Pasta and other adventures

How odd ...

I was so sure that being at home so much would mean a lot more time to blog and I would finally get a chance to cover all those topics I have been meaning to cover for so long but never actually written.

Oddly enough, I am finding that I have *less* time to write or read.

We have developed a rhythm of the day that has us all in bed at the same time and then all up again at the same time -- meaning that no one is getting a lot of introspective time.

We are, though, having a lot of fun! We have experimented with making out own pasta -- documented here -- and our own crackers. The pasta was less like Italian Pasta and more like German dumplings, but it was nice enough to have me considering trying again next week -- maybe with durham flour instead of pastry flour, since durham was developed specifically for pasta.

I may also figure out how to roll the dough thinner, which would make it more pasta-like and less dumpling-ish.

The crackers were a lot closer than my last attempt, but we're not there just yet. These did have a texture more like a real cracker, though. The last batch were crumbly and never crisped. I think the difference was that this time I used Kimi Harris' adaptation of a nourishing traditions recipe. (The one I tried to use last time, as it happens.) I think I may also have substituted olive oil for the butter the recipe called for since i was out of butter. Bad move -- very yucky crackers.

I have also had a chance to help with homeschooling which has been a blast! All I had to do was sit down at the table with the school books in front of me to try and figure out where we were up to and Jack leaped into my lap, grabbed the top book, and looked at me expectantly.

We worked for a couple of hours before I, not Jack, got tired.

What a rush!

Note: if you try making pasta, don't cut it and put it into a bowl like you see here. Rod spent 20 minutes separating it as it tried very hard to turn back into one single mass. (oops)