MAY 18

Second attempt at the homemade pasta for the month of May....delicious!  What a difference a pasta machine makes.  (and a lot of help from my daughter in law)  Actually, she made the first batch of dough while I watched.  I made the second batch which will be used for baseballs.  The third batch she stood right over my shoulder and supervised as I wasted so much flour on the second batch we were afraid we'd run out.  We teamed up the pasta with alfredo sauce, a lemon caper sauce and marinara sauce.  (grilled shrimp was optional)  All three sauces were a hit and the pasta was sooooooo good.  You wouldn't think you could taste the difference in store bought pasta and homemade but I am here to say you absolutely can.  Even Mr Hall complimented the meal.  I will try a homemade ravioli next week (with the pasta machine).  I just need to work on "eyeing" how much flour to add...that makes a difference in what comes out.... dough or baseballs.

MAY 9

Have you heard of the pasta wars?  Well that is the best way I can describe my first experience with homemade pasta.  It hurt I didn't have the pasta machine.  I  had a pasta machine but it mysteriously disappeared.  The recipe tells you to form a sort of  "well"  with the flour.  Once the "well" is formed, you are to add the whisked egg yolks and slowly pour them into the "well".  So far, so good.  What the recipe failed to mention is that as you begin to mix the flour into the whisked eggs, sometimes the eggs decide to run out of the "well" and take a trip down the cabinets!  It was all I could do to scoop up enough egg yolks to form a dough.  It kind of went down hill from there.  After the dough set up for a while, I began rolling it out.  Ugh. This is where the pasta machine would have come in handy.  I could not roll the dough out flat enough, thus, very thick pasta....not so good.  I will try one new homemade pasta dish a week for the month of May but I will get the pasta machine so I have nice thin pasta and not pasta dreadlocks!  Bon appetit!

MAY 5

May is here?  I have to say, since I made this resolution to try something new each month, they are just flying by!  So I had my ballet recital yesterday and it was a hit!  In fact, we have been invited by the Cincinnati Ballet director to perform in the Spring Production (which is a pretty big deal)  I'm in if everyone else is.  Of course I was nervous, but I just watched the girl in front of me and did what she did...haha.  So since I'm still talking the ballet classes and the Spanish classes, and still practicing my juggling (gave up the guitar)  I decided for May I'm going to try something once a week that I've been wanting to try for a long time.  It's not a physical challenge (or it shouldn't be)  I have a pasta maker and I am going to try to make  homemade pasta once a week for the month of May!  I know how good homemade pasta tastes compared to store boxed pasta and it's very different.  I hope mine tastes as good.....I'm sure mi familia will let me know!