Pasta - A look inside

Being of German/English descent and an American Southern, pasta was never much of a staple on our table growing up. Mom did make a helava good lasagna with scratch homemade sauce but that was it.   Now, while my tastes have evolved and I eat more varieties, I have a new prospective having just completed a 2 hour pasta making class with a full blooded American Italian.

Melina of http://www.melinaspasta.com/ is the one at the Kitchen Aid in the this pic.  You can read Melina's story here: http://www.melinaskitchen.com/story/ and she has a great little business selling fresh made pastas at the local farmer's markets here in the Triad.  

April and I just completed one of her pasta making classes and we had a blast. Melina showed us the old technique for rolling and stretching the dough to thin it by hand which is a lot of work.  The had crank and electric Kitchen Aid are much better. :)  

We played with several different types of ravioli makers as well as an  Italian Chitarra pasta cutter, a Gnocchi board and Garganelli comb.

After we made the dough by hand and thinned it into sheets, we got to cut different shapes either by hand or with one of the machines or using one of the tools for ravioli and the garganelli  pasta.  I sort knew what to expect of the class but having access to Melina's stories and experience was awesome.  I highly recommend her class even if you know what to make pasta.  

Off to the market ----

First Snow Tracks

Little Man Lawton's first treak onto the snow.  Wide eyed and fearless, he scurries around the wooden deck in amazement to the marks he can leave with each step he takes.

Blending Party

Had some friends over today to help decide what blend would work best with a batch of Viognier and Blackberry that was ready to bottle.

The blackberry is from some berries my dad grew last year.  Since I fermented it to very dry it needed to be sweetened.  I thought it would be fun to get some input.  We also blended some of the blackberry with the Viognier We had a blast.