Making Pasta

Goal #4 for my 30 Before 30 project was to use the pasta maker attachment that Carol and I received from my Uncle David and his family for our wedding. A big tradition in my family is making ravioli at holiday time, and while I've helped my mother a couple times, I've never been in charge of the project.

So last Tuesday, since Carol had the day off from work, I took the day off too. It was a fun way to replace some of the Saturdays and weekday evenings we don't get to spend together because of our work schedule.

The first step was to make the dough, divide it into balls and let it sit for an hour.

 We basically just followed the recipe from The Joy of Cooking, but we mixed in some semolina in with the regular flour.

Next we flattened the dough balls by hand and ran them through the KitchenAid over and over, each time making the opening on the roller a little smaller.

Sometimes Carol likes to surprise me with the camera. I do not, generally, find this amusing.

30 Before 30 Bucket List

1. Read In Search of Lost Time (A Remembrance of Things Past)

In Fun Home, Alison Bechdel writes "It's said, after all, that people reach middle age the day they realize they're never going to read Remembrance of Things Past." That quote struck a nerve with me, and once I decided that 2013 would be my year for Remembrance... the rest of this list started to take shape.

Pot Roast Over Pasta

Inspired by a friend, and confounded by the mounting price of ground beef and my more usual cooking meats at the grocery story, I decided to make a Pot Roast. Being me, I didn't make this decision in a way that allowed me to plan ahead, buy the things I would need for a pot roast, and serve it to my lovely wife as a meal.

I stood in the kitchen with a hunk of beef sitting on the kitchen counter, and I thought to myself, "I think I can do this."

I remembered Aundra's pot roast post, and consulting with The Joy of Cooking, determined that I did not have carrots, celery or any of the vegetables suggested for pot roast (other than onion, always plenty of onion and garlic in my kitchen). Those absent same vegetables feature prominently in the "Italian Style Pot Roast" on the next page.

But that recipe sparked a memory of a meal Carol and I had at one of our favorite Morristown restaurants: wild boar over pasta. I can do that, I figured.

So I followed the bones of the recipe: slit and stuffed the beef with garlic, olive oil and sage, then browned it on all sides in my biggest pot before setting it a side; sauteed my onion in the pot, then boiled away half a cup of red wine (should have added tomato paste, but reached this point in the recipe to realize I'm out- did I mention I didn't plan this meal very well?); reduced another cup of red wine and a cup chicken stock; put the meat back into the pot with another cup of red wine and another cup of chicken stock; finally, I let it simmer for about three hours, turning it every half an hour.

Maybe I was just fantastically hungry by the time I got to eat, or maybe it came out as well as I think it did... We boiled some pasta and sliced the meat thinly, against the grain, so that it came apart into thick strings. A little Parmesan cheese (one of the few things I can depend on my kitchen to have) and voila!

The best thing about it: there's plenty of left overs. (Those of you who do not appreciate the joy of leftovers should not make this meal unless you're feeding an army. Also, you make no sense. Who doesn't love leftovers?).

Opposite Ends of the Kitchen

I made pork chops last night (pretty good ones, if I do say so myself).

Baked over slices of apple at 350 for 45 minutes. While the pork chops cooked I made a sauce: sauteed onions and garlic, 2 shakes of BBQ sauce, 3 shakes of sherry, some apple butter and some honey; bring it to a boil then simmer for 20 minutes. I don't have a recipe, it just sounded good. It was tangy and sweet, and I'm quite happy with how it turned out.

Two nights ago Carol made a layered chocolate cupcake. She saw a recipe on Pinterest with a lot of complaints from people who couldn't make it work. Carol took a look at the recipe and figured out she knew what needed to be different to fix it.

For years we've used the joke that I cook and she bakes. But as I was deciding what to add to my sauce, I was thinking about how I could never tweak a baking recipe that way. In the oven things have to rise, the oven temperature and the thickness of the pan have to align, before the oven door closes everything has to already been put together properly so no time to adjust.

That's why I cook; there's plenty of time to play with the flavor. But I admire everyone brave enough to play with their kitchen counter like a chemistry set.

Cookie Party Photo Gallery

So Blogger was giving me trouble earlier when I tried to load all of my pictures from last weekend's cookie party into a single post. Let's see if it's more co-operative today (cooperative always looks weird without the hyphen, don't you think?).

Cookies and Cocktails

 Saturday marked our second annual cookie decorating party, and it was our most successful cookie decorating party yet, if I do say so myself (and I do, I do!).

A slew of all the coolest kids in the neighborhood and the surrounding region made the trip down to Greenwood for the festivities. We made Zombies (an icky cocktail with rum, apricot brand and pineapple juice; I hate pineapple), Midori Sour, and Wassail (I made the wassail in the slow cooker, but next year I'll start it much earlier; I had some the next day and it had picked up a lot more apple flavor from marinading overnight).

 I think I like theme parties best. I'm awkward at parties, never know what to say or how much to say or (often just as important) when to just shut up. I get restless without something to do, some goal that needs achieving (I suppose, now that I think about it, that's part of why I'm often willing to be the grill man at cook-outs: it keeps me busy.

But theme parties are definitely the best. And the parties at Greenwood have prizes. Which means we have pictures of the winners:

 

Things I Learned This Thanksgiving

Apparently, that beautiful and crispy bird is backside up. At least the breast meat was nice and juicy! File that one under: things to improve upon that turned out ok.

Carol's folks brought the turkey, Mom brought chocolate and apple pies, Carol baked a pumpkin pie, and Ed and Kristen brought wine.

It was fantastic getting everyone together. We played Pandemic and Rummikub, watched some football, had an adventure climbing onto the roof to re-orient the antenna, and we went to see The Muppets.

Things to be Thankful For-ish...

NYTimes:

When your relatives force you to look at photos on their phones, be thankful they no longer have access to a slide projector. When your aunt expounds on politics, rejoice inwardly that she does not hold elected office. Instead of focusing on the dry, tasteless turkey on your plate, be grateful the six-hour roasting process killed any toxic bacteria. 

 But I'm in charge of the turkey...

I'm looking forward to trying my sausage and apple stuffing, and Carol's making mashed potatoes with blue cheese.

I'll have to take some pictures before we carve it all up...