Making pottery is a lot harder than it looks.

I found this out in eighth grade art class. Pencils on paper worked pretty well for me – clay was a fiasco.

But I like how pottery is the most functional of all visual arts. One of my favorite Christmas presents from this year proves that.

You have to know the backstory first: In November, a friend gave me a gorgeous plateful of fresh-picked wild mushrooms, ready for sautéeing and simmering. I couldn’t wait to cook them up. But my husband suggested I soak them in water first, not knowing how much cleaning they’d had.

I filled a large pot and dumped in the mushrooms, then busied myself with the rest of dinner. Ten minutes later, I turned to grab the pot – and to my horror saw dozens of quarter-inch-long larvae clinging to the mushroom caps like shipwreck survivors trying not to drown.

Trying to keep my composure, I edged out of the kitchen and refused to return until someone had dumped the pot into the backyard. My mushroom-picking friend later bemoaned the loss of the fungi, but assured me that you don’t need to soak them – and the little grubs just cook right out.

So for Christmas, my son’s girlfriend presented me with a handmade ceramic vessel shaped like a mushroom. I thanked her for the pretty and very personal gift. “Open it,” she prodded.

The inside was full of gummy worms.