Despite our best plans, phở was not to be. Rose asked to go to a friend’s house and given that she couldn’t go to the school dance that week, I let her off the hook. Her free time is so rare and I don't want to make Sunday dinner a burden. She did come home with enough time to make the salad, remind Bastian to get quotes for each of us and enjoy dinner.
Last week Bastian used one of my father’s old books to find a quote for each of us. This book has a copyright from 1948 and this particular printing is from 1965.
It is 2,666 pages.
We each picked a page at random and he closed his eyes and pointed to select our message. Then he typed and printed it up and placed it on our plates. Apparently this was a winning idea since they both made sure to do it again. They are also keeping track of the quotes and who got them. Posterity, here we come. Since my father has passed away, it is a nice thing that has happened, using this book. It is a comforting reminder connecting the past to the present and the future.
As for the cooking, for the most part, it was just Bastian and I. This is ironic since he's the one who didn’t want to cook. He’s getting into the rhythm of it though. Bastian enjoyed the cooking more this time. It was quite a bit less labor intensive and time consuming. We started with sauteed mushrooms with smoked mozzarella and had tagliatelle with Bolognese sauce for the main course, canollis for desert (of course).He learned how to cut an onion and peel garlic; he cut the herbs from the garden and stripped the leaves off the stems. He was surprised that a meal would need to simmer for such a long time. I had him taste it at after an hour of simmering and then four hours later, nothing illustrates the difference quite like actually tasting the food. This is a recipe I used to make when my husband and I were first married. It was a new experience for the kids and they enjoyed it immensely. I’m not sure why I stopped making this sauce but it was amazing as usual.
Conversation was lively and we ended up googling an obscure preacher whose quotes came up at both dinners. We finished the night as we did last week, watching Modern Family and laughing out loud.
Signed,
Trying Momma
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Recipes and Cooking Notes Below
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Bolognese sauce with tagliatelle
Source: "The Classic Italian Cookbook" by Marcella Hazan
Trying Momma's Notes:
This is THE most delicious meat sauce I've ever tasted. It is prepared early in the day and then left to simmer for 4 hours. Well worth the wait!
Garlic bread
Source: Trying Momma
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees
2. Use fresh Italian bread and slice lengthwise
3. heat 5 tbsp butter and 1/4 cup olive oil in skillet
4. add 6 cloves of finely chopped garlic and saute until garlic is a light golden brown
5. brush garlic, oil and butter mixture on both pieces of the bread
6. wrap completely in tin foil and put in oven for between 30 minutes and an hour
7. Unwrap and enjoy!
Sautéed Mushrooms with Smoked Mozzarella
Source: Trying Momma
Trying Momma's Notes:
This is an easy peasy appetizer that you can whip up in ten minutes and it is awesome. The kids both asked for more though there was none to be had... it is an appetizer after all.
1. heat equal parts butter and olive oil in skillet
2. add washed, qartered mushrooms and saute until mushrooms are soft but firm
3. place in mini casserole dishes and grate fresh smoked mozzarella on top - enough to cover but still see the mushrooms underneath
4. place in oven or microwave until the cheese melts (oven: 10 minutes, microwave: 2 minutes)
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