June 8th 2013: Making a Glass Paperweight at Luke Adams Glass, Norwood

Today, the food truck I co-own had to go for the Cambridge Food Truck Festival held in the Kendall Square area of Cambridge.

Before heading to Malden to meet up with my friends, I decided to use the time I had to get dessert at Sweet Spot Bakery, a small bakery located in the town of Melrose close by, passing by Stoneham

Pleasant Street Crossing,
39 Pleasant Street

 and the Unitarian Universalist Church in town along the way.

The bakery itself is pretty small, being family owned,

but the cakes I got using my Groupon were actually pretty delicious.

I brought back some to my friends, and they loved them too.

After reaching Kendall Square,

my friends wanted to get some coffee, so I decided to head to Voltage Coffee and Art right across the street from where we were an artistically designed coffee place definitely much better looking than any Starbuck's, which also happens to be a mini art gallery.

The people there were really skilled at making Caramel Lattes as well, as you can see from the coffee decoration in the cup below.

For my friend who did not want to have coffee, I got mini Sticky Buns, which I felt are crispier and hence better than the ones at Flour Bakery and Cafe, which is served with thick bread instead of the croissants for today's meal.

After getting the food back to my friends, I decided to take pictures of the trucks

and the sculptures in the area.

Galaxy Earth Sphere Fountain,

Main Street and Broadway

After a great day at the festival, where our line was so long that it was snaking around the boundaries,

I had to leave early to pick up friend to head to the town of Norwood to learn glass making for 1 hour at Luke Adams Glass.

When we finally arrived in town, we were still a little early, so we decided to head to Guarino Pastry Shop nearby for some dessert before heading back for the class. Another simple looking shop like Sweet Spot Bakery this morning, though it is more Italian in nature, hence little cupcakes present.

I decided to go with their recommended chocolate chip cannoli, and a cream puff, which weren't too bad at all.

Heading back to the studio, we still had some time before class started, so I took a few pictures of the place and the interesting, intricate yet fragile works of art all around the place while waiting.

Finally, it was time to start. I decided to make an egg shaped paperweight, with the yellow and blue colors representing my university. Our teacher first showed us around the workshop,

showing us the ovens

and the colored sands we would be using for our pieces.

Using one of the stainless steel rods, the instructor guided me to stick it into the furnace, use it to dip into the molten glass and turn it to collect some glass at the tip of it.

Taking the rod out, I brought it to the cooling tube, made using running water, to cool down the rod while constantly turning to prevent the glass from dripping off the end.

The next step was adding the color to the piece, which meant rolling the semi-liquid and red hot glass over the colored sands to get a thin coating over the glass.

It was then back into the fire for a little to melt the sand into the glass, then shaping the glass into a thin rod so it can be twisted easily.

After another trip to the fire, it was time to twist it using our tongs.

To prevent the tongs from heating up too much, we also had a bucket of water to cool them in.

I decided to have it twisted all the way until my hand could not hold onto the tongs any more, and then it was time to place more glass on the outside to make the outer layer. From here, we use other tools to shape the paperweight,

mine into an egg,

and my friend's into a sphere.

Using another set of tongs, its tips with a layer on beeswax on it,

we scratched a boundary on the glass where it was to be broken off.

To ease the breaking process and make it a clean break, we then used another set of tongs, cooled and dripping in water, to heat shock the boundary area.

It was now time to break off our piece from the rest of the rod, using a bat nonetheless.

After breaking off the piece, we smoothed out the broken parts with a blowtorch.

Next, we flattened that part out to make the base of the paperweight.

It was then on to a temperature controlled container to slow the cooling process to prevent the glass from exploding due to differential contraction of the different layers of glass. As a result, we could not bring home our pieces today, having to collect them another day.

After an extremely interesting, and sometimes hot experience, we left the studio to head for dinner at a decently upscale Mediterannean restaurant in town, namely the Byblos Restaurant.

I liked the decor here, especially for a small town like Norwood, although my friend who is used to eating at upscale places said it was just alright.

For food, my friend got the Kafta Kabob (Ground Beef Sirloin and Ground Lamb, Fresh Onions and Parsley Seasoned with Special Spices, Skewered and Charbroiled), while I got the Loubye With Lamb (String Beans with Chunks of Lamb cooked with Tomato Sauce, Onion, Garlic and our Special Spices, Served with Vermicelli Rice and House Salad).


For starters, we had pita bread, which came along with pickled vegetables and olives, which was interesting.

Both our dishes weren't too bad, but not amazing either.

Kafta Kabob

Loubye with Lamb

For dessert, my friend got the Moroccan Mint Tea, which came in a cute teapot,

while I got the Ma'mul, an oven baked pastry filled with dates.

Unfortunately, I did not like the taste of the dates either, although my friend liked it.

With that, I had to head back to pick my friend up in Malden, so we had to call it a night. I'm definitely glad I experienced what it is like to make glass. Now, who should I give my paperweight to?