The everyday (from Niki)

Every time I read Aunt Marge's story below, I find it more interesting, more heartwarming, and more special. Dad and I were talking about it at lunch last week, and we decided it's pretty much impossible to follow-up with anything nearly that big. So, I'm swinging the opposite direction. To the simple. The mundane. The everyday.

I've been into food research and cooking the last couple years, especially finding ways of incorporating organic, natural, and start-from-scratch eating wherever I can. One of the things I really wanted for my birthday was a pasta maker. I figured it always looks so fun and easy on Iron Chef so how hard could it be?

Well, I managed to make a colossal mess and practically ruined the stove top, but it was dang good. Matt and I both agreed it was waaaay better than the store stuff. Granted it took me an hour and a half, but I’ll get faster and cleaner (hopefully) over time. It’s totally worth it though and we’ll never eat regular pasta again. Here’s the play by play:

Step one- Make a well in the flour and add eggs. Just like on TV!

Step 2- Mix, knead, and cover your entire counter top with flour. (So much so that you show up to work the next morning with white stuff all over your brown pants from the edges of the counter you missed cleaning).

Step 3- Roll out dough. Also known as the Most! Fun! Thing! Ever! Seriously, it’s like play-dough for grown-ups.



Step 4- Make sauce. The goal next summer is to grow all these ingredients fresh or get them from the farmer's market.

Step 4a- Saute onions and garlic in olive oil.


Step 4b- Add tomato puree, parsley, and other spices.


Step 5- Boil pasta. I have no pictures of this because, FYI, fresh pasta really expands and water was boiling everywhere - all over the stove, rolling onto the floor, and making a giant smelly, steamy mess.

Step 6- Arrange awesome birthday flowers and balloon from my mom, dad, and sister as the centerpiece of the table.

Step 7- Plate, garnish, accessorize and enjoy!
Now that I have the basic concept down, I plan to experiment with whole wheat, the spaghetti setting, and (dun dun duuuuun), ravioli.

So that's a glimpse into my everyday. I know everyone has a random everyday story they should share. It doesn't have to be picture-filled or particularly earth shattering, but I promise it'll make a great blog post. Who's next? :o)
Niki