Our restaurant in Quechee, VT, hosts monthly wine dinners that include special guests,exquisite wines and a variety of mouth-watering meals. For the January 15th dinner will be hosted by Bob Haas, owner of Tablas Creek, Paso Robles, CA. Executive Chef Josh Duda and his team, have created the following menu for your enjoyment:

Crispy Spanish Sardine
manchego, marcona almonds, citrus vinaigrette
Cotes de Tablas Blanc, 2006

Bartlett Pear and Caramelized Shallot Tart
great hill blue cheese, micro arugula
Esprit de Beaucastel Blanc, 2006

Herbes de Provence Marinated Cavendish Quail
toasted brioche, cranberry balsamic syrup
Mourvèdre, 2006

Cinnamon Braised Pork Belly
roasted pumpkin empanada, dark cherry mole
Cotes de Tablas, 2006

Honey Panna Cotta
toasted hazelnuts, poached golden raisins, crisp tuile
Vin de Paille, “Quintessence”, Roussanne, 2005

For more information, visit the Simon Pearce Restaurant Wine Dinner page.

For a limited time, enjoy 50% off Simon Pearce factory seconds online. Available while supplies last.

This special online pricing is only available via a private access email.

For those of you familiar with Simon Pearce, you know that we don't usually offer second quality designs online. Take advantage of this rare opportunity by clicking on the image below:

Simon held a signing event at Lux Bond & Green in West Hartford, CT, on Friday, December 12. These events are a great opportunity for Simon to personally thank loyal customers for their appreciation of Simon Pearce designs and their continued support of our American artisans. He also had the pleasure of meeting Nancy Schoeffler from The Hartford Courant paper. Follow this link to read the complete article.

The story is illustrated with fabulous photography from Mark Mirko. This one here of Simon signing the foot of one of his designs is my favorite.

In a recent interview, Simon was asked by QuestionsForLiving “What are the five to ten primary questions which you ask yourself in the design and creation of each item within the Simon Pearce Classic Collection?” QuestionsForLiving's philosophy is quite unique: the quality of one’s life is determined by the quality of one’s questions.  The interview is published on their website where you can find great questions to ask yourself before engaging into any project.

We just posted another new video featuring more footage of glassblowing. This time, we captured glassblowers creating a Wedding Bowl (one of our best-selling wedding gifts).

A Simon Pearce fan came across Susan Forfnoff's Around The House column published in the December 13 issue of the San Francisco Chronicle, which features our Stratton Menorah and Costa Menorah.

She shared her excitement by sending us a picture of her morning paper!
Follow this link to read the online version of the article.

We just posted a new video on the Simon Pearce YouTube Channel. This one features two master glassblowers creating a Wellesly Pitcher. It's a pretty fascinating process, and I especially like the part when they attach the "wisp." Check it out and let us know what you think!

Guess who is on a road trip through Vermont and New Hampshire? If you are a Red Sox fan and attend their games, you may have noticed the "Rolling Green Monster" and his owner, David Allen Millette, a 52-year-old Middleboro native who calls himself “the Mayor of Lansdowne Street.”
I had to take a pose for this photograph!

David purchased this beat up 1980 Dodge Xplorer RV in 2007 and turned it into a rolling museum dedicated to the Red Sox. Here it is parked in front of our Windsor glassblowing workshop!

For those Food Network junkies out there (myself included), I'm sure you've heard of her. Born in Rome, Giada De Laurentiis grew up in a large Italian family with a major food focus. Now a household name, Giada's career began on Food Network in 2002. Her Emmy winning cooking show, Everyday Italian, features quick, healthy and satisfying Italian dishes. Her primetime show, Giada's Weekend Getaways, debuted in January 2007 and follows Giada to popular destinations in and around the United States. On her new show, Giada at Home, she shares her love for entertaining California-style.

Lucky for us, Giada's impeccable taste doesn't end with food. Our designs have been featured on several episodes of Giada at Home. You can view one such episode here: Giada at Home Featuring Simon Pearce

Our very own Brookfield Nesting Bowl plays a major role in Giada's Mini Pineapple Cake recipe. If you look really hard, you might also be able to spot some of our Brookfield Canisters. Here's the recipe, courtesy of the Food Network website:

Ingredients

• 1 (3 1/2-pound) pineapple, peeled, cored and cut into 1-inch pieces* see Cook's Note
• 2 tablespoons pineapple juice plus 2/3 cup
• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 3 egg whites
• 2/3 cup water
• 2/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 teaspoons almond extract
• 1 (18.25-ounce) box white cake mix (recommended: Betty Crocker Super Moist)
• Special Equipment: 6-cup mini Bundt pan

Directions

Place an oven rack in the lower 1/3 of the oven. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Butter and flour a mini Bundt pan.

For the Cakes: Place the pineapple in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until coarsely chopped. In a 10-inch nonstick skillet, combine the chopped pineapple, 2 tablespoons pineapple juice, sugar, and butter over medium-high heat. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring occasionally. Cook until the liquid evaporates and the mixture begins to brown, about 10 to 15 minutes. Spoon the pineapple mixture into the prepared pan.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the egg whites, water, vegetable oil, almond extract, cake mix, and 2/3 cup pineapple juice. Using an electric hand mixer, beat the mixture on medium speed for 2 minutes. Pour the batter over the cooked pineapple. Bake for 28 to 30 minutes until the cakes begin to pull away from the sides of the pan and the tops are golden. Allow the cakes to cool for 15 minutes. Place a piece of parchment paper on top of the cakes. Put a baking sheet, upside-down, on top of the parchment paper. Flip both pans over and allow the cakes to cool completely while still in the Bundt pan, about 1 hour. Unmold the cakes and place on individual serving plates.

Cook's Note: This recipe will also work using 1 (20-ounce) can crushed pineapple in 100 percent pineapple juice, drained and juice reserved.

If you spot our product on Giada's show, let us know!

Who else can say that they've been in major motion pictures along side Matthew McConaughey, Tom Cruise, Ellen Barkin, Matt Damon & Reese Witherspoon? Simon Pearce! Okay, maybe not Simon himself, but our product sure has.

The most recent sighting was in Tropic Thunder (2008), a comedy directed by Ben Stiller that takes a satirical look at Hollywood movie-making. Our own Norwich Tankards appear in one of the movie's funniest scenes featuring actors Matthew McConaughey & Tom Cruise. Here it is sitting on the table next to Matthew:

And here it is on the table behind Tom Cruise (yes, that IS Tom Cruise in the blue shirt):

 

Okay, I know I'm stretching on that one...you can barely see the tankard. To be honest, I included that shot just to show Tom Cruise's costume...it took me several minutes to even realize it was him.  Whoever is responsible for that deserves an Academy Award for Best Makeup.  Here's another shot:

Too funny.

Another somewhat recent appearance includes our Addison Pitcher in a cameo role in Ocean's Thirteen (2007). The beautiful pitcher (one of my favorites), sits on a coffee table in a "love" scene between Matt Damon and Ellen Barkin:

 

I don't know what it is, but our designs seem to be chosen for scenes that include actors in crazy prosthesis. If you haven't seen Ocean's 13, here's a shot of Matt Damon's nose in the movie:

Not so recent, but always a classic, was Simon Pearce's major role in Sweet Home Alabama (2002). 6 years later, we still receive questions about this movie. If you haven't seen it, this light-hearted romantic comedy features a woman (Reese Witherspoon) trying to escape her very southern background and husband, who happens to be a glassblower. There's a long story about our role in this movie, including some interesting information about the famous "lighting glass." Look for it soon in another post.

Here's Reese in a glass shop that looks eerily similar to our own Mill in Quechee, VT:

 

And here she is drinking out of the "Deep South Glass," also known as our Hartland Wine Glass:

Benjamin Daymon, chef and freelance travel writer with 20+ years experience in the industry, posted a list of fun ways to take a break from Christmas shopping in Chadds Ford and Kennett Square, PA. He mentioned Simon Pearce on the Brandywine as a great way to escape from your holiday shopping.  Also listed are the Brandywine River Museum, Chadds Ford Winery, and more. 

Read the full article about Simon Pearce and others in "Take a Christmas Shopping Break: Fun Things to Do in Chadds Ford and Kennett Square, Pennsylvania"

Laura, our Visual Merchandiser, shares the first of her series of holiday tabletop ideas in TableTips. View the holiday table setting here.

In addition to the hand blown glass and handmade pottery designs created by our very own American artisans in Vermont and Maryland, we feature carefully selected items for your home. Handcrafted by artisans from around the world, these accessories often come with a neat story.

New York Magazine featured our Olive Wood Salad Scoops for their Holiday Gift Guide.
These one-of-a-kind salad scoops are handmade in Kenya and created from olivewood harvested from a "cut-a-tree/plant-a-tree" forest that borders a wild game preserve. To protect the artisans from the surrounding wild life, each unique piece is carved at night around a bon fire.

   

Because of their handmade nature, every scoop will slightly vary in size and showcase the wood's natural beauty.

Thanks to David Brooks, science column writer for the Nashua Telegraph, for exploring our hydroelectric power turbine in Quechee, VT, at his blog, Granite Geek:

"What’s GraniteGeek-worthy is his use of a 400-kilowatt turbine that he bought used and had installed in 1981 - the millworks had long been removed. It generates, he claims, some 2 million kilowatt-hours a year (one five-thousandth of a Seabrook* under our trademarked unit of power measure) - more than enough power for the restaurant, glassworks and everything else he does, with some left over to sell back to the utility. Part of the installation included increasing the “head’ of the dam by about a dozen feet, to (if I recall correctly) 33 feet, in order to increase the power load going through the turbines. it was accomplished not by raising the concrete dam, which would have raised the level of the pond and swamped buildings, but digging down behind the dam."

View his entire post about Simon Pearce's Hydroelectric Power. Here are some old images of the turbine being installed at The Mill.

 

Visit our Show and Tell section for details!

We are hosting a book signing event at The Mill in Quechee, Vermont, on Saturday, December 13 from 11am to 3pm. Tracey Medeiros, the author of "Dishing Up Vermont," will be present to autograph her book and engage in conversation about her work. Three signature recipes from the Simon Pearce Restaurant were featured in "Dishing Up Vermont." Samplings of some of the featured recipes and our favorite Ballymaloe brown bread will be served along with light refreshments.  Please contact the Quechee Simon Pearce Store with any questions.

Simon has been touring our stores and hosting special signing events.  The most recent signings occurred at our Park Avenue store in NYC and our Westport, CT store.

  

 

Don't miss the opportunity to meet Simon during his upcoming visits to the following stores:

Quechee, VT
Saturday, December 6
Noon-5pm

Lux, Bond & Green in Hartford, CT
Friday, December 12
Noon-5pm

Boston, MA
Saturday, December 13
Noon-5pm

Greenwich, CT
Saturday, December 20
Noon-5pm

Can't make it to the event? We are happy to hand-deliver your purchase to Simon for signing. Please call the store for details.

We are pleased to offer these hand-signed, limited edition Shelburne Bowls and 14" Vermont Evergreens for the 2008 holiday season. True collector’s pieces: personally signed, dated and numbered by Simon himself. In the past, these hand-signed pieces have disappeared very quickly. Simon has only signed 50 of each design. Act now to take advantage of this rare opportunity.

 

Hand-Signed Vermont Evergreen $245

Hand-Signed Shelburne Bowl $245

Each year, for the holiday shopping season, a Simon Pearce design is chosen as the Charity Piece. A portion of the proceeds from the sales of this design made during the holidays is donated to a local charity. The Share The Light program begins November 24 and ends on December 24.

This year’s charity piece is the Barre Tealight and the list of partnerships is as follows:

• The Simon Pearce stores in Quechee and Windsor, Vermont, and Hanover, New Hampshire, are supporting the Upper Valley Haven
• Simon Pearce in West Chester, Pennsylvania, is partnering with Philabundance
• The Greenwich, Connecticut, store is supporting Neighbor to Neighbor
• Simon Pearce in Westport, Connecticut, has chosen Interfaith Housing Association
• The Boston, Massachusetts, store is supporting Community Servings
• Simon Pearce in Oakland, Maryland, is partnering with Garrett County Community Action Committee
• The Princeton, New Jersey, store is making its donation to the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen
• Simon Pearce in New York City has renewed its support of City Harvest
• The Simon Pearce store in South Coast Plaza, Costa Mesa, CA, is partnering with Orange County’s Serving People In Need
• The San Francisco, California, store is partnering with the San Francisco Food Bank

Simon Pearce set up a beautiful table during DIFFA's Dining By Design event in San Francisco, which took place November 19 & 20.
DIFFA: Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS is one of the country's largest supporters of direct care for people living with HIV/AIDS and preventive education for those at risk. DIFFA's Dining By Design is an over-the-top celebration of all things tabletop! Dining By Design brings together established talent, budding artists, and celebrated individuals to create three-dimensional dining installations that awe, inspire, and delight.

Jodi and Caitlin from our San Francisco store set up the Simon Pearce table and attended the event. Here they are in front of the Simon Pearce table posing for the shot. Laura, our merchandiser, paid a special visit to Jodi before the event to help prepare the table.



Our Vermont Evergreens make such magnificent centerpieces as they surround a Stratton Hurricane.
Belmont Dinnerware in white glaze sets the table and is presented with Stratton Stemware. The Stratton Line features intricate "air twists" captured within the glass. This twist captures the light and adds the sparkle to the table, which is accentuated with the shine from our handmade stainless steel chargers.

Our restaurant in Quechee, VT, hosts monthly wine dinners that include special guests,exquisite wines and a variety of mouth-watering meals. For the December 9th dinner we will feature Italian wines. Our hosts will include Iacopo di Teodoro from Vignaioli Selection (Importer) and Rafael Flores from Artisanal Cellars (Distributor). The menu has been finalized and boasts some tantalizing selections:

Vignaioli Selection Piedmont
Wine Dinner Menu

Arneis, Fattoria San Giuliano, 2007, Roero
Citrus Marinated Baby Scallop Flat Bread
grilled romaine, fresh mozzarella, confit grape tomato, pine nuts

Barbera d’Alba, Hilberg, “Pasquero”, 2006, Bicco Gatti Cru
Yukon Gold Potato Gnocchi
soppresatta, pancetta, prosciutto asiago cream

Dolcetto d’Alba, Ada Nada, “Autinot”, 2006, Langhe
Guinea Hen “Cacciatora”
crisp focaccia, porcini, fennel, sweet peppers
oven roasted tomato cream

Langhe Nebbiolo, Scarzello, 2006, Barolo
Braised Veal Breast and Sweet Sausage
mascarpone whipped potato, broccolini, maple balsamic sauce

Moscato d’Asti, Fattoria San Giuliano, 2006, Neive
Sun Dried Peach Cannoli
house made ricotta, lavender anise syrup

For more information, visit the Simon Pearce Restaurant Wine Dinner page.

On October 18th, Simon Pearce was pleased to unveil its renovated Windsor retail store during a special evening. To celebrate the occasion, the retail store held a party and beer tasting event co-hosted by Harpoon Brewery.

Simon made a surprise appearance and even hand-signed his designs for guests shopping that evening. He was accompanied by his son, Andrew and Rob, our President. I was there too and had such a great time meeting the guests and learning about their history with our company.



I got a shot of Simon signing one of our research & design pieces (only available where our workshops are located) for Kim and MaryLou Rossey.

Just over 100 guests attended the event. Guests who RSVP’d included regular shoppers who have developed close relations with Jackie Collier, Windsor Store Manager and Mary Graham, Quechee Store Manager.
 


Marly Ashworth from Harpoon Brewery served a selection of their beers in Simon Pearce beer-specific glassware. Here above, Marly is serving a Winter Warmer in our Windsor Tankard to Susan Napoli. The Simon Pearce Restaurant provided hors d’oeuvres and Simon Pearce wine. It was truly a fun evening! We plan on hosting more of these and hope to see you there.

A brief weather report from Vermont: we have snow! Just enough to bring the holiday feel to the season.

Temperatures are finally dropping. That's when I end up hanging out around the glass workshop more often! It stays so hot in there.


We're looking forward to the first foot of the season and taking out our skiing gear!

I enjoyed lunch the other day at the Simon Pearce Restaurant at The Mill in Quechee, VT. Every time I go there (which is pretty often) I tell myself that I'm going to try something new. But the one thing I can never get away from is the Vermont Cheddar Soup. No matter how many times I eat it, I absolutely love it. It's so warm and thick and comforting, especially on a chilly fall day...and we're experiencing more and more of those here in Vermont.

Here's the recipe for my favorite soup of all time, and it's actually pretty easy to make!
(BTW-this recipe is for restaurant portions, so it makes a ton...perfect for your next holiday gathering!)

3 quarts chicken stock
2 cloves garlic, minced
6 oz. flour 5 oz.butter
1 cup heavy cream
2 bay leaves
1 lb. grated Cabot Sharp Cheddar cheese
1 cup carrots, grated
1 cup celery, minced
1 small onion, chopped
2 cups half & half
1 teaspoon fresh thyme, finely chopped
Salt & fresh ground pepper

Bring stock to boil. Melt butter in heavy stockpot, add onions & garlic; soften. Add flour to butter & onion mixture. Stir to combine well, turn heat very low. Stirring occasionally, cook about 15 minutes. Add stock 1/3 at a time. Stir with whisk until smooth. Season with thyme, bay leaves, salt and pepper. Cook over low heat, until smooth and creamy. Add grated cheese.
Boil water in separate saucepan, add celery and carrots, cook until just tender. Drain well. Add celery-carrot mixture to large stockpot. Add half & half and heavy cream. Stir well. Serve hot, but do not overheat.

You can view this and other recipes from our restaurant, as well as some creative concoctions from our loyal customers, at the Simon Pearce Recipe Share.

Enjoy!

I’m sure most of you are wondering, “What exactly is a Pontilism?” For those of you familiar with our glassware, you know that on the bottom of each piece is a clover-shaped mark.  This is a pontil mark and is left on the glass during the hand blowing process when the piece is transferred from one glassblower to another via the pontil iron.  When the final piece is broken from the pontil iron, the pontil mark is left behind. You can view this process in the short video below.

To us at Simon Pearce, that mark is the absolute essence of what our company is.  It is evidence that the piece was handmade by skilled artisans who train for years to become masters at what they do. In a “Made in China” world where more and more is outsourced to be manufactured as cheaply and quickly as possible, all of our glass is handmade by artists in the United States. 

Each piece is unique, as unique as the hands that crafted it.  We take great pride in that.  This is why we use the pontil as a symbol of our business, as you can see in our logo.  This is also why we chose to name our blog “Pontilisms,” because it gives you a behind-the-scenes look at Simon Pearce and the unique people involved in the company.

We have separated the blog into three sections: Happenings, TableTips and Show & Tell.

Happenings is a place where we can share information about what’s going on in the company. We will post information about events, share our favorite videos, post recipes and more.

In TableTips, our Visual Merchandiser, Laura, will share her inspiration for the beautiful table settings she creates in our stores, which you are welcome to try in your own home.

My favorite section, Show & Tell, is a place where you can speak to us. Please share your Simon Pearce experiences, whether they be at one of our restaurants, in our stores or in your home. Send pictures of you and your family and friends using the product. Offer suggestions for articles on our blog. Tell us what you think!

We hope you enjoy Pontilisms!

We've pulled together some videos of glassblowing and pottery production and have posted them on YouTube.  Please visit the Simon Pearce YouTube Channel and subscribe to be notified whenever we add new content.

Dave Price, host of the Early Show on CBS, visits our flagship location in Quechee, VT. He attempts to create his own work of art while demonstrating the technique of glass blowing and realizes it's a lot more difficult than it looks!

Tim from The 10! Show segment Tim Around Town makes a stop at Simon Pearce on the Brandywine in West Chester, PA. Master Glassblower Brandon gives Tim the 101 on glassblowing. After dealing with the intense heat, Tim shops in the retail store in the company of Pam, Store Manager, and ends his visit by enjoying lunch with Jake, General Manager.