Saturday, January 8, 2011

peace and pasta

For Christmas, Wes gave me the pasta maker attachments for our KitchenAid. I was so excited to tell Katie about our new project, but she warned me: “Don’t try to make pasta together … it will lead to a fight!” She gave examples from her own experience and a mutual friend’s. (You know who you are.)

But her warning came too late. We mixed, rolled, and cut homemade pasta last week – in peace. I think the difference might be having a husband content to be an attentive sous-chef. And a sous-chef who’s willing to do the frustrating tasks: painstakingly separating the drying strands, cleaning the rollers, and listening to my chatter (“Katie said it’s okay to use a lot of flour” … “Hmmm, I’m pretty sure this needs more water” … “I think we should try this with semolina flour” … “No, the instructions say …” and on and on).

There are downsides to the sous-chef model of kitchen harmony—we don’t have nearly as many interesting meals as my friends with cooking partners, and it’s lonely sometimes grocery-shopping by myself—but it works for us. The fettuccine was our first meal of 2011!

6 comments:

  1. What a thoughtful husband you have. Gifting you a tool to express yourself creatively in the kitchen and then helping you out to boot! Kitchen harmony comes in different measurements :)

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  2. Three cheers for harmonious process, but I am waiting for some comment about the product you created together! The picture made my mouth water. What did you think?

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  3. Thanks for the cheers! We enjoyed the texture and taste! I found some Hodgson Mill pasta flour (semolina and durum blend) and it had a nice bite to it. There was a wheat recipe that came with the pasta attachments, so I might try that next. Maybe we can make some together if you come visit, Michelle!

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  4. You can add me and Cam to the pasta-making-leads-to-a-fight list. The second time around, I made all the pasta while he made some delicious homemade tomato sauce. It was a good compromise. Hope I can have a culinary adventure with you and Katie in 2011!

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  5. Thanks for identifying yourself Leah! Sounds like a tasty compromise. :)

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  6. Way to go, Wes--what a great gift and partner in the kitchen! This post made me smile because I could picture the two of you harmoniously working in the kitchen. Miss you both!

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