Cherry Saturday, January 4, 2020

~ Jenny

Still dumbfounded to be typing “2020.”

Today is Spaghetti Day.

I have mixed feeling about pasta. If it’s high fiber, it’s good for me, but if it’s whole wheat I don’t like it, so it has to be the high-fiber-but-it-doesn’t-look-or-taste-like-it kind, and that makes me suspicious. On the other hand, there are many delicious pasta recipes, especially if you include noodles, which I do because I’m a noodle-loving fiend.

I think I’ll go make stroganoff. I have high fiber noodles.

Here’s everything you need to know about Spaghetti Day.

38 thoughts on “Cherry Saturday, January 4, 2020”

  1. Love pasta but won’t have today. I try to get more whole grains and like the ‘whole grain’ pasta more than ‘whole wheat’. Every so often I’ll try the bean-based pasta but that just doesn’t do it for me.

    2. I bought $28 worth of quinoa pasta after reading a study that whole grains can extend your longevity by 2 years. My kids didn’t like it, so now I’m stuck with a bunch of mediocre pasta.

      1. Can you smother it with cheese? I find cheese improves everything, although if the pasta is really bad, it’ll just un-improve the cheese.

  2. Well, I did commit to “change is good” as my motto for 2020.

    So today I’m setting up my new computer. It was definitely time. Microsoft was about to stop supporting my operating system, and the power button on the old one (nine years old) was getting glitchy. So now I’m visiting all my usual sites (like here) to make sure they recognize me.

    And as to pasta, I don’t mind the whole wheat spaghetti as long as it’s angel hair size. That seems to keep it from getting all gummy.

  3. Last night my husband made an interesting dish. On a bed of herbed Angel hair pasta he prepared asparagus wrapped in a ham slice for each serving, topped with a friend egg. I wish he had made enough for seconds it was that good. Guess we were a day ahead.

      1. I saw prosciutto wrapped around mozzarella cheese in the specialty cheese kiosk of the supermarket shortly before the holiday. I was so tempted until I saw the price $10.99 for the package. That was when my inner cheapskate took over and I passed it over in favor of mini mozzarella cheese balls, which were on sale. Then went back to the produce section and bought mini cherry tomatoes. Brought them home and threaded them into a toothpick with salami and a piece of basil caprese style. Balsamic on the side, I didn’t think the grandchildren would like them but they devoured them.

  4. Today is better than spaghetti day, it’s the 17th anniversary of my first date with Paul! Little did we know all those years ago that we’d be married 20 weeks and 3 days later and still married 17 years later. Especially because he got lost on his way to pick me up.

  5. Sigh. I have already had my pasta allotment for the week. If I eat it more often, my weight goes out of control (more than normal). But it is so easy, so good and so tasty. And yesterday I made focaccia for the first time, so I have been over-indulging in bread. BAD, Jessie, BAD. I did walk a mile before the rain started so I am not totally bad.

    1. The summer between the first and second years of cooking school I worked at Spiaggia in Chicago. We made focaccia every weekday to cut into squares to put out in the bar during happy hour. We used the recipe from The Italian Baker by Carol Field. The sous chefs would take turns deciding how to top it. Man, that was delicious! And, when using a dough hook, quite easy. I wish I had made notes on the more memorable toppings. All I can remember now are what I call the pizza version (diced tomato, chopped basil and grated Grana Padano) and the one with the sides of these really huge green olives and cracked black pepper. It was fun pressing the olives into the dimples of the dough before baking.

  6. I find pasta only as good as the sauce it swims in.

    I’m crocheting. I should be continuing with the endless removal of stuff from the basement, but I had two contractors in to work up quotes for repairs this morning, was ghosted by a person who was supposed to pick up a free dresser, and have to leave in 45 minutes to get a quote for new kitchen counters.

    I wish there were an easier way to downsize and put a house on the market.

    1. Thanks for the link. While I’ve heard people refer to themselves as Pastafarians, I never knew about The Flying Spaghetti Monster. What a hoot! I particularly enjoyed the illustration.

  8. Ronzoni makes the most tolerable whole wheat pasta I’ve found. The spiral noodles are the best (I forget their technical name).

    I’m having brown rice tonight with leftover Indian food on it. Now I want pasta. Thanks a lot, Jenny.

  9. Day 11. Pipers Piping. I tried to think of famous pipers, like Piper Hallowell from Charmed, or Barney Fife from the Andy Griffith Show. There’s Doug Flutey from the National League of No It’s Not Soccer and Trust Me It’s Not Rugby. I’m sure there are others.

    Darned song. Why is there no pasta in it? “And roast partridge on a nice bed of linguineeeeee.” It would fit in nicely.

    I love pasta. Not whole wheat pasta. I’d even rather eat konjac noodles than whole wheat pasta. My dinner tonight was Stouffer’s Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo. On other occasions, for extra fiber I have dumped it over a bag of broccoli, or a bag of mixed veggies. The problem with pasta (for me) is I don’t have a pot to pasta in, nor a strainer or collander. I used to buy pouches of pasta just like Uncle Ben’s 90 second rice, but Food Lion discontinued them. So Stouffer has been supplying my pasta needs, the problem being the sodium content. Oh, well.

      1. Bless you many times!

        My brother named all of Doug Flutie’s immediate family. With yours I have the whole set. Or a whole set, anyway. 😀

    3. I’m with you. I get my fiber from all the veg I eat and stick to yummy pastas when I eat them. You don’t need a monster pot to pasta in, but you will need to stir more if you use a smaller pot. And you can always strain just using the lid, but really, buy a small colander. They are so useful! Mine gets used more for washing veg or fruit and then letting it drain.

  10. I am not a pasta appreciator. I don’t actually dislike it, but I would always rather have whatever is on top of it on rice instead. (Trade, Deborah?) And I once had someone’s grandmother’s homemade pasta and my reaction was meh. It was better than what comes out of a box, but not enough to matter.

  11. I started making pasta out of zucchini and yellow squash after I interviewed JAK for my blog and she mentioned a spiralizer. I bought one for me son who was doing Paleo and ended up using myself. To me the zucchini and yellow squash noodle taste better and fresher than dried pasta noodles.
    My understanding re pasta was that it was brought to Italy from China by an explorer whose name now escapes me.
    HappyPasta day.

    2. Sorry, love spiralized veg, but not as pasta noodles. I fix spiralized butternut squash with onions and garlic and a sprinkle of cheese regularly. Sooooo good. I tried spaghetti squash with tomato based pasta sauce and also said meh. But it’s great with shrimp cooked in a garlicky lemon butter sauce. So not dietetic any longer. LOL

    1. I always thought I’d seen that when it was broadcast, but given I was not even a year old at the time, it must be a repeat when I was older that I remember. My father almost cried with laughter.

  13. Pasta can be really really good and it can also be really really blah. I love a good spicy one… or a creamy carbonara or one with crëme fraíche in it. Yum.
    Sven and I tend to go for the “shorter” pasta versions like fusilli, penne or macaroni, because it’s easier to scoop up than long “strings” of spaghetti or tagligatelle. I love those too, however.

    Today it is also World Braille Day (January 4th). I wouldn’t say I am celebrating but I am definitely very happy that little frenchman invented this stuff so blind and visually impared people can read and write, and mark their tea tins and pasta-jars and CD-sleeves and audiobooks with little stickers and put notes in the pockets or under the pillowof their loved one when they leave for a trip just to say: “There’s food in the freezer, and I love you.”

    Thank you, Louis Braille. <3

  14. Who knew that spaghetti could be the source of such hilarity? The closest thing to that level of laughter that I remember as a kid is a picture of me with spaghetti all over my face and draped over my hair. At the advanced age of three I decided that I didn’t need any more help eating psketti than the big kids did with rather memorable results. Since my relatives are fiends, they not only took pictures, but also sent copies to the grandparents.
    Actually, I’m glad my Mom found it funny, because I’m sure she found washing the clothes I had on no fun at all.

    As an adult, my favorite pasta laugh is the first chapter of Third Helpings by Calvin Trillin. The first line reads, “I have been campaigning to have the national Thanksgiving dish changed from turkey to spaghetti carbonara.”

  15. About that 2020…I’m seeing advice to always use four digits on legal docs so no one can turn it jnto 2017 or 2022…

    1. If we’d all switch to ISO 8601 date format, it would never again be a problem. Today is 2020-01-08.

  16. I’ve yet to try the pasta recipes from Gennaro’s Fast Cook Italian as I’ve been focused on risotto and soup. But I had fusilli with store bought basil pesto and Hellman’s vegan mayonnaise. I like the flavour of the vegan mayo over regular mayo.

    To make it a bit more filling, I added a carrot to the pasta water and chopped it up when it ws ready.

    I think it’s interesting that UK, US and similar places tend to have sauce with pasta but in Italy, France etc they tend to have pasta with sauce. The former being a drenching and the latter being a flavouring.

  17. Barilla Protein+ is high in protein and fiber, and I can’t tell it from regular white pasta.

  18. We had spaghetti squash last night with a lovely marinara sauce and turkey sausage. I’m also a fan of zoodles. The bean pastas have been meh. I should probably go back to enjoying pasta even if it may not be as healthy.

Comments are closed.