Potter's Life Archives - Page 2 of 46

Small Business Saturday: Shop The Block Downtown Hutchinson

November 22, 2022 By Morgan

In 2010 Small Business Saturday was founded to encourage holiday shoppers to patronize brick and mortar businesses that are small and local. Since then it has grown to be a day where people get out to #shopsmall and support their favorite locally-owned businesses.

In Hutchinson, our Chamber of Commerce and Hutchinson Ambassadors groups don red elf outfits and bring joy and thanks to customers who are visiting locally-owned small businesses.

This year, they’ll be hosting a ping-pong hunt in Library Square Park, all the balls correlate to prize packs of gift cards and grand prizes from local establishments. The Hunt will take place at 10am on Saturday, November 26th. And then the elfs will go out into the community serendipitously handing out gift cards and prizes to unsuspecting shoppers.

At the Clay Coyote we will be offering 15% off our pottery (in store only).

We also hope that while you’re visiting us you stop by some of our neighbors and shop the block!

We love these small shops that are all within one block of the Clay Coyote (there is plenty of free street parking):

Quilt Haven on Main: Known as one of the 10 ten quilt shops in the USA (according to Better Homes and Garden Magazine).
Olita (gift shop): Owner Jill and her daughter design leather goods and offer many different gifts from local jewelry, drink mixes, candles, and a little kids section.
Let It Grow (plant shop): New in 2022, it’s like you stepped into the tropics or the plant shop in Little Shop of Horrors (but without Audrey 2). The team will help even the worst gardner (ah hem) find a plant to bring green joy.
BG Jewelry: A new locally owned jewlery store, ask Brian to find or create just the right peice.
Purse-a-nalities (women’s boutique): I was looking for a top recently, she talked me into three. You’ll love their scarves too!
Carly’s Shoes: I recently described this shoe shop as old fashioned like when you were a kid and got your feet measured on the silver slider tray … and I meant it in the very nicest way. I love the you can get great customer service, find the right fit, while buying quality shoes.
Crow River Floral: When I need flowers I call Jeanie and her team. Their flowers are fresh and last longer than anywhere else. They also have a ton of holiday decor and inspiration.
Hutchinson Center for the Arts: Check out their new exhbit, Inspired by Nature: Relief Prints by Glenna Olson, and their small retail gallery too. Sign up to take their Relief Printmaking Workshop in January!
Auxiliary Thrift Shop: This is a thrifter’s dream. All volunteer run, the proceeds go back into the community to the Hutchinson Health Foundation to help with improvements to Hutchinson Health.
Amazing Grace (women’s boutique): On-trend clothing and fun seasonal accessories.
By Mae (clothing and housewares): One of the only plus sized clothing boutiques in Minnesota. Shop owner Emily tells me that it’s so hard for women to find plus sized clothing online because you really need to try it on. She’s got you covered.
Main Street Antiques: Stalls and stalls and stalls of everything you’ve ever wanted. Make sure you go upstairs where the furniture is and stop into the coin shop in the back.

Need a little sustenance after all that shopping? Hutchinson is full many wonderful local places to enjoy a meal. These are all near us in Downtown:

Dunn Brother’s (coffee and light fare)
Sonora’s Mexican (lunch and dinner)
River House Kitchen & Drinks (breakfast, lunch, and dinner)
Flank Steakhouse (lunch and dinner)
Main Street Sports Bar (lunch and dinner)
Muddy Cow (lunch and dinner)
DQ (ice cream and grill)

Venture out a little further to a few of our favorite local haunts:

Bobbing Bobber Brewery
Crow River Winery
Jomas Hill Winery

Top 10 most Common Questions

November 9, 2022 By Morgan

These are some questions we get on a daily basis either in the Galery or online.

Can Clay Coyote Flameware be used on a glass top? Clay Coyote Flameware can be used on gas, glass, and electric stovetops. The only stove it won’t work on is an induction stove (those require metal to metal surfaces because they heat using magnets). We sand all of the bottoms of our pots to make sure they’re smooth, but any glass top stover owner knows that you should not drag things across the surface, so we encourage you to lift the pot up.
What temperature can the Bread Baker go to? Bread Bakers are made of stoneware clay, we recommend them at 400F. We have tested them at 450F and 500F and we do not notice a difference in the bread, but the extra temps cause the more stress on the pot which we do not recommend. We ALWAYS recommend putting stoneware pottery in a cold oven and bringing it up to temperature slowly during the preheat process.
Are you sure this is food safe? We make all of our glazes in house and know what goes into everyone of them. We also work with our clay maker to ensure our clay is food safe. Our pots are free from nickel, lead, and cadmium. And when we were developing the Clay Coyote Flameware we sent test pots to Alfred University to be tested.
What is a tagine? The Tagine is a traditional Mediterranean stew pot, the conical lid creates an environment where the lid is continuously basting the food throughout the stovetop cooking process. That’s why the tagine dishes are so tender and juicy (think basting a turkey) and the sauce is thickened (think constant stirring).
How much does the Dutch Oven weigh? Our Dutch Oven weighs 3.5 pounds and hold 3-4 quarts of liquid. Comparatively, the 3.5 qt Le Creuset weighs 8.5 lbs.
Can I use metal utensils on the Clay Coyote Flameware? You can use all utensils in Clay Coyote Flameware, metal, wood, silicon. Because of the hard glazed surface it doesn’t scratch.
Is Clay Coyote Flameware non-stick? Clay Coyote Flameware is extremely stick resistant. There is not a non-stick coating on it. A little oil goes a long way because the glaze is non-porous so oil remains on the surface creating a very unsticky surface.
Can the Beer Can Chicken Baker go on the grill? The Beer Can Chicken Baker is designed for the oven, however if you have a grill that has oven-like properties (i.e. a Big Green Egg) with non-direct heat, then you can use the Beer Can Chicken Baker on it, however we ALWAYS recommend putting stoneware pottery in a cold oven and bringing it up to temperature slowly during the preheat process.
Can you really put that in the dishwasher? All of our Clay Coyote pottery is dishwasher safe.
Can you really put that in the microwave? All of our Clay Coyote pottery is microwave safe.

Do you have more questions to add to the list? Email us at [email protected] and we’ll get back to you asap!

Pork Medallions with Apples, Bacon, & Walnut Pesto

October 13, 2022 By Morgan

Pork and apples are a classic combination. There are a few theories as to why. Some suggest that pigs were often left to forage the windfall in apple orchards, others say that the apple harvest happened at the same time of year as when the hogs needed to be butchered before winter, and it’s also chalked up to simple gastronomy. Pork is a fatty meat and the sweet, tart apples help temper that. Whatever the reason, this is a combination that has stuck around for a long time.

With the apples in full swing, we decided to make pork loin medallions and apples in a grill basket to celebrate this classic pairing.

Watch the 1-minute step-by-step video

This dish really blew me away. We sliced the pork loins into medallions and cooked them in a grill basket with chopped bacon and apple slices. The only seasoning needed was some salt and pepper. After 10 minutes, we gave it a stir and after another 5 minutes it was ready. To add a little more depth to the dish, we made a coarsely chopped walnut pesto to put on top.

Chop about a 1/2 cup of basil and 1/4 cup of walnuts, add 1 tablespoon of olive oil, and set aside.
Peel and slice 3-4 medium apples, we used honeycrisps.
Slice 3-4 strips of bacon into 1-2″ pieces.
Slice a pork tenderloin into 1″ thick medallions.
Place pork, apples, and bacon in the grill basket with a little olive oil.
Grill for 15 minutes, turning pork at least once.
At the end when the pork reaches 145 ºF internally, add the pesto and stir.
Serve warm (we paired it with a salad).

Pots in the Wild: We spy a Clay Coyote Cassole in the Wall Street Journal

September 22, 2022 By Morgan

Did you see our new, special edition Clay Coyote cassole in the Wall Street Journal?

It was featured in along side a great interview with author Sylvie Bigar. The article also includes her recipe for cholent. Read the full article here.

Order your copy of Cassoulet Confessions: Food, France, Family and the Stew That Saved My Souland the new cassole today.

“ln her new memoir, “Cassoulet Confessions: Food, France, Family and the Stew That Saved My Soul” (Hardie Grant), Ms. Bigar examines her family’s troubled past as she chronicles her pivotal visits to Carcassonne. Along the way, cassoulet provides a surprising key to her identity. While eating cholent, a traditional Ashkenazi dish, at a Shabbat meal in New York City, she discovers exactly why that cassoulet tasted like home to her: Cholent is cassoulet’s precursor.”

Photos for WSJ by Emma Fishman

Bite-Sized Breakfast Egg Cups at Farmers Market

August 31, 2022 By Morgan

Last weekend, we were invited to our local Farmers Market to do a cooking demonstration. We made bite-sized breakfast egg cups. Everyone wanted the recipe, but there really isn’t one. It’s whatever you have in the fridge plus eggs and cheese.

The Hutchinson Farmers Market is Wednesdays from 2:30-5:30p and Saturdays from 8a-12p and runs through Saturday, October 29th. To learn more visit their website.

Process:

Dice veggies, sauté over medium heat with a little oil (I used Pam spray, I find that with eggs it’s the best for nonstick outcomes, but I prefer olive oil, I have tried other brands than Pam and they just don’t perform as well).
Whisk eggs, cumin, garlic, salt, and pepper on the side (you can add milk, cream, or water to the eggs, but I did not).
Pour egg mixture over sautéd veggies, add a healthy-sized dollop of your favorite salsa, stir everything together.
Once eggs are almost done, sprinkle on cheese. Let melt.
Spoon into tortilla chip cups (we used Tostito Scoops, but there are others out there), don’t assemble too early or they’ll get soggy and cold).
If you’re not serving a crowd, you can put them into regular corn or flour tortillas for breakfast tacos. That’s what I normally do, but that is not ideal in a cooking demo.
Ideas for veggies: peppers, onions, mushrooms, zucchini, broccoli, cauliflower, potatoes, tomatoes, fresh herbs like dill and cilantro … basically anything you’d like in an omelette.

a vertically framed photograph shows a close up near overhead view of a clay coyote small skillet that is filled with diced vegetables. the skillet takes up almost the entirety of the photograph, yet the handle is still out of frame. the small skillet is sitting on a silver portable gas cooking burner. near the upper left corner of the photograph is part of a green pepper and part of a white onion. there is a part of a dark cutting cutting board and part of a large chefs knife visible. near the upper right corner is a clay coyote large tray, glazed in zappa. the tray is only partially visible with less then half of it in the photograph. the tray, the knife, the cutting board, the pepper and onion are all out of focus. the photograph is well lit with natural light

a vertically framed photograph shows a high angle, near overhead view of 3 pieces of clay coyote pottery being used to prepare an egg and diced vegetable dish. there is a clay coyote mixing bowl half full of beaten raw eggs resting on a black cutting board. the cutting knife is resting next to the mixing bowl and is also on the cutting board. the mixing bowl is near the upper left corner of the photograph. the bottom half of the photograph is taken up by the focal point of the photograph, a clay coyote small skillet filled with diced vegetables. the small skillet is resting on a silver portable cooking burner. near the upper right corner of the photograph a clay coyote large tray glazed in zappa can be partially seen. there isn't really anything in the tray, it appears to have a couple small pieces of diced vegetables in it. in between or near the mixing bowl and large tray are part of an onion, part of a green pepper, a whole green pepper and an out of focus egg carton. there are no eggs visible in the open egg carton.

a vertically framed photograph shows an overhead view of a clay coyote mixing bowl pouring raw scrambled eggs into a clay coyote small skillet that is already partially filled with finely cut up vegetables. there are red, green and yellow peppers, onions, fresh herbs and tomatoes cut to very similar sizes. the egg mixture is in process of being poured into the vegetable mixture. there is a small amount of raw scrambled egg already in the small skillet, with a majority still in the mixing bowl. there is a wooden handled, teal silicone spatula sitting in the egg mixture that is forming in the small skillet. the silicone head of the spatula has some of the vegetable mixture the mixing bowl is only partially visible in the upper left corner of the photograph, with a lot of it cut out of frame. near the top center of the photograph is a clay coyote large tray. the tray is only partially visible, with only the lower right corner and handle visible.

a vertically framed photograph shows a few clay coyote pottery pieces being used to to make and present small tortilla cups filled with a scrambled egg and diced vegetable mixture. near middle left side is a clay coyote small skillet filled with the scrambled egg and dice vegetable mixture. the small skillet is sitting on a gold and silver portable cooking burner. in the small skillet is a wooden handled silicon headed spatula, the spatula head is teal. in the lower right corner of the photograph is the sheath for a chefs knife. behind the small skillet resting on the picnic table is a clay coyote large tray glazed in zappa. the tray is filled with small tortilla chip cups filled with the egg scramble. near the upper left corner on the left side of the photograph, part of a clay coyote mixing bowl can be seen. it is less then half visible, it is resting on a dark cutting board with a chefs knife sitting nearby. the photograph is well lit by natural light.

a vertically framed photograph shows a clay coyote large tray that is being used to serve cup shaped tortilla chips filled with an scrambled egg mixture. The tray is glazed in zappa, with only one handle visible, as one end is out of frame. the scrambled egg mixture has red and green vegetables mixed into the eggs, they are small enough that they are not easily identifiable. further away from the camera is a portable cooking burner. the burner has been used with a clay coyote small skillet to make the egg and vegetable mixture that is filling all the tortilla cups. there is a good amount of the scrambled egg mixture still in the small skillet. the large tray and the burner/small skillet are all sitting on a wooden picnic style table with large planks visible making up the table top. on the very left side of the photograph, mostly cut out of frame is a small stack of white paper napkins. the very corner of a clay coyote little dipper can be seen on top of the napkin pile. only one corner of the square style little dipper can be seen, as the rest is cut out of frame like the napkin pile.

Pottery Used in This Recipe:

Flameware Skillet
Mixing Bowl with Whisk (shown in Joe’s Blues)
Standard Tray (shown in Zappa)
Card holder is our Little Dipper (Shown in Mocha Swirl, and available in the Gallery in every glaze color combo)