pasta

Today we made pasta. Mercedes was home to see Ellia and celebrate our dad's birthday, which is tomorrow, and we decided to make some homemade pasta for his little birthday dinner. Having my Mom and Grandma in my kitchen, working away was so magical. Not to mention it was a gorgeous day outside, and the light was just pouring in perfectly.

My Grandma was born, and grew up in Southern Italy, in the mountains. I've been there, it's a pretty incredible, very small and old fashioned town. She moved to North America when she was 16, and her family shipped her off to New York to marry a man 11 years older than her, my grandfather, even though they never met and she couldn't speak English at all. A lot of people ask why we call her Grandma and not Nona or Nana, or something Italian, and it is because I knew all of my great-grandparents, except for one, and they were always our Nana and Nono's.

If you ask her how to make pasta she will tell you this...

"A lot of flour, a couple of eggs, a little bit of salt and enough water to make it stick"
(in her very heavy, Italian accent)

"Quanto basta," as much as you want or need.

And that's what she did. She just knows.

We made a gorgonzola cream sauce to top our homemade pasta, some pork thing (which I don't eat) 

 and some veggies. For dessert we made chocolate chip cookies and topped with ice cream and homemade chocolate ganache. Oh and of course my Grandma made an apple pie. Because you always need options.

xox nat