Wednesday, October 6, 2010

The design of homemade pasta!

I went to another class on Monday!  This time it was homemade paste with a variety of sauces.  As a child,  I would watch my grandmother get out the "mararoni board" from behind the big white stove.  I loved watching her make the dough and use the board to roll out all kinds of pasta.

This class was a bit different than grandma's house.  Held at the Viking Cooking Store in Franklin, the class was informative and very helpful.  We made three kinds of pasta with three different sauces.

The first was herbed pasta with red wine reduction and mushrooms, next--whole wheat ravioli with savory pumpkin filling and sage butter, and last--tortellini with tomato concasse.

The most surprising was the ravioli because I did not think that pumpkin filling would ever top the taste of meat ravioli.  But...the result was a wonderful combination worthy of fall!

A day before class, I brought all of my remaining herbs (and even a tomato plant) into the screened porch.  Once class ended, I was anxious to get home and plan a homemade pasta menu using my herbs and the information I learned in class.  I decided to try the herbed pasta with red wine reduction.

Here are the results!

The dough - Basic Pasta Dough with fresh basil, parsley, and oregano.


Ready to begin the process.  The large flat pasta attachment on the Kitchen Aid.


Fist attempt...not too bad!
Letting the past rest before cutting.
Beginning of the red wine reduction sauce.  I added the mushrooms, herbs, and a small amount of ground turkey later in the process.

Cutting the flat pieces (above) and letting them rest again (below)


Finally cooking (in an old pasta pot)!

End result

Finishing touch!
...on to cheese making!





Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Paul's Day of Design


This past Saturday, Paul showed a collection of his wheel-thrown plates at the Arts Company (5th Avenue, Nashville).  The main artist, Tony Breuer, was showing his collection titled--Seeing Through Spaces. Paul's collection theme, Time and Space, complemented Tony's and presented an interesting mix of media.  The "showings" were part of the First Saturday Art Crawl.

Here are some pictures of the event.

 Paul's collection: Saturn, Earth from Space, Planet Alignment, and sundials
(Stoneware with a variety of glazing techniques)

 Several were sold--including a start chart that consisted of two separate plates that--when rotated--visualized the night sky.

 Some of my favorites that have been part of my courtyard decoration as well as table decorations.

Some of Tony's pieces.  This artist resides in coastal North Carolina.  The picture on the left shows the wild mustangs on Ocracoke.


Paul, Tony, and Tony's wife
 Paul and his "collection"

The Arts Company was decorated for the event.  A private party for the main artist took place the night before.  The "avant garage" was converted into an upscale party room!  Check out these pics...hard to believe that this is actually an "industrial-type" garage!




 Champagne and wine for all!
 Tables for mingling


 Table decorations


...and that was Paul's day of design!