PASTA QUEST DAY...week 2...day 11

In tonight’s meal the sauce is replaced by a salad. The combination of the warm pasta and the room temperature salad makes for a pleasant experience. The basic salad consists of fresh tomatoes, celery, mozzarella, garlic, and onions, and may easily be enhanced by the addition of your favorite ingredients. I have served this with the addition of black olives, sausage, and bacon, individually, not in one meal.



5-12-11



Penne with fresh tomatoes, celery, and mozzarella

INGREDIENTS:

Penne, or other shaped pasta
Grape tomatoes cut in half
Celery
Fresh parsley, chopped
Mozzarella cheese cut in bite-sized pieces
Garlic, finely chopped
Onion, thinly sliced
Olive oil
Salt, pepper, basil and oregano
Fresh lemon juice
Ciabatta bread cut into ½ inch pieces



PROCESS:

Prepare the salad early so it can sit for about an hour before using. Mix all ingredients in bowl with 2-3 tablespoons of water and olive oil and allow to sit at room temperature.

Toast the bread in olive oil and butter and set aside.

Toss the salad with the pasta and top with the croutons and drizzle with olive oil.

COMMENTS:

Patience and I both give this a 10. I know, you’re wondering just how critical we are. I assure you we are both very difficult to please, so you can trust our grading. I must add…the ciabatta toasted in olive oil and butter were at least a 15!

A SERIES IN PROGRESS

The recent painting, TURBULENT SKY, has since become the first of what has become a new series. The paintings all share the same technical approach in the rendering of the skies and foreground, with the focus on exploring the different uses of color and light and their effect on the horizon. It has taken a great deal of restraint on my part not to include barns and trees...I don't know how long that will last. Here are the 3 paintings completed to date.


Turbulent Sky...acrylic...24x48


Gold Landscape...acrylic...12x36


Blue Landscape...acrylic...18x24

The last 2 are on "re-cycled" canvases

PASTA QUEST DAY...week 2...day 10

There was left over gravy meat in the fridge…sausage and chicken…that had to be used, and there was never any question as to how. Pasta with beans is a common Italian soul food, served either as a loose soup dish or with a thicker sauce, (my mom’s way). It was only as an adult, away from home, that I realized that the dish I knew as Pasta Fazool was the same as pasta fagioli, something my mother would never serve to guests…it was too common.

5-11-11





Pasta “Fazool” (Pasta Fagioli to non-Italian-Americans)

INGREDIENTS:

Gemelli
Leftover tomato sauce
olive oil
garlic
I can white beans…northern, navy, or cannellini beans

PROCESS:

Normally you make the sauce, then add the beans. Since the leftover meat had sauce with it I simple sautéed some garlic in olive oil with a tablespoon of tomato paste before adding the meat and the beans (un-drained).


COMMENTS:

I feel like I’m cheating giving a 10 to leftovers…but as my dear wife says…a ten is a ten, and that is what she is giving this. I am too full to write any more at this time. Now I’ll have to go rub her feet (not my favorite body part) because she worked all day.

HAVE I TOLD YOU TODAY THAT I LOVE YOU part 7

FIND GOD

This task will be as difficult or as easy as you make it. Life is the ultimate mystery, and the best we can do is approach it as such, accepting the fact that we have to settle for that which we intuit, or sense, as long as it is intellectually acceptable.

God deserves more from us than a theological doctrine with “answers” to all of our questions. God must be experienced! Do not settle for the God of your parents, or their parents, or the God of any church or dogma, but seek the God that you can find and know, and believe, and nothing less. God is not a science, and we don’t need “answers”; we can live with the mystery and the questions.

You are God’s creation...respect that creation and you worship God, far more than you could with any service or pageantry or other public utterances.

Do not be discouraged by spiritual tides that will wash away your faith as easily as they bring it. Your faith may be eroded, but somehow, in the course of a lifetime, the core of your faith will survive.



LIVE LIFE FROM THE INSIDE OUT

Only by looking inward can you navigate the world around you without being overcome by the forces of conformity, custom, convention, expectations of others and tradition, all of which may be directing you away from the paths of your choice. It is very easy to follow a course that may be popular, well thought of by others, and free of risk and stress. But if it is not your path, your direction, or your call, it will lead you nowhere. Ultimately there is only your self to answer to.

The journey inward is not a call to self-absorption and narcissism, but a preparation for the journey outward. Only by serving ourselves can we effectively serve others. There are those who belittle or criticize self-reflection unjustly, probably because they lack the courage to do so themselves. But in all things, there can be excess, using the inward journey to avoid the external world, or becoming obsessed and blinded by your own impressions of yourself. Against this you must guard.

PASTA QUEST DAY...week 2...day 9

5-10-11



OK...I'M BRAGGING ABOUT THIS...A PURE TEN. IT WOULD BE A 20 IF WE WENT THAT HIGH.

Capellini with smoked salmon, lemon, and dill in cream sauce

INGREDIENTS:

Angel hair pasta
Smoked Salmon cut into bite-sized pieces
Garlic thinly sliced
Shallot thinly sliced
Olive oil
Fresh dill
Fresh lemon juice
Butter
Heavy cream
Salt and pepper

PROCESS:

While the pasta is cooking, sauté the shallot and garlic in olive oil with a pad of butter and the juice of half a lemon. Add the pasta to the pan and mix in the salmon and fresh dill. Add pasta water as needed and drizzle with olive oil and serve.

COMMENTS:

Friends, this is no time for modesty. We hit one out of the park tonight. P and I both give this an unequivocal TEN! And it only took 15 minutes. I had some smoked salmon left over from last night and P had a kennel club meeting at 6:30. The result was exquisite. I urge everyone to try this.

PASTA QUEST DAY...week 2...day 8

In all of the excitement of preparing a dinner for 10 tonight I forgot to get photos of the food...I can't believe it. But I do have the pics to document the results of the evening.







The menu...

appetizers...assorted cheeses and crackers (so original! but easy)

first course...smoked salmon with green beans and rasberries drizzled with olive oil and fresh lemon juice

salad...mixed greens, pistachios, scallions, and olive oil and lemon juice

entre...penne pasta with tomato sauce/sausage and chicken thighs (as reported in yesterdays blog.)

desert...mixed fresh fruit with homemade short cakes and whipped cream.
plus assorted red wines and limoncello.

I'm too tired to write any comments...will only say they the meal was well received and no one embarrassed themselves. Will resume the regular pasta posts tomorrow.

TURBULENT SKY

Turbulent Sky...acrylic...24x48"

The painting is finished, and I'm rather pleased with the results. It is not unlike a lot of my previous work...big sky, low foreground...but seems to have a different "look" to it. I plan to use the same approach in one or two more paintings to see how it can evolve.

I don't know if the photos show it very well, but I used the same basic colors in the foreground as in the sky, with the edition of some touches of green.