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Location:Oakland
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
That's the cooking spirit.
You will never believe the amount of cooking that happened in our house a couple of weeks ago. Jeff's cousin Brian called and said, "Hey, let's cook." They selected a weekend. We didn't put out an invite because Jeff's family can smell a cook off 75 miles away. I think we had about 30 folks show up to make sure we were sticking to our Italian roots.
Here are the handsome chefs:
And their tools. Yes, Brian brought his own KitchenAid.
Yes, Jeff was insanely jealous that his was the least manly of the two.
Elizabeth and I sous cheffed.
Brian also brought butchered pig parts from a pig he raised (of course).
The boys' toys grind the meat double time for sausage.
We nearly missed a meal Friday night, but luckily while the potatoes boiled for gnocchi, we threw together some pesto for dinner with basil from our garden.
The fresh herbs were all from our garden, the veggies from Brian's.
Saturday morning as we prepped for the big party, Jeff threw a pizza into the oven for lunch. Narrowly avoiding another near missed meal.
As the oven cooled from pizza, Jeff threw in six loaves of bread for our feast.
The Cuisinart was making fresh breadcrumbs while the mixers tackled bread kneading and potato ricing. Our electrical got a work out.
Viva festa Italiana!
Here are the handsome chefs:
And their tools. Yes, Brian brought his own KitchenAid.
Yes, Jeff was insanely jealous that his was the least manly of the two.
Elizabeth and I sous cheffed.
Brian also brought butchered pig parts from a pig he raised (of course).
The boys' toys grind the meat double time for sausage.
We nearly missed a meal Friday night, but luckily while the potatoes boiled for gnocchi, we threw together some pesto for dinner with basil from our garden.
The fresh herbs were all from our garden, the veggies from Brian's.
Saturday morning as we prepped for the big party, Jeff threw a pizza into the oven for lunch. Narrowly avoiding another near missed meal.
As the oven cooled from pizza, Jeff threw in six loaves of bread for our feast.
The Cuisinart was making fresh breadcrumbs while the mixers tackled bread kneading and potato ricing. Our electrical got a work out.We stuffed zucchini and mushrooms from the Farmer's Market with homemade sausage, homemade breadcrumbs and cheese. I also put together a veggie version, Jeff's family is a little heavy on the veggie types.
Friday night we marinated onions in balsamic. I nearly forgot (darn wine!) but Brian remember just in time to stuff his two chickens (that he raised of course). RIP Amelia and Virgil.
LOVE that Brian travels with his own kitchen counter. It was Grandma Eda's! Can you believe all of Brian's stuff fit into his Prius. ha. 
The gnocchi crew at work.
The gorgeous gnocchi.
Sauce with veggies from Brian's garden.
His own tomato sauce with tomatoes from his garden.
The delicious conclusion. 
Salad in a bowl the size of a canoe.
Needless to say, we wrecked the food. It was absolutely an amazing experience to see Brian and Jeff working together. Besides the fact that they resemble each other so much, their passion for food is a kick!
Oh and there were people there too.
After everyone left and the house was quiet and covered in flour, we boiled what was left of Virgil and Amelia for chicken stock. :)
Viva festa Italiana!Monday, November 22, 2010
Junior Chef
Marco loves to cook with us.
He wants to try all of the ingredients raw and tell you about them. "Onions are lil' bit spicy mama?"
He wants to try the pasta to see if it's al dente. "No, too hard, not done yet!"
And most of all, he wants to stir. I set him up with his own cooking so I can actually get dinner finished. Here he is with what he called "special celery soup."
If you'd like to make it at home, ingredients are water, celery, onion, anise seed, basil flakes and salt and pepper to taste. Mix until bored, then demand snack.
He wants to try all of the ingredients raw and tell you about them. "Onions are lil' bit spicy mama?"
He wants to try the pasta to see if it's al dente. "No, too hard, not done yet!"
And most of all, he wants to stir. I set him up with his own cooking so I can actually get dinner finished. Here he is with what he called "special celery soup."
If you'd like to make it at home, ingredients are water, celery, onion, anise seed, basil flakes and salt and pepper to taste. Mix until bored, then demand snack.
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Let him scavenge cake.
Waste not, want not. Sometimes cake gets dribbled onto your chair.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
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