Life and Cooking in Slow Motion

Hello!  Today, not much knitting (though I am making progress on my Thistle Hat by Liz Merino), just lots of cooking.

I spent yesterday with two of my sisters (S and K) and my cousin's wife (J) at our Auntie J's house learning how to make three of my Italian Grandmother's (Noni) pasta specialties.

We drove about 1 hour south with all of the cousins.  The kids swam, played hide and go seek, and relaxed, while the Aunts worked in the kitchen.

Auntie J and Uncle G live in this amazing house with a fantastic farm kitchen, perfect for lots of cooks.

For the pasta, we used the recipe on the bag of Semolina Flour

Flour, egg, water,  olive oil, and salt.

Mix it with a fork and then your hands until it holds together.

Then the fun begins.  Auntie J uses an Imperia Pasta Maker to both knead and roll the pasta dough.

So in small batches, you roll the dough through the widest setting on the machine, adding flour if it is sticky.  Auntie J's advice is to NEVER put water on the machine or you will get hard paste that will never come off.  To clean the machine, she blows on it and wipes with a dry cloth.

We rolled the dough on the widest setting (1) then a bit thinner (3)

We folded the dough in half or in thirds, and started again on the widest setting.

You do this again and again and again and again and again until the dough is completely smooth, like parchment.

When it has no grain at all, is perfectly smooth, you gradually make the pasta strip thinner and thinner by cranking it through the maker at higher and higher settings until you hit 6.

The pasta should be a smooth, almost translucent strip.

 We folded the pasta strip in half, marked the halfway point and opened it back up on the table.  Then, dotted half with ravioli filling. 

The filling can be just about anything.  We used one made of equal parts cooked orange yam, or sweet potato, cooked sweet Italian sausage,  and parmesan cheese pureed until smooth.

Well, sort of smooth.
Then you fold over the dough, and seal in each bump of filling.

Auntie J used this cool wheel thingy (the official name!) to both cut and seal each ravioli square.

Ok, it's really called a fluted pastry and pasta wheel.
That's it!  Cook them for a few minutes, not very long at all in boiling water with some bouillon

Serve with sauce and more cheese.

Enjoy!

A special thanks to Auntie J for bringing back our Noni (Italian Grandmother) for a bit.  It was a wonderful afternoon.  My sister, S, said, "I don't have a long bucket list, but learning how to make Noni's pasta with Auntie J is definitely at the top.  Now we can cross this one off."

And I just want to say that while I was a bit slow with the pasta maker, Cousin J was amazing.  She was way the fastest to pick up the techniques and had great looking smooth pasta in no time.  We were all jealous.

Stay safe and well.
Yours,
f1bercat
Shaping the planet with my Noni's Ravioli

Hannah = Hermione or The Heart of Knitting Friday, October 28, 2011

Life & Knitting
I have packed Hannah's Hermione's Everyday Socks and will mail them out today.

Old cheap video mailers, those cardboard mailers meant for videos (remember those?) are a nice size for hand knit socks.  I included a little note with the designer's inspiration for the socks, and some care instructions.

The thing about knitting something for a specific person is that you think about that person while you knit.  I made myself a sweater about 26 years ago.  Other than that, all my knitting/crocheting/sewing has been for others.  I sit here typing in bare feet.

So, I'm knitting these socks for my niece Hannah, and I'm thinking about her the whole time.  I am the middle child of 5.  We are all in a row, Brother, Sister, Me, Sister, then 5 years later little Sister Amie.  Hannah is the oldest child of my "little sister"  Amie.  She is right in between (age wise)  my own daughters, Allie and Samantha.  We lived all over the country when we were first married because the Doc was first in Med school, then training, then training, and so on. So, although she is close in age with my girls,  I knew Hannah mostly from photos.  Thank goodness for the internet!  Although Amie and her 3 kids live in the Mid West and we live in the Pacific Northwest, I have gotten to know them from facebook and email!  Of course it's not the same as growing up in the same town, but still, it is a way to know their interests, their talents, their loves.

My family has always been seriously in love with the Harry Potter series by JK Rowling.  I heard about the first book on NPR, bought one and read it aloud to them quite early.  My sister, Amie, did the same.  So although living so far apart, the kids have always had this mutual love of wizarding.  For her 20th birthday, Hannah got to visit the Harry Potter Theme Park in Florida.  Really, it was a dream come true for her.  So, you can see these socks are a perfect match.  Here are some photos of Hannah in Florida:

Amie is on the left, Hannah the right, standing in front of the Hogwarts Express.

Some house-themed socks they bought at Filtch's Emporium.

Knitting for others, the time involved, the thought and care in choosing the right pattern, yarn, etc.  These gifts are truly from the heart and IN the heart.  Just making these socks gave me a chance to get to know my niece better.

I hope she enjoys them.

C. A. Losi