Note: this was originally posted to Ben Around the Block on July 28, 2014. I have made minor edits to protect privacy and comply with grammar.
July 28 already? Wow, this summer has been going by fast.
The rest of July has been mostly uneventful, yet pleasant. I’ve been getting along very well with my new housemate, SD [actual name redacted], and work has been surprisingly stress-free, even on case days. With only about two weeks left of work (Only two weeks? Wow, this summer really has been fast.), I’m really hoping to get a trial or two into my schedule. Only time will tell…
Outside of SD’s arrival (and a company BBQ at my boss’s house), the main event in the last week or so has been my experiments in the kitchen. Last Monday, I decided to teach myself to make Fettuccine Alfredo, a sophisticated-seeming pasta dish made with my favourite cheese, Parmigiano-Reggiano. The dish is rather easy to make, and it was quite a success! Now, I know what to make the next time I’m invited to a party or get a date (ladies…)!
Flush with success, I decided to try yet another dish earlier today. This time, I learned to make Torta di Pasta, a sophisticated-seeming pasta dish made with my favourite cheese, Parmigiano-Reggiano…wow, déjà vu. This dish isn’t quite as delicious or potentially romantic as Fettuccine Alfredo, but it is quite good, makes enough for plenty of leftovers, and is easy enough to make (though it uses a surprising amount of cheese).
All in all (I really overuse that phrase, don’t I?), I’ve been getting better at cooking, as long as the dish in question involves noodles and Parmigiano-Reggiano. I’m hoping that before this summer ends, I can expand past pasta dishes and try something new…like baking! I’m considering a simple bread recipe soon, and if that goes well, I can try something more advanced…like Black Forest cake (random ambition is random)! I may give Julia Child a run for her money someday…
Reflections:
More cooking! Experiments in the kitchen usually make for great blog posts, as there's usually a story behind the process and yummy food porn to upload. The blog post resulting from my baking experiments (ooh, foreshadowing!) affirms this.
The Fettuccine Alfredo recipe I worked with here is one that I still use any time I'm feeling fancy; I've even got a photo of it saved as one of my favorite (huh, I feel like using the American spelling today, unlike me eleven years ago) photos on my phone. Ironically, it comes from the back of a pasta box from Golden Grain Pasta, a brand I haven't seen in grocery stores for a while. It may not be the most sophisticated recipe, but it has great staying power. I have since discovered through experimentation that it also works great for linguine, spaghetti, capellini, and bucatini. Curiously, I've found that both the thickest and thinnest varieties (fettucinie and capellini, respectively) are my favourites (aaand we're back to British spelling). I guess this is a case of competing extremes providing vastly different experiences emphasizing different things to enjoy.
On a random note, I named this blog post after my favourite toy store as a small child. I just needed something with a pun on "noodle," and I was feeling weirdly nostalgic for childhood all summer.
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