Guest Post

Guest Chick: Sara Dahmen

Hi, Ellen here. I e-met Sara Dahmen in a Dana Kaye webinar about promoting during a pandemic. Sara had written a gorgeous book, Copper, Iron, and Clay: A Smith’s Journey, about iconic American cookware and her journey to become the only female coppersmith in America. Read about how she came to write this awesome book – which includes delicious recipes…

Did you know that I don’t write outlines before I write any book? Well, now you know. But I don’t! I just sort of just let it write itself. Not because I am a “pantser” (I didn’t even know about term until recently!) but because writing from an outline is so insanely stressful! It’s like being stuck on a path—I’m one for following rules—and if I break from the outline I wrote for myself, I’ll feel guilt. There’s probably something Freud in there.

Plus, if I write from an outline, there is zero mystery of what comes next. It’s right there, on the paper, dictating what happens. This is mostly why I don’t write outlines for fiction, which always includes characters who speak on their own and surprise me much later, when I edit and am shocked by whole sections I don’t remember really writing. Usually those are the best and the funniest parts, too. So, why should I spoil the mystery of what comes next? Let those characters deal with their issues within themselves and with each other, and drama is sure to come.

This whole ‘make it up as it comes’ didn’t work when I was writing Copper Iron and Clay: A Smith’s Journey. I had to be strategic. And make sure I had all the facts right, or at least be sure I made a note when I was just reciting from memory. There was a whole outline submitted to the publisher! An outline to SUBMIT! What?! Turns out there must be way less mystery when it comes to writing non-fiction, and certainly when there are real recipes involved. My family’s potato salad literally has instructions (which I have written down) that say ‘Milk: miniscule bit’ and ‘Sour cream, tiny amount’ and ‘Generous Beau Monde seasoning’. None of that flies when you’re writing non-fiction. People want zero mystery about what “miniscule bit” really means.

There’s little unusual about recipes. You read them, you follow the directions, you cook, and you eat (and hopefully enjoy it). My husband always says he can’t cook, and I remind him he can read and has two hands and really likes to follow directions. He’s always so fascinated when he tries it, and it works!

But there was a LOT unusual about tackling this book. For instance, the last time someone wrote a book about coppersmithing, it was in the late 1800s.

I was a woman writing about it, too. The metal trades have been traditionally almost 100% male dominated for centuries. It was a trade passed from father to son, not really father to daughter. Women took up tin or copper work under duress – a husband gone, a son departed, family dead. This was a completely unknown realm—not only for me who had never taken a shop class in her life—but for ladies in general.

So many unknowns to unravel! What did all this vocabulary mean? And all this science! Conductivity? Thermal expansion of cookware rivets? (And why was it so hard to remember half the time?) Or the fact that one thing could have three different names. (It’s no wonder language is so hard to piece back together if we lose it!) How did everything happen in the foundry? What kind of tool was needed to make a copper pot? Who made the 200 year old copper pot that needs a patch (and can I manage it)? Every day suddenly uncovered more mysteries than answers. And as those answers started to stick, I was worried about one more fact: all of the information was in my head and notebooks of notes, but it wasn’t readily available anywhere. All the old smiths had it in their head, and they surely were NOT going to start a YouTube channel or write a blog, let alone a book. It had to be preserved, so the mysteries of metalsmithing and coppersmithing would live for another generation or three.

And that is why I suffered through the outline to write the book Copper Iron and Clay. That is why letting go of my personal dislike of putting together a plan for a book was worth it. Freud would probably be proud?

Readers, what kind of cookware do you like to use? Is there an item you dream of owning?

BIO: Sara Dahmen is an award-winning writer and entrepreneur, as well as the only female coppersmith in America, manufacturing, restoring, and building copper cookware in her Wisconsin copper shop. Sara’s non-fiction book on the history, science, use, and care of cookware, Copper, Iron, and Clay: A Smith’s Journey,  (William Morrow/Harper Collins) features her story, recipes, and interviews from the biggest cookware makers in the world, from Lodge to Ruffoni to Mauviel and more. She single-handedly runs her company, House Copper & Cookware, using tools from the 1800s as well as current power tools, and bases all her new designs on lost American cookware shapes, sourcing all materials from the USA. Sara has published over 100 articles as a contributing editor for various trade magazines, has written for Edible and Root + Bone, among others, and spoke at TEDx Rapid City on how women should enter the trades in order to save those crafts from disappearing. Her historical fiction Flats Junction series (Promontory Press, Inc.), including Tinsmith 1865 and Widow 1881, has been critically recognized as well. In her spare time, Sara sews her family authentic clothing for their 1830’s reenactment camping; she lives in Wisconsin on her mini farm with her three young children (ages 9, 7. And 5) and John, her husband of 14 years.

SYNOPSIS: A gorgeous, full-color illustrated love letter to our most revered cookware—copper pots, cast-iron skillets, and classic stoneware—and the artistry and workmanship behind them, written by an expert craftsperson, perhaps the only woman coppersmith in America. Richly illustrated with dozens of stunning color photographs, Copper, Iron, and Clay showcases each material, exploring its fascinating history, fundamental science—including which elements work best for various cooking methods—and its practical uses today. It also features fascinating interviews with industry insiders, including cookware artisans, chefs, entrepreneurs, and manufacturers from around the world. In addition, Sara provides recipes from her own kitchen and some of her famous chef friends, as well as a few historical favorites—all which are optimized for particular kinds of cookware.

Buy link: https://www.amazon.com/Copper-Iron-Clay-Smiths-Journey/dp/0062943731/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

28 thoughts on “Guest Chick: Sara Dahmen”

  1. Welcome, Sara! Your book and career sound quite interesting. I never really think about cookware, maybe because I’m not much of a cook myself. My sister is a professional chef though. I will have to ask her if she knows the history behind her equipment.

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    1. Hi Marla! I am definitely like you in that I never thought about cookware either until…I went down a really big rabbit hole! lol! I would love to hear what your sister thinks about cookware and even what she thinks about copper! 🙂

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    1. Thank you, Hestia! I hope you have been enjoying (or will enjoy if you don’t have it!) the book – and yes, the glass ceiling can be broken, for sure. Creatively. 🙂

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  3. Sara, thanks so much for visiting us today! Your book is gorgeous. I now dream of owning one of your copper skillets. They’re stunning. I’ve never cooked in copper and now I feel like I’m totally missing out on it. My mother had copper cookware and I never remember her using it to cook. I just remember keeping it clean with copper polish.

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    1. Thank you for having me, Ellen!! I love hearing people are dreaming of copper. 🙂 You totally are missing out, but there is definitely still time. lol. 😉 It’s worth any learning curve, though dangerous, too…once you go copper, you never go back…(I sort of wish that rhymed…)

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  4. I totally get the “miniscule” and “tiny” recipe amount thing. I cook by the seat of my pants, adding, tasting, adding more, so when it came time for me to write up my recipes, it was a completely new experience to actually measure things.

    Having now finished reading your beautiful and amazing new book, I too have copper pan envy, like Ellen. Perhaps some day…

    Thanks so much for visiting the Chicks today, Sara! Here’s hoping you sell more than a generous amount of books–and pots and pans!

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    1. Cooking by the seat of my pants here, too!! And it’s amazing until…you DO have to write down those recipes!! Thank you for reading, Leslie!! And I am certain copper pots and pans are in your future. 🙂

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  6. I’m also a pantser, Sara! But I get how that doesn’t work for non-fiction. We have a friend who makes metal sculptures (we proudly own a couple of small pieces)! I’m completely in awe of metal crafts — thanks for visiting with us today!

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    1. It was a bit of a shock to realize how little of the non-fiction could be totally winged! I mean, a challenge is always good (obviously I like a challenge!) but…whew!

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  7. Sara, this was absolutely fascinating. I’m the one they have to drag away from the blacksmith/candle-dipping/wig-making reenactments in those historical villages. I’d love to see you in action!

    Unlike Leslie, I don’t love to cook. I’m a good cook, mind you, but a lazy one. I’m part of the”eat to live” crowd rather than the “live to eat” one. And I love what you say to your husband, because the tagline on my cookbook is “If you can read, you can cook.” I think most of my cookware we received as a wedding present in 1984.

    I’m so glad you’re capturing this knowledge for the future and I hope you train up some others in coppersmithing!

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    1. Thank you, Becky! You and I could spend a weekend together in those re-enactments….the weekends we camp are never long enough! You are always welcome in our tent!! 🙂 I will have to look up your cookbook!!!

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      1. You may as well wait on that. I’m redoing it. Needs a new cover. But when it’s ready, keep an eye here at Chicks because I’ll probably yakkety-yak about it.

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  8. Sara, you and I could have a joint session with Freud because I have the exact same “deviate from the outline” guilt.

    My two cast-iron skillets are my standbys, but the more I see pictures of your copper pieces the more I want one!

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    3. We have long winters in NH. I hang copper and pewter pieces on the beams in my kitchen because the light catches them and looks pretty. An old colonial trick, ha.

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  9. Wow! Thanks for sharing your story with us, Sara. My favorite piece of cookware is probably our aluminum, hand-crank popcorn popper. That and the gas grill. Burgers and dogs, anyone? lol

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    1. Thank you, J.C.! Popcorn poppers…mmm..now I want popcorn AND a burger! (Did you know back in the day, they made popcorn poppers with tinplate and the corn was rolled back and forth next to the fire until it popped? You can roast peanuts that way, too!)

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  10. Welcome, Sara!

    This is all fascinating, and the book is GORGEOUS!! I’m not much of a cook, but you’ve inspired me! You’ve also inspired me to change my process (from plotting to pansting and back again) to suit the circumstances–or my mood!

    Thanks for visiting. ❤

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    1. Thank you Kathleen! You are all so wonderfully welcoming! The book did turn out way cooler than I had every imagined…and yes, totally give yourself permission to change around your methods…and your cooking! 🙂

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  12. Hi Sara, Very nice to meet you! Like Vickie, I am a pantser-Chick at heart—but since I am an editor also, I know there’s basically no way out of them. I’ve been known to write outlines post-ms. That’s not much fun, either, lol!

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