jethrien

Feel safe, these two topics are only connected in that I was thinking about both.

I'm continuing on my attempts to make homemade pasta. I realize that this is somewhat quixotic--lots of places will sell me pre-filled pasta. But I just can't get over my desire for custom ravioli. There are so many things you can put in them. Crab! Shrimp! Pears! Pinenuts! Pumpkin! Butternut squash! Sweet potato! (Yes, I realize the last three are barely distinguishable from each other. Shaddup. I love me some pasta filled with orange goo.)

The first time I tried making pasta sheets from scratch. I didn't get them thin enough; they were tasty (oh, the crab and creme fraiche filling was so amazing), but heavy as lead. You could eat, like, two. Someone said wonton wrappers could be substituted. Sure, if you like a pot full of congealed gluey mass. Someone else suggested fresh lasagne sheets. No go--to thick to seal and probably heavy as lead even if I'd gotten them to seal. (I ended up turning them into sort-of manicotti.)

Back to pasta from scratch. I tried the Williams-Sonoma Pasta book recipe. Disaster. The dough never came together. Instead, it stayed in increasingly dry seperate lumps which became horrifically tough as I kept trying to knead them. With the semolina flour, it started to feel rather like kneading drying pavement. I threw it out.

I pulled out the secret weapon. YouTube.

A nice man walked me step-by-step through the entire process. Among other things, he called for twice the number of eggs as the book. Pasta came together beautifully. Kneading it for fifteen minutes, though--wow. Old-fashioned Italian women must have arms (and abs and butts) of steel. That stuff becomes super elastic, and it takes an incredible amount of force to keep it going.

I think I got it thin enough this time, despite my rolling pin breaking a couple turns in. (Woe.) I finished making the ravioli (crabstick filling) around 11pm, so we will be eating these for lunch today. (I never intended them for dinner last night; I'm not stupid.) We'll see if I was successful this time.

I'm having lots of fun trouble with my nose in the tail end of this cold. Several of my coworkers swear by the Neti pot, so I figured I'd give one a try. The only one available at the supermarket included a 50 day supply of their special NeilMed(R) SINUSRINSE(TM) sachets. Ok. I'd heard you just use warm salt water, but I guess I'll try the special solution if I've got it. What's in it?

"NeilMed(R) SINUSRINSE(TM)sachets contain a patented mixture of pharmaceutical grade sodium chloride and sodium bicarbonate." ...by which you mean, salt and baking soda.

"DO NOT USE home-made recipes when using NeilMed(R) SINUSRINSE(TM) bottle." Because salt and baking soda are such dangerous chemicals?

"blah blah blah wrong concentrations blah blah." 'Cause when I gargle with salt water, if I don't mix the salt and the water via a triple beam balance and pipette, my THROAT TOTALLY EXPLODES.

"Additionally, store-bought table salt and baking soda may contain impurities as they are not pharmaceutical grade compounds for medical use." Oh, ok. I understand. It is vitally important that when I rinse my nose, the salt and baking soda be pharmaceutical grade. Wouldn't want impurities to briefly touch tissues that are designed to filter impurities. Because the regular stuff is full of impurities. So only use the regular stuff for eating.

Maybe I'll use the stuff. If I feel like it. I kind of wonder whether I wouldn't be better off putting Morton salt in my nose and baking with the sachets, though.

(Meanwhile, the sensation of water going in one nostril and coming out the other without touching your throat is really weird.)