Kirkland Foodies: Dipping a toe into the blogosphere waters....

When the hubby told me he was starting a blog, I honestly didn't know what to think. But after giving it some thought, I realized that it was a great idea, for 2 reasons.

1. We love good food and good wine, and both are better shared with friends in some form or fashion.

2. I don't know about you, but my memory has gone to he** in the past few years. I can walk across a room and forget what I got up to do. So writing things down has become paramount to me not completely losing my mind. What a great way to actually remember all the great flavors we encounter on our foodie adventures! Along with every winery, varietal, year, etc that I drink - there is no longer room for all that info in my head.

So, this leads me to my first posting, my venture into pasta making. Somehow I've made it over age 40 without ever making my own pasta. I've repeatedly heard how easy it was to do, but like many, I always thought "yeah, right". So I decided earlier this week that today was the day to stand up to the challenge.

A little background first: For about 2 years now, we have been members of a CSA (community supported agriculture) with Full Circle Farms in Carnation, WA. Every 2 weeks, we pick up a small box of farm fresh produce - much of it grown right on the farm. Because of this, our family has expanded our palates with new fruits and veggies, and re-discovered some from years past. For example, I have discovered that roasted chiogga beets bear little resemblance to the canned beets of my childhood..... but that is a discussion for another post.

A few days before pickup, I receive an e-mail from the farm, detailing what's in the box, and giving me the chance to make substitutions if desired. This past week, there was a sugar pie pumpkin on the list. Now, pumpkin has never been a favorite of mine, so my first thought was to pick something else. But then I starting thinking that it was time to try something new and different, so I left it there.

The box contents were heading into the fridge 2 days ago, when my master-pumpkin-carver-in-training daughter came home from school. She immediately asked what the pumpkin was for, likely envisioning the "vomiting pumpkin" design she had recently encountered. But Mom said "Nope, it's for cooking", at which point the kid's face lit up with an enthusiastic "Oh cool, pumpkin pie!" Not being a pumpkin pie fan, I did not share her excitement.

Now for the pasta venture. After a prolonged look at the Food Network and Cooking Light websites for pumpkin recipies, I finally made some decisions. The recipe that jumped out at me was listed as "Difficult", but that did not deter me. Of course, normal people would try fettucine or lasagna sheets for their first try at fresh pasta. But not me....nooooooo. I decided to jump right into Wolfgang Puck's Pumpkin Ravioli with Sage Cream Sauce

. So I spent today making fresh spinach pasta dough, pumpkin puree filling, and the best pasta sauce I have ever had (heavy cream and butter have that effect on me - for today, I chose to ignore the effect on my waistline).

The beginnings of the pasta - a lump of dough, a tasty filling, and a brand new ravioli stamp from Sur La Table.

Finally learned to use a pasta roller.... took a couple of tries, but it is pretty easy once you get the hang of it.

Dollops of yummy pumpkin/heavy cream/sage/butter goodness went down.

Then a layer of pasta over the top, and the ravioli stamper got broken in.

And several hours after starting...... The finished pasta, with the aforementioned chiogga beets on a salad. Totally worth the work!

Oh yeah - don't forget dessert! Gingersnap Pumpkin Pie, mostly created by the pumpkin-pie-loving kid in the house.

All in all, my first foray into fresh pasta was a success. I would say I gained a little confidence today, and will definitely be doing this again soon. Actually, I'll be doing it tomorrow, as the rest of the dough and filling need to get combined and put in the freezer for another day. Maybe some of you can come join us for some fantastic fresh frozen pasta!