twenty-one to thirty...

21: long, blonde, toddler curls

22: a clean kitchen

23: a nearly empty laundry

24: take away night

25: dentist cost being less than expected

26: 80x potted colour plants, so pretty!

27: that my children have each other (to fight with)

28: and that they really do love each other

29: a husband who works long hours

30: and still comes home and shares housework

I'm not a Cook...

Cooking in general is not something I'm good at, cooking places me in stupid mode most of the time, unless I have very clear precise instructions I can burn anything!

There are however a few things I CAN cook; spaghetti bolognaise (don't we all learn that at high school?) lasagne, devilled sausages, beef stroganoff, apricot chicken, mashed potatoes, banana cake... that's about the extent of my kitchen repertoire. Truly; I have been known to burn water. :blush:

This evening, however, I made pasta. Real pasta; flour and eggs, mixed by hand, fed through the pasta machine pasta! Even more incredible than the fact that I got my kitchen act together enough to make something "new" was that it was edible. It is a given in this house that if I am attempting to cook something new there must be an alternative available (even if it is only beans and toast!)

There is one more stage of incredible; I made an alteration to the recipe, using wholemeal instead of plain flour. 'Twas an evening for miracles I tell you; not just because I made edible food from scratch but because it was in fact so edible that fussy husband and fussy daughter BOTH ate it and liked it. Of course D jnr liked it too; it was food, he was eating it raw as R and I were trying to get him to help turn the pasta machine handle!

Here's what I learnt about making pasta:

1. The recipe makes WAY too much pasta for 2 adults, 1 child and 1 babe. I know it can be refrigerated but flouring the finished product and putting it in an airtight container was not so effective, it has turned into a clump of pasta. I need to experiment further with pasta storage.
2. Every time you make pasta the flour quantity will be slightly different depending on the actual size of your eggs. We always buy free range eggs direct from the farm so they, especially, have quite a size variance in each pack.
3. Once you have the pasta the thickness you want it, it is much easier to cut if you have allowed it to air a little. I used cooling racks and lay the pasta sheets on them to air, those that aired slightly longer cut much more easily than those that didn't.
4. Flouring the aired pasta makes it one further degree easier to cut (ie run through the machine without it getting stuck and with the blades having cut right through.)

This list was inspired by the joy of home made!

Kindest Wishes, AJ

Things I Love... #1

1: I have a deep love for anything to do with flight, birds in particular, they represent to me the ultimate freedom, footloose and fancy free (though whether a bird's life is really as we perceive it, who would know?)

 Decorative Wooden Bird House

2: Kitchen Art; I think too few people have art on the walls of their kitchens (not to mention the bathrooms!) I'm going to get some kitchen friendly prints framed and may even run a couple of extras for gifts.

The Graphics Fairy

3: Playing Games; we try to have a "games night" at least once a week, 'though an impromptu card game or similar takes place more often. My husband often plays hiding games with the children (hiding small items within the house, "magic" games, etc.)

Skip Bo; one of my all time favourite games.

(Parlour Games.)

4: I love the idea of being organised. I mean, really, it's a great theory isn't it? Everything in it's place and all? I just have not found a method that works for me yet, I am looking for it... I'm also dreaming of having my own personal organiser...

I wish my home was more like this but think I need someone like this to achieve such order.

This list was inspired by my friend Katie sharing a group of things she currently loves at Etsy. (Katie's gallery is clearly nothing like this post; for interest's sake the link was from the gorgeous little bird gift tags that Katie discovered.)

Kindest Wishes, AJ