Making Pasta
January 15th 2012 09:12
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The history of pasta
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The true Italian food
Pasta makers have cut down the time it takes to make this Italian staple.
There is a version of history that noted explorer Marco Polo brought back the recipe from China to Italy where it was whole-heartedly embraced.
Lagane, however, made from durum wheat, was around in Roman times and baked rather than boiled.
The Arab invasion in the 8th century created alot of influence on the Italian cuisine with the introduction of the dried version of the noodle known as macaroni which was a day long process in the making.
Apparently though pasta didn't meet tomatoes until the 19th century.
These days pasta is very much a popular dish in Australian cuisine, a conglomeration of so many immigrant groups that have come to live here.
It doesn't take a day to make pasta anymore either with pasta makers become very popular.
We got one off Santa last Christmas and hubby made good use of it tonight making ravioli with mince filling and cooked in a tomato based sauce.
Click here for a pasta recipe so versatile it can be used with so many different types of sauces.
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Posted By: Samantha Elley - Category: No Category
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Summer Salads
December 15th 2011 11:20
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Such a wide variety
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and so healthy.
Fresh and healthy summer salad using the produce from our vege patch
So now I've been growing my own vegetables and salad items our family has been enjoying the 'fruits' of that labour.
Silver beet has been plentiful but what I've really enjoyed has been the salads.
With abundant amounts of lettuce and tomato, one favourite mixture has been to add feta cheese, ham and jalapeno peppers.
Today I picked my one banana capsicum and added it to the mix.
I personally don't add dressing as I prefer it simple, however, with or without it, there is nothing more satisfying than eating something you've grown yourself.
It seems that salad was first invented by the Romans who liked to eat their greens with dressing, as did the Babylonians.
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Back to Basics
November 23rd 2011 10:52
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Growing your
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own veges
Getting back to basics and growing our own food.
Something I've wanted to do for a long time is grow my own vegetables.
With a decent sized back yard and time to tend a vegetable garden, I've finally established one.
I've started small to gain confidence and see if I can actually grow something that's edible.
I've started with tomatoes, capsicum, chillies, silver beet, strawberries, lettuce and cucumbers.
I also have herbs in separate pots.
So far we have harvested tomatoes, lettuce and silverbeet and there is a capsicum just screaming to change colour and be picked.
I think I am slowly discovering the joys that many ancestors would have had when they had to grow their own food. It may sound cliched but it truly is satisfying to go and pick fresh vegetables for dinner.
And the flavour! No more underripe, flavourless, gutless tomatoes from the supermarket for us...unless of course we run out :\
My next step will be to expand the garden and try some trickier veges to grow.
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Blonde Gingerbread
September 28th 2011 10:10
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A recipe from the
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glamorous 80s
Blonde gingerbread - ideal for afternoon tea
Hubby's favourite cake is gingerbread. He discovered this recipe in my grandmother's recipe book entitled 'Eating in the 80s'
The best part of the cake is the 'blonde' topping which gives it it's name
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Supersizers go Edwardian.
September 15th 2011 10:56
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Television series
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on Edwardian food
Edwardian food was rich and plentiful
The history of British food should be important to Australian cuisine as it is the origin of what our ancestors used to put on their tables.
The Edwardian episode and the first of Supersizers discovers the food of the time of King Edward (1901-1910) and we are looking at a plethora of fatty, high protein food. Breakfast alone is eggs, bacon, sausages, kedgerie and so much more
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Chocolate Caramel Slice
July 21st 2011 10:03
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A taste of
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my childhood
A taste of nostalgia...chocolate caramel slice
It's amazing that the taste of a certain food can take you back in time.
Biting into one of these chocolate caramel slices gave me visions of all the school fetes, cake stalls and picnics I had ever been too
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Pesto Pasta
July 14th 2011 09:33
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The history of
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Pesto sauce
Pesta pasta, a winner for even the hardest critics
When my boys saw me making our pesto sauce tonight they both wrinkled up their noses in disgust.
"It's gre-een!" whined my older son
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Best Selling Recipe
July 7th 2011 11:48
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A bit of fun
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in a vintage way
How to cook up a best seller
While not directly involving food this quirky little 'recipe' from a Western Australian newspaper in 1907 had a bit of fun with the standard format used in its day.
To Make a Best Seller
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Pasta Carbonara
June 23rd 2011 09:46
Fettuccine Carbonara
I'm so excited about this dish. Not because it's delicious, easy to make and cheap for ingredients but because I got my new camera today and love the photo of the dish that I made for the kids and me tonight.
Pasta alla carbonara obviously has its roots in Italian cuisine and was known as the coal-miner's spaghetti. ('carbonaro' is Italian for charcoal burner
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Kitchen Fires
June 5th 2011 08:16
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Dramas in the
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kitchen
A woman in the late 1800s kneeling in front of an open flame while cooking. Photo courtesy vintagecookbooksstore.blogspot.com
Being a housewife and cook for a family in days gone by was a hazardous occupation.
Safety regulations that we have in the kitchen today were non-existent in households that often cooked over a naked flame
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