WE HAVE WATERMELON!

During June's Fruit of the Month Workshop, we created watermelon dishes! Just sharing the photos with you now - a little bit later than anticipated, but knew you wouldn't want me to miss posting them! Shown in the photo above, from the top and going clockwise: Dorothy's inside and outside view, Sara's slice, and Patty's section with a seed being spit out to the side. Very clever creations by these ladies!

Patty Hansen also created a Watermelon Salsa recipe, too, which she brought with her to share with everyone to be eligible for the grand prize of the evening. Patty received a 50% discount on her watermelon dish for making the salsa and bringing it to the workshop!


Patty's Watermelon Salsa

Oh, my... it was good, and she made homemade tortilla chips, too! Everyone enjoyed it immensely - even Sara who, unfortunately, also had chips and salsa for dinner before coming to the workshop! Phil always enjoys participating in the workshops - especially when it comes to taste testing.

Here's Phil sampling the chips and salsa.



Here's Phil demonstrating how to clean the plate. Simply tilt the plate to let the remaining salsa juice slide into your mouth, then lick the plate starting from bottom to top!



And, just so you know that we did MORE than EAT watermelon salsa all night, here are a few photos of our results!



This was our research watermelon specimen, above. For some reason, there weren't ANY watermelons with SEEDS at the grocery store, so we worked with a tiny seedless variety.



I created a 6" plate (above)...



And a 9" bowl (above)...



And a large chip/salsa or cheese/cracker platter...

Here are the before and after photos for all the plates shown in the photo at the very top of t his post. Just click on any photo in this blog post to make the images larger.

FUSING BASICS - JUNE

The last Fusing Basics workshop for the 2008-2009 season met at Martin's Glass House in June for a huge blowout session. Everyone tried to learn as many techniques and make as many projects using those techniques as could possibly be done in just three hours!



In photo from left to right: Joyce, Anne, Nancy, Jo Lynn, Karyn, Sue Ann and Kay.

Creations included 6" square or round plates... but Anne chose to shape hers into an oval persimmon, and Joyce made a very "outside the lines" abstract hanky votive out of many pieces of iridized scrap glass.

Clockwise at left, starting at "noon," are Joyce's hanky vase, Jo Lynn's contour abstract, Anne's persimmon and Karyn's contour flowers.

There were an assortment of other creative designs using all kinds of glass elements such as dots, stringers, noodles, vitrigraph and frit - you name it, it was used!

Some plates were full fused, some contour fused. Individual photos are shown at the bottom of this post.








Unfortunately, I forgot to take individual photos of the finished plates, but everything else is here!

In photo - from left to right - includes plates made by Jo Lynn, Nancy and Kay.













We ended up with quite a collection of very fun night lights and a sun catcher... Jo Lynn experimented with "weaving" strips - and there was a great assortment of imaginative designs by everyone!

Back row night lights, left to right, made by: Sue Ann, Joyce and Karyn. Front row night lights and sun catcher, left to right, made by: Anne, Jo Lynn, Nancy and Kay.



... and a handful of pendants were made with channels and fine silver wire for hanging, and cabochons to be hung on pendant bails.

Back row, left to right: Jo Lynn's dichroic glass cabochon with frit, Sue Ann's dichroic pendant with fine silver wire, Karyn's dichroic and iridized glass cabochon.

Front row, left to right: Joyce's transparent abstract pendant with channel, Nancy's dichroic glass cabochon, and Nancy's dichroic glass pendant with channel.


Enjoy the individual photos - before and after - below. Just click on each image to make it larger to view more detail.

Watermelon Recipes!

Here are two recipes from tonight's Watermelon Fruit of the Month workshop:

Watermelon Salsa

Entered by Patty Hansen

Patty won the recipe contest for the July Fruit of the Month Watermelon workshop. She received a 50% discount on her project for the night - and we all very much enjoyed snacking on the watermelon salsa. It was great! Her recipe is below, followed by another recipe that I haven't tried yet; but it sounds pretty interesting. If you try it, please send your review to me at dts@martinsglasshouse.com!

4 cups chopped watermelon (remove seeds!)

1 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro

1 Tbsp. chopped fresh mint

1/4 c balsamic vinegar

2 Tbsp. lime juice

1/4 cup sugar

1/3 cup chopped red onion

1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

1-2 tsp. chopped jalapeno, or to taste

Combine all ingredients. Mix well and chill before serving. Serve with corn chips or with grilled fish.

Watermelon Summer Salad

This recipe came from the www.Allrecipes.com website ... they say, "Be prepared for a pleasant surprise!" If you try it, please send your review - and a digital photo, if you can - to me at dts@martinsglasshouse.com.

3/4 cup halved, thinly sliced onion
1 Tbsp. fresh lime juice
1-1/2 quarts seeded, cubed watermelon
3/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
1/2 cup pitted black olive halves
1 cup chopped fresh mint
2 Tbsp. olive oil

Place the onion slices in a small bowl with the lime juice. The acide of the lime will mellow the flavor of the raw onion. Let stand for 10 minutes.

In a large bowl, combine the watermelon cubes, feta cheese, black olives, onions with the lime juice, and mint. Drizzle olive oil over it all, and toss to blend. Dig in and be prepared for a pleasant surprise!

JULY CALENDAR - WORKSHOPS, OPEN STUDIO TIMES

Please click on each image to get more information about workshops and open studio times in July!

Remember:

1. Summer Studio Safety: Please wear closed-toe, hard-sole shoes and long pants.

2. The Fusing Basics Workshop is required before you may attend Open Studio times. Since there will not be another Fusing Basics Workshop until sometime in the fall, you may round up at least three other people to attend a private session with you. Call for appointment and more information.