How we find ourselves here

Probably the chief reason for this vacation from my law firm (which I've been calling a sabbatical, as it is very long) is that I have gained weight. Those who used to read me on Crescat might remember that one of things I'm proudest of is of having lost eighty pounds, mostly by learning to cook, and eating clean, honest food made by my own hands. My job has robbed me of what I thought was a luxury, and the results were far worse than I anticipated. It turns out that restaurant food combined with tremendous stress makes me fat, and though the situation isn't irretrievable, it has turned grave, at least to me. So I decided to spend this time digging back towards the roots of the original weight loss, back to my hands and kitchen, to the food that brought me here, so to speak.

There is a profound peace in being in one's own kitchen, music in the background, hands deep in flour, or listening to the rhythmic chop of one's own knife slicing through garlic, its aroma slowly reaching one's nose. It is a peace which makes me think of pasta. Here, below is my own pasta, rolled out. You don't need a pasta machine to get thin pasta, as you can see

Those who have not made pasta before are daunted, I realize, but the concern is unjustified. All you need is about a pound of flour, and four full eggs. Pile the flour in a bowl, empty out a well in the middle of the flour, and add the eggs. Mix slowly, and then knead for ten minutes (or a little less with a good mixer, which is what I used). That's it. Afterwards, just cook in plenty of salted boiling water, and drain. It'll look like this.

























Of course, you can dress pasta however you want. Perhaps the nicest thing to do is to sautee some bacon, and then add raw egg off the heat, which, of course, is carbonara. But instead I made a beef sauce with plenty of excellent french wine, and drank more with dinner. The road back to a healthy life may turn out to be long, though I am doing by best. But it will be delicious, no matter what.