My Best Friend Says I Look Drunk...

in this picture. That's because I was....or well on my way.

Saturday night, after killing a perfectly good iPhone, we had friends over for a pasta making dinner. From semolina flour to the table. We started from scratch and ended up with honestly the best pasta I've ever put in my mouth!

It started off kinda rough. I wasn't sure that we'd end up with anything at all the way things looked in the beginning. The dough was too dry. It was a pain in the ass to knead for 15 minutes by hand. Then it had to rest for 2o minutes in the fridge. Hell, after all that kneading, WE needed the rest!

When things looked like they were going to really work, I whipped up some Wild Mushroom Vodka Sauce for the fettucini and some Browned Butter Balsamic Sauce for the Caramelized Butternut Squash and Parmesan Ravioli. Yeah, it was fabulous.

But what really made the dinner wonderful was the amazing friends that love to laugh and cook. Looks like we'll be taking that pasta machine to their condo on the beach in April, because frankly, we ROCK at making pasta and getting smashed!

P.S. Yes, that's my circa 1985 log cabin kitchen with the Z cabinets. Pray that I win a kitchen makeover!

We've Got A Winner

Sandi of well, I don't know her blog name, won the Indigo Girls album! I'd link to her if her blog was open to readers, but it's not. So not only can I not see her blog, you can't either. Sandi must have some nasty stuff on there! ;)

Now we ALL want to see, Sandi!!!


Sandi said...Please put me into your drawing, I need the CD so I can keep my toaster.


Apparently, she's trying to keep the toaster that she received from the Lesbian Appliance Alliance. You see, we receive appliances when we recruit new women into lesbianism. Not only is recruiting FUN, but you can outfit your kitchen.

I'm really bad at recruiting. Not once have I been with a straight chick and turned her gay. Not once. Sad, isn't it?

This is precisely why I don't have a Kitchen Aid mixer.



P.S. But I am working on getting the Kitchen Aid mixer with the pasta attachment. I've accumulated $15 so far in Amazon.com gift cards by searching on Swagbucks.com. When I finally get it....I'm having you all over for homemade pasta with Balsamic Butter Sauce!

If You Have An Extra Prayer

This morning, as I watched the news detailing the events of Mumbai, I saw a photo of the woman that I'd eaten dinner next to during the Cucina Schoolhouse Pasta Class. Then a video of her husband, Santos, the one that had helped me kneading the pasta dough, going to the airport to be with his injured wife.

I can't imagine his grief.

I'm sure the love that they have for each other will get them through this. But until she is in his arms, he will worry. It was obvious that he loved her with all of his being.

If you have an extra prayer, or positive thought, please send one up for them.

2 Nashvillians Hurt In Mumbai Attacks

I Don't Own A Good Knife, Do You?

When Joy Ramirez of Joy of Cooking and Claudia Young from cook, eat, FRET sent me an email detailing their first Cucina Cooking Schoolhouse, I immediately signed up. Dinner with a fabulous menu and wine for $60? Plus, I'll learn how to make homemade pasta with decadent sauces? It was a no brainer.

The last email detailed the address and said to bring your favorite knife and your apron.

Uh oh.

I don't own an apron. And my knives. I am so ashamed of my knives. I don't even know if I can say it...

They're those (hangs head) orange handled Rachel Ray ones. Those are my "good knives."

I headed out into the rainy dark night to Brentwood, clear on the other side of town, without an apron or a knife. How deep is my knife shame?

Pretending to be knifeless and apronless, I borrowed what I needed and decked myself out in a little, red candy stripe apron. I am ready to get Italian.

We learned about Italian OO flour, how to make a well, how to mix (Claudia's a two finger girl, while Joy uses a fork), and how (LONG) to knead. I triple suck at kneading. It's damn hard. Friends (aka suckers!) will be invited over to help with kneading, when I make my first batch. Ten minutes of hard, arm cardio is what kneading is. And frankly, I can't hang.

After about an hour of pasta making, Claudia returns from outside with freshly grilled bruschetta. We pour olive oil on and devour!

We start rolling the dough through the machines making long, flat pallettes that will either become the tortellini or the fettucine. The tortellini are stuffed with a sweet potato mix that would rock your world. Full of fresh parmesean, prosciutto and grated nutmeg. We stuff and fold our squares, hold between fingers and flip the pointy edge down, making pretty, little tortellini. The huge garlic cloves are sauteed in olive oil until sweet. The kitchen aroma is intoxicating!

At the end of the evening, we have made...

Sweet Potato Stuffed Tortellini with Butter and Sage
Bucatini all'Amatriciana
Fettuccine with Oyster Mushrooms, Sweet Garlic and Arugula

We al sit around a huge table full of pastas and interesting characters. Chris cures his own meats and has a phenomenal knife collection (he let me hold them sensing the fact that I was knife stupid), the Italian Stallion that is a master at kneading, his wife, the beautiful Shaman that is on her way to India. Everyone was so interesting and social. It was like hanging out and cooking with old friends. What a lovely evening!

Next month, they are hosting a Cookie Class complete with biscotti. I don't know if I can convince my girl that I need to learn how to bake cookies, but you can bet I'm going to try!

Never Lick the Bowl

The other night, I made my girl a fabulous dinner that I found over at Claudia's cookeatfret, Chicken with Peanut Sesame Noodles.

It fit in perfectly with our new eating plan. Whole wheat noodles. Chicken. Just a touch of honey in the sauce.

I flipped open the dishwasher that I'd ran the night before.

Her: "Are these clean?"

Me: "Yep, ran 'em last night."

We each grabbed a bowl. Filled them with deliciousness and sat down for dinner. We oohed and ahhhed over the peanut sauce. My girl had cooked the chicken to perfection. It was just barely done and melted in my mouth.

It was by far the best dinner that I've cooked in a long time. And with very little effort. The sauce is a snap to whip up in the blender and coats the pasta perfectly.

We sit on the couch for a few minutes talking about how wonderful dinner was. We allow the dogs lick the tiny bits that were left in the bottom. We take our bowls to the kitchen.

She opens up the dishwasher.

Her: "These aren't CLEAN!"

Me: "Did you open the dishwasher again after I set it on delay last night?"

Silence as the reality sets in. Both of our mothers have told us not to let the dogs lick the bowls after dinner.

Now we know why.

What Sick Lesbians Eat

We've been deluged by tomatoes. Between the beautiful Cherokee Purples, Lemon Boys and Yellow Pears that my love grew in the back yard and everything my mom brings over.....it's been Tomatoville around here!

So, I took some of the ugly Purples that were ripening on the window sill.....



and some of the bite size yellow pears....




along with an onion and one of Daddy's fresh green bell peppers.....and threw them all in a pot.



When the house smelled like heaven and I'd spent about four hours on the couch, it didn't look very pretty. But oh, it was sooo good over some fresh hot pasta!



I'm still running a fever of around 100 degrees, but I FEEL better. I'm starting to wonder what the hell kind of bug has taken up residence here.