Category Archives: Pottery

by Becki | November 13, 2010

Fountain Hills, Day Two!

I went running this morning. It sucked. Massively. You tend to forget how much you hate running once you start getting that runner’s high, but I’m happy to remind you that it is AWFUL. I went for thirty minutes around Fountain Hills and stopped in the grocery store to pick up some sunscreen and eye drops, which are both a necessity when you’re in Arizona.

Post evil-death-trap run, I stopped in the hotel restaurant for some coffee and “The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest“.

I also was served a GIGANTIC plate of food. I ordered the pollo skillet that had chicken, green chilies, tomatoes, onions and potatoes, served with two scrambled eggs and a side of whole wheat toast. I ate about an eighth of this monster plate. WAY too much food for one person!

I walked by the beautiful lake to get to our booth.

Artsy picture-bomb begins NOW!

LOVE IT!

And now for the food picture-bomb:

These were so good! I’m not sure I can rationalize six bucks for a bag though…

These greyhounds were not part of the food section. Just in case you were wondering…

I went to back Sofrita for lunch.

I ordered a tuna melt – something I used to think was disgusting, but was just craving today. It was delicious! As was the chickpea, kidney bean and corn salad topped with cilantro.

The lake has a fountain (Fountain Hills, what a concept…) that shoots up every hour on the hour. I think it’s very smart of them to use all that energy to shoot water up into the dry, arid Arizona air where it can evaporate. Appearances are very important.

I get paid to hang out here. It’s a rough life I lead!

After the show wrapped and we zipped up the booth, we headed out with some of the other artists for dinner.

First things first…

I’ve never had Chianti before. Pretty durn good!

This place is a little hole in the wall with just enough seating for about fifteen people.

Eggplant parmesan with garlic rolls. I had about three bites of this before I was stuffed. I’ve been sampling pecans, gelato, wild strawberry-lavender jam, tropical salsas and fudge all day.

And I’m officially done in.

Redendo’s!

Sports bar on a Friday night? I think so!

Please let there be a hockey game on. If it’s basketball, I’m going to fall asleep.

2 Comments

Filed under caricatures, Chianti, Chocolate, Fountain Hills, gelato, greyhound rescue, greyhounds, Pottery, Redendos, running, Sofrita, sweet jalapeno pecans, The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest, turkey legs

by Becki | November 6, 2010

Ho Hum Road and Easy Street!

Told you I wasn’t lying!!

I have a feeling the art show blogs will be mostly pictures, because I have taken SO MANY that I want to share, plus I’m exhausted and not feeling witty at all after a full day at the festival AND an hour on the treadmill in our little fitness room at the hotel. Phew, even typing that makes my brain sore. Okay, picture attack starts….NOW!

Veggie omelette with two eggs, bell peppers, onions, tomatoes, cheddar cheese and a side of home fries.

Freshly made biscuit drenched in honey.

THE ELIXER OF LIFE!!!

Our neighboring booth’s bronze sculptures and waterfalls.

Oil paintings.

Freeform pottery by Ken!

Creepy metal birds!

Appliqued mirrors!

Evil cactus that cut open my arm yesterday.

I’M GONNA KICK IT.

Lounging at lunch.

O’Dell’s Easy Street Wheat! And I just now realized why they serve it on EASY STREET.

Shut up. It’s been a long day.

Grilled veggie sammich again! These veggies are grilled in olive oil, then chilled before placed in this fresh, warm foccacia. I am in love with the hot/icy combo. Perfect for chowing down on an 85 degree day!

The genius artist herself. Eating . We make a good match!

Spider attack!

Fudge?

Fudge.

Fudge!

FUDGE!!!

So true, fudge. So true.

You can’t go wrong with Herbes de Provence! Or goat cheese…

My first time having Mediterranean food!

A promising start…

Baba Gannnouj – That’s how they spelled it. Three N’s means three times as good, yes?

YES!

I got falafel in pita bread for dinner, but by the time it came, it was too dark and the picture didn’t come out at all. Just know that it was delicious – fried things always are.

That’s all she wrote! She’ll take more pictures tomorrow to imprint into your minds. She’ll also stop talking in the third person, but hopes you’ll excuse her, seeing as she spent the entire day shmoozing with amazing artists, trying not to overheat in the Arizona air, eating massive amounts of food and wearing a dress.

Wearing a dress is very difficult for her.

1 Comment

Filed under baba gannouj, biscuits, coffee, creepy metal birds, devil-possessed cactus, Easy Street, Easy Street Wheat, Efes, falafel, FUDGE, Ho Hum Road, O'Dell's, oil painting, Pottery, sculptures

by Becki | September 30, 2010

MY TOWN IS ON FIRE!

I realize it is neither National Pancake Day, or Pancake Sunday, but since we were out of spinach this morning, I decided to make some whole grain cakes.

This first batch was experimental…

… an experimental FAIL. I used egg in this recipe just to try something new. Apparently, new + Becki = hockey pucks masquerading as pancakes. Oh well, lesson learned!

The second batch appeared to be faring a little better…

Oooooh yeah!

Vegan Banana-Pecan Oatmeal Pancakes

1/4 cup whole rolled oats

1/4 cup whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

Pinch of salt

2/3 cup soymilk

1 banana, 1/2 of it diced, 1/2 in thick slices

A handful of chopped pecans

1. Toast the handful of chopped pecans in a pan over medium heat. Pecans are done when their warm, nutty aroma fills the air (about 3 minutes, stirring constantly). Be careful not to burn them!
2. Put the thick slices of banana into a greased pan over medium-low heat.

3. Carefully flip the banana slices after 4-5 minutes.

4. While the second side of the banana is cooking, mix together the oatmeal, flour, baking soda, salt and toasted pecans in a medium sized bowl.

5. Add the soymilk and diced banana, and stir until well combined.

6. Pour a heaping tablespoon of batter onto a large greased pan or skillet.

7. When the tops of the pancakes start to bubble and appear to dry out, flip em!

8. Cook them for another minute on the other side, then plate with the caramelized banana slices on top and drizzle with syrup or honey.

Incredibleness on a plate.

As always, a great breakfast is best enjoyed with an amazing view on a beautiful morning!

You’d think that such an rich breakfast would fill me up until the end of time, but before I knew it, it was lunch time!

Mexican food on the brain! I got a grilled chicken quesadilla with guacamole. I haven’t been making the healthiest choices lately – I can blame it on my schedule or on the insane heat, but really it comes down to my own lack of self-control and planning.

Problem acknowledged, and being worked on!

The drive back home held a surprise! While we were in the restaurant, about thirty fire trucks, cop cars and paramedics went screaming by, and I forced the roommates to investigate!

THE TOWN IS ON FIRE!!!! It actually looked like a bomb went off, or a plane crashed, but it turns out it was just four businesses that were lovingly built from the ground up, burning right back to the ground thanks to some chemical fire. Sadness

When we got back, I split and headed to the library to pick up some books I had on hold – I’m now reading The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. My cousin recommended the series to me, and while I’m loving the story so far, I’ve been really slow, which is bad considering it’s due back in a few days! I distracted myself from reading a bit longer by replenishing my aromatherapy spray.

I used to be a massage therapist and always wanted to specialize in aromatherapy. Even though I don’t work as a therapist anymore, I brought aromatherapy along with me for daily life.

Bexter’s Spaaaaah Mix

In an 8oz. atomizer bottle, add 7 drops of lavender oil, 7 drops of lemon oil, 2 drops of tea tree oil and 1 drop of eucalyptus oil.
Fill the atomizer bottle with filtered water, cap and shake well.
Spritz the mixture into the air to remove toxins, and over face while inhaling to be in total, utter bliss.

Bexter’s Spaaaaaah Mix! This bottle makes me so happy!

The rest of my day was spent lounging around, doing massive amounts of research and note-taking for a novel I’m writing and swinging by Great Harvest for a loaf of their High 5 Fiber bread to go with dinner.

The roommate made an indian-inspired veggie soup. I don’t have the recipe on hand right now, but it has fresh green beans, eggplant, zucchini, onions, tomatoes, garam masala and a whole bunch of other stuff that makes a heavenly, healthy stew.

My soup was served in my most successful bowl made in pottery to date!

I’ll be hitting up the farmers’ market tomorrey to pick up some ingredients for a Foodbuzz competition I’ll be joining in! Food contests aren’t normally my thing (I’m a VERY competitive person, and it stresses me out and erases a little of the enjoyment for me), but I decided, why not! Stay tuned for a new recipe… or a lot of competitive anger!

I Almost DIED Today!

I almost died today. It was the most painful experience of my life… or one of the top five most painful experiences, which include some of the recent reality shows that have been inflicted upon society. Before we get to that, though, let’s start from the beginning!

Today was my first day off after working SIX days in a row. That’s illegal, right? In my lazy mind, yes, yes it is. Anyway, since it was going to be ridiculously hot today, my mom and I decided to spend the day in Ventura before we headed off to pottery class.

Indian at The Taj Cafe, of course!

This handy card made treating oh-so-much easier!

That’s right, I’m a VIP!

We went to We Olive and picked up some cherry balsamic vinegar and a new bottle of olive oil. Here comes the point of my near-death experience:

That, my friends, is a habanero pepper. We Olive now carries an olive oil that is infused with jalapeno and habanero pepper. I, being the adventurous soul that I am, decided that I would try out this new option. I poured a small bit into a sample cup and took a miniscule sip. Not even a sip, just got a few drops on the tip of my tongue. It was fine for a minute, until the pepper ninja-kicked the back of my throat. My throat closed up and for a good ten seconds, I could not breathe. As I clumsily weaved through the store, tears pouring from my eyes, my nose running uncontrollably, I stumbled across a chocolate merlot dip and stuck a huge spoonful in my mouth to try and stop the pain.

There you have it, my near-death experience. It took an hour for my nose to stop running and for me to stop coughing painfully as each wave of intense heat ran over me again and again. Seriously though, it was awful and painful and not being able to inhale is not a fun thing.

After my over-dramatized moment, we picked up some chocolate at Trufflehounds and headed back towards my parental unit’s house.

We were hindered by a huge wind storm and some really aggressive tumbleweeds.

We got to pottery class around 6pm and it was a nice, chilly 90 degrees outside. Yesterday was 113 degrees fahrenheit in Los Angeles, so it was more than acceptable to be in the low 90′s.

Here’s the latest batch of crap that came out of the kiln!

Here’s my mom’s antithesis of crap. She made an amazing plate last week and imprinted a leaf on it before glazing. Doesn’t it look incredible??

And here’s the NEW batch of crap I made today!

Here’s my mom after a rough day at class – still freakin’ gorgeous.

And here’s me and my chicken legs, covered in clay and dust.

Here’s the glazed, yet pre-fired, version of Amanda and Andy’s pot that they won!

And speaking of winners, the official winners of my Pottery Giveaway are…

Justin, Sophia, Amanda and Andy, and Sir Malachi. (Dan is getting an extremely awful one for his birthday (HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DAN!!!), and as an honorable mention).

Unfortunately, all of the winners’ bowls will not even be out of the kiln until next week, so you’ll have to wait an extra week. For now, all winners please e-mail me at BeckiKregoski@aol.com with your addresses for me to send the pottery to! If you live in SoCal and would prefer to meet up for a blogger get-together/pottery exchange, let me know that as well!

Have you ever had a near-death experience, exaggerated or not?

6 Comments

Filed under blogger meet-up, Burp and Slurp, Dan, glazing, Happy birthday, Indian Food, Malachi, Mom, Pottery, Two Boos Who Eat, Ventura

by Becki | September 22, 2010

One Hundred Posts!!!

This is my 100th post! That happened really fast! I was hoping to do something epic, but I’ll just be going back to my roots: hiking and EATING!

It was beautiful and overcast the entire day!

We had a nice chilly hour-long hike.

The Monstas are back! This one had 6 cups of spinach, 1/4 of a cup of soymilk, 1/2 of a frozen banana, 2 stalks of asparagus and 1/4 of a cup of frozen blueberries.

For lunch today, I went to a local cafe with the roommate and we split a tuna sandwich on toasted rye with a side of potato salad and a piece of dry watermelon that I didn’t touch.

Our lovely lunch needed to be rounded out with chocolate. I had the most ridiculously thick, chocolatel-y brownie I’ve ever had in my entire life, and my roommate got a hot cafe mocha.

ART.

I went over to my parental unit’s to meet up with my mom for our Tuesday pottery class

Tonight was glazing! I glazed five pieces and spent the rest of the time trimming one for MY ONLY CONTEST WINNER so far!

There you go, Amanda and Andy! It should be glazed and fired in about 2 or 3 weeks

My mom hand painted/glazed this! She’s so talented!

I’m not quite as talented. I think they put that sign up after I joined class…

After class, we started heading home but I was distracted by the beautiful bright lights of this place!

BURGERS!!!! This magical land is called Five Guys Burgers and Fries. The lights have a gravitational pull. I tried to avoid it, but I have no control over scientific facts! GRAVITATIONAL PULL!

Hello baby cheeseburger and fries! These fries are awesome! They’re made from actual potatoes with the skins on – magic!

Here’s something new: I tried to make one of those chocolate-cakes-in-a-mug two nights ago. How did it turn out, you ask? Here’s a little photo essay for you.

Looks good so far!

Puffing up, just like it’s supposed to!

And it turned into a baseball. Just like it’s… supposed to?

Yeah, this was a big fail. I microwaved it way too long and it was very dry and tasted like cocoa-scented dirt. I do not recommend.

Post-class, it was pilot night! We watched a new pilot that I was in for – “Raising Hope” – I was up for the role that went to Bijou Phillips. Hilarious show! I hope it gets the viewers and ratings it deserves!

For you guys who haven’t entered to win the last two pieces of pottery, all you have to do is leave a comment on my blog about why you need a piece of pottery, then put a link to my blog on your Twitter!

10 Comments

Filed under brownie, cake in a cup, Five Guys Burgers, green monster, hike, local cafe, mocha, potato salad, Pottery, Two Boos Who Eat

by Becki | September 18, 2010

OFFICIAL Pottery Giveaway!!!

I swear I will finally get the giveaway started, but first let’s have a quick recap of my past few days.

Massive protein breakfasts before work! This had a chicken-apple sausage that was browned in a mini-skillet, then I poured one scrambled egg on top and covered it until it was set.

A single serving of backyard barbeque chips. This is what I resort to when I’m being driven crazy with boredom at work and haven’t eaten in two hours. Plus, it has “even more barbeque”! How could I say no??

Today was the beginning of my three day weekend! I celebrated with my first pumpkin latte of the season! With soy, of course.

It was also my LAST pumpkin latte of the season: much too sweet and I wasn’t even able to finish it.

I have my newest fashion statement: an awesome new Sprigs Banjees wristband-wallet that I got from REI. REI IS MY MECCA!

There also happens to be an indian buffet across the street from REI, making it EVEN MORE AWESOME!!!

I also visited (GASP!) a DIFFERENT gelato place today! I went to Melt, another gelato chain, and decided to compare it to Paciugo.

Melt = Gelato FAIL! I’m so grossed out by you guys that I won’t even LINK you! How ’bout them apples? I got a scoop of peanut butter/chocolate chip. It was $3.50 (!!!) for a single flavor, and was grainy, overly thick and gooey – and not in a good way. I had a quarter of this before I threw it away. Paciugo, I promise I shall never stray again!

Now, the moment you’ve all been waiting for! I’ll be giving away THREE of my awesome pottery pieces. These are the three I’ve selected:

I’m sorry.

If you want some crappy pieces of pottery, here’s what you need to do: Tell me exactly why you need these ridiculous, misshapen and off-balance pieces of pottery, and link to this blog post on your Twitter/Facebook.

That’s right! I’m USING you guys to gain readership, and I’m not ashamed! Bwahahahaha! I’ll pick the three best responses one week from today, on September 24th, and ask for your color preferences for the piece you select. If I’ve already glazed it by then, I’m afraid you’ll have to deal with whatever amazing combination of colors that I’ve used. Hey, it’s a free piece of deformed pottery – I think you can forgive, right?

Let the amazing comments COMMENCE! And don’t forget to link to this post

4 Comments

Filed under Banjees, buffet, Indian Food, Paciugo, Pottery, pumpkin latte, REI, Sprigs