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December, 2025….Pasta Extruder Demo with brother Jim

My brother Jimmie has expressed an interest in the Philips Pasta Extruder machine that I sometimes use. I use it to make short macaroni shapes like shells,rigatoni or elbows. It is very quick and easy to use. The pasta is thicker than I like, but to make short pasta by hand, like penne, is meticulous and time consuming. I've been experimenting with several pasta extruder machines and have settled on the Philips 7000,

Spritz---Martha Stewart recipe

Use this instead of any other spritz recipe:

1 1/2 cups butter (3 sticks)

1 cup sugar

2 large egg yolks

3 3/4 cups sifted cake flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 Tablespoon vanilla

sanding sugars

 

1. Cream butter and sugar

2. Mix in yoiks, flour, slat vanilla

3. Put through cookie press

 

350 degrees for 7 to 10 minutes

Christmas 2025–Adjustment to ‘Basic Dough’ recipe

I wasn't happy with the first batch of 'Basic Dough' so I made a second one but differently.

In the bowl of the KitchenAid with the paddle

1/2 pound of butter (2 sticks)

6 Tablespoons sugar

Rind and juice of one orange

1/4 cup Milk

2 to 21/4 cups flour

1 Tablespoon baking powder

2 eggs

 

 

 

 

 

1. Cream butter (not melted) with sugar

2. Add orange juice and rind

3. Reduced milk to 1/4 cup

Christmas Cookies (and kitchen clean-up) 2025

I sent a message to Gina, Geriann and Maria that we could back Saturday the 20th, but first I needed help doing a complete kitchen take-down and clean-up. Gina and Geriann answered that they couldn't make either event.

Maria showed up on the 18th with Mary. Maria and I took everything apart and did a really good clean-up. The problem was really just a lot of 'dust?'  from all the pasta making the previous year. Maria is a real worker. I couldn't have done it without her. The kitchen looks and feels wonderful.

How to find a previously saved cookbook……HURRAY!!!!!!!

I knew, of course, that I'd created two cookbooks. I had to fool around to them tho after this site went crazy.

Here's what I did:

 

 

Sign in 

Click on 'searc' at the top

Put in a search word, like your family name that you most likely included in the title of the cookbook 

 

i did that and found both of the previously saved cookbooks.

 

Thank goodness.

Christmas Baking 2024

Dec 19

Maria and Gerald Anthony came over. She brought a double batch of Cornstarch already mixed..we let it sit out for a while to come to room temperature. She rolled them into fingers, just like Mom used to do. Then she flattened them with a fork. She decided not to ice them to make them travel home easier.

I had already mixed a double batch of ButterBalls. Gerald used a scoop to make them, but the scoop was too big. We didn't get very many. 

Thin Pizzelles for Rainbow Ice Cream Social///3/12/24

I made the thin pizzelle recipe and used the small, 4 cookie iron. I ended up with 14 dozen (168) cookies.

A final note on Thanksgiving 2023

Overall:

7 bags of Caputo Semolina Flour weighing about 2 pounds each

2 and 1/2 dozen eggs

Olive Oil

Salt

 We cooked 3 pounds of hand-cut spaghetti for dinner.

The rest of the pasta was packaged in 8 ounce clam-shell containers for families  to take home and cook later.

Families with small children were given 8 ounce packages of bow-ties.

Mary, Jimmy and Griffin were given specialty containers as noted in the full Thanksgiving 2023 blog.

Thanksgiving 2023

After a bit of back and forth, we (I) decided to have pasta as part of Thanksgiving dinner. We'll be going to the community room of Mary's condo. Jered will make the sauce. David has requested that I make a bit extra for him to take home. (Ask me for some homemade pasta. That's right up my alley)!

Joan and I began the week after we got into town after our fall vacation in Florida. I made 3 full batches (3 cups semolina, 4 eggs, 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil, 1 teaspoon salt). As always, I let the mixed dough sit for 2 or 3 hours to season.

Cookies for Maria's Boat Lunch at the Condos

Joan and I made cookeis for Maria. She goes to the condos by Mary's house on Irondequoit Bay every Tuesday during the summer.

Joan made 2 doz sugar cookies (double recipe from Fanny Farmer).

I made 2 doz Neiman Marcus cookies (half recipe).

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