Lemon Curry Roasted Cauliflower and Beets

I recently stumbled upon a new type of artisan food shop specializing in flavored balsamic vinegars and olive oils. They are phenomenal! I made this simple, low fat, gluten and dairy free veggie dish in 30 min. Served in one of my flower bowls with brown rice, it was a perfect autumn evening meal.

Lemon Curry Roasted Cauliflower and Beets

Ingredients

• 2 tbs olive oil
• 1 tsp curry powder
• 1 large clove of fresh garlic (crushed/minced)
• 1 tbs lemon juice
• 1 large head of fresh cauliflower
• 3 fresh beets
• zest of half a lemon
• Kosher salt
• 2 t lemon balsamic vinegar
• optional garnishes: chopped green onion tops, sesame seeds

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Mix together oil, curry, garlic and lemon juice in a large bowl.
3. Cut florets off cauliflower, and put in bowl.
4. Cut beets into thin rounds.
5. Sprinkle in the lemon zest and mix to coat.
6. Spread the veggies on a cookie sheet. 
7. Sprinkle with a few generous pinches of Kosher salt.
8. Place in oven to roast for 25 minutes (turn a couple times during roasting), or until cauliflower is soft and caramelized in spots.
9. Transfer to bowl, add balsamic vinegar and stir to coat
10. Top with garnishes as you like

Here is the vinegar and olive oil I used

And the flower bowls, in Autumn glazes

Enjoy!

two kinds of flowers

flower bowl nesting bowl set in Organic Soul

Each day begins with meditation, then coffee, then  a look at the lists of undone tasks and unreached goals. Meanwhile the garden calls to me with unspeakably solemn lilies, wide open. I have planted my entire life, in one way or another. Why should I not merely sit all day and enjoy it? The bills are paid, the children are grown. 

Meanwhile requests for my pottery overflow my inbox and compound daily. They come in faster than boxes go out. There is a second successful garden I've grown, and this one has flower bowls. Unlike the lilies, these call out "Fire me!" "Glaze me!" "Photograph me!"

I'm learning to let both flowers have their way. It has dawned on me lately that there are also 2 gardens. One is what I have made and the other is what I am. A life of prayer and meditation have turned my jagged inner rocks into rich soil. Something else plants in this garden. 

It occurs to me that I have been enriched by the experience of making the flower bowls more than the experience of smelling the flowers. Pottery has always been my passion in this life, and perhaps my calling as well. I have hired an assistant to help me with the overflowing inbox, and plan to hire others to meet the demand. I'm not doing this to grow my business, as in profiting from the labor of others while I stockpile more cash. I am growing my business as a way to pass on the privilege it is to make beautiful shapes in clay, to master the skills, to refine one's attention to detail. I don't know yet how big it will be. I am excited to find out.

Opening the Kiln

Penguin wedding cake toppers

On Sunday morning, I get up early to unload my kiln and list new pieces in the afternoon. Here are the penguins! They were thrown, off centered and thrown again. Then the features were sculpted. I'm so happy with the lifelike expressions.

Here they are with the rest of the kiln load. The Birds Nest casserole is also pretty awesome, as are the flower bowls.

These are the Mama and Baby Bird bowls. Most of them are already sold but a few are still available, at LeeWolfePottery. Each of these birds is formed individually, so it takes hours to make this many, yet I never rush through it. Each bird must have a lifelike gesture to it. Some come alive quickly and some take more time, and they all get as much attention as needed. The little hand built bowls must be carefully formed, too. This rustic style doesn't mean that they are carelessly made! I like a certain flowing gesture to my organic shapes.. They must also sit well without wobbling, and support the birds in balance. One of the rewards I get is knowing that dozens of moms will open their present this Mother's Day to find a little piece of art.

Now I have some time to plant a few container gardens with organically grown violas we got yesterday at the Herb Festival.  Hope you all have a day of smiles.

Forty Years of Zen

new flower bowls, available soon on Lee Wolfe Pottery

I have practiced Zen meditation for 40 years. Perhaps I have been practicing longer, as I recall days as a child watching leaves float on a stream and letting my mind float out of myself into the flow of fresh water, and letting an entire summer day pass in this serene mental vacancy.

Quite paradoxically, I am prone to ranting and swearing over a news story, an opinion I don't like, or how the type is getting smaller I SWEAR IT IS! on every single publication the older I get.

I like to think that the real me is the Zen-ified one, and that the angry raving person is just a reasonable reaction to all those freaking idiots who haven't learned to keep their mouth shut!...but essentially, I feel very at home in myself when I'm raving, and sometimes I even enjoy it, especially with other people who like to get pissed off and make snarky remarks while we are drinking their good wine.

I thought, many years ago, that the anger would leave me entirely one day and I would be left with only perfectly loving feelings and a desire to serve humanity. This has not occurred, so far. Lately, I notice a kind of paradox in everyone. The people I know who are the absolute smartest in some ways are appallingly dumb in others. The kindest people can be mean to themselves.

In case you were wondering, this hasn't the slightest thing to do with flower bowls. These are just the empty vessels my hands shaped while I was thinking about all this.