Monday, March 12, 2012

St. Patty's Day!!

St. Patty's Day is coming up, so I decided to make my blog St. Patty's day themed! :D Ok, so here's some history on St. Patty's Day!

St. Patrick's real name was  Maewyn Succat, and he was born in Roman Britain. Apparently, at age 16 he was kidnapped and sold into slavery. To endure this, he looked to God. Six years later, he escaped to France, and first became a priest, and then the second bishop to Ireland. For the next 30 years, he built churches, schools, and monasteries, making Christianity widespread. If you're wondering about why the shamrock is so important on St. Patrick's Day, apparently St. Patrick used the shamrock as a metaphor for the trinity (because of the three leaves.) The Shamrock is also why people wear green on St. Patrick's day. But actually, originally, the color associated with him was blue. As for the leprechan...well I'll research that and get back to you guys and how that started! :D

http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/retail/story/2012-03-12/st-patricks-day-saturday/53499126/1
:D I love festive people!!

http://www.history.com/topics/st-patricks-day/photos
There's St. Patty :) I want my own stained glass window!!


Some random happy people :)
Awesome Chicago river :)
Empire State Building

Some Russian dancers :)

Thursday, March 8, 2012

Fresh Pasta

anabolicgourmet.blogspot.com

So last night I didn't have much homework, so I decided to cook dinner, which isn't unusual for me. But this time, I decided to go all out, and I made homemade pasta. It sounds hard, but really, making homemade pasta is super easy, and it tastes amazing :). So, here's the recipe I made...

For pasta:
6 eggs
12 Italian tbs flour (lol, it's basically just taking a big spoon and scooping it in the flour. It should be overfilled with flour, like about an inch above the spoon. I don't like measuring :) )
salt and fine pepper
1 tbs olive oil (just pour it in a spoon though)

Put all those ingredients in a food processor or mixer. Or you can mix them all by hand. If it's done right, the dough should form a nice ball. If it's too dry, add either water or if it's really dry add another egg. If it's too wet, add more flour. Next, roll out the dough, unless you have a dough cranker thing (it's the thing with the handle that flattens the dough...) Ok, so once it's rolled out, cut it into half a foot long strips. Wow, these are the most unclear directions ever. :) Ok to roll those strips up and make the long side face you. Cut the strips the way they are facing you, and now you kinda have pasta :). Put them in boiling water, and take them out...when they taste done :)




That's the pasta cutter machine :)


pasta-maker-machine.com






Ok sorry for those horrible directions :) This part is clearer...well kind of  :)
For the sauce for the pasta (though it's not really sauce) this is what you need


Mushrooms (any kind, like one package) Cut them up into penny sized pieces
Cherry tomatoes (one package) keep them whole
About 1/4 cup chicken broth (I think)
Salt and pepper
Olive oil
Fresh basil
Parsley
Any hard Italian cheese like parmesan to top

To cook, put mushrooms and cherry tomatoes together with olive oil. Add chicken broth after five minutes. Let this all cook while the pasta is going by the way. So then add salt, pepper, basil, and parsley. Let this all cook about five-ten minutes. Add the pasta and mix. Then top with cheese.

Sorry for those horrible directions, but really, all you need is the basic ingredients, and the rest is yours to decide :)