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Friday, June 29, 2012

Homemade Pasta…You can do it


I have said in previous posts that I had a good pasta recipe, well it is time I shared it.  You would think that growing up in a large Italian family that I would prepare homemade pasta all the time. I should, but I don’t. It really is a simple process, however, like a lot of moms out there, I am busy and I fall all too often to the convenience of store bought foods. In this post, I am going to share my recipe for pasta from scratch. I pair it with whatever sauce I am in the mood for. It goes well with tomatoes or cream sauces.

The recipe calls for:
2 cups of Semolina flour…If you can’t find Semolina, all-purpose flour works too
2 eggs
1 teaspoon of salt
2 tablespoons of milk… whatever you have on hand, I tend to use 2% milk
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To begin, I mix the flour and salt together. Then sift onto your work surface. This is going to get a bit messy so a nice clean spot for kneading the dough is needed.
Into the flour, I make a volcano shape…to this add the 2 eggs and milk to the center

Then beat the eggs and milk together inside of the flour volcano. As you beat them slowly work in the flour.


After you have whisked the eggs and milk, you begin to pull flour from the sides into the middle. 
Flour volcano with eggs

Whisk together the eggs and milk
Pulling dough into the middle
 
 As the dough comes together, you can begin to knead it into a ball. I then refrigerate the ball of dough for roughly 10 minutes or so. The chilled dough is easier to work with.

Rolled dough

 Roll the chilled dough to a thin, pizza crust, like size. After this, roll the dough into a tube. From there, you can cut the noodles into your preferred shape by slicing the rolled dough. This makes a Fettuccini type noodle.

Rolled and cutting
drying noodles

 After cutting,  let your noodles dry for 2 hours. I spread mine out on my cutting board and leave them be. It’s a hard thing to do, because you just know they are going to taste so good but drying them firms up the dough and allows the magic of the ingredients to come together and meld. 


Too cook the noodle; simply boil in a salted pot of water for a couple of minutes. It does not take long to become al dente, then top with your favorite sauce. You can even add this pasta to your favorite soup recipes.   If you decide to tryout the recipe, I would love comments on how you thought it came out and what you topped your pasta with. 
Enjoy : )



Directions without all the pictures: 
-To begin, I mix the flour and salt together. Then sift onto your work surface. This is going to get a bit messy so a nice clean spot for kneading the dough is needed.
Into the flour, I make a volcano shape…to this add the 2 eggs and milk to the center
- Then beat the eggs and milk together inside of the flour volcano. As you beat them slowly work in the flour. As the dough comes together, you can begin to knead it into a ball. I then refrigerate the ball of dough for roughly 10 minutes or so. The chilled dough is easier to work with.
-Roll the chilled dough to a thin, pizza crust, like size. After this, roll the dough into a tube. From there, you can cut the noodles into your preferred shape by slicing the rolled dough. This makes a Fettuccini type noodle.  
- After cutting,  let your noodles dry for 2 hours. I spread mine out on my cutting board and leave them be. It’s a hard thing to do, because you just know they are going to taste so good but drying them firms up the dough and allows the magic of the ingredients to come together and meld.
-Too cook the noodle; simply boil in a salted pot of water for a couple of minutes. It does not take long to become al dente, then top with your favorite sauce. You can even add this pasta to your favorite soup recipes.   
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Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Down on the Farm... On Iron Oak Farm


I am lucky enough to live not far from some great people who let me play on their farm and when the need to smell a barn strikes me, they even let me go inside. My need to smell barns probably stems from my favorite earliest childhood memories of visiting my grandfather’s barn.  It is just something about the smell of hay and animals that take me back. I really can’t get enough. Strange, I know.  

Tonight, I was lucky enough to take in some haying being done out on the farm with my 9 year old son. As we pulled in the smell of the sweet cut grass was the first thing that I noticed.  From our view in the drive way we could already see my friends in the back acres picking up hay bales using their trusty old tractor affectionately called Ruby. I am not sure, but I don’t think Aaron was quite as excited as I was about the prospect of haying. He did however scope out their pool and I knew he found his bliss. 

Turkey Pullets
First thing I like to do once I get to their farm is check out how all the animals are doing. They always have something new and exciting going on, whether it is baby goats and bottle feedings,  breeding certain chicken breeds or getting a flock of heritage breed turkeys, there is always something new to see.  I love the turkeys that they have this year. It is easy to see the resemblance to dinosaurs. They move so much like the raptors in the movie Jurassic Park. I cannot wait to see how big they get. Baby animals and poultry are great. I mean who doesn’t love the babies, but there is also something very cool about a big ol’ fat hen or tom turkey…or chicken for that matter. I just love them. 


My boy walked through the barn, he really liked their Nubian goats, and then quickly found the pool. I mean, it was a hot end of June day so I can understand. I, on the other hand, jumped at the chance to catch a ride out into the hay field and learn all about the baler they were using to bale their hay. It was incredibly cool to watch the equipment make nice tidy bales from the rows of mowed down hay. Shoot, the baler, even tied the twine around the bales. Not that I think this is by any means an easy day at the office, baling hay, is for sure a back breaking thing that farmers need to get done on the hot dry days so they do not lose much hay to moisture and rot. 
My Boy on a hay bale




My farmer friends even let me take home a piece of the farm. I got to raid their garden and pick myself a large bowl of salad greens and a zucchini. There was a white carrot for dicing, but it never made it back to my house. My dearest little one ate it while still at their farm sitting in my car. I must admit, I am completely jealous that they already have fruits and veggies to harvest.  My poor little garden is starting to get flowers so things are moving in the right direction, but definitely not ready to bear a product that is for sure. 
My Harvest ; )




It was a great way to spend a summer evening. Call me cheesy, crazy, nerdy or maybe a dork, but I really do enjoy my field trips to the farm.
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Under Construction


After thinking and thinking about the direction I really want this blog to go in, I have come to the conclusion that the housewife thing was not really cutting it with me. I am a housewife and I do love the job but mostly, I am just a country girl. I have old fashion values when it comes to raising my boys and taking care of my Husband and home but I think my life experiences and philosophies on life really boil down to the country girl in me.  Please excuse my dust…   And without further ado… Drum Roll Please…  I am renaming and reinventing this little blog…

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