Monday, January 09, 2006

Getting Back To My Roots

Ty and I took down our Christmas tree on Saturday. It was bittersweet, but it had to be done, as we are not interested in turning our living room into a combustion engine.

Above is a picture of not our tree, by the way. It's the remains of a random tree that I snapped for its stark beauty, and also for the curiosity factor. Where did all the needles go? I've posted it here because initially I thought it would tie in nicely with both the removal-of-the-Christmas-tree theme and also with the title of the post; then, I had a few more sips of tea and realized that there are no roots in the picture, only branches. It's Monday morning; you're just going to have to lower your expectations a little, dear readers.

We worked up a good appetite by taking down the tree, so we finally broke out the pasta maker and made ourselves some fresh fettuccine:

Isn't it beautiful? I have to say, it turned out even better than I expected. The pasta maker has earned a piece of the valuable real estate that is our kitchen countertop, thus replacing the broken espresso maker and pushing the food processor ever closer to the edge. My mind is now constantly plotting the next batch: I'm thinking I'll put freshly ground pepper in with the flour, and it won't be long before I try my hand with spinach pasta. Yes, the Trattoria Breve will henceforth be serving homemade pasta (most of the time).

Given that the holidays are over and it's generally a glum time, I'm feeling pretty good.

Beautiful roses courtesy of my husband. Back off, ladies; like other good Italian wives, I own a rolling pin.

7 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Yum! I love fresh pasta but it's so labor intensive. That looks delicious.
And I own a rolling pin, but I never use it. I don't even really know how.

10:52 AM  
Blogger Tink said...

*Bows down to Italian Goddess* I'm such a disappointment to my culture ;). Beautiful flowers! I keep buying myself some in the hopes that someone else might catch on.

11:59 AM  
Blogger Mrs. Harridan said...

That is the most beautiful pasta I have ever seen.

I use my rolling pin on pizza dough from the local bakery. But other than that, pretty much never. I figure that's why Pillsbury makes foldable pie crust, so I never have to use the rolling pin for anything else.

3:29 PM  
Blogger Brooke said...

Mmmmm...fresh pasta AND roses? It doesn't get much better than that! (And thanks for the good wishes on my blog!)

5:11 PM  
Blogger Mignon said...

Is your pasta pure butter? It looks heavenly, but based on all my previous attempts at pasta, that can't be real!! I think you just scanned in the picture that came with the pasta maker. ;)

5:46 PM  
Blogger Arabella said...

Thanks, everyone!

Other than for making cookies about three times in two and a half years, I hang onto my rolling pin so that I can frighten flirtatious doctor ladies that may follow my husband home from the subway. Plus, it just makes me feel good to own one. It's so solid and wooden and earthy.

The pasta was made with type '00' flour, imported from Italy. All the pretentious food magazines and cookbooks that I've read on the issue say that it's the best, and, having tried it, I am inclined to believe them. The only other ingredients are egg, extra virgin olive oil, water, and a tiny pinch of salt.

That doesn't mean I don't love butter, though.

6:09 PM  
Blogger Ditsy Chick said...

Lemme get this straight, you are spendin your time fantasizing about what kind of pasta you are going to make next? Great gobs of greasy, grimy, gopher guts, I love ya!

MMMM, love the spinach pasta.

1:57 AM  

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