The Junky Monkey

Braaaaains!

2007-10-29T21:31:00.000-05:00

I've got dinner ready for tomorrow, all I have to do is reheat him.

Three-headed dog

2007-08-01T00:38:00.001-05:00

Miranda sent in this unusual planter. I used to have one back in the days when my husband and I had an antique mall, and we never found out who the maker was so we eventually sold it. Later we found that it might be Weller. I thought I had seen it in one of the books, but we just looked through and it's not in the one we have. However, I was able to find a discussion on an eBay forum that also says it's Weller.

The patent is actually for the shape, not for the pottery piece itself. The patent was in the name of an Arthur Lindwall in 1940, so the piece dates sometime after that. See for patent details.

Link to eBay forum discussing the three-headed dog

Patent for the shape

Another Brush Cookie Jar

2007-07-31T21:54:00.000-05:00

This must be the time of year for Brush cookie jars. Lisa sent these pictures looking for an identification.

My same disclaimer applies as for the last post: I don't know how to tell if a cookie jar is real or fake (lots were reproduced), so please double-check the identification with a cookie jar expert.

The W27 cookie jar is called the "Laughing Hippo" cookie jar, and is pictured on page 135 of Sanford's "The Guide to Brush-McCoy Pottery". It lists the date as 1961, and the price as $450-550 (1992-93 price guide).

Pottery. On a pottery blog. Go figure!

2007-07-31T21:32:00.001-05:00

I have been horribly remiss in checking for pottery identification emails. Because that address has been around for awhile, it is almost over-run with spam. For those of you who have sent pottery photos, thanks for your patience. I will try to get to them as soon as I can.

This cookie jar pic was sent in by Penny, who was wondering if it could be Brush. The bottom is marked W8.

Since I don't collect cookie jars, let me warn you that many were reproduced, and I don't know which ones or how to spot the fakes. I know some of them are pretty good ones. So I advise getting the opinion of someone who is more knowledgeable in cookie jars just to be sure.

But yes, this is a Brush cookie jar. It can be found on the bottom of page 134 of "The Guide to Brush McCoy Pottery" by Martha and Steve Sanford, and it is listed as #W8. They list the value as $350-400 (1992-93 price guide).

I hope that helps!

Where have I been?

2007-05-01T14:15:00.000-05:00

I was poking around here and realized I haven't posted since January. What a slacker!

On the house front, we finally finished the floors in the bedroom portion of the house. Well, everything except for the quarter round in the sitting room. We don't really have a good excuse for not finishing it, we just got sick of doing the floor stuff so we haven't gotten back to it yet. We also now have coverings on the windows in the two front rooms (thanks to the shopping trip). I spent my first day off between jobs organizing the pantry, and I planted three flower beds. One is full of garlic, onions, chives, dill, lettuce, and mache, so I guess technically it's not a "flower" bed.

I do have some new pictures to upload, now that I found my camera. It went missing after a weekend shopping trip to Chicago (I love St. Louis, but we don't have an Ikea!). I thought for sure I left my camera in the minivan we rented (hey, it was a trip to Ikea after all, we couldn't just take a car). Turns out I had actually put it away in my office cabinet when cleaning up the house. I suppose that's one reason not to pick up!

I continue to be amazed that gardening up here isn't as much of a chore as it was in Texas. There are several reasons:
1. Lack of Bermuda grass (the most awful weed ever invented, although people happily sod their entire lawn with it)
2. Clay soil that's easy to dig. I suspect that's due to #3.
3. It sometimes rains here. If we go more than a week or two without rain, it's considered a "drought." I know that's because the farmers count on the rain, but for a gardener who is used to North Texas, it's a luxury. Bonus: our yard also has a sprinkler system.
4. It's relatively cool here. We've had highs in the mid-to-upper 80's, which is near-record for this time of year, but it's still relatively cool in the morning, and it cools down in the evenings. I dug up a new spot for some scarlet monarda this morning and barely broke a sweat.

I also have a new job. Well, I will have one as of Monday since I'm taking a week off between jobs. Needless to say, I've been a bit distracted for the past couple of months.

Weird Weather

2007-01-13T16:27:00.000-06:00

I don't even know what that means.

PS -- Graphic is from St. Louis weather on www.wunderground.com

Vodka. It's not just for breakfast any more.

2006-11-20T20:37:00.000-06:00

We *finally* moved into the master bedroom. After the carpets were taken out, we discovered a lot of damage to the wood floors from prior rennovations from the previous owners. Places where walls formerly stood are filled in with plywood or badly patched, and there's paint all over: evidently they knew they wanted carpet during the last rennovation so whoever did it didn't use a dropcloth.

We've been able to remove much of the latex paint from the wood flooring using vodka. When I researched removing paint from wood floors online I found several resources that suggested rubbing alcohol. Whatever rubbing alcohol I had was still in boxes so I decided to improvise. Besides, vodka smells a lot better!

Unfortunately many of the paint spots are from oil-based paint and we haven't been able to remove them. With everything else going on with the house (argh, I don't even want to talk about the electricity!) I really don't want to have the wood floors sanded and refinished -- it's messy and expensive. We haven't figured out what we're going to do with them yet, but I guess we'll just have to wait till the other rooms are livable before we deal with the floors.

House Pics

2006-10-15T22:44:00.000-05:00

We picked up our new living room furniture yesterday, and took some other things to the house with the truck we rented. We'll need to figure out how to arrange the furniture: even though the room is large, there are 5 doorways which makes layout awkward. We were thrilled to find the Natuzzi furniture set in stock in a color we loved: our original furniture set would have taken 8-10 weeks to arrive. I want to make a valance over the window out of the fabric that's draped over the loveseat.

Here's the dining room so far. It looks out into the foyer, and beyond that is my office.

Here's the foyer: the big blank space is where the shelving from Home Decorators will go (IF they ever bother to order them), and on that will be a display of McCoy pottery. We love the art deco clock that used to belong to Doug's Aunt, and the lamp was a garage sale find from awhile back.

I'm going to use the formal living room as my office. We have one more coat of paint to go on the red wall (if I don't change my mind and do a different color), so the blue tape is still up.

Home Decorators Frustration

2006-10-08T10:44:00.000-05:00

When ordering something online I'm usually fairly careful to find out about the company I'm doing business with. When I can go into a store and talk with someone face to face it doesn't seem like there would be that much of an issue.

Doug and I ordered two items from Home Decorators store last Monday. Yeah, ordered, because the store doesn't really stock most items, they're pretty much just a front for the catalog business. One was a large area rug for our living room, and the other was a set of shelves for our foyer.

I was pretty surprised to have to give them my billing address when I was shopping at an actual store: I mean, it's not like I was shopping online or like they were actually going to deliver something to my house (we have to pick it up at the store, or get charged some pretty hefty shipping charges). Out of habit I gave them my PO Box address, but that didn't match and I realized I have that statement sent directly to the house (it's never been an issue before because I don't use this card online, it's for face-to-face purchases). So I gave them the correct address and the lady put it in the computer.

Evidently that didn't lift the hold, and even after my husband called them yesterday all they could do was take a message and later someone left a message on our machine that "there's an address problem." Ummm, duh! But they didn't bother to lift the hold and fix it.

I called again this morning and ended up speaking with a manager, who was (supposedly) able to lift the hold off the order. I cancelled the area rug part of the order and just kept the shelving (although I'm having second thoughts about that, too). I've just found too many nice-looking area rugs (some online even have free shipping) to spend that much money with a company that doesn't want my business.

The manager told me the in-store orders go through their same catalog system, and they have this problem a lot. (Hmmm... if even the store managers know it's a widespread problem, why doesn't anyone fix it?) Looking on a couple different consumer opinion sites I see that their ability to fulfill orders on-time is, at best, spotty. Must be nice to have a business where you don't have to care whether customers are happy or whether you even bother to take their order.

Would I do business with them again? Maybe in a pinch. They have a few items (like the shelves I ordered) that I haven't been able to find anywhere else, especially not for the price. I might order again if they are a) the only place that sells the item I'm looking for, b) the item is relatively inexpensive compared to substitutes I've found, and c) I'm not in a time crunch. But would I recommend this company to anyone else? Sure, if you like crappy service, you don't care whether your order is taken or fulfilled, and they were the last store on earth.

Yaaaaaay!!!! Container Store is Coming to St. Louis!!!!

2006-10-08T09:44:00.000-05:00

We have been soooo busy in the last month trying to get the house ready for move-in. If I had a dollar for every time I've said "I wish we had a Container Store here," the house would be halfway paid off by now!

Just imagine my joy!

Working on the house

2006-09-17T22:05:00.000-05:00

bathroom_floor
Originally uploaded by abbdrb.

The bathroom floor in the new house was in pretty bad shape: the grout was just nasty. I started to mop the floor with the thought that I'd try a grout cleaner/restorer on it once it was clean enough for me to consider spending an afternoon in the room on my hands and knees, but before I knew it I was scrubbing the heck out of the floor using the scrub brush I got for the garage walls (which also need to be cleaned and painted). The photo shows it about 3/4 done, with the original condition toward bottom of photo. I was pretty pleased with the results, especially since I managed it using only Mr. Clean and water, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to stand erect come morning.

Yellow-ware Mixing Bowl

2006-09-17T21:37:00.000-05:00

Jim sent a photo of this mixing bowl, wondering if it's an old McCoy. I can't find it in my McCoy books: they do have some bowls with pink and blue stripes but they are much newer bowls with a different shape.

The problem with identifying bowls like this is that many different pottery companies made utility ware like this in the early days. I've looked in many different books (McCoy, Robinson Ransbottom, Hull, Watt, Brush, Red Wing) for this particular bowl and didn't find it. There is a set of blue-banded bowls in one of the Hull books (Companion Guide to Roberts' Ultimate Encyclopedia of Hull Pottery, pp 80-81) that is very close, except with a thick blue band and two thinner white ones. I don't know if Jim's bowl is Hull, but for reference those book for between $18 and $75, depending on the size (4.5" - 11.5").

We're once again proud homeowners

2006-09-01T08:19:00.000-05:00

We're once again proud homeowners
Originally uploaded by abbdrb.

We closed on a house in mid-August, and officially take posession today! The house is about 45 years old, and is in great shape. We probably won't move in for another month or so, since we want to do some remodeling first, and our lease isn't up on our current house until late October.

Farmers market bruschetta

2006-08-05T19:02:00.000-05:00

This is a great time of year for shopping at farmers markets. Several vendors had beautiful heirloom tomatoes at the Kirkwood market for $2/pound (compared to $7.99/pound at Whole Foods!!) so I brought home several, along with some freshly picked ears of corn. I found four different types of tomatoes, Cherokee Purple, Green Zebra, a beautiful reddish-yellow one that I think was an Old German, and another green one whose name I can't remember.

I make these bruschetta for dinner tonight and was pleased with how they turned out. I think they're not technically bruschetta (the bread isn't toasted and I didn't use any olive oil), but I couldn't come up with a better name. The tomato mix will need to sit for awhile before you use it.

Farmers Market Bruschetta
4 tomatoes (different-colored heirloom tomatoes recommended)
1 small onion
3 cloves garlic, peeled
2 fresh ears of corn (washed and de-silked, but not cooked)
balsamic vinegar
handful of raw pine nuts
salt
goat cheese, room temperature (I used a garlic & chives variety)
1 loaf French bread, sliced into 1/2 pieces

Dice the tomatoes and place in a mixing bowl. Cut the kernels from the corn cobs and add them to the tomatoes. Cut the onion into about 4 chunks, and slice each clove of garlic in half and add both to the bowl. Ensure the onions and garlic are well-covered by the juice from the tomatoes, and refrigerate for at least one hour to let the onion & garlic flavor the tomatoes.

Remove the onion and garlic pieces from the tomato mix. Add the pine nuts, a splash of balsamic vinegar, and salt to taste. Spread goat cheese on the bread slices and top each with a spoonful of the tomato mixture; use a slotted spoon so you don't pick up a lot of juice.

Public Service Announcement

2006-08-05T18:54:00.000-05:00

If you prepare a box of instant chocolate pudding, but replace 3/4 cup of the milk with Kahlua, it won't set up all the way (probably need to chill the Kahlua to make it set).

The resulting syrup would be really good on pound cake.

Just thought you needed to know. Mmmmmmm..... pound cake.

Worm update

2006-08-02T23:18:00.000-05:00

One week after my worm bin was assembled, I guess the worms are happy. In addition to lots of mites (which I understand are normal in a vermicompost bin), I've been finding lots of eggs when I dig in it.

Backyard visitor

2006-08-02T22:13:00.000-05:00

We spotted this girl (or young guy?) out by our back porch before dinner tonight.

Here's Sienna checking out the intruder.

Storm Photo

2006-08-02T21:29:00.000-05:00

I was looking through the pictures on my camera for a new post, and saw the one Doug took of the house across the street after the July 19 storms came through. I was out of town during the storms (thankfully, had decided to fly to Texas Wednesday morning instead of Wednesday evening) so I missed the excitement. We were without power for 4 days, a lot more fortunate than many in our area.

Once the tree was removed from the house, the only visible damage is a dent in the gutter. These houses are built from cinderblocks instead of wood framing, and boy are they stout.

Unknown pottery 13, TJM 2.

2006-07-30T20:13:00.000-05:00

I have a giant backlog of photos readers have sent to me. Life has been very busy lately and we're just settling back down to normal. In the past month or so, we've bought a house (moving in Sept or Oct probably), been out of town twice, and went several days without power due to some storms that moved through a couple weeks ago.

For the record, the pottery I collect is mostly made in the midwestern USA, and is mostly from larger factories like McCoy, Brush, Shawnee, Red Wing, Haeger, Morton, etc. Doug and I can usually do pretty well with that type of pottery, but are pretty clueless when you get outside of those parameters. Evidently we got mentioned on a message board on Ebay and we have received a lot of inquiries, many of them way outside of what we collect. We've given them all a shot, but have come up pretty short. Unfortunately, there are some that DO look like stuff we would collect, but we've been unable to find them in our books, either. I'll post the pics anyway, on the off chance that someone else might know.

Jim sent in photos of this pink vase. We were thinking Camark or Niloak, but couldn't find it in either book. Unknowns 1, The Junky Monkey 0.
UPDATE: Chris wrote in with the following information:
"I have a piece that is the same shape and size. It has a different treatment but I recognized it. I believe it is made by Rocky Mountain Pottery of Loveland Colorado. Here is a link to an Ebay auction of the same item I have."

Karen sent me these pictures of a mug. The thing that bugs me is that I'm almost certain I've seen it in a book before but can't for the life of me remember where. Unknowns 2, TJM 0.

Greg sent a pic of this beautiful egret vase. The only think I'm pretty sure of is that it wasn't made in Ohio (like most of the stuff I collect): it looks European to me but I can't be sure, since it's way far from what I collect. Unknowns 3, TJM 0.

Donna sent this picture of a Haeger... um, a Haeger... um... thing. She already knew it was Haeger because of the sticker, but the question was: what the heck is it? I have two Haeger books and didn't find it in either one. If I had to guess I'd say the holes are for candles. But that's just a guess. Unknowns 4, TJM 0.

Karen sent in a picture of this blue jar. It has a mold number 1A11 and USA but that doesn't help much. I'm not used to seeing a copyright sign on a piece. Unknowns 5, TJM 0. *sigh*

Cheryl sent this cow pitcher. I have a couple places I'll look for it but am not hopeful. Unknowns 6, TJM 0.

Greg sent in this beautiful brown vase, signed by the artist, and I have no clue who that artist might be. Unknowns 7, TJM 0.

Chris sent pics of yellow vases and an elephant. I actually have that elephant and have looked and looked, but have been unable to find out who made it. The yellow vases do appear to be Brush (Chris already knows they might be)... I agree that the elongated "S" in "USA" usually points to Brush. I'm not used to seeing the mark vertically instead of horizontally and I couldn't find the vases in either of the Sanford books or the Huxford one. Doug thinks it might be Brush as well, but says there are other potteries with an elongated S. Unless he shows me a photo, I'm going to accuse him of smoking crack. But anyway, since he's not convinced, I won't consider this to be a positive ID. Unknowns 9, TJM 0.
UPDATE: Chris has identified the elephant as a Cronin Pottery "Novelty" with the help of the Vintage Colorware group on Yahoo.

Elizabeth sent photos of a beautiful Morton vase. Identification isn't the issue here (it has an American Art Potteries sticker), but she was wondering if I could find any more information about it. I do have the Morton Potteries: 99 Years book it's not in there. Because it's American Art Potteries sticker instead of one of the other Morton Potteries, that narrows down when it was made to between 1947 and 1963. Most other vases in the book are valued between $18-25 or so. I'm going to take credit for knowing this one, since by now I'm getting desperate for a point. :-) Unknowns 9, TJM 1.

Melody sent in a photo of this sugar bowl. It looks a lot like Shawnee, but is not in my Shawnee books. I don't have a photo of the bottom, but if it's completely glazed then I'm stumped. Usually the Shawnee pieces are marked with a U.S.A. I've run across Japanese pieces that I could swear from the glaze were Shawnee so without being able to handle it I just can't say for sure. Unknowns 10, TJM 1.

Terri sent photos of three pieces. I couldn't find the frog or the white vase (I suspected Brush on the vase but can't find it), but Doug found the blue vase. It's a Robinson Ransbottom. Unknowns 12, TJM 2.

Last, but not least, Doreen sent in a photo of a cute cat made in California. We looked through our two California books and didn't find them. There are so many different California potteries that I didn't hold out much hope. Final score: Unknowns 13, TJM 2.

The worms crawl in, the worms crawl out.....

2006-07-26T07:49:00.000-05:00

I've been wanting to vermicompost (worm compost) for awhile. Since we're moving again in September I didn't want to do one outside, so I started an indoor worm bin. You can purchase indoor vermicomposting kits, but if you want to save some money you can easily make your own.

I started out with two Rubbermaid bins. I have removed the labels long ago so I can't tell you how many gallons they are, but they are approximately 16" x 20" x 9" deep.

I drilled three large holes in each side near the top of one of the bins, and stapled window screen material over the holes. If I had to do it over again I'd bond the screening on using some silicone caulking material. If you do that, make sure you let the caulking cure for awhile (I'd give it a week) until it no longer smells like vinegar.

Punch several holes in the bottom of the same bin that has the other holes so any excess water can drain.

You will end up stacking the bin with the holes on top of the second bin. However, you will probably need to put something in the bottom of the intact bin so they don't nest too tightly together: you don't want to block the screened holes from the first bin. I found a small dish shelf, but you could just as easily line the bottom with a few rocks. Don't make it too heavy or your bin won't be very portable.

Stack the two bins together and lay some screening material in the bottom of the top bin to keep the worms from falling out of the drain holes.

Now it's time to fill up your bin. I used coir (expanded in water to the consistency of a moist sponge) as my main bedding material. I usually keep some of this material around to make potting soil (I hate potting soil with peat moss), so it was handy. I made that initial layer several inches deep, then buried some of my kitchen scraps in it. Don't use meat or dairy, but fruit & vegetable scraps, coffee grounds, tea bags, etc. are ok. I also added a little bit (~1/2 a trowel full) of compost from my pile outside to help the kitchen scraps break down more easily. Then dump your worms on top. I used 500 red wigglers I bought from a bait shop. If they have two different types of red wigglers, get the small ones: they are cheaper, and they are supposed to be better for composting.

I shredded some newspaper on top of the coir, and sprayed it with water. That seems to keep the coir from drying out too fast, and it's more material for the worms to work on. You may want to keep the lid off for a couple hours in a brighly lit room to make sure the worms dig down into the coir instead of trying to crawl out of the bin. They seem to get confused when they're first put in there, and if the bin is in the dark right away they are just as likely to crawl up the side of the container -- or out the screened holes -- as they are to dig down. Once they made it into the coir I haven't had any problems with escapees.

How much do you feed your worms? I have yet to measure anything so I can't give you a precise answer. You want to make sure whatever you add can be buried within your bedding material because you don't want to stink up the place or overwhelm the worms. I've been checking the bin every few days and if what I put there before has been mostly broken down then I'll add a little more.

Getting the bin cat-scanned is optional -- for the worms. Maybe not for the cat.

The lights didn't come on. Doh!

2006-07-22T20:09:00.000-05:00

Interesting timing on my post on Ameren's latest ad campaign, where they pat themselves on the back for being "reliable." Doug & I are among the 1/2 million who lost power during the recent storms, and the 365,000 households who are still without power three days later. The latest ETA we've heard for getting electricity back on is Tuesday. An article in the Post Dispatch says as many as 1.1 million customers had lost power at some time during the storm. I wonder if Ameren is still airing the ads.

I suppose it doesn't really matter: it's not like we could see them anyway.

Thank goodness for free WiFi at St. Louis Bread Company.

Birthday Party!

2006-07-15T06:44:00.000-05:00

Last week Doug and I went up to Wisconsin to visit my family. This was the first time I got to see my newest nephew Lucas, who just turned 1. And what is a 1-year-old's birthday party without a cake-all-over-everything photo?

Nothing moves fast

2006-07-14T08:21:00.000-05:00

My husband coined a new phrase at work. It probably applies to any large corporation:
"Nothing moves fast around here except blame."

The lights came on. Well, DUH!

2006-07-13T06:40:00.000-05:00

I've been bugged by the latest commercials from Ameren, our electric company here in St. Louis. The ads are all about how reliable they are: essentially patting themselves on the back because the lights come on when we flip the switch.

Sadly, there are countries where this might be a valid ad, but here in the USA there are relatively few places where one would expect to flip a switch and not have the lights come on. Choices in electric companies are limited, and there are valid benefits that can differentiate one from another: generating energy from greener sources, superior customer service, lower prices, stepping up to your mistakes and fixing them... The Ameren commercials just leave me thinking "Is that the best thing you can say about your company?"

Yesterday I read an entry on the LunaMetrics blog about product features one may wish to withold in advertising, and one of their points applies to Ameren's current ad campaign:

"When you buy a car, you expect it to come with four tires and a steering wheel. If the tires aren't there, it's a deal breaker, but it's not a selling feature."

Miss you guys!

2006-06-10T20:49:00.000-05:00

Well, this was the first year in a long time that I've been unable to attend the Natural Urban Living Garden Show, put on by the Arlington Organic Garden Club. For the past 10 years our work would start in January, contacting vendors, attending other garden shows to help publicize ours, printing flyers, making posters, designing ads, and lots and lots of fretting: Are we going to have enough vendors this year? Will anyone show up? Will we have enough food? Did we make enough signs? Should we have publicized more?

After 10 years helping out (first, as the webmaster [webmistress??] and later as the club's president), I moved to St. Louis. Strangely, I still feel like a slacker for not helping out for this year's show. I'm 700 miles away so I have an excuse, but it still feels weird: I know how much work goes into one of those shows, and it's all done by volunteers. Most of all I miss the chance to spend the day with a lot of really great people.

After 10 years, it was hard not to meddle but I knew the show was in good hands, as it has been for the past 10 years (right, David?). And there's one thing that corporate life has taught me: everyone can be replaced. Throughout the years I've watched people at work leave for greener pastures, went through the "this place is gonna collapse without them" phase, only to find that life goes on and everyone survives just fine after all. The AOGC is no different: everybody kept doing what they're good at and the show went on, just as has in years past.

After a long day showing some friends the sights in St. Louis (but that's another post), I came home to find an email from Bob, one of our friends from the club. Attached were several pictures from the show, and by the time-stamp I see he sent them while the show was still taking place. The email ended with "Miss you guys." I know how much work goes into one of those shows (it's all volunteer, by the way), so the fact that he took time out from all that to send pictures to Doug and me really meant a lot.

This is Maggie -- a talented gardener and writer and a good friend of AOGC's -- and David, talented horticulturist, horologist, club president, and a good friend.

This is Bob -- talented photographer, gardener, woodworker, and an all-around neat guy.

This is the AOGC gang, talented gardeners and. . . umm. . . show-putter-onners.

I miss you guys!

Creatures of Habit

2006-06-01T07:53:00.000-05:00

It's been a long time since I've blogged... I've been traveling a lot in the last 6 weeks: New York, Montreal, Washington DC, and Austin. Now that this round of customer visits is done, it looks like I'll be in town for awhile. Whew!

After going to bed last night, I got up to investigate a noise. Not a scary noise, just some sort of mechanical noise that I would swear was a far-away train, although we've lived in the house since November and would probably have noticed a train by now. I was trying to tell whether it was inside the house or out so I opened the back door for a listen. The noise was indeed coming from outside, so I went to bed knowing that I didn't have to worry about the air-conditioning or washing machine blowing into a thousand little pieces while Doug and I slept.

This morning Sienna woke me up just before 5. That's not unusual: cats are creatures of habit. Sienna's mission in life is to open closet doors, and she takes her job seriously. She doesn't want to sit on the shoes or anything, she just needs to open the door. Like clockwork, once in the wee morning hours, then again mid-afternoon, she opens the closet doors in the hallway and in the bedroom. The doors are solid and somewhat heavy, so she takes great pride in her accomplishment.

The morning routine is "scratch-scratch-scratch" and when I wake up to shush her, Sienna jumps on the bed all purry and wants to be petted since she completed her very important task, and at this time of the morning the boys are asleep and she doesn't have to worry about getting pounced on. After doling out the obligatory pets, I realized I wasn't pinned to the bed by any other cats, so I got up and stumbled into the bathroom.

Did I mention that cats are creatures of habit? We've had Felix for less than a year, but already he has established that I am not allowed to go to the bathroom by myself. I mean, I am capable -- it's been more than 35 years since I had to hold on to my big sister for fear of falling in and getting flushed. But if I get up in the middle of the night, it is only a matter of moments before I hear THUNK (Felix weighs 14+ pounds, and he usually sleeps on the desk in the den)... thwup-thwup-thwup-thwup-thwup-thwup-thwup-thwup (yes, 14 pounds of cat moving along hardwood floors does make a noise)... "URD?"

Although Felix is capable of meowing, he prefers to say "Urd?" It's the same noise many cats make if you wake them up from a sound sleep... a feline version of "WTF?" But instead of reserving "Urd?" for a surprise wakeup, Felix uses it in his everyday communication. He has learned many other tricks from Sienna and Casper, but he has not yet learned to open doors, so in this case "Urd?" meant "I have noticed you are in the bathroom all by yourself. I feel duty-bound to jump on the edge of the bathtub, rub my face on the shower door, jump back down, walk around the room, and fall over at your feet. I can not do this if the door is closed, kindly open it." Falling over is another one of Felix's peculiar habits... I thought he had a neurological disorder when we first found him, but he is surprisingly agile for a cat that in profile looks somewhat like a pot-bellied pig.

Only this morning there was no THUNK, no thwup-thwup-thwup, and no "URD?" On leaving the bathroom I heard a faint meowing off in the distance. A quick sweep of the house turned up Casper, but no Felix. It was then I noticed the shadow in the back door: Felix spent the night stuck between the back door and the screen, having snuck out when I opened it to investigate the noise last night. Funny thing is, he wasn't traumatized by the incident. When I opened the door he didn't scramble out as though he'd spent the night being tortured by Satan's minions: I'm fairly certain that would have been Casper's reaction (but then again, Casper would have screamed so loudly that this would never have happened). But Felix's morning routine continued as though nothing ever happened: he made one "Urd?," circled around my legs, fell over, then ambled off to the food dish.

First Harvest

2006-04-10T17:24:00.000-05:00

Because we haven't bought a house here yet (we're renting), my garden this year will be in pots. I spent Saturday planting my container garden: I've planted snow peas seeds, lettuce (both seeds and from transplants), mache (from seed), and a whole bunch of herb transplants -- rosemary, basil, marjoram, thyme, parsley, and fennel.

Although I'm just getting started, I've already taken my first harvest from the yard: wild violets. The yard is covered with them, and since we don't use any synthetic products on our lawn they are edible.

The flowers don't have much of a distinctive taste, but they are beautiful and they make an ordinary salad seem like something exotic. The leaves have a very mild, fresh taste and are not the least bit bitter. The dark green leaves and the purple flowers contrast nicely with the yellow-green hearts of butter lettuce or romaine. When I served our salads on Sunday, I think this is the first time in 9 years of marriage that Doug was stunned by the food's presentation -- hey, I'm usually making casserole or some other "gloppy" stuff.

No special preparation is required: just pick, rinse, and eat. Sunday was such a beautiful day that I was looking for any excuse to be outside, so I probably spent 1/2 hour to an hour picking violets. I was surprised how well the leaves and flowers held up after sitting in the sun for that long. I put them in a bowl of water in the refrigerator until dinner, then I dried them in the salad spinner before using them. I refrigerated the leftovers in the salad spinner, and they still look fresh today, two days later. On the other hand, the dandelion flowers I picked the same day (they're edible too, but that's another post) began to close up within an hour, even in water.

I have read on the Web that violets are high in vitamin C, and very high in vitamin A: half a cup of leaves contains well more than a whole day's supply (so don't overdo it).

Brush Mermaid Garden Dish

2006-03-23T08:00:00.000-06:00

Gary writes:

Hello I was trying to id this pottery I have, I've seen one in a antique store like it they said it was McCoy, do you know what maker it is? Or is it McCoy? I would appreciate any help you could give me.

Hi Gary, it's not really McCoy, but Brush (a/k/a "Brush-McCoy"). It's not unusual for people to mix up the companies, because there were 4 generations of McCoys working in the pottery business in Ohio. The following information comes from the McCoy Pottery Collector's Reference & Value Guide by Hanson, Nissen, and Hanson, and The Guide to Brush-McCoy Pottery by Martha and Steve Sanford. So here's the story of Nelson, WF, JW, George, Nelson, Nelson, and Nelson.

In 1848, brothers W. Nelson McCoy and W.F. McCoy formed a pottery business in Zanesville, OH. They made stoneware crocks and jars.

In 1899, W. Nelson's son, James William McCoy, started the J.W. McCoy Pottery company in Roseville, OH.

In 1909, George S. Brush (who founded the Brush Pottery Company in 1906 in Zanesville) became J.W. McCoy's general manager.

In 1911, the two potteries merged to become the Brush-McCoy Pottery company. J.W. McCoy continued to be a principal stockholder until 1925, at which point the company was renamed Brush Pottery.

In 1910, Nelson McCoy (J.W.'s son), along with help from his father, formed the Nelson McCoy Sanitary Stoneware Company in Roseville, OH. Nelson McCoy's wares competed directly with those manufactured by Brush-McCoy. In 1933 this company reorganized to become the Nelson McCoy Pottery Company. After Nelson McCoy died in 1945, his nephew Nelson McCoy Melick became president, and remained president until his death in 1954. At that time, Nelson McCoy Jr. became president. In 1967 the pottery was sold to Mount Clemens Pottery Company, and in 1974 it was sold to Lancaster Colony Corporation. Nelson Jr. remained president throughout that entire time and the pottery was still known as "McCoy." Nelson Jr. Left in 1981, the pottery was sold to Designer Accents in 1985, and they were out of business by 1990. Pottery from this NelsonX3 company is what is known to collectors as "McCoy."

So, on to your planter. It is a #912 garden dish that was made in 1956. Brush made a whole line of garden dishes like that in the 1950's: the ones I see most often are a bear, raccoon, or squirrel on a log, but there are others with seahorses, puppies, birds, etc. Not only is the paint style and quality similar throughout the line, but the real give-away is the bottom of the planter: all of the planting dishes I have seen from that line have the same pattern of unglazed rails on the bottom: turn it on edge and it's shaped like an "E" or a "3."

Sanford's Guide to Brush-McCoy Pottery Vol II lists the value as $60-70 (1997 price guide). Their values tend to be a bit high (especially since I live in the Midwest), and I think the greater availability of stuff on eBay has pushed pottery values down even further. The same authors list the bear or raccoon on log from the same line as $50-60, but I see these in antique malls here in the Midwest for around $12-25. There are several of the animal-on-log planting dishes for sale on eBay right now (search for "log" under Brush-McCoy pottery; there's a bear, squirrel, rabbit, and raccoon), so you might want to monitor what they sell for. Your mermaid is probably worth around 20% more than those, because it's prettier and harder to find.

American Art Potteries (Morton) Vase

2006-03-22T23:19:00.000-06:00

Tamra writes:
Can you tell me any more about the American Art Potteries vases I have, of which I have included some photos? I bought them at a second hand store several years ago because I loved the color combinations, which remind me of the 1950’s. Luckily, one of the vases had the American Art Potteries Norwood sticker remaining. I really haven’t had much luck finding any information on them except for the basic info and chronology of Morton Pottery/American Art Potteries. Apparently, these pieces would have been made between 1947 and 1963. The stickers on the bottom are original price tags reading “1.25”. There are no other identifying marks on the bottoms. The vases show extensive crazing, as you can see on the photo of the sticker. I have found this to be part of their charm though, I suppose, it affects the value of the pieces. I would appreciate any further information you could give me about these pieces.

Well Tamra, unfortunately your vases are not pictured in the Morton book I have. I have no reason to doubt your ID of them: the sticker is right and the glaze looks right for that pottery, but it looks like I won't be able to give you much more info. In general, vases from the Morton potteries seem to be valued at $15-25 range, more if they're really big or really fancy, so at least that gives you a ballpark figure. I really like their clean lines and their different glazes: they are lovely!

Weller Jardiniere

2006-03-12T19:15:00.000-06:00

Christy writes:

This planter is 12" high; the mouth is 12" wide & the base is 7" wide. It belonged to my grandfather. There are no markings on the bottom. Do you know who made it & about how old it is? Thanks!

This beautiful jardiniere is found on page 141 of "The Collector's Guide to Weller Pottery" by Sharon and Bob Huxford. The description is "Colored Glaze Jardiniere, 10", no mark, $150-200" (prices are from 1996). Although you note your piece is 12" across, the picture is identical otherwise.

Weller opened in 1872 and closed in 1948. Based on the coloration, it was probably made sometime between the 1920's and the time the plant closed.

Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater Cookie Jar

2006-03-12T18:52:00.000-06:00

Wow, two Brush Twin-Winton cookie jars in a row! I got this photo and an e-mail from Dorie:

I have a Cookie Jar made by the Brush-McCoy Pottery Company.
I hope that the attachment works.
It is Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater, with the marking on the bottom "W24" "USA".
It is in excewllent condition, a little crazing on the bottom and the inside bottom, which comes with age.
I have search the internet for information and found nothing.
Finally look in a collectable book and found it, but would like a little more information, can you help me?

Well Dori, it looks like you already have the bulk of the information already, so I can only add a little bit more. Like the Formal Pig described in my last blog entry, Brush's Peter Pumpkin cookie jar was designed by Twin Winton, two brothers who did freelance design for lots of different potteries. It was made in 1959, and in 1996-97 its value was listed at $250-400 (from Sanford's Guide to Brush Pottery Vol I). I haven't found others for sale to be able to verify a more realistic price, but there is currently one up for sale on eBay.

I should probably point out for you and for the last poster that I am not a cookie jar expert, so I don't know which jars have been reproduced and/or how to spot a reproduction. I found on about.com that many Brush cookie jars are known to have been reproduced (including the Formal Pig :( ), but I didn't see this one on the list.

Brush Formal Pig Cookie Jar

2006-03-03T20:37:00.000-06:00

Allison sent me some photos of a cookie jar and wrote:

For years I have had a 'ugly' pig cookie jar in my collection. Recently, I decided to start researching to see for sure what it was that I had.

While doing an internet search, I learned about Brush-McCoy Pottery. In looking through pictures of their cookie jars, I found my 'Formal Pig Green' cookie jar. However, the markings on the bottom of my cookie jar does not match up to any of the marking listed for either Brush or McCoy Potteries.

The markings on my cookie jar are : W 7 and USA. The measurements are approximately 12 inches tall, by 8 inches wide.

Any information you might be able to give me would be greatly appreciated.

Hi Allison, I don't really know much about collecting cookie jars but I do have some of the Brush reference books and I see your pig (the one in the book has a black outfit instead of green, but otherwise looks the same) in Sanford's Guide to Brush-McCoy Pottery, Book 1. The book lists the mold number as W7 (same as yours), and they say that it was made in 1954. The reason the mold number begins with a W is because the cookie jar was designed by Twin-Winton (twin brothers Don and Ross Winton). They designed pottery on a free-lance basis for many of the pottery manufacturers of that time.

The latest price guide I have for that book is 1996-1997, where it is listed in the value range of $190-390. I found a recently completed auction for one on eBay that only went for $53 (he had a chip on his nose), and a listing on another site where they were asking $250, so that gives you a range for the values.

St. Louis Style Pizza (a/k/a "Pizztata")

2006-03-01T17:04:00.000-06:00

I have been meaning to write about St. Louis style pizza. Ha! I bet you didn't even know St. Louis had a pizza style!

St. Louis style pizza is made with thin crust, cut into squares instead of wedges, and it uses a weird cheesey-food-thing called Provel (yes, capitalized!) instead of mozzarella. Wikipedia says it is almost unknown outside of St. Louis and was invented here specifically for pizza, since someone thought we needed a pizza cheese that melts well without the wonderful stringiness of mozzarella that makes biting into a hot pizza so messy. Other sources say that Provel is kind of like the Velveeta of white cheese: a processed blend of provelone, Swiss and cheddar.

Probably the best-known St. Louis style pizza comes from a local chain called Imo's, but it might not be the best ambassador of St. Louis style pizza. In fact, Doug hates it! Their crust is so thin and crispy that it's more like eating a giant tostata than a pizza, so we have dubbed it the "pizztata." Imo's cooks it until the cheese is a scary brown color. The first time I saw an ad for them I thought maybe they just didn't have an A-level photographer taking a picture of their pizza and that it got burnt or something, but I later figured out that their pizzas actually look like that. How do they taste? They're ok but not very satisfying, even for someone like me who prefers thin crust. It didn't help that the one time I ate at one of their restaurants (the other time we had it delivered), it wasn't exactly a clean and inviting place, and the staff's mood floated somewhere between apathetic and surly. Granted that was only one restaurant, but it didn't impress me.

If you want to try a St. Louis style pizza, I recommend Fortel's. Not only was their pizza filling and good, but offer a wide range of toppings so you can get something interesting (like a Reuben or BBQ chicken). They had sauerkraut! Disgusting, you say? Not at all! Sauerkraut is something I have never liked, and fortunately my German mother didn't think it necessary to force us to eat it. But a long time ago Doug made me try a Canadian bacon and sauerkraut pizza (maybe that's a Kansas City thing, who knows) and I've been hooked ever since. Yum!

Dog & Basket Planter

2006-02-20T08:34:00.000-06:00

Marykay sent an email about the green dog planter on my unknown animal pottery page. She has the same planter in a dark red color -- which may provide another clue to its maker -- and was nice enough to send me some pictures.

At least three of potteries I collect used a wine red glaze: Shawnee, Camark, and Morton. I'm sure there are other potteries that used a similar glaze as well (I have several dark red pieces from an unknown pottery), but those are the big three I know of that have a fairly unique glaze color.

If this is one of those three I would probably guess Morton, although it would only be a guess. The Shawnee red glaze is shinier and a bit more transparent, and the red is deeper. The Camark red is deeper yet (and is one of the prettiest colors I've seen). It's hard to tell exact color when viewing a digital picture, but the glaze does seem to have the same characteristics as some Morton flower pots I have packed away somewhere. Or it could have been made by an entirely different pottery, one for whom we haven't found an identification book for yet. The unglazed bottom also makes me less likely to think it's Shawnee or Camark.

Thanks for sending the pictures Marykay!

Missouri Organic Association Conference

2006-02-13T07:27:00.000-06:00

Doug and I traveled to Jefferson City Saturday for an organic conference. We learned a ton about farming and about the state of organic farming in Missouri, and got to meet a lot of nice people. Although I don't farm, I have a deep interest in the organic industry as a whole, I buy much of my food organic (when the prices aren't unreasonably high), and I keep my yard organically. Several farmers gave talks about their business, clever solutions to different setbacks (many of the setbacks seem to come from being small, not from being organic), and the markets for their goods. One thing that struck me was how practical most were (I LOVE being back in the Midwest!).

I heard multiple times that "profit is not a dirty word," and a couple of farmers even came right out and said they wouldn't farm organically if they couldn't make a profit. These guys didn't strike me as greedy, and they weren't wearing expensive clothes and jewelry, or driving expensive cars -- they are practical people that realize to make any business work, you have to make a profit or your money runs out and you have to do something else for a living. Many do not appear to put profit above all else (unlike so many large businesses), just high enough so they can keep doing what they love, and live the way they want to live.

The talk about profit encouraged me much more than any talk of idealism could have. While I repect the idealism involved with organics and even share some of it myself, idealism can not make crops grow, and it can not advance the science enough to make organic a standard, approachable way of doing things. Those of us who only have a yard to keep can be organic through benign neglect: not so for the farmer.

I especially appreciated listening to Keith from Super Gro of Iowa, who broke down each section of a soil test and told us what each part meant. Many labs will tell you "add
nitrogen" or "add lime," but without a good understanding of the entire balance of nutrients in the soil those recommendations can be dead wrong. If you've been organic for awhile, it won't surprise you to find that the reading for nitrogen (the "N" in N-P-K) isn't all that important; newcomers would probably be confused to find that the speaker just blanked out the entire nitrogen section of the report. If everything
else is where it needs to be, there will be enough available nitrogen to grow crops.

It surprised me a little to find out what kind of prices are being offered for organic crops: often several times more than for their non-organic counterparts. Although I'm used to seeing higher prices for organic food in grocery stores, it's nice to know that some of that gets back to the farmer. Expenses like storage and shipping take out a much larger percentage of the bottom line for a small farm. Unlike conventional agriculture, organic agriculture is still an industry where supply and demand determine the prices and production quantities. Right now, demand far outpaces supply. Those who can afford to pay a little more for organic are helping to keep the demand high; if everything works the way it should (meaning if the gov't lets the market work the way it should instead of letting special interests manipulate it like with conventional ag), supply will eventually catch up and we consumers will eventually enjoy lower prices.

Click here for more information about Missouri Organic Association.

Madonna and Child Planter

2006-01-23T08:36:00.000-06:00

Here's another mystery piece from Jim. When I see a Madonna planter (or Mutter Maria as my mother calls it), I usually think Haeger, and this looks to be a Haeger mold #3264 "Madonna with Cherub Child" planter. It's 11 inches tall, and was originally marked with a foil label which is why there are no markings on the piece.

I found it on page 284 of Dilley's Haeger Potteries Through the Years. Book value is $20.

If you have a planter or vase with a completely glazed bottom with three dots where the piece sat during firing, that's a good hint that it may be Haeger. The apparent crease I see in the photo threw me off, but I think it's just a trick of the lighting. Usually the bottom is flat.

The satin white finish was fairly popular on Haeger pieces, as well as Hull, Redwing and other American potteries. Haeger made several other Madonna planters as well, and I have only seen them in that finish.

Pink Vase

2006-01-22T09:57:00.000-06:00

I got a note from Jim with pics of three unidentified pottery pieces, a vase and two bowls. I didn't think I'd have much chance of identifying the bowls (not something I collect, so not so familiar with them), but I thought I knew who made the vase. Boy was I wrong.

Jim thought the vase might be McCoy, but was unable to locate it in any reference books. From the first picture, I agree: I sure does look like a piece of McCoy.

However, looking at the bottom of the vase I was no longer so sure:

We looked in our McCoy books but haven't had any luck finding it. The color looks a little bit like Brush (although Brush often has a larger S in the USA) but no luck finding it in those books either. For kicks, we also checked Morton (their look is inconsistent, so you never know), American Bisque (wrong coloration, but who knows?), Shawnee (the mark didn't look right, nor did the color), Watt, Camark, Muncie, Niloak, Robinson Ransbottom, and almost every other book we had.

So I'm stumped. When I see pieces that look as detailed as a McCoy but other parts of the design (like the mark) don't mesh, Ungemach Pottery is a possiblity. Fred Ungemach did work for McCoy (and his wife worked for Brush) before founding his own pottery, so there are extensive similarities. Unfortunately, there aren't any reference books for Ungemach so if it's not marked UPCO then there's no way to tell.

Recipe: Rice Porridge

2006-01-20T09:45:00.000-06:00

I'm not a gourmet cook. I'm way to lazy for that. But I like to eat. One of my favorite dishes to get at a Vietnamese restaurant is the rice porridge. Not all the restaurants have it, and sometimes it's only available on the weekends. But I crave it all winter!

I have had the soup with fish, and another restaurant serves it with a variety of meats (shrimp, pork, and chicken). It's good even with no meat at all, and if you're watching your weight you will enjoy that the porridge is thick and creamy without the added fat and calories of actual cream. The only addition to the soup that I consider to be mandatory is freshly sliced ginger root. I would say to julienne the ginger since you want the pieces to be shaped like matchsticks, but I think julienned is way too big (any foodies care to help me out and tell me what this cut is called?). Make the pieces really thin, and 1/2 to 1 inch long.

I won't make any claims about the "authenticity" of my recipe. Like I said, I'm too lazy to worry about things like that. All I know is it's easy to make (but messy! the rice will boil over even if you use a large stock pot) and I really like it.

Rice Porridge

1 cup brown rice
8 cups water
~1/8 - 1/4 cup thinly cut strips of ginger root

4 green onions, sliced
4 cloves garlic, sliced
salt
2 tsp. sesame oil
bean sprouts
fresh cilantro
more ginger strips

Combine the rice and water, cover, boil for about 1-1/2 hours. Throw in the ginger toward the end of the cooking time. You may need to add more water as the rice cooks down to maintain a thick soupy consistency. I ended up adding about 2 more cups to mine. Regardless of what you put in the soup, you will probably need some salt.

Sautee the garlic and the whites of the onions in sesame oil with a little salt. I like them cooked until they're brown: this would probably be considered "burnt" for most purposes but it tastes good with this soup. Spoon the porridge into bowls and sprinkle the sauteed mixture on top. Garnish with bean sprouts, cilantro, and ginger to taste. Enjoy!

If you're counting "Points," I estimate that the entire recipe is about 14 points: 12 for the rice, plus 2 for the sesame oil. Depending on how much water you add, you'll end up with 6-8 cups of soup.

We're still alive and have all our teeth!

2006-01-19T08:17:00.000-06:00

Doug and I went ice skating last night with a friend of his from work. Doug hasn't attempted to ice skate in oh, about 30 years (longer than that friend has been alive!). I tried it once when I was a kid, but it was on borrowed skates that were too small, and on a flooded baseball diamond (that's what they did up in Wisconsin), which made for a rough surface. Needless to say, I wasn't very successful.

There is also the Texas mindset that I need to get out of. I feel that if the weather is cold enough to freeze water solid, especially solid enough to walk on, it just seems smarter to spend the evening curled up under a blanket with a nice glass of brandy reading a good book or watching tv.

Both of us did a lot better than we thought (feared) we would. We didn't fall at all, although Doug does have a nasty blister on his ankle. I haven't done much roller blading lately, but I used to do it a lot and found ice skating to be a lot like that. One difference from my prior experience might have been the skates themselves. My first try years and years ago was with figure skates with leather boots, and my ankles weren't strong enough to keep me upright. We rented hockey skates last night, which are stiff-booted and provide a lot more ankle support.

The skating rink had weird taste in music: a radio station that plays all '70s tunes. I asked Doug's friend if that was just to please the old folks on weeknights, but he said they always play that. Scary thing is, I knew most of the songs. Among the musical artists were Meatloaf, ELO, the Doobie Brothers, Donna Summers, and the Bee Gees. Wow.

Recipe: Red Pepper Dip

2006-01-17T06:16:00.000-06:00

We found a Greek restaurant that serves a wonderful red pepper dip. I don't have their recipe but have been able to come up with a reasonable representation of the dip on my own.

Red Pepper Dip

2 red (or orange) bell peppers, diced
9 cloves garlic, peeled, cut in 1/2
3 oz. feta cheese
olive oil

Put the peppers and garlic in a casserole dish and drizzle with olive oil. Toss to coat everything evenly and roast in the oven at 450F. After some of the pepper and garlic tips brown, add 1-2 tablespoons of water, put on the casserole lid, and let it cook covered for awhile to further soften the peppers. Total cooking time was about 30 minutes in a convection oven... for a standard oven it might take somewhat longer. Don't salt the pepper-garlic mix: when you add the feta cheese the dip will have a salty taste.

Lightly process the roasted mixture, along with any liquid it generated, in a food processor or blender, just enough to break up the garlic cloves and the pepper pieces a bit. Mix in the cheese. If the mixture is too dry, add a little olive oil.

Serve with pita slices. Yummy!

Optional: you can sautee the peppers and onions on the stovetop instead of roasting in the oven. This method will require more olive oil since any liquid generated during cooking will likely evaporate.

Cat Motivators

2006-01-13T22:25:00.000-06:00

My favorite posts over at This Blog Is Full Of Crap are usually the "Ask the Cats" ones, and Laurence certainly didn't disappoint with this one. He has hooked us up with a Flickr tool to create motivational posters featuring your cats (or anything else you please). Here are mine.

Sienna:

Felix and Casper:

Create your own posters here.

Paperwhites!

2006-01-13T08:40:00.000-06:00

I love plants, but this is the first time I've ever forced bulbs indoors. Probably the main reason that I haven't done so before now is that I never remember to water. The only houseplants that stand a chance with me are desert plants, or plants that are so huge they can go for a month with very little moisture.

Our new house has a perfect place for smaller houseplants; there's a large window over the kitchen sink with a windowsill deep enough to hold pots up to 6 inches or so. It's here that I put the paperwhites and amazingly enough, I've remembered to water them! The bulbs were a Christmas gift from our friend Diane, and every time we see them we are reminded of her.

I have become a cliché

2006-01-09T11:08:00.000-06:00

The screen on my laptop gave up the ghost last Friday, and I had to get an emergency loaner so I can send mine out for repair. Most of the deliveries I had over Christmas didn't come until noon or so, so I was a little surprised to see DHL at my door at 10.

When I answered the door, I probably confirmed every stereotype anyone has ever had about people who work from home: old t-shirt, pajama bottoms, hair in a ponytail, and smiling ladybug fuzzy slippers.

Oh well, at least I have a working laptop now.

It is the cry of women

2005-12-23T16:29:00.000-06:00

The economy must be good. How else can people who suck at customer service keep their jobs? Service is even worse when you're dealing with a monopoly like the cable or phone company: they are allowed to blatantly not care whether you're satisfied because you're pretty much stuck with them anyway.

I have been cooped up in the house for 3-1/2 days because I've been sick with the flu (or cold, or some kind of crud). I decided to run some errands this afternoon because the weather was nice and I was feeling a little bit better. I came home at 2:00 to find that my Internet connection had been down for about an hour. This may not seem like a big deal to most people, but I work from home. Not only that, but I am on call for this long holiday weekend. I'm still not feeling great. And going into the office isn't an option since "on call" means 24 hour coverage. And even if I wanted to spend the weekend at the office, it's 680 miles from here.

After switching from wireless to wired, doing a power cycle on both the cable modem and our router, and connecting to our router from my PC to make sure it wasn't the problem, I called my husband at work to see what a blinking power light on a cable modem means. The diagnosis: "You're screwed, call the cable company."

After being cycled through their automated phone menu twice and keying in my phone number twice, I got a human being who promptly asked me for my phone number. (Argh! The phone company does the exact same thing, and they already know my freaking number!) Anyway, I finally got to tell someone that I can not connect to the Internet.

Assuming I am an idiot, the customer service rep began to read off the script before I could even tell her what I'd already done to troubleshoot. I at least got to avoid one trip to the basement (where the modem is... and I don't have a phone down there) when I was able to tell her that I already cycled power on both the modem and the router. Either she didn't believe me that I can communicate with the router from my PC (my husband is a network nerd: he taught me), or didn't know what that meant, since I next had to drag my laptop downstairs to plug it directly into the cable modem, even though my previous trouble-shooting showed that the router was not the problem. After that didn't work, next on the script was "Are you free next Thursday between 1 and 3?"

Sometimes my frustration level is such that I can barely keep the emotion out of my voice, and I sound as if I'm going to cry. That is an extremely useful quality to have when on the phone with customer service reps who don't care. I can't cry on demand like my sister can (gets her out of speeding tickets), but on the phone I can sound like a big bucket of hysterics is welling up just beneath the surface, and one more drop of "I don't give a damn" will cause it to blow straight through the phone like the Taum Sauk Lake.

There were several back-and-forths:

Rep: "You should have a business account if it's mission critical."
Me: "A business line gets a different signal that would be working right now?"

Rep: "Can you go to a friend's house to use their connection?"
Me: (incredulously) "Invite myself to somebody's house for Christmas weekend so I can use their Internet connection?"

Rep: "We are having lots of trouble calls in your area already today and all our technicians are already out with someone else."
Me: "So you're saying there's an outage that's already being worked on? Maybe whatever they are fixing will fix my problem."
Rep: "No, they haven't declared an outage."

It became evident that I was going to be a pain in the butt if she didn't at least pretend to do something, so she sent me running back down to the basement several more times to try different versions of "unplug this" and "plug in that." Finally, after about 50 minutes on the phone and several power recycles, my Internet connection suddenly worked again. The problem was on their end: they didn't have my modem "provisioned" or something like that.

I will admit the customer service rep was polite and professional throughout, but that didn't really make things better. If there are other things a rep can troubleshoot over the phone, why is the preferred course of action to blow off (and piss off) the customer and make an appointment to have someone come to my house a week from now, when it is something that was fixable over the phone in less than an hour? And why does a customer need to be on the verge of tears before a customer "service" rep actually does something besides put you in a queue? I had a very similar experience with my washing machine manufacturer a couple months ago.

A typical call center costs a company about a dollar a minute per call. Had the rep gone through all the possible troubleshooting measures first instead of trying to sweep it under the rug, we could probably have resolved the issue in 30 minutes, less if she would have not assumed I'm an idiot and taken my word that it wasn't a router issue because I had already checked. $30 has to be cost them less than sending out a technician.

Of course, I know the answer to that because we were dealt with by our old cable company in much the same manner. They'd say there is nothing they can do, make an appointment for some date far in the future, then a few hours later the problem magically "fixes itself." Then it becomes the customer's responsibility to cancel the technician's visit, and they can treat the whole matter like it was all in your head to begin with.

I suppose I could try DSL, but believe it or not, the local provider is even worse. Their idea of customer service: "Since you're calling because we screwed up the service you purchased already, how about buying another one of our crummy services, too? We're running a special."

Speaking of Grindley. . .

2005-12-21T18:24:00.000-06:00

I haven't unpacked many of my pottery animals, since we may end up moving again within a year. However, in the "Grindley Pottery A Menagerie" book by Mike Schneider, he shows a fox on page 83 that is a possible Grindley. I believe this fox was actually made by one of the Morton Potteries from Morton, IL. I have one in yellow, and later found one in white with yellow splotches. The white and yellow splotches are almost identical in color and form to the glaze on a dog I have from Morton that was in the book and still had its original identification sticker. I'll post a pic if/when I ever find those pieces.

Update
I found the box with the foxes and dog.
Here's the label on the dog. He's called a "gringham dog" (that's the way it's spelled in the book, anyway... I would think it's a "gingham dog" to go with the "calico cat") in Morton Potteries: 99 Years by Doris and Burdell Hall, page 146. It was made by Midwest Potteries, Inc. of Morton, IL sometime between 1940 and 1944.

Unidentified Cats

2005-12-21T18:14:00.000-06:00

Another email from Chris:

Angie, these cats on your "Unidentified" page (see pic attached) are most certainy Grindley. I had this set at one time and have spoken with Mr Gridley himself who confirmed it. I think they are in his the book:
Grindley Pottery, A Menagerie by Mike Schneider, page 30.
Thought you might like to know.

Thanks
Chris

Wow, thanks Chris! I have that book and didn't find them in there, but of course that doesn't mean they're not Grindley. That's a pretty small book, and clearly there's a need for a much more comprehensive one!

Donkiraffe?

2005-12-21T18:01:00.000-06:00

Chris over at the Pottery Auction sends me a picture of a strange hoofed mammal:

Click this link to see a very strange pottery creature.
http://www.potteryauction.com/cgi-bin/merkatus.exe?lot=140674
Saw the scottie dog planters on your site (thanks) shall I send pics of the bottoms as someone requested?

In this case sending pics of the bottom probably wouldn't help, since he's got separate feet and no markings. Usually when a piece has one continuous bottom I can get a clue from what that looks like: the shape of the unglazed "feet" where the piece sat during firing is often a clue to the maker.

Grindley would have been my first guess for your animal, but after looking through the book I don't see anything like it. Also, the gold polka-dots I see on their animals in the book are either solid dots, or polka-dots in the shape of little padlocks. My second guess is California, although I don't have anything to back that up: there were so many California potteries that I've shied away from them for my collection. I'm afraid I'm stumped!

2 times 4/3 when 4/3 is really 2 = lots of garlic!

2005-12-14T20:58:00.000-06:00

Let me preface this with my math credentials: straight A's in math in high school, 3 semesters of college calculus, a semester of differential equations, and another semester of math that made my head spin so hard that I can't even remember what it was called. And statistics. Numerical analysis. Engineering classes. So anyway, I can multiply by 4/3, right?

So why is it that I am slowly losing my ability to follow a recipe? I caught myself doing this again last night, it's just an example but I seem to do this a lot. I was making a quiche, and actually following a recipe (rare for me, unless it's baked goods). It called for three eggs. I figured that the pan I was using was a little large, so did I double the recipe? No, that would be waaaay too easy. I figured I'd make it with 4 eggs instead of 3, since it was just a little bigger than a normal pie pan. So now I get to guess at measurements, each one not twice the original, but 4/3 the original. Being a math goddess, of course I just do it all in my head, right? Which was ok until I kept going down the list and some part of my head was convinced that I was doubling the recipe, instead of just increasing it by a third. That was ok for the greens, and for the parmesan cheese, but I probably should not have doubled the garlic (I can still taste that!). Oh, and I don't have a pastry mixer thingy any more (you know, that thing with a handle and little wires?), so I decided I'd just make a crust out of --- if any foodies are reading this, please just click away and get back to work or whatever you should be doing right now --- Bisquick! Except Bisquick isn't really for pie crusts, so it was a really thick biscuit-type thing (and I ad-libbed by adding cheese to the Bisquick "crust"). To complicate matters further, my new house has a convection oven. It will cook on "normal" mode as well, but why would I use the normal mode when I know convection is faster? (argh, I'm the same way in the car: why drive 65 when I know I can go 74 without getting pulled over?) So I'm always guessing on oven temperature (my rule of thumb lower temp by 15 degrees if using convection) and time (takes less time to cook, even at a lower temperature).

Anyway, whatever it was I made didn't look or taste anything like a quiche. It was OK, not knock-your-socks-off-great, but OK. It's a good thing my husband and I like garlic, because no self-respecting vampire would dare darken our door now.

I used to think I could cook. I mean, any idiot can follow a recipe, right? But one sad side effect of going out to eat at good restaurants so much is that I realize what a sucky cook I really am.

Scotty Dog Planter

2005-11-30T22:39:00.000-06:00

Reader Chris has two unidentified scotty dog planters for sale at the Pottery Auction site, and is looking for help identifying them.

I've unpacked my books, but alas have had no luck finding them. My initial thought is either a Morton Pottery, or American Pottery Co. (a/k/a APCO, or American Bisque), but I haven't found them in either of my reference books for those potteries.

Perhaps a look at the bottoms would help?

Tornado

2005-11-29T13:10:00.000-06:00

The tornado itself wasn't really worth blogging. We had to go to the basement Sunday night for a tornado warning, but it was an F0 that did a little bit of damage several miles from here. It didn't touch a thing near my house. What is worth blogging about is my dismay at our local officials' responses to the lack of siren noise in many places. Reference this news article for the whole story: I saw the same info on TV this morning.

It's been my experience that most tornado warnings are issued during thunderstorms, and most thunderstorms contain lightning and thunder, which is why they are called "thunderstorms" in the first place (clever, those weather people!). Why do we have a siren system that is vulnerable to "electrical interference because of the storm..."?? Seems like a design flaw to me.

Two sirens didn't work because of damage from a previous storm that no one bothered to fix. Never mind the fact that damage to the siren by a storm is proof positive of how much it is needed right there.

The most ridiculous quote of all comes from the director of the St. Louis City Emergency Management Agency:

Christmann cautions that the sirens are not meant to be heard indoors. They are for people who are outdoors and do not have access to a TV or a radio. He said, "If we turned it up loud enough for everybody to hear everywhere, we would probably end up blowing a lot of windows out of people's houses."

Um... so our tax money goes into a system designed only to protect people who are too stupid to come in out of a thunderstorm? Seems like a bit of a waste of money to me. People with a legitimate reason to be out in an awful storm (rescue workers, police, electric company linesmen come to mind) are probably already aware if there is nasty weather around. No one's asking for the siren to come up behind them and slap them up the side of the head, and its not realistic to expect tornado sirens to wake anyone from a sound sleep, but it would be nice to have some indication that a tornado is upon us.

I've experienced at least one tornado warning in almost every place I've ever lived (and several in Arlington, Texas which is firmly within "tornado alley" in most maps I've found). This is the first time I can think of where I heard no sirens.* I'm not saying that they have always been easy to hear indoors, but they have been audible enough for us to notice, even if we had to open the front door and step outside to make sure that was indeed what we heard. This time, it was our weather radio that told us what was up.

*We might have briefly heard a siren, but that was probably 15 minutes or so after the weather radio said to take cover -- long enough to corral two cats, lock them in the basement, fetch a small tv and drag that to the basement, go back upstairs for some chairs to sit on and drag them to the basement, go back up to find and capture the third cat and take her to the basement -- and the sound was only for a moment and might have been on television anyway.

So, if you live in either the City or County of St. Louis, the important takeaway is this: You're on your own. Get thee to a Radio Shack!

Remembering Doris

2005-11-28T08:35:00.000-06:00

Yesterday marked the one-year anniversary of when we lost Doug's mother to an unexpected heart attack. We spent the holiday weekend with his father, eating and doing touristy stuff as much as possible, the weekend sprinkled with "Mom would have liked that" every time we saw something decked out in particularly bright colors.

As Dick was preparing to leave from spending the holiday with us, the anniversary was not marked with bells tolling, but with . . . birds.

It rained all Saturday night. In the morning, as Dick was loading the car, we heard a cacophony of birds. They were descending into to the trees near the house and in the woods at the back of the yard, covering the branches like moving Christmas tree decorations. My first thought was starlings, since they are about the only birds this suburban-dweller has seen in such a large flock, but closer inspection revealed they were robins. There must have been 100 of them, at least. Not the fluffy round robins I've seen at my bird bath in recent weeks: these guys were lean and on the move, no doubt heading to warmer climes for the winter. They chirped and sang the entire time Dick was loading the car -- through our acknowledgement that this was the day, and almost the very hour, of our loss -- and kept it up for about 20 minutes after he left. Then, once again, silence.

It seems appropriate that the anniversary of Doris' passing would be marked not just by any birds, but by the harbingers of spring. As they head south, we face the dying winter months without them. But we know we will see them again, as they return to remind us that the earth will spring to life again.

Doris would have liked that.

Robinson Ransbottom

2005-11-26T17:00:00.000-06:00

Here's another email from Jim, who won a lot of 5 pottery pieces at auction. His description...

First ,it's stoneware and very well made.It stands 5 1/2" tall and is7" across the top and weights 3 lb 12oz..The glazing is two tone drip brown over green with a deep brown interior.

Now, do you have any idea as to who made it? There are no marking anywhere but looks to good to be done in a "shop" class. Anything you might think would really be helpful.

Jim, the jardiniere you found was made by the Robinson Ransbottom Pottery Company (RRPCo), from Roseville, Ohio. RRPCo, founded around 1900, was a competitor to McCoy and Brush, but unlike those other two companies they are still around today. I was pretty sure they had a Website at one time, but when I tried to go there now it seems that they have let their domain lapse. RRPCo is often mis-marked in antique malls as McCoy or as Roseville (a less utilitarian, more refined and expensive pottery) because they were made in the same city. The larger jardinieres may be marked "RRPCo Roseville, OH" but the smaller ones usually are not.

I am unsure of the date of the piece you have (I have three like it), but it is older, and that pattern was made in several different sizes. I know it's in one of my pottery books but I haven't unpacked them yet (correction -- I haven't found them yet!). Depending on where you are in the country, I would expect to see your size jardiniere in an antique mall anywhere from $12-25. It's a great piece!

So Pitiful

2005-11-22T16:11:00.000-06:00

Casper gets really freaked out in the car. So much so that we had all three cats sedated before the big drive to St. Louis (11.5 hours). The other two floated through the ride, with only a peep here and there. Felix seemed to enjoy the drugs, while Sienna would only meow when she heard Casper (her son) cry.

Casper meowed almost the entire way. It's not a polite meow like his mother, but a screeching, sharp, persistent meow that makes it sound as though he is being tortured by Satan himself. The meows per hour only slowed down for a couple of hours (yeah, even the cats thought the tollway in Oklahoma is a boring drive!) but other than that, it was a traumatic experience for poor Casper. Instead of getting sleepy, he got even more panicky, trying to claw and bite his way out of the carrier. His paws were bloody by the time we arrived.

We've been keeping an eye on him since then, and yesterday he started favoring one paw over the other. Well, one of the claws -- well, actually the space where the claw used to be, since he pulled it out -- got infected. We went to the vet today so now Casper sports a big red bandage.

If that isn't bad enough, Felix has been following him around everywhere he goes. I don't know if he thinks Casper has a shiny new red mousie, or if he is trying to kick him while he's down: I'd like to think Felix isn't that big of a bully. I closed Casper in a room by himself for a few hours just so he could take a nap in peace.

Assuming Casper doesn't chew off the bandage before then, we are supposed to leave it on for three days. After the bandage comes off we'll have to soak his paw in antiseptic once or twice a day. Between the bandage and the scabs on his nose (abraded from his attempts to force his face through the door on the carrier during the trip), he sure looks pitiful.

Some of My Best Friends are the Blues

2005-11-20T10:24:00.000-06:00

Doug took me to a place called Finale Friday night. We saw jazz singer Karyn Allyson. Doug knows I'm not a big fan of jazz (I don't care for the randomness when they get carried away, and I'm a lyrics junky anyway), but he figured a vocalist would be a pretty safe choice. He was right: she was fantastic! Amazing how much musical talent has come from the midwest. Karrin is from Kansas City, and went to school at University of Nebraska. Her voice is simply amazing.

Her drummer was also from KC: he was fun to watch: one of the things I do appreciate about jazz musicians is how much they pay attention to the other musicians they share the stage with. Unlike rock, where everyone seems to be vying for the spotlight, jazz musicians seem to exemplify everything we learned -- or were supposed to learn -- in kindergarten: listen politely to others, wait your turn, don't be a show-off... I'm terrible with names and will have to ask Doug if he remembers, because they were all really good.

The bassist looked about as serious as can be, but of course he was great. I think he's another Kansas City guy. The pianist -- wow! He was a local guy from St. Louis. The man sitting next to us said he's an instructor (or maybe department head, the brandy made it hard to concentrate) at one of the schools, and his wife sings as well as he plays the piano.

If you live under a rock like me, and haven't heard of Karrin, check out some of here music at her Website. Her new disc won't be out till February or March, but I'm looking forward to it... she'll be covering tunes from the likes of Joni Mitchell, James Taylor, and Cat Stevens. My favorite of the show was her cover of the late Shirley Horn's "Some of My Best Friends are the Blues," but I haven't been able to find a sample of her singing that one online.

Perhaps the best part of all this: Finale is about a 5-minute drive from our house, parking is close and free, the venue is small with table seating, waitresses will serve you food and/or drinks throughout, and the tickets were $20. Contrast that with the last concert we saw at the Nokia theater in Grand Prairie... 30-minute drive to nowhere, $15 to park even though the parking lot is only for that venue and there's nothing else around for miles (what a rip-off), if you want any refreshements you have to wait till intermission and get them yourself, and tickets were about 3 times more expensive.

Stuff that works, stuff that doesn't

2005-11-18T11:08:00.000-06:00

We went to the big blue box store the other night for a few things... whenever you move into a new place (new to us, anyway) there are always a bazillion things you need from the big blue or orange boxes. The shower in the master bath was draining very slowly. So slowly that by the end of my shower I was standing in water midway up to my shins. We picked up a bottle of some really nasty stuff whose brand name implies that instead of paying some guy $75/hour to unclog your drain, you can essentially get this highly-paid guy in a bottle, pour him down the slow drain, and watch as the problem disappears virtually in front of your eyes (at least, that's what the commercials have led me to believe).

Next to the bottles of nasty stuff was another product called "ZIP-IT." This wasn't a bottle of nasty stuff, rather a narrow piece of plastic about two feet long, with little sharp fins all along the length. Since I have tree-hugging tendencies, I bought that too: it was only a few dollars, figured it was worth a shot to get something that could unclog a drain that was easy to use and not a nasty chemical.

Like a dufus, I tried the chemical first. I didn't really believe the plastic would work too well, and I was influenced by all those tv commercials that show the clog disappearing as the chemicals work their magic. The instructions said to pour it down the drain, wait an hour, then flush with hot water. Well, I did that, and imagine my disappointment when I turned on the hot water and the tub began to fill with a nice combination of hot water and chemical. I let it drain and tried again. Same issue. Now not only did I have an extremely slow-draining shower, but it was rendered unusable because I am reluctant to stand in ankle-deep drain cleaner, even if it is watered down. Oh well, what should I expect from a company who can't spell "plumber" correctly?

After letting the tub drain again, I tried the ZIP-IT. After the first pull, it became obvious to me that the previous inhabitant of this house was a Wookie. A Wookie with alopecia areata. Perhaps even a Wookie with alopecia areata who blew his nose with tissue while in the shower. And it was obvious that the bottle of stuff was powerless to dissolve hair. Not only couldn't it dissove hair, but it couldn't dissolve tissue! How hard can that be? Anyway, after a couple more pulls, I had enough hair in the wastebasket to build a scale-model sasquatch, and the drain was flowing freely.

If you are a tree-hugger and have tried other tree-hugging solutions to a clogged drain, like vinegar and baking soda which makes a neato fizzy volcano effect (remember your grade-school science projects) but does pretty much nothing else, take heart. Try that ZIP-IT thing.

Unidentified Elephant, Identified

2005-11-14T20:54:00.000-06:00

A visitor named Max was able to identify one of my unidentified pieces!

Dear Angie,
The yellow elephant planter on your "Unidentified" page of the Junkey Monkey site is Referenced in Mark Gonzalez's book Collecting Fiesta, Lu-Ruay and Other Colorware on page 163 as being from the Sevilla line by the Cronin China Company. He states that it measures 3 1/2 inches tall and 5 inches long and is found in a yellow or white glaze. His reference is a 1940 G Sommers wholesale catalog.
Regards,
Max

Thanks Max!

Using Collectible Pottery for Food?

2005-11-14T20:37:00.000-06:00

I originally started this blog as part of my pottery Website, but this move has been all-consuming of late. Well, it's about time I write something about pottery, and I received this letter from Jim that will let me do just that:

Morning,my friend !

I have a question from a customer that I need to answer.They wanted to know if a Brush vase I have up on eBay is safe to use as a Salsa (or dip) bowl.It is an older - mold J7- one and is glazed inside and out. Do you have any idea as to how safe it is for that?
Thanks for your time !!
Jim

Jim, Unless the piece was made specifically for that purpose, I would not use it in direct contact with food. If a food-safe container can be found to fit inside the piece, it can still be used as a decorative outer layer.

Some of the older glazes used lead, which would rule out any food contact. Even if lead was not used, one can't really be sure what might have come into contact with pottery pieces when you buy them second-hand. If harsh cleansers or bleach have been used on the pieces (I use Lime Away to get the crusty salts off of pottery that has been used for plants), and they have any crazing or chips, it is possible that the chemicals have soaked into the exposed pottery and could leach out later.

If you will

2005-11-09T07:49:00.000-06:00

I'm not exactly the language police, but there's another phrase that bugs me: "if you will."

I can understand it in the context of "Please hand me that box, if you will" because I'd interpret it as "if you don't mind." Not that it's necessary, but at least it seems to fit.

However, the traffic guys on Fox 4 pepper each report with that phrase in ways that I don't understand. "Traffic is unwinding, if you will." Like anyone would mind having traffic unwind? "There's a backup north of downtown along I35W, if you will." Um, if I will what??

Chip Waggoner has been using this phrase for years, and now Todd Carruth uses it as well. Don't get me wrong: both men are adorable. I just wish they'd stop saying that, if you will.

Jen is Evil (I Wasn't Using That Artery, Anyway)

2005-11-05T17:34:00.000-06:00

I have been raving about the tiny little White Castle cheeseburgers that my husband brings back from St. Louis. I don't even know if they objectively taste as good as I think they do: Intertwined with the steamy little buns infused with the flavors of beef and the tiny little onion pieces are the memories of going to White Castle in Aurora (IL) when I was in 3rd grade, and the college road trips from West Lafayette to Indianapolis late at night, parking at the airport to eat the tiny burgers and watch the planes take off.

So Jen has to send me this link: White Castle Recipes. It wouldn't be so bad if the "Morning Crave" didn't sound so very very good to me: this will probably be the first recipe to dirty our new kitchen when I arrive next weekend (assuming I can find my dishes).

Lazy Dieter's German Potato Salad

2005-10-31T17:38:00.000-06:00

I have been craving my mother's German potato salad, but I am too lazy to make it. My mother has always made the potato salad with hot dogs, and I can't say that's not "authentic," because she is in fact from Germany. She also uses a pressure cooker. I don't have one and probably never will. They scare me and I'm certain I would put an eye out the first time I used it.

Two years ago I discovered Hendrickson's salad dressing at a restaurant in Hot Springs, Arkansas. Not all grocery stores carry it, but I've been able to find it at Market Street and some of the other gourmet restaurants here in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area. Through some experimentation, I discovered you can make a reasonably healthy and tasty version of German potato salad in less than 20 minutes.

Lazy Dieter's German Potato Salad

3 small potatoes
1/4 onion
4 chicken hot dogs
1/2 cup Hendrickson't salad dressing
salt and pepper (or seasoned salt) to taste

Wash the potatoes, place in a covered glass dish and microwave on high until they are cooked, approx. 5-8 minutes (don't let them get too smooshy). Chop the onions and hot dogs into pieces and sautee in the Hendrickson's until the onions are cooked. Once the potatoes are done, cut into thick pieces and add to the frying pan. Cook 5-10 minutes, adding a little more dressing if it seems too dry.

This version is fairly sweet, which may turn some people off. If you don't like it that way, you might try adding a little vinegar.

I calculated Weight Watcher Points for this recipe, and it's about 16 points for the whole thing. If you use it as a side dish, it's about 4 servings. If it's the main dish it'll serve 2.

Hmmm... I just discovered a recipe for German potato salad on Hendrickson's site. Theirs includes a lot more stuff. . . I think if I ever try theirs, I would probably leave out the eggs and celery (yuk, I don't like celery).

Casserole Queen: Pea & Bacon Casserole

2005-10-28T10:50:00.000-05:00

I brought a casserole to a potluck last night and was asked for the recipe. I seldom cook with recipes (ask my husband, who happily endures many a schlamassel, some of which turn out better than others), so I thought I'd try to get down the ingredients before I forget what I did.

Pea & Bacon Casserole

1/2 large onion, diced
2 tsp. butter
2 cups brown rice, cooked (I cheat and get frozen rice at Whole Foods)
1 can condensed cream of chicken & herbs soup
1 bag frozen peas
~1/4 cup milk
3 ounces bacon, cooked & diced
4 ounces cheddar cheese, grated (not with the grater in my post below)

Sautee the onion pieces in butter till cooked. Add rice, soup, peas, and bacon. Add just enough milk so the mixture can coat the rice and peas evenly (but don't make it too runny). Simmer till the peas are no longer frozen. Mix in the grated cheddar and transfer all to a greased casserole dish. Sprinkle the remaining bacon on top.

Bake at 350 for about an hour. Everything's cooked already, so cooking time isn't that important... you just need time for all the flavors to mix together.

A Cheese Grater?!?!?

2005-10-26T07:38:00.000-05:00

I have heard snippets of a news story on two local channels, referred to as "a bizarre food tampering incident." I'm not sure if it happened here in the DFW area, but evidently a guy went into a Fiesta grocery store and scattered fecal matter over the bakery goods. Yes, fecal matter.

If that were not disgusting (and bizarre) enough, the snippet I caught on Fox yesterday morning was a policeman saying it was obviously meticulously planned. Since I was vacuuming and doing dishes (ack, we had another house showing scheduled for yesterday) I wasn't paying all that much attention, but I swear I heard him say the guy either dired or froze the turd, then grated it with a cheese grater!

I really would like to see inside the mind of that man... I'm sure it would be an illuminating trip. And I would hope he would never invite me to his home for tacos.

=====================

Aha, I found it here!

Thank goodness the FBI has determined that this is "not a national security issue." Looks like they are right on top of things.

Hi Hon

2005-10-17T08:01:00.000-05:00

Calling someone "hon" has always been a curious thing to me. I've heard it a lot in Texas, most stereotypically from waitresses with big hair. I find it to be charming in a way, something that seems to represent the friendliness that Texas is rumored to contain (it does, it's just not concentrated in the immediate Dallas-Ft. Worth area). I guess it beats calling someone "what's-your-name" when you don't know, or don't remember, their name.

I think that moniker offends some people because it implies a familiarity that usually doesn't exist. I guess it's more appropriate in some situations than in others. I can't really imagine calling my coworkers "hon" or having them do the same to me. Maybe my nickname "Dark Cloud" has something to do with that.

Because of our move, we have hired a lawn service to keep up with the outside of the house while we concentrate on the inside. The new lawn guy calls me "hon," which was ok the first time: it's kind of a folksy-friendly Texas thing. But it grated on my nerves last time because he didn't show up the week before, and he appeared a day late last week (and didn't even have time to mow). I'm new to the whole lawn service thing (my husband actually likes to mow) so I don't know if it is typical for 45 minutes of rain to throw a business off by two weeks. I found it annoying though, since we're trying to get the house ready to sell, so I don't feel so much like a "hon."

On an interesting aside, during a visit to a St. Louis White Castle (mmmmmm.... tiny little cheeseburgers!!!) I heard one of the girls behind the counter call another one "hon." I guess it's not a Texas thing after all.

Top 5 Things I Will Miss About Texas

2005-10-11T18:19:00.000-05:00

I love the fall weather we've been enjoying this month. On my commute to work this morning the sky over Ft. Worth was a dark gray-blue, threatening to unload a torrent of water any minute. The native oak trees and cottonwoods in the Trinity riverbottoms glowed a fresh green, as if they could already taste the promised rain (it never came, by the way). The color combination of the trees and sky just before or after a Texas thunderstorm is something I will really miss. That got me thinking about other things I will miss once we move north. Here, in no particular order, are my top 5.

1. The aforementioned native trees/dark sky contrast just before or after a thunderstorm.

2. Armadillos. Yes, I know many people think they are a pest, but they are just too bizarre. I woke up the other morning to the sound of another one building a nest under our deck. Although we have any number of creatures living in our back yard, I could tell it was an armadillo just by the time of day, and the scraping sound of her hard shell against the deck beam as she gathered fallen leaves with her front feet (paws?) and scooted backwards into the space under the deck.

3. February. I have always hated February. To me, February has always meant gray skies and dirty snow, a fake romantic "holiday," and the middle of a winter that never seems to end. At least, that was what it was like in Wisconsin. Texas is so much further south that the winter days are never as short (nor the summer days as long), and by mid to late February there are already some beautiful spring days. By February, I am already harvesting lettuce in my garden and enjoying the blooms of violets, snowdrops, daffodils, leatherleaf mahonia (complete with honey bees), and winter honeysuckle (also with the bees). I will miss the year-round gardening.

4. Running into people I know when I least expect it. I know that's not unique to Texas, but it's unique for me. I've lived in the area for nearly 17 years, and in this house for 10. I had never lived anywhere more than 5 years prior to this, so it's a novelty for me to know enough people that even in a town this size I occassionally recognize some. I ran into an old coworker at a garden tour in Ft. Worth last Sunday, which was a pleasant surprise. And if they are people I don't want to see, it's always easy enough to pretend I didn't.

5. Surprisingly for a social misfit such as myself, the fifth thing is also people. No one could ask for a better neighbor (and friend!) than we have just to the west, and I will also miss our Sunday breakfast (and garden club) buddies. Work will be a whole different ballgame, too, as I transition to a full-time work-from-home employee. I'll still get to talk to my coworkers on IRC, but I will miss the lunches and the gossip that can only happen in person.

There are plenty of things I won't miss about Texas. I will maybe save them for another post.

Or maybe not.

St. Louis or Bust!

2005-10-03T08:01:00.000-05:00

Soon, we will be moving from Texas to Missouri. The pottery collection is almost completely packed up, except for a few pieces we've left on display for when the house goes on the market. Packing the pottery wasn't all that difficult, but there was just SO MUCH!

Animal planters and figurines are a bit more fragile than jardinieres and pots, since the animals have ears and legs that can get broken off. But packing them wasn't too bad because I've been collecting (and purchasing) a bunch of smaller boxes. 6x6x6 boxes work well, holding medium-sized pieces by themselves, or holding multiple small pieces (cut up some cardboard and put it in between the pottery, then fill the extra space with corn starch packing peanuts). 12x9x6 were used for some of the larger planters, and a variety of other box sizes in between. The smaller boxes can then be packed into larger boxes so you don't have to keep up with several hundred tiny boxes.

I admit I overboard when packing the collection: I had the time, and thought I'd try to do a good job since we will probably rent for the first year we live in St. Louis, and they'll be moved at least three times before the entire collection comes out of storage (house to storage, storage to St. Louis rental, rental to house). Back when we were transporting pottery from home to antique mall, just wrapping them in paper or in Depend pads (you can often pick them up cheap at estate sales, and they're fantastic for protecting collectibles!) and piling them in boxes was sufficient. Anyway, packing pieces in smaller boxes and then into larger ones offers the fragile pieces more support, so you can actually stack the boxes higher than you would if they didn't have the extra cardboard.

Here are some tips I picked up while packing:

1. Measure all your odd-size expensive fragile things and make a list, then look in the yellow pages for a place that sells boxes: not just moving boxes, but all sorts of boxes (I went to a place called the Box Outlet in Ft. Worth). You will probably be able to find a box the right size to protect each piece. Smaller boxes will cost anywhere from $0.50 to $1.50 so only do this if the replacement price (or sentimental value) of the piece warrants it.

2. If you buy boxes in bulk, you may be able to get them cheaper. Wholesale prices are often less than half of retail for cardboard, so make sure you ask. This is good reason to go to a smaller, independent box store: they are probably more flexible.

3. I recommend the corn starch packing peanuts for most uses, since styrofoam is not the environment's friend. There are a couple of caveats though. They are water soluble (you can compost them when you're done!) so make sure you are not storing your stuff in a humid or wet environment. If you care enough to pack it well, you probably care enough to be careful where you store your stuff. The other caveat is that the corn starch peanuts may not work well for very heavy items (like giant stereo speakers), since they are much more compressible than the regular ones.

4. Smaller boxes don't fit neatly into larger ones. For example, you would think that an 18x12 box could hold six 6x6 boxes on each layer. Not true. I can't remember now if the printed measurement is the outside or the inside dimension, but either way they won't match up because of the thickness of the boxes. If you find large boxes that have odd measurements (like 16-3/8" on a side), they might have been designed to hold smaller boxes (two 8" boxes should fit in a 16-3/8" box).

5. Liquor stores are a GREAT source of boxes, and many of them are perfect for packing pottery and glass. I usually leave the dividers in the boxes. You can wrap smaller pieces in paper and put multiple ones in each cubbyhole, or they fit larger vases quite well and keep them from banging together. You can also stack more of these boxes since the dividers provide extra support and keep them from crushing. Since most of them originally held glass, they are strong. And they're free! They are also good for packing your kitchen glassware and barware, especially once you've priced dish packs at the local Container Store or Lowes.

6. One advantage of purchasing boxes is that you end up with a lot of boxes of identical size, which is good for stacking. When you have a bunch of odd-size boxes, you can end up with the corner of one box in the middle of the top of another, which is a good way to crush the contents or poke a hole in the bottom box when they are stacked high. Moving-size boxes range from about $1.50 each all the way up to several dollars apiece. Try to buy a bunch of your boxes at once so you can get them by the bundle and hopefully get the wholesale price.

7. Look for used boxes. Some of the places that sell new boxes also sell used ones. Used medium or large-size boxes are about $1.50 each (that's about 1/2 price for the larger ones). Since movers or businesses will sell back a bunch of boxes at once, you still have a good chance of finding a bunch of identical boxes so they stack and pack well. If they let you pick and choose the boxes yourself, I'd recommend it: condition varies widely. There are also places online that host classified ads for people buying and selling used moving boxes. Although some people get greedy and try to charge a lot for their boxes, I've seen them as low as $1 each.

8. If you plan to put stuff into storage for awhile, shop around. Where I live there are a ton of self-storage places so competition is tough, and prices vary a lot. Of course, climate controlled areas are a bit more expensive than those that are not, but if you have furniture, books, or other items that can get damaged by excessive heat and humidity it's well worth the price difference. Right now the going special in my area is half price on the first two months of storage. You should not have to sign a long-term lease (mine is month to month, even with the special).

Eat Steak, Eat Steak!

2005-10-01T08:50:00.000-05:00

The last few times my husband and I have been to Boston Market, we left the place commenting how we no longer feel that place delivers a good value for what we pay. I used to love their chicken, and even though they've never been as cheap as fast food, we used to never leave hungry, and were grateful for an alternative to sandwiches and burgers. Nowadays, the chicken is dry and the pieces are small, reminding me of the starlings that mob the parking lot and make a mess of the car if we grab one of the shady spots that are so coveted in Texas.

Lately I've been seeing the commercials that they offer steak. Yeah, that's the bottom line: "We offer steak." There are a couple of versions, but both show a person pigging out on a plate of something you can't see very well. If someone told me it were shoe leather I wouldn't argue given the size and shape of the unrecognizable mass. Nothing in the commercial says it tastes good. Nothing in the commercial says it's a good value. Just eat a big 'ol steer (oh my mouth is watering now).

There are already a lot of chains where you can get steak around here, and cheaply if you're not picky. So if you introduce steak at a chicken joint (yes, they changed their name a long time ago but they're still "Boston Chicken" in my mind... although their meatloaf is good) and price it a couple dollars higher than your already too-high-priced meals, shouldn't you at least try to position it as delicious, and better than Golden Corral? I would think so, unless you slept through Marketing 101.

Collecting is an addiction

2005-08-27T11:53:00.000-05:00

My husband and I started to collect pottery almost ten years ago. I blame it all on my parents: they have booths in several antique malls, and they are the ones who really got us hooked. We collected so much that we ended up with a booth in an antique mall for awhile too, but we quit when they began to "encourage" the dealers to "volunteer" at the mall or else pay more rent.

We still have trouble passing up a good deal on pieces that we know are worth something, but have forced ourselves into at least a little more discipline than we used to have. That, and it's getting really hard to find pieces I don't already have. My pottery animal collection was well over 500 at last count!

I have a few pieces of my collection posted at my Web site, www.thejunkymonkey.com. I hope to eventually get more photos online but it's been hard to find the time. Due to all the spam I get at the email address posted on the site, I'd like to eventually move away from having it posted at all. Although I haven't had a lot of time to do anything new on the site, I do still get the occasional email from people looking to identify some pottery they found, and if it's something I know about I'm always happy for the challenge.