Scratch

Tonight was the dinner to end all dinners! Maybe I shouldn't say end, it's more like a beginning.

A couple of years ago Anthony and I started trying to pay more attention to the preservatives and other nasties that go into our food that we eat.

I would like to make it clear though that 3 out of 4 of the people in our family are extremely picky eaters so we don't shy away from McDonald's here and there, no one runs for the veggie platter at a party (except Anthony) and heaven forbid we run out of potato chips!

Tonight's dinner menu began at 11:00am when I sprinkled 4 teaspoons of yeast over a small bowl of warm sugar water. Over the day, with a few more ingredients and some elbow grease we would have french bread with dinner. At about 2:00pm I cracked open 2 cans of whole tomatoes,  blended them, added some spices, onion and oil and let our tomato sauce simmer down. What came next though was the best part.

It's my birthday on Saturday, and for my birthday my Dad bought me a pasta maker! I love all things pasta and now that I get to make on my own I don't know what I am going to do with myself!

I'm sure you've all seen how pasta is made be it in your mother or grandmother's kitchen or on the food network.  It's so easy! Two cups of flour and 3 eggs is all it takes!

Once I got through the technical part, kneeding the dough and letting it rest, it was time to break out the pasta maker. Oh it was so much fun! I do have to say, it's easier with four hands then two, as my recipe book so kindly told me, and luckily I had a few hands to help. The best was Jack who pretended to be the dough and said 'Ahhh...I'm being squished' as he rolled it through the cutter!

I didn't know you had to dry the pasta before you cooked it so I had to turn my quilt rack into a pasta dryer. It actually worked perfectly.  Thankfully the cats weren't around, because hanging spaghetti can tend to look like string!

Now we've come to dinner. I've spent small parts of the day building up to this moment. The bread has proofed, been shaped, proofed again and baked. The tomatoes have simmered down to a beautiful  thick rich red sauce and the pasta has dried and been cooked.

As we all sat down and began eating I waited for the 'I don't like this' or the 'mommy I'm not hungry' but it never came. It was silent and silent at our dinner table means the food is good.