Ellipsis (...)

This week has been a ripping good one.  And by ripping I mean ripping out stitches...which I did most of the week (not annoying at all...really). My afghan project is proving to be quite a challenge.  I have gotten rather good at fixing my mistakes however.  This weekend I made some good distance, nearly through one whole ball of each color.  Knitting is just so exciting!

Our week here was very mellow.  It was too cold for fun outside, and I was too lame for creating fun inside (sigh).  The knitting was really the highlight of the week.  B would say things like, " Hey mom, how many rows did-ja get done today?", and "Wow... that sure is taking you a long time to finish that." Gotta love her.

Friday night rolls around and we are ready for some action, let me tell you.  So we pulled out our aprons (we have matching red and white ones), pulled back our hair and got down to business.  On the menu:  Pappardelle Pasta with Foccacia and Pineapple Upside-down Cake.

Ingredients:


Pasta:
2-3 cups All purpose flour
2-3 large eggs
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. olive oil

Instructions:
Dump your flour on to a clean dry surface ( I like put cracked pepper and nutmeg in to it). Make a well in the center.  Crack the eggs into the center.

With a fork scramble the eggs slowly adding flour from the sides.  Incorporate it as much as possible before adding more.  It will get goopy, then doughy.  Once it starts to come together like a dough, ditch the fork and use your hands.  Kneed the dough for a good 5-10 minutes.  It is a work out so don't just gently push it around.  Whomp on that dough.  Once it feels good and worked, or your hands are too tired to go on, shape the dough into a ball. Put a little bit of olive oil on your hands and coat the ball.  Put it in a covered bowl, or wrapped up some way,  and let it rest in the refrigerator for 20-30 minutes.  It will keep in the fridge for 3 days, safely.  Freeze it if it will not be used sooner, it'll hold up.
When you are ready to eat, cut the dough into quarters, or even eighths.  You want the pieces to be manageable. We often use a pasta roller to roll out the dough,but our counter space is limited and there is no place to hook it securely, so I rolled it out by hand.  Just be sure to lightly flour the surface and the rolling pin.  Roll it out to the thickness you'd like. Cut then dough into strips using a knife or rotary (pizza) cutter. Doesn't matter how wide.  I like an inch or two.  Drop them in boiling, salted water for about a minute or two( longer and it'll get rubbery)..  Drain. Season. Eat!!

This bread I've made before. This time I rolled it out. Divided it in half.  Spread one half with sharp cheddar. Sealed with the other half. Pinched the edges to make it pretty. Sprinkled olive oil and kosher salt on top. Marked it with a B and put it in 450 degree oven for 20 or so minutes.

Cake:
Once again I turned to Martha Stewart for guidance on decadence. (www.marthastewart.com and type in Pineapple upside-down cake).  I adapted the recipe slightly.  She used pecans...too fancy for this weekend.  We went a more traditional route and used unnaturally red cherries in syrup.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup butter (1/2 stick)
• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
• 1 fresh, ripe pineapple, sliced, or one 20-ounce can pineapple slices
• Maraschino cherries

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. In a mixing bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add the oil and milk to the bowl and beat for 1 minute. Add the vanilla, egg, blending just until well combined.
2. In a cast-iron skillet over medium heat, melt the butter. Remove from the heat and sprinkle the brown sugar around the skillet. Arrange the pineapple slices and cherries on top. Pour the batter evenly over the top and bake for 45 minutes.
3. Remove from the oven and cool the cake in the pan for 5 minutes. Turn the cake out onto a circular platter.

TAAAAH-DAAHHH!!!!

Now to end with this weeks Things I Love list.  It'll be short but sweet.

John Cusack-
I love John Cusack movies.  I know this might fall under last weeks 80's and 90's movies but, I don't think so.
He's just so darn cool, not like those 80's and 90's movies (uh-hum).  He could totally be your best friends brother that you have an embarrassing crush on...or not.  I'm just saying his movies are good, o.k.


Used book Stores-
A good book store is... a treasure unto itself.  I gravitate towards ones in old buildings, that look comfy and a little dark.  It should have an old paper smell and bad carpeting. Tons of old tables for displays and questionable shelving of varying sizes. Oversized, well-used chairs for lounging...as I will. There should also be weird semi-social staff whose dress is non-conformist chique, who'll be dismissive of you till you ask them for their staff pick or to simply check out.  Lovely really.


The smell of fresh coffee-
I think it is one of the best smells.  








Thanx for reading...

grrrrrrrrrr...

J