The Workshops of David T. Smith Blog

 We are mostly known for our painted and primitive style kitchens and furniture. Hiding appliances, crusty paint and curly maple kitchen is what we do. Occasionally we get a chance to work with some clients that want a  David T. Smith kitchen but want a cleaner, more modern look. This is one of those kitchens.  It still has our collected cabinet style, with cherry, curly maple, white and blue painted cabinets and wood counter tops. These folks had just bought some stainless appliances so we used them in our kitchen design. Our installer/contractor Joe also did all the onsite work and put in a new wood floor and did a subway tile back splash.  The kitchen has a great handmade but clean, upscale, modern feel.

 The last couple days have been a little crazy . We flew to Providence Rhode Island yesterday and then took a small plane over to Block Island to fine tune our design for a kitchen, a desk, entertainment center and house doors for a project. This is the 2nd kitchen that I have done for this client. It is a great project. The house is on the South side of the island right on the beach.The interior of the house will have our painted kitchen plus lots of painted bead board and trim done in a Cottage style.The lighting is all brass and copper and was salvaged from sunken ships and restored.  Block Island is a really neat place with some great Historic Inns and Houses. I'll bet it is pretty busy here in the Summer time. There are no McDonald's or strip malls - Pretty cool. Watch for more posts as the project continues.

It will be a busy week getting ready for our Winter Sale and Wood Kiln Opening next Saturday. We will have some great seasonal pottery, folk art paintings, handmade Santas, Workshops furniture, baskets and painted smalls. Furniture that is in stock and new orders will be on sale.  The Wood Kiln will be opened at 3 pm and one lucky person here that day will get their name drawn and win their Pick of the Kiln. You must be here to win. I hope to see you then.  Bring your kitchen plans and we can talk about your new kitchen.  David T. Smith 

Getting ready for our Winter Sale and Wood Kiln Opening  on November 22nd. We will have so many beautiful handmade pottery ornaments for your tree and other one of a kind redware pieces. Come see us for American made Christmas gifts and lots of delicious food!

This kitchen and pantry  is going out to Chagrin  Falls Ohio  tomorrow  for installation.  It has our Smooth  Designer Finish,  in Linen White,  Black,  and Moss colors.  With a soapstone sink,  soapstone  counter tops and cherry countertops.  The cabinet  style is Shaker flat panel doors,  Shaker crown molding and Primitive  feet.  The hardware used on it is a bronze bin pull for the drawers  and small round knob on the doors. It might not look like much now but will  be awesome  when it is installed.  Stay tuned for more photos. The pull out baskets and the cabinets  with the slat shelves on the island ends are a nice touch. 

Today I was in a clients  house working on finalizing  their kitchen  design.  It is going to mostly  be painted finishes  with Soapstone  and curly  maple counter tops.  While I was there, I was looking at their antique  furniture  pieces.  They have some great pieces in old paint.  This dry sink has an incredible surface.  Talk about "Original  Finish"  this is it.  Look at the layers of paint and how they have worn off at the wear points.  It even has a great mouse hole.  The zinc liner also has a great  patina.  What a great  piece!!!  This piece will be displayed in the dining room  which is right  off the kitchen, which will be mostly  red,  mustard and curly  maple. 

     We are prominently featured in Old House Interiors' Early Homes' Fall-Winter issue! One of our favorite kitchens is on the cover, there's a review of an awesome book by Tim Tanner that features our work prominently, and several (!) of our kitchens are featured in an article written by Tanner himself. The images below are just a small sampling. To see everything, you have to get the magazine! For more information, visit www.oldhouseonline.com

The latest issue of A Primitive Place & Country Journal has a great feature on one of our collected style kitchens. It also features our regular article and an ad for winter specials on the back cover! To see more images and to read the full articles, go and get a copy of A Primitive Place! For more information, visit www.aprimitiveplace.org

This is a quick short-cut version. If anyone would like my homemade recipe I will be happy to share that as well. Make your cut-out cookies using Betty Crocker Sugar Cookie Mix. Roll them out at least ¼ inch thick so they will puff up nice and high when baked. Be careful not to over bake – take them out when they are just slightly brown on the edges. Remove to wire rack to cool. For the Royal Icing you will need: 4 Egg Whites 1 teaspoon Vanilla or Lemon Extract (using lemon will keep your icing nice and white) 4 to 4 ½ cups Confectioners’ Sugar Food coloring - black, red + yellow = orange Combine the egg whites and extract and beat until frothy 2 to 3 minutes. Add confectioners’ sugar ½ cup at a time and mix on low speed until sugar is incorporated and mixture is shiny. Turn speed up to high and beat until mixture forms stiff, glossy peaks. This should take about 5 to 7 minutes. Divide into bowls and add food coloring to achieve desired shade. Apply icing with a knife or sma

I used to always order Spinach and Artichoke Dip when dining out. Several years ago I worked on perfecting a rich and creamy version I could make myself. I don’t order it out anymore – this is so good.   A family favorite and great for the upcoming holidays or anytime you want some decadent and delicious comfort food! Spinach & Artichoke Dip 10 oz. frozen spinach, thawed and drained 14 oz. can artichokes, drained and chopped 1 medium onion, chopped 1 Tbs. fresh garlic, minced 1/2 cup mayonnaise 3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese 1 cup grated Cheddar cheese   2 cups grated Monterey Jack cheese 1 8 oz. package cream cheese   1 can cream of mushroom soup 1 can mushrooms 2 cups heavy cream or half and half ½ cup slivered almonds Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease a large deep baking dish. Mix all ingredients very well. Place in baking dish and bake for approximately 35 to 45 minutes. Add the slivered almonds to the top of the dip for the last 10 minutes.

This is a very simple recipe. It has only a handful of ingredients but it will totally knock your socks off. These have been affectionately referred to as cholesterol bombs. Because of, you know - the butter - lots and lots of butter. I recommend making it in a small muffin tin. The crust to crumb ra tio is perfect. I’m a crust girl myself. If you choose to make this in a loaf pan it is great sliced and toasted.   3 cups self rising flour 3 tablespoons sugar 1 can beer (Your choice – I prefer a dark full bodied beer) Melted Butter   Salt Combine flour and sugar. Add beer, a little at a time. Mix well, the mixture should have the consistency of a very thick batter. Thicker is better for this bread. Spray muffin pan with nonstick spray and spoon mixture into pan. Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 15 minutes. Remove from oven and brush melted butter on tops of muffins. I normally remove the miniature breads from the muffin pan and brush butter on the bottoms too. Also, whi

Joining the ranks of Smith holiday desserts - a big platter of these wonderful brownies are really hard to beat! Recipe follows. It has been very hard to find a great scratch brownie recipe. It is one of those things that is actually better from a - UGH - mix. I have tested many and it is always disappointing – wasted ingredients and time. For me, this recipe is the exception I have been looking for. This brownie if fudgy, rich and delicious. We made this over the weekend to go with our homemade pizza night. Served with brown sugar whipped cream and a garnish of dark chocolate and raspberry sauce. They were so good!! Ultimate Fudge Brownie - 8 ounces Semi-sweet Chocolate Chips 1 cup (2 sticks) Butter 2 cups firmly packed Dark Brown Sugar 2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract 4 large Eggs 2 cups All Purpose Flour ½ teaspoon Baking Powder 1 teaspoon Salt 1 ½ teaspoons Cinnamon 1 teaspoon Espresso Granules 1 cup Dark Chocolate Chips Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a 9 x 1

David's Fall 2014 article for A Primitive Place & Country Journal features an amazing piece our potters made which pays tribute to the Shenandoah redware style. For the history of Shenandoah redware and for more pictures of this piece and our process of creating it, get a hold of the Fall 2014 issue of A Primitive Place! For more information, visit  http://www.aprimitiveplace.org/

This heavily researched and highly decorated pot is one of our finest pieces yet. Dedicated to one of America's most influential founding fathers, Benjamin Franklin was a leading inventor, musician, postmaster general, grandmaster, abolitionist, writer, scientist, and politician - just to name a few. This pot tells the story of Benjamin's colorful life and legacy using a combination of highly intricate redware techniques and our serious dedication to accurately representing our proud revolutionary history.