Blossom: Day Seventeen, Over Here

They won't say it's over ...

Wednesday 17 Frocktober

Outfit

• Factory gear

 Menu

• Breakfast - the usual, too boring
• Lunch - yaaawn
• Dinner - oh boy! Spaghetti and Meatballs!

Mood

• Freedomy? Brave?

Tomorrow I am going to see the local production of Jeff Wayne's version of The War Of The Worlds. So today, in honour of New York-born Mr Wayne - and of the famous (notorious?) 1938 radio drama adapted by Orson Welles - I decided to pay homage to the good people of the USA with tonight's dinner.


(The fact that I happened to have all the ingredients to hand may have something to do with it, of course.)

I made spaghetti and meatballs - a classic American dish that had been around for some time by the 1940s. I don't make this often but every time I do, I wonder why not - it is such fun to make and tastes really fresh and delicious.


Let's skip over the boringness of factory uniform, pinnie and headscarf and dive on into the fun I had cooking.

Blososm's Spaghetti and Meatballs (from scratch!)

Start with the meatballs. I used minced beef.

You don't need a lot.

 To this I added a finely chopped onion, some herbs ...

My herb garden needed trimming again. Parsley, thyme, oregano.

... An egg and some breadcrumbs.

It looks nicer later on, trust me.

Use your hands to mix it all together. Yes, your hands. It's the quickest, easiest way! Yes of course you wash them first. Don't be a wuss - just do it. You can wash them again afterwards, can't you?

Then use your hands - see, you have to plunge them into the minced goodness eventually - to roll the mix into individual meatballs.

Technically you're supposed to fry them, but I prefer to bake mine in the oven.

Bake, fry or grill them until they are cooked and smell like meatball heaven.

Next - make your pasta.

NATURALLY I made my pasta from scratch. Doesn't everybody own one of these?

Part of this standard kitchen.

Okay - 'fessing up here. I would probably have used dried pasta but I'd run out. And I happened to have the ingredients to hand, and fresh pasta is really yummy - and it's quite good fun to make, like making Pay-Doh but much more edible.

I use a strong white flour.

Flour ain't flour. This is a strong white flour intended just for pasta. You can totally tell, can't you?

I mixed it into a dough with a fresh egg, a bit of olive oil and a drop of water.

Knead the dough into a nice elastic, velvety lump.

You have to use your hands again.

I then left the dough to sit for a bit under a damp cloth until I was ready to roll it.

Next: the sauce.

I grabbed whatever vegies I had that needed using up.

You can use nearly anything.

Simple stuff: chop and cook in a frypan.

Until - you guessed it - brown.

Then I added some more herbs.

Oregano - as you can see, I have plenty.

And a tin of tomatoes. See? I didn't do everything from scratch.

Steamy.

I simmered it all together for a while, then added the meatballs.

Smelled amazingly nice.

Back to the pasta!

I started by getting a large pot of water on the boil. It's always best to put fresh pasta in to cook as soon as possible.

Then I started rolling my pasta dough. Which is WONDERFUL fun.

Once through the mangle.

Twice through the mangle.

Thrice through the mangle.

Through the mangle until it is velvety smooth.

Smooth and finely rolled.

Then through the spaghetti cutting attachment.

OOGLY!

Into the rapidly boiling, salted water for about three minutes ...

Until cooked.

That's all folks.

All that remained was to put it all together ...

... And enjoy the freshness. And say a little thanks to the good people of the USA for spaghetti and meatballs, plus all the other good things.

Frock you later.
Blososm