It is a wonder how ones mood changes with the weather. And today is sunny and warm and beautiful. Even the brownish grass in the lawn looks somewhat brighter! Lawn- that just remained me of an old quarrel between Marie and Frank (Everybody Loves Raymond): "Who invented the lawn?" LOL So, my mood is on its highest, just put into oven some cabbage loafs, made some salad with leftover steamed cabbage leaves (with tons of garlic!), and stirred my "sourdough mother"! The procedure started yesterday after I bookmarked and printed out the recipe @Stumptown Savoury. There are many many wonderful recipes on this site, please do check them out! You can find the recipe here. Can hardly wait until my "sourdough mother" is ready and I can start baking with it!!!
Another good thing elated me today: I got a Stylish Blogger Award from Elyse @The Cultural Dish! Thank you Elyse! If you follow this blog you are probably familiar with super elegant Valentine Profiteroles and Cake Balls. If not, what are you waiting for, click that links and indulge yourself in yumminess! Official thank is on My Awards page.
Yesterday I mentioned my little computer helper, my youngest son. I wanted to glue his photo to the post but as he wasn't into it, I just let go. Anyhow, after he read all the flattering comment, he kind of said: "Oh well you can just put me on if you like!" So here he is. I took the pic this morning before his concert. He is playing cielo.
The female part of our family likes creamy, soft flavors, while the male part of the family prefers clean, fresh flavors. So, when I cook pasta I always go in two directions: totally white sauce for one side and simple tomato sauce for the other side. I make my sauces a little special by adding some nutritious vegetables.
The biggest mistake people do when they boil pasta is add oil to the water so they can avoid "sticky" pasta situations. But oil makes the sauce slide right off the pasta and prevents pasta from absorbing all the delicious flavors from the sauce. Result: two individual dishes on the same plate: pasta + sauce; instead of one heavenly meal you cannot have enough of.
Is it really so hard to stick around the oven during the time needed for the pasta to be cooked?
Manage your time.
- Once the water is boiling, it is enough just to stick around and stir the pasta until water boils again, turn the heat down a bit, set timer to 10 minutes (which is the cooking time for most dry pasta), and then just stir occasionally to prevent pasta from sticking to the bottom of the pot.
- And actually the time that it takes for the water to boil and the pasta to cook, is the same amount of time it takes to make the white sauce.
Double Trouble
