider what I want from my future even more. While I believe that my place of employment is a great start to my career, I have started to seriously consider graduate school for art. This would widen my opportunities to teach, extending my field to college level education. If I go up north to pursuer this second graduate degree then the cost won’t be too much for me to handle… I’m just not sure if I could handle the cold!

Who knows though. This would be one or two years in the future, if not longer. At this point I am more focused on paying off my student loans and getting more experience under my belt. I am also trying to work on networking, and will be spending the next few days in Seattle at NCECA, attending workshops, meeting artists, and scoping out the newest tools and technology in ceramics. It should be a great tone, especially since Russell was able to join me.

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Today Russell and I went on a hike with our friend to Herbert Glacier. It was a beautiful snowy hike, perfect for a lazy Monday afternoon.

We had originally intended to go up to Point Bridget, but due to road construction we turned around and decided that Herbert Glacier Trail would be a good one for the day. We only ended up hiking out a bit more then halfway, about an hour in, but it was a great distance for the first hike of the season. My legs are definitely sore, as well as my feet. Note to self: break in hiking boots some more before going on a long hike out! The only downside to the whole hike was some muscles that I pulled several years ago on an overnight snowshoe trip are still very sore when doing certain types of hiking. Long hikes that are steep, as well as hiking in the snow (unstable footing, I imagine, puts strain on those muscles more then just regular hiking on flat ground).

After our hike we came home and I made us some dinner. At first we were unsure about what we could make-while we have a lot of food in the house, not all of it works together. I decided that I would flip through one of my under-used, but fantastic, vegetarian cookbooks to try and find a recipe. I stumbled upon a pasta that had just a few ingredients, and everything we had in stock. The recipe is delicious and easy, but a little time consuming. It probably took me about an hour to put it all together.

Recipe: Angel Hair Pasta with Caramelized Onions

Adapted from Angel Hair Pasta with Caramelized Onions from One World Vegetarian Cookbook
Makes about 4 servings

1/2 pound Angel Hair Pasta
4 TBS Butter or Olive Oil (give or take a TBS or two)
2 Onions, finely sliced
1/2 c. Red Wine
A Fair Drizzle of Balsamic Vinegar
1 Spoonful of Honey
1/2 c. Feta Cheese
2 diced Roma Tomatoes
Chopped Parsley, for garnish

In a heavy pan, melt the butter at medium-medium high heat. Add in the sliced onions and stir semi-frequently until the onions are caramelized, about 30 minutes. Throw the pasta in a pot of boiling water, cooking it until it is al dente-or however you enjoy your pasta. We add a dash of salt and some olive oil to our water.

Add in the wine, stirring occasionally until the wine has evaporated and all the delicious flavor has been absorbed into the onions, about 10-15 minutes. Turn the pan onto medium low-low, adding in the balsamic vinegar and honey. Let simmer while you chop up some tomatoes, parsley, and feta cheese.

Throw it all together on a plate, pour yourself some of that leftover wine, and enjoy!

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As I have mentioned several times before, I am obsessed with knitting monsters.  I can’t stop.  I love it.  They are just too adorable!  So a few months ago, I signed up to do a monster swap in the Danger Crafts group on Ravelry.  I just received the swap package from my partner, and I have to say that it is awesome!

I love all the goodies.  Most of the cookies have been eaten, and I am excited to use the project bag she made me. I forgot to take a picture of it, but it is lovely.  It is white with red leaves on it.  Perfect monster-size!  From left to right you can see a beautiful card, COOKIES!!!, more cookies and some kisses, handmade magnets, Louie the Lovebot, stitch markers and a little case, FIBER, and chocolate.

The fiber is locally dyed and looks like it will be so fun to spin!  It is a SW Merino/Seacell blend, and is super soft.  I have asked Russell to fashion me a mini-turkish spindle, and will save the fiber for when he finishes it.

Here is a close-up of my new little friend!  My dad has named him Blocky the Blockhead, and has even included him in one of his little stories.  I love the colors, and he is extremely well knit.  I am even more impressed because I fail at making Louie.  It’s a super difficult (for me at least) little dude to make.  She did an absolutely fantastic job.

And finally, here he is chillin’ with a few of the house homies.  There are more scattered around, but Louie was only greeted by these two tricksters when he arrived.  Since then he has met the acquaintance of several other monsters, including those that I send to my swap partner this afternoon.  I am looking forward to when she receives the package so I can post pictures of my other little fellows.

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Last month was crazy.  Between working 2 jobs, taking a ceramics class at the university, and work drama… I’m exhausted.  Exhausted and ready for February. I started off the month by giving two weeks notice at the gym.  The resignation is sad for me, as I love working there.  The environment there is excellent, and I genuinely love being there and talking to people.  I will miss the relationships that I’ve forged over the last 6 months.  That being said, the extra 12 hours free a week will be awesome.  I’ll have more time to spend doing other things I love… like pottery.

I’ve just started getting back into the studio, after experiencing a bit of a slump.  The other night I stumbled upon a form that I’m super excited about, and can’t wait to make some more.  I will need to throw a few more forms to experiement on, which will be loads of fun.  I’ll post pictures when I have some finished work.  I will also have some cups and YARN BOWLS (coughtarylcough) from when I was figuring out how I wanted to approach some new ideas I’d formed in my head.

In other news, Juneau has been beautiful lately!  The drive into work was so gorgeous this morning.  Maybe this is an indicator of how good the rest of February will be?  With less work, all the drama excavated from my main job, and exciting prospects in ceramics… I sure hope so!

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