Sara Dahmen is the founder of House Copper & Cookware, a line of American-made cookware created with pure, natural materials and the help from local family-owned companies. Her cookware has been featured in national and international publications such as Cooking Light, Food and Wine, Veranda, Beekman 1802, Root+Bone, Midwest Living, and many more. One of the only female coppersmiths in America (if not the only), Sara has had a varied career, from her first job in marketing to building an award-winning wedding planning business to writing historical fiction. Her love of deep historical research led to her current work as a metalsmith of vintage and modern cookware. Sara has been published as a contributing editor for trade magazines and recently spoke at TEDx Rapid City. Sara is also the co-founder of the American Pure Metals Guild and is an apprentice to a master tinsmith in Wisconsin, where she works with tools from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries to rebuild vintage cookware and design custom work from scratch. When not working in her garage, she can be found writing historical fiction, sewing authentic clothing for reenactments of frontier days, and hosting epic historical-themed dinner parties. She lives in Port Washington, Wisconsin, with her husband and three young children.
Sara Dahmen's beautifully photographed book is the most useful resource on copper cookware I've come across. . . . Copper, Iron, and Clay is an indispensable cookware reference that every cook should have in their library. I learned so much from it . . . and you will too! -- David Lebovitz, author of <em>My Paris Kitchen</em> and <em>Drinking French</em> Dahmen, a cookware coppersmith, explains the enduring benefits of copper, iron, and clay in this illuminating how-to and recipe manual. . . . This terrific volume is sure to result in a greater respect for kitchen gear among amateur cooks and professionals alike. -- Publishers Weekly Author, coppersmith, and occasional chef Dahmen takes readers on a very personal journey in her discovery of and fascination with copper, iron, and clay. . . . It's a well-photographed learning adventure peppered with a dozen-plus interviews of artisans, chefs, and manufacturers (e.g., Valerie Gilbert of Mauviel, Giulia Ruffoni of Ruffoni Copper). -- Booklist [Dahmen] describes how she became a coppersmith and started her line of handcrafted products. . . . Along with her passion for historical recreation and her determination to master the physical and technical challenges of the craft. . . . [Her] new book is her way of keeping the practical wisdom she learned from older smiths alive. -- Milwaukee Journal Sentinel