Paige on yer iPod!

Here she is!

Looks Good Enough to Eat!

And we did!

 

Ravioli perfection

Well not to blow our horn too much but holy moly these were the best ever. Paige made a filling of acorn squash and several key secret ingredients.

It was the tiniest bit sweet -- not sure why Mario feels the need for the crushed amaretto cookie (!) over the cheese. Would have been perfect Il Primi for something more succulent, lamb sausage or sweetbreads.

 
 
 

 Eggs? Key! This one was green, straight from the chickens's, um, well, straight from the chicken.

What's a Grecian Urn?

 

Oh, about fifteen bucks an hour.

For this meal we made farfale without the pastry cutter -- totally different mouthfeel, gestalt, the works. But they seem so much prettier than the previous, had to snap it.

What It's All About

 

All the new gear worked great.
Only problem is that I tried freezing the pasta and it seemd to come out, well, a little 'leathery' let's say. Didnt matter how many minutes it boiled -- tried from 45 seconds to over 5 minutes -- it never seemd quite as succulent and soft and, well, toothsome as the totally fresh.
Next time I'm going to boil up one fresh one right after I make it to compare.
Live and learn.

Les Champingions qui Rit.

 

Well who would have guessed that -- lurking there behind the tall pines under needles and clinging to rocks -- we would find dinner.

Not quite confident enough to do this on my own yet.


 

New Gear!

 

Whoa! A beautiful new crimper for our ravioli! Can't wait to use it!

 

And a new pin. Actually it's a soba pin. Our others are too short, leaving pasta sheets to flop around in the breeze!

 

Finally, a pastry bag for filling ravioli. Here goes!

The cooked and the raw...

Thanks, Aly for bringing massive and delicious bay scallops.

Lévi-Strauss postulates that the raw/cooked axis is characteristic of all human culture, with elements falling along the "raw" side of the axis being those of "natural" origin, and those on the "cooked" side being of "cultural" origin - i.e. products of human creation. Symbolically, cooking marks the transition from nature to culture, by means of which the human state can be defined in accordance with all its attributes. In mythological thought, the cooking of food is, in effect, a form of mediation between nature and society, between life and death, and between heaven and earth. The cook, in turn, can be viewed as a cultural agent whose function is to "mediate the conjunction of the raw product and the human consumer," the operation of which has the effect of "making sure the natural is at once cooked and socialized."

Eeek look what they left on the sheets!

No, silly -- these are heirloom seeds from delicious tomatoes I scooped out onto paper towels at the end of the summer.

Click to see descriptions.

I'll dry them and keep them cool and dark and plant them next year!

As for the sheets -- well a little bleach usually works.

To a Perfect Season

 

Here's to everyone who made pasta nights such a pleasure!

Some snaps from the last past night of the summer

For the Easily Amused

While waiting in line at the Fairway.

The whole point of knives

It takes a sharp one to make smooth strands.

 

Which is why we carry this down to the club each time. The dough is somewhat 'self healing' and tends to stick together unless you show it who's boss!

Whoa What a Night

Spectacular sunset. Simple papardelle -- love using that pastry wheel! Simple basil pesto (last year's, frozen, but good legs) and a bunch of cheese.

Grilled root veggies and good company!

 

 

 

 

The Imortance of Plates

Yes, I'll say it here and now. They make a difference, don't they?