STOP Father’s Day Gift Mistakes…It’s Not Too Late

Reminder…Father’s Day is this coming Sunday, June 21, 2020!

Father’s Day Gift Ideas

We naturally understand why you put such thought and effort into your Mother’s Day gift giving.

So why not Father’s Day?

We have been told time and time again that men only want a nice breakfast in bed and a quiet Sunday off for Father’s Day.

We feel that this is a cop-out…just an excuse to save face because the average person really doesn’t know what gift they should get for dear old dad. So they default to handing out brand name gift cards instead.

But if you want to give him something special; something that he will love and cherish then check out…

3 Surefire Ways to Find the Perfect Father’s Day Gift for Him

1) Make a list of all the things he is interested in.

Does he like sports? How about enjoying the the great outdoors? Or is he a “foodie” who loves to cook and bake?

Here at Mountain Made we have a wonderful selection of cookbooks, local books on hiking the Highlands as well as walking sticks.

And until baseball gets its act together we invite you to check out one of our favorite baseball books…

2) Ask Yourself What He Needs
Does he work in an office or remotely from home? What about getting him a desktop storage box or two? Made from rare woods yet fully functional and just the right size to hold thumbtacks, stick pins or paper clips. Or what about a one-of-a-kind ink pen? A perfect gift to reward him for all hard work he does. Or what about a coffee mug? What guy wouldn’t like a mug of hot java, tea or cocoa before heading off to work?

3) Make Him laugh
All right we admit that this is really a last minute (OMG!) what am I going to get him type of gift. But artist name’s work always brings joy and humor to anyone’s day. Giving him a deck of here Happy Ass playing cards or a collection of her magnets for his toolbox or office will make even the grumpy guy laugh out loud.

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You’re safe to shop with us because we’re following the 3 W’s = Wear, Wait, Wash…

Pie Recipes that Will Make His (Father’s) Day the Greatest

Lost Art of Pie Making Made Easy by Barbara Swell

Bring Him a Homemade Pie for Father’s Day!

In our humble opinion few things can beat a great slice of pie for Father’s Day. But most folks believe that pie baking is difficult. That’s not true if you follow the simple directions in the “Lost Art of Pie Making Made Easy” by Barbara Swell.

In this wonderful paperback book, Barbara Swell shows you how to make a darn good pie as quick and easy as her title says.

“The Lost Art Of Pie Making” might be small (just 72 pages) but this witty and fun cookbook is packed full of great recipes.

It’s dedicated to passing along the best pie-making wisdom from all the experienced pie makers Barbara has known to a new generation of bakers.

If that special Dad in your life has an appreciation of made-from-scratch pie, then he’ll LOVE recipes like these:

• Apple Raspberry,
• Lemon Chess,
• Dutch Oven Apple Cherry,
• Miracle Cobbler,
• Fresh Raspberry,
• Fresh Rhubarb,
• Green Apple July Berry,
• Sour Cherry Amaretto,
• Apple/Pear Mince,
• Classic Lemon Meringue,
• Louisiana Peanut,
• As well as other baked treats such as quick flip pies, dumplings and crisps!

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Plus Barbara shares with you, all her insider secrets for tender, flaky pie crusts and has crust recipes like Aunt Jenny’s Crust as well as her own: Barb’s Butter Crust.

Some of these recipes date from 1831 as well as from 19th century handwritten cooking journals – passed down from mothers to daughters. Barbara includes old-time pie lore, pie insults (always good to know), explains why men LOVE pie, pie contest tips, vintage photos, historic recipes, and more.

You’ll feel like you’re in Barb’s kitchen, where she teaches how to make one of these great desserts from scratch.

In fact we invite you to check one of her pie recipes right now…

Old South Chocolate Chess Pie

Also called a “sugar pie”, this simple rich dessert is what it is. Sort of a chocolate brownie topped custard with a little crunch of cornmeal. Underbake it a little if you like gooey brownies … we call intentionally underbaked pastries “sad” here in the southern Appalachian mountains. We also like our chocolate pound cakes sad!

6 Tbs. unsalted butter 3 Tbs. milk
3 oz. bittersweet chocolate 1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup sugar 2 eggs, beaten
¼ tsp. salt
1 Tbs. cornmeal
1 Tbs. flour (or all cornmeal)

Preheat oven to 400º Melt butter with chocolate and cool. Combine with remaining ingredients. Stir well, and pour into an unbaked 9-inch flaky butter crust. Bake on bottom third of a 400º oven for 10 minutes then turn heat to 350º. Bake another 20 minutes until the chocolate innards puff up but still wiggle a little.

For Lemon Chess pie: Add juice and zest of a lemon, omit chocolate Os-Good: Omit chocolate and add ½ cup each pecans and raisins

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It’s not too late to get of a copy “Lost Art of Pie Making…Made Easy” today.

We invite you come by Mountain Made to pick up your copy OR if you prefer we can slip a copy into the mail for you – $5.95 + $3.00 Shipping/Handling.  Just call us at 828-350-0307 (Monday – Saturday, 10AM until 4PM).  Order today so you will get your copy in time for Dad’s Day.

For other great Father’s Day gift ideas, we invite you to check out our online shop >> Mountain Made Handcrafted Arts & Crafts

Father’s Day Gifts from Mountain Made

Father’s Day Gift Ideas

Did you know that we owe both Father’s Day and Mother’s Day to two Southern women! According Wikipedia,  Grace Golden Clayton was inspired by Anna Jarvis‘ crusade to establish Mother’s Day.

A couple of months prior, Jarvis had held a celebration for her dead mother in Grafton, West Virginia, a town jut 15 miles away from Fairmont, WV the home of Grace Clayton.

After the successful promotion of Mother’s Day in Grafton, the first observance of a “Father’s Day” was held on July 5, 1908, in Fairmont by Ms. Clayton.

And so it still goes, a father may know best but the day to honor them always comes second. Yet as Wade Boggs said, “Anyone can be a father, but it takes someone special to be a dad…”

So with that idea in mind here are some gifts ideas for the “Dad” in your life…

Handcrafted Just for Him

It doesn’t matter, if that special father in your life works out of an executive office suite, from kitchen table or just on a wood door thrown across two filing cabinets in the back room – his office, his work space is important to him.

So this is why we gathered together some of best, yet affordable office and desktop pieces – functional yet beautiful.

Support Our Local Artists

Wood Crafts by Bill Wanezak

We invite you to come by the gallery and see these gift items for yourself…

Need a Cat or Dog for Your New Home Office? Mixed Media Sculpture

Mixed Media Sculpture – Clay & Painted Rocks Cats, Dogs

Did you know that surveys have shown that remote employees are doing better than expected from while working from home?

• Increased Happiness,
• Reduced Stress Levels,
• AND Increased Productivity?

Yes, it seems folks working from their “back forty” (the kitchen table, basement, attic or spare bedroom) has some benefits …

No more wasting time while checking out the break room frig.

No more negative gossiping over the water cooler.

No more boss looking over your shoulder.

Yet home workers are experiencing increased loneliness…except for ones with pets! Yes, pet owners who have a lovable cat or dog do suffer less work-time loneliness.

Which is great but by now you might be wondering what all this has to do with art?

Well… some folks are living where they just can’t have a pet as an office companion. So this is where Liz Alden mixed media sculptures can help.

Each of Liz’z dogs and cats are hand molded from locally sourced red clay then layered onto a smooth rock as a base. After drying each critter’s facial features are drawn and then hand painted. Each animal creation is roughly about the size of an woman’s fist…Liz has to carry the rocks home you know. (more…)

Our Store is Open for Summer – Come Shop Safely With Us!

Who is The Masked Retailer?

Its just me, Melinda, letting you know We’re Back and we are taking precautions for you.

We want you to know that YOU, our customers are important to us, so we are taking special steps to protect you.

Did you know that the Grove Arcade is professionally cleaned every evening and has a full-time cleaning crew on a continuous patrol in all our public areas?

And here at Mountain Made we are following the recommended COVID-19 guidelines and safety measures to protect you:

• All our staff have face masks & wash our hands frequently.
• We have a plastic sneeze shield at our checkout.
• We have the best hand sanitizers available! They are all locally made from leftover alcohol from our mountain breweries & distilleries!
• We will also limit visitors to 10 people at a time in the shop.

So we are open and ready for business this summer! Here are just a few of the new items that have arrived in the shop since the lockdown and don’t forget the wonderful items we now have for sale in our Mountain Made online shop.

Wooden Clocks & Bowls by Bill Wanezek

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Pottery by Robin Ann Southecorvo

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Mountain Made’s COVID-19 Phase 2 Response