Abbiamo imparato a fare la pasta!

That’s right…we learned how to make pasta!

 

The Real Cool Cooking School

As an engagement gift, my siblings gave Todd and I gift certificates to the Bekins’ Real Cool Cooking School in Grand Haven.  Finally, last Tuesday, we went to learn how to make fresh pasta.  We chose this class because we figured it was something that we’d never attempt do on our own.

Chef Todd

Our instructor, Tom Reinhart, was trained at the Culinary Institue of America and did a great job of walking us rookies through the process.  There were about 8 people in the class and it was the perfect size to allow each of us to actively participate in the class.

Chef Tom teaching us the technique

Everything we learned was surprisingly simple.  After mixing up a batch of dough (eggs + flour + salt) we all got to work kneading and rolling out the dough with a pasta maker.  While we got the pasta nice and thin, Chef Tom started mixing up fillings for what would eventually be our raviolis.  We all worked together to create three types of ravioli – three cheese and spinach, chicken and garlic and sausage and cheese – creating tortellini, beggar’s purses and triangles of dough to wrap around the delicious fillings.  It was a long process, especially since we were learning as we went but really simple, I never knew make pasta from scratch would be so easy!  Plus, it was so fun to put effort into a meal and have it turn out so well.  We even added a pasta roller to our gift registry after we got home!

The Final Product - Così Delizioso!

The class was great fun and I’d definitely try another.  The school offers classes every Tuesday night and Saturdays too, teaching bread baking, how to make soups and sauces and souffles, world cuisine, cakes – pretty much anything you’d want to learn how to make.  Even though the Real Cool Cooking School has a cheesy name it’s well worth the visit.

Ready to Cook!

Thanks Matt, Em and Drew for the great gift, we loved it!

Abriendo Mentes Update

During our time in Playa Potrero we were able to take video and finally, months later we have finished work on the Abriendo Mentes – An Introduction video.  Watching the footage made me miss Potrero and the kids so much.  Todd and I are both hoping that a trip back is in the star but until this video will have to do.  We hope you enjoy it!

 

And don’t forget, since we’ve left Meradith and Drew have continued their work helping to educate the young minds of Potrero.  They’re down there making a difference and you can keep up with all of their amazing accomplishments at their website and blog.  Miss you guys!

 

 

A Reflection on ArtPrize

Today is the last day of ArtPrize until next year’s competition.  Last year, Todd and I missed the  majority of the inaugural installment of ArtPrize because we were on our trip to Machu Picchu.  This year we were able to spend a good amount of time downtown during the competition, both for ArtPrize and other unrelated events.  The buzz around the social experiment (a term that I dislike for some reason) has been overwhelmingly positive.  As a bonafide participant in the ArtPrize 2010 experience, I have to say I completely agree.

Every time I’ve been downtown in the last two weeks the bustle has been amazing.  I have never seen so many people walking around in Grand Rapids, it’s felt like a different city, as busy as any day in Chicago.  It’s great to see people enjoying and, I think largely, getting to know their city.  It makes everything feel so alive.

Another thing is that literally everyone has been downtown.  From moms with strollers to groups of hipster kids to businessmen and buses full of senior citizens, people from every walk of life have been walking around to check out the art.  ArtPrize has become the most universally popular attraction in this town.

On top of that, everyone seems to have an opinion about what’s good and what’s bad.  What’s art and what’s not.  It’s a far more stimulating discussion than any I ever had in an art class when I was in school.

One of the things I think of when considering whether to stay in Grand Rapids or to move elsewhere for awhile is the energy of a city.  Of course a new place is always exciting and full of things to discover but there are some cities where people are outside all of the time.  It was that way when I lived in Buenos Aires and the life that was constantly happening on the streets was invigorating and I miss that.  But in these last two weeks of ArtPrize, Grand Rapids has felt that way – lively, exciting, buzzing, energetic.

I am so excited that Grand Rapids has been blessed with ArtPrize.  It has woken up the city, it has brought it alive.  I am so proud of our little town.

 

Silver Lining

I had the worst day at work today. Just really crummy. When Todd came home from work today, he arrived with this to make me feel better:

He is the best. I am so lucky.

We’re jammin, jammin…

Todd’s a pretty normal guy but he has one big quirk.  His big quirk is that he doesn’t like jam.  It has something to do with the texture and also his aversion to fruit (his biggest quirk).  He even claims he can’t stand the smell of jam and leaves the room when I’m putting jam on my toast.

Despite his utter dislike of jam, yesterday afternoon he helped me make homemade blueberry lavender jam.  It must be love!

I’d never made jam before but saw this recipe on a friend of a friend’s blog.  How could I resist?

picking out the stems

blueberries ready to make into jam

todd zesting the lemon

such beautiful colors

mashing those berries

blueberries, sugar, lavender, lemon

jam, jarred

finished product

(From Surprised by Joy)

Blueberry Lavender Jam
Adapted from Vanilla Garlic

3 lbs of blueberries (48 oz.)
1 lb of sugar (16 oz.)
3 T. dried lavender
Juice and zest of one large lemon, preferably organic
1/4 teaspoon of butter (this prevents foaming)

Day Before Jamming: Measure out your sugar using a kitchen scale and place in a large bowl. Measure the dried lavender into the center of a square of cheesecloth and tie up tightly in a sachet. Bury this sachet in the sugar and cover well, letting it sit preferably for 24 hours. This helps infuse the lavender essence into the sugar, which lends to a beautiful, full flavor in the jam.

Day Of Jamming: Wash the blueberries and toss them into a stainless steel or copper pot, or a enamel lined dutch oven (not an aluminum pot as this will leach). Mash the berries with a wooden spoon or a potato masher. Add the rest of the ingredients, including the lavender sachet, and stir. Let macerate for about 10 minutes. Place a small plate in the freezer, as this will be used for testing later.

Turn heat to medium-high. The mixture will bubble and froth vigorously. Skim the foam off the top with a slotted spoon, if necessary (the butter should help prevent foaming; I found stirring mine well kept it from foaming too much.) The boil will subside to larger bubbles, but still bubble vigorously. Be sure to stir frequently, to keep the jam from sticking to the bottom.

After about 20 minutes, begin testing the jam by placing a small amount on the cold plate. Allow 30 seconds to pass and then run your finger through it to see what the cooled consistency will be. Boil for a few minutes longer if desired for a thicker jam. (Because of the high amount of pectin, the jam sets up pretty well, so turn off the heat when it still seems just a little too liquidy.)

Remove the lavender sachet and discard, then ladle the jam into hot, sterilized canning jars* and seal leaving 1/4 inch of head space. Wipe the rims of the jars clean before applying the lids. Screw on the rings to finger-tight. Work quickly. Process in a water bath for about 10 minutes to ensure a good seal. (A large stock pot is perfect for this.)

Let the jars sit out on a towel overnight, and then store in a cool, dry place.

The only difference in how we made it was that we didn’t actually properly can it.  Instead, we just froze the jam we’re not using right away in sterilized canning jars so that we’ll have blueberry lavender jam available to us all winter long.  I tried it on my toast this morning and it turned out great – a really lovely combination.

“We’re jammin.  To think that jammin was a thing of the past, we’re jamming, jammin and I hope this jam is gonna last.” – B. Marley

A Perfect Fall Day

It is officially fall at the Neckers-Lautenbach residence.  I loved today so much.  That cozy, warm feeling that comes with the beginning of fall is abundant and a lazy Sunday at home was the perfect way to enjoy it.  Fresh apples and apple cider from Robinette’s, fresh baked apple cider-oatmeal cookies, homemade steak chili and a lovely carmel apple scented candle burning – so autumnal!  I love days like this.  Love, love, love.

Apple Cider Cookie and Fresh Apple Cider, Delish!

Fresh Baked Apple Cider Oatmeal Cookies

Homemade Steak Chili

New Holland’s Ichabod

Wine School

On Thursday night, I took Todd out on a date. We’ve been trying to be more frugal since getting home from Costa Rica since we have a wedding – and a life together – to save for. Because of that we’ve been eating at home a lot more so a night out on the town together felt special instead of routine.

Todd at Wine School

After a picnic at Wilcox Park courtesy of The Green Well take-out (they never disappoint!) and a quick ice cream cone at Jersey Junction, we headed to Mangiamo for their weekly Wine School.  Before this week I had no idea that Mangiamo held a wine tasting every week.  I also had no idea that they had an amazing wine cellar in the basement.  The wine cellar is set up with a few high tables, couches and armchairs and has a pretty homey feel.  The school portion of the night was minimal.  They describe the wine we were tasting, where it was from and then let us just sip it at our leisure.  We tried five wines in all, the theme of the night being “Uncommon Varietals” so it was fun to taste wine that we’d never had before.  Neither of us had even heard of any of them.

Wine and Tasting Sheets

As an added bonus they brought pizza in at the beginning of the evening so for only $25 per couple we could have eaten dinner and enjoyed five tasting wines plus one complimentary glass of wine to start things off.  It’s always fun for us to do wine tastings because neither of us have very refined palettes.  “It tastes like a red” and “All whites smell like dust” are very representative statements when it comes to our wine discussions.  We had a great time though and I’m sure we’ll be back again.

Tasting Sheets

Announcing kateandtodd.com!

We are very excited to announce our wedding website, http://www.kateandtodd.com!

What you’ll see now is a pared down version but as the wedding date draws near we’ll update the site with more information on the ceremony, reception and other wedding related information.

Please visit our page, sign the guestbook and make requests for wedding music if you want!

We hope you enjoy.

Sneak Peek – Engagement Pictures

Last night Todd and I had our engagement pictures taken.  We were very lucky to have my wonderful, talented cousin, Rebecca take them for us.  It was a great night and we were able to walk downtown by the river, get on top of the Oakwood apartments (thanks Dad!) and spend some time at the Frederik Meijer Gardens as well.

For a sneak peek, please visit her blog at: http://beccaelizabethphotography1.blogspot.com/

We had such a great time shooting with Rebecca and we hope you enjoy seeing the pictures as much as we enjoyed having them taken!

Cupcake Creations and an Engagement Celebration

On Sunday my parents along with Todd’s parents threw us a party to celebrate our engagement.  It was a really fun event.  My family is quite big which can be overwhelming.  It was really nice for Todd to be able to spend a little more time with them and also for his parents and aunts and uncles to have the chance to meet a lot of my family.

Celebration Spread

The spread of food was amazing.  Shrimp, lemon drops, fudge brownies, fresh fruit and cupcakes.  Now, let’s talk about these cupcakes.

Cupcakes and Cookies!

While we were still in Costa Rica, my mom began planning for this party.  One email I received asked me what some of my and Todd’s favorite childhood things were.  It turns out she was incorporating some of our favorite childhood things into the cupcakes, baked by Making Thyme Kitchen on Cherry Street, for the party.  I don’t think I need to tell you that they turned out amazing.

Here were the cupcake flavors:

1 – Chocolate Fudge: Based on our mutual love of Mackinac Island these chocolatey cupcakes were the perfect homage to one of our favorite childhood vacation spots.

2 – Rice Krispie Treat: One of my favorite childhood treats, these cupcakes were frosted with marshmallow cream and then topped with Rice Krispies and tasted just like the real thing.

3 – PB&J (minus the J): Todd loves peanut butter and hates jam or jelly in any form so these were just peanut butter.  The frosting was that perfect sweet peanut buttery goodness that can only be found in Halloween’s least favorite candy, orange and black peanut butter kisses, which I happen to love.

4 – Maple Bacon Waffle: Todd loved breakfast food as a kid.  This unique and most delicious cupcake featured a waffle flavored base iced with a thick layer of maple frosting and then topped with a touch of bacon.  The bacon was the perfect thing to temper the sweetness of the maple – unbelievable!

On top of these four flavors there were two types of mini cupcakes, carrot cake and champagne which were just decadent little mouthfuls.  Apart from the cupcakes, we were blessed with a gorgeous day and we had a great time seeing our family for (pretty much) the first time since we’ve been engaged.  We’re pretty lucky, indeed.

*Happy 30th Anniversary (yesterday) to my parents!  Love you both.  🙂