Valentine's day... I am not sure how I feel about this Holiday, Or if it should be called a Holiday at all. The past few valentines I spent with my steady boyfriends Ben and Jerry watching a sappy chick flick that I always end up disliking. So this year as Valentines rolled around I decided there wasn't going to be any wallowing in my self pity on the couch, this valentines was going to be fun; And my idea of fun is great food, great company and red wine in excess. My good friend Michaeline and I share our love for Tomato sauce, and my other friend Sarah who i made the butternut squash recipe with loves pasta so I got to thinking and I came up with a pretty great idea if i have to say so myself. The idea was to have a Pasta Making Valentines dinner, everyone assumes that making pasta is out of the question but, with a few techniques and three ingredient's its a lot easier then one may think. I used the technique and for the most part the same ingredients as About.com (link below**) instructions on how to make fresh pasta, the only change i made was the pasta dough seemed a bit dry so to add a little extra flavor i added a tiny bit of olive oil. The kneading is the hardest part simply because it takes a bit of time and some effort. I have made pasta before but Sarah and Michaeline hadn't so they kept worrying that it wasn't going to come together, so if you to get discouraged I promise its nothing a little more kneading cant fix. And if you still think its to dry add a bit of warm water or to wet add a bit more flour, use your judgement pasta making isn't a science! After the discouragement was through and we finally rolled out, cut and cooked the pasta it was delicious. Did the pasta turn out looking perfect, absolutely not some where to thick, some were to short, some didn't quite cook all the way through. But this comes with practice and it ended up being a ton of fun and a great alternative for a pointless holiday.
*Pictures coming.
**(http://gourmetfood.about.com/od/cookingtechniques/ss/freshpasta.htm)
