As I talk about in another post on pasta, I love hand-made from-scratch pasta. Here’s a quick pic of my lasagna making project this afternoon…
Around my kitchen, we have a saying: I always cook with wine. Sometimes I even put it in my recipes. Today, I have sauce bubbling on the stove as I get ready for a dozen or so people to come over for Sunday Dinner. Like most things, I start with chopped onions and garlic and layer flavors in on top until it turns into sauce. Tomatoes, basil, oregano, thyme, a pinch of salt. Today, I had trimmed my neighbors rosemary hedge, so there’s a little glass of fresh rosemary sitting out. Sometimes I add grated zucchinis, if I have lots in the garden. I don’t add sugar – carrots maybe, or tomato paste for sweetness. I often toss in Kalamata olives and/or sundried tomatoes if I have them – which I usually do.
And always wine. If ever there are leftovers from a party, I keep the bottle in the fridge for later sauce-making. If it’s going to be a while before I get to it, I freeze the wine – you can do this in cube trays or muffin tins if you want, but a zip-top bag works just as well.
I didn’t get many pics of dinner tonight; I was a bit distracted getting ready for company. So here’s a snapshot of my happy dinning room full of friends, instead.
And, just for fun, here is my Tiger, who spent most of the day afternoon in the bathtub. Because, cats.
This recipe is the one I tend to use… as a guideline. It’s from an Amish community in Iowa where we have family friends, and this little local cookbook is full of treasures like Fudge Puddles, Rhubarb Cream Pie, and Cheddar Chowder Soup. As usual, I sorta loosely measure – a pinch of this, a handful of that. I usually use frozen bananas – sometimes 3 or four, and then I increase the dry bits to offset. I toss them peeled into my KitchenAid and mash them up with oil first followed by the eggs and then vanilla. I sometimes save out part of the oil and substitute some chunks of butter. Then sugar, salt, soda and sometimes a little hint of ginger and/or nutmeg and/or allspice. Flour goes last, and then into the pan. Weather impacts batter, too, so the rule of thumb is to bake in “a medium oven until done” – And if I use mini loaf pans, I cut the time in half. Just keep an eye on the loafs, and test with a toothpick. Comes out clean = done.