Fresh Pasta

I am notorious for saying things like "uhh, I don't know" or "I haven't even thought about it" or "hmmm, let me think about it" when asked what I want for Christmas, my birthday, etc. Well, this year, I had a break-through.  When my mom asked, I had an answer!  Where did this come from?  The dark recesses of my mind had opened but how, why? My answer:  "I want the pasta machine attachment for my standing mixer."

There, I said it.

So you may ask, "Wow, where did that come from?"  For years, I've read a gazillion recipes calling for fresh pasta, if available. I've also read countless articles about how fresh pasta just can't be beat for lasagna, ravioli, you name it.  You may have come across recipes that describe to you how you can roll pasta dough out by hand and then cut into the shapes you want.  Yes, I suppose that is possible.  But rest assured, to roll pasta to true pasta thickness would take you about 2 hours of rolling pin work.  No thanks. You need a pasta machine.

As I'm sure you've surmised, mom and dad came through with the Kitchenaid attachment. I was elated!  As soon as I got it home I had to try it out.  Here's the coolest part of this story: it is insanely easy to make pasta. I made a basic egg pasta dough, then used my machine to create fresh spaghetti.  If you have a Kitchenaid mixer, you simply mix up the dough in the mixer.  Let it rest for about 20 minutes, then attach the pasta roller to the front.  You effortlessly roll the pasta to the right thickness, then switch to one of the cutter attachments (I have spaghetti and fettucine) and viola! you have pasta.  

I bagged some up for mom and dad then cooked up some for the three of us to try.  Vivi wanted hers plain.  Neil and I had it with a basic red sauce.  The noodles were so tender!  Store bought noodles never have this subtle tenderness.  Right out of the pot, they taste good from the simple salted water.  Since making the initial batch, I whipped up a little lunch for Neil using the fresh spaghetti, some cooked chicken I had in the fridge, leftover asparagus, parmesan and olive oil. He left not one noodle in that bowl!

My next attempt is going to be lasagna.  This is one of my mom's favorite dishes and I can't wait to make one with fresh pasta sheets.  We'll start with traditional but then I want to try out a recipe in one of my Williams-Sonoma cookbooks for duck lasagna with a cabernet sauce.  Oh yeah...

Eggplant disguised as a Meatball

Eggplant has a tough time.  It seems that people either love it or hate it.  I'd put myself in the "love it" camp, but I must admit, I've had my "hate it" eggplant days too. For instance, I can't deal with baba ganoush.  At. All.  I've tried it numerous times over a period of years. I mean, the name just sounds so fun, you'd think anyone would love it. But, for me, no.  And there are other eggplant preparations that I can't deal with.  After a semester in France, I can tell you unequivocally that I loathe ratatouille.  (Loathe: v. hate, detest, abhor, abominate.) It was even hard for me to sit through the animated movie with my daughter because of my ratatouille flashbacks.  (Live a semester with a French family whose regular repertoire is ratatouille, cous cous, pretty much raw hamburger steaks, celery salad and scrambled eggs with french fries, and you might begin to understand...) Yeah, no "French cuisine" in the average household over there, that's for damn sure!

Having said all that, let's move on, shall we? I grew up loving eggplant.  My dad always planted a huge garden since we lived on acreage. My mom found all kinds of cool ways to introduce us to our own backyard bounty so that we never got bored.  But, when it comes to eggplant, the best is simple, thin-sliced eggplant fried nice and crispy.  Now, as we all know, the late 80's began the Anti-fried movement in America.  If you read me often, you know my thoughts on frying properly and frying in the old fashioned, non-healthy-on-any-level way. Using good oil, a heavy cast iron skillet and the right heat yields a good crispy eggplant (or zucchini, squash, pickles, shrimp, etc.)  Yet, I think all of us kids of the 80's were effectively shamed into denying our love of fried food so that none of us cook it often.  That's ok though, because when we do, it's more special.  

So, anyway...seriously, my mind is really wandering but what can I say?

The point of all this is that I tried out a new eggplant dish that I want to pass on to you guys.  I've been reading it over and over again for months.  The curiosity was tickling my imagination but the possibility of the rest of the family not digging it was holding me back. My last Brown Box Veggies box contained two big beautiful eggplants, so I decided the time had finally come to give it a whirl. EGGPLANT BALLS. 

Just going into the oven

 Wow!  Who is Aunt Mary and what made her think up this recipe?  Well, no matter, she's a damn genius and that's all we need to know.  Y'all, this dish was ridiculously easy to prepare, was "meaty" and filling yet lighter than meat and so packed with flavor.  We took the suggestion of serving with spaghetti and red sauce. I added the "Mullaney salad" and a fresh baguette on the side. 

My husband, like most men, appreciates meat.  But, he had no complaints with this dish.  In fact, before he finished his first helping, he said to me, "Good meal, babe."  And, coming from a not-so-crazy-about-eggplant guy, this is significant!

Vegetarian or not, you'll enjoy this dish.  I love the idea of using the mixture for a "burger" or a "fritter" too.  We had the "meatballs" over spaghetti with a red sauce which I think complemented the eggplant and Parmesan perfectly.  One thought I had as I was eating this dish was "what if I added some grated zucchini to this?"  I think that sounds like a good plan, just to ramp up the vegetable value...stay tuned. 

Lunch at the Flight Deck

Lunch. It happens every day.  So do the lunch conversations.  

"I'm hungry, want to go get something to eat?"
 "Sure, where do you want to go?"
"I don't know, what are you in the mood for?"
"Oh, I can eat anything.  You decide."

This can go on for up to 20 minutes.  Someone has to step up and make the decision.  For everyone.  Make the decision and herd them out the door.  This is how lunch gets done.

This is my mom.  We work together, so we have lunch together almost every day

Yesterday, I had the Vivver with me at the office when the lunch conversation came up.  In some ways, it's easier when you have a child involved because then the mom or dad usually becomes that decision maker since you have to choose a place that's kid-friendly and has a decent kids' menu.  As we began to discuss where, what, who, how to have lunch, I thought of the Flight Deck in Lexington.  It's a locally owned, family place with one of those menus that has something for everyone, including children.  The decision was made.  Bam!  Just like that.


The little one ordered the kids' spaghetti with a side of green beans.  I didn't photograph her plate because as soon as it arrived, she dug into it and within seconds, it was no longer photogenic.  She's a big fan of spaghetti and really liked Flight Deck's offering.  I had to pick a couple of large pieces of tomato out of the sauce for her, but other than that, it was a hit.  Half for lunch, the other half for dinner.  She wasn't crazy about the green beans because she found them to be spicy.  I tasted them; I don't know what she's talking about.


Mom ordered the "Poor Boy" sandwich.  Don't confuse this with a "Po' Boy."  Flight Deck's sandwich is a lot like the French dip at Momo's.  It's a sub roll filled with tender pot roast, melted cheese and served with a side of jus.  

Poor Boy and Collards

I didn't get a taste of it because mom was diggin' every bite.  And, I was quite busy with my big salad.  As a side, she chose the collard greens.  It's funny:  we never had collards when I was growing up.  Usually, foods that didn't appear on our table were ones that my mom didn't like.  Therefore, she wouldn't serve it to the rest of us if she didn't care for it.  I assumed this was the case with collards, but here we all are years later, and we all eat them.  Curious.

The Primo Salad

I ordered the Flight Deck "Primo" salad.  It's described as a Greek salad mixed with a Chef's salad.  What it is is fantastic!  What you can't see in my photo is the ham, turkey and super-crispy bacon.  What you can see if lots of heavenly feta, pepperoncini, and Greek olives.  Nice touch:  the olives were pitted!  Served with a classic Greek dressing with tasty herbs.  I ordered the small, which is still a big ol' salad.  I ate almost the whole thing.  And, I'm not ashamed to admit it.


What I like the most about the Flight Deck is the people.  When you walk in the door, you're greeted right away and by someone friendly.  During the course of your meal, someone other than your server will come by and check on you.  The wait staff is also friendly, laid back and helpful.  And, they deal with kids very well!  This is huge.  Nothing will get a mama's dander up faster than some jerk acting like they can't be bothered by her child.  I'm gonna be tipping on the cost of her meal too, ya know.  This isn't a problem here.  And, it's a locally owned business and y'all know how I feel about that!  The Flight Deck isn't where you'd go on a fancy date, but when you want a tasty, satisfying, casual meal, and you happen to be in Lexington (which is a crowded sea of chain restaurants), head over to the Flight Deck. There truly is something for everyone on the menu, the atmosphere is friendly and relaxed and you'll be supporting a local restaurant and local people.

Crazy Spaghetti Tip

This will be short and sweet.  

First, a little history.  When I was in elementary school, my mom and a bunch of other moms were in charge of a huge spaghetti supper at the school.  Our good friend Dupre owned a restaurant in Irmo at the time and he let them use the place during the day, while the restaurant was closed, to mix up all their sauce.  My memory (be warned...this is a kid's memory) was of buckets and buckets, like sheetrock mud buckets, just lined up everywhere.  They were making the sauce en masse, of course.  One lady's task was to add x-number of cups of Worchestershire sauce to each bucket.  She went into the kitchen, grabbed several bottles of that yummy black nectar and set out to get the job done.  

At about bucket # 20, someone looked at what she was doing.  She had grabbed a yummy black nectar, but a different one than intended.  Yes friends, she was adding soy sauce to the spaghetti sauce.  As you can imagine, all the  moms went bonkers, there were some meltdowns and I'm pretty sure some emphatic "dammits" and "shits."  But, finally the chaos subsided and someone, I'm going to assume it was the level headed Dottie Webber (my mom),  who said something like "Hey, it's done.  Keep adding soy to the rest of the sauce so it's consistent."

The secret weapon

Well, you know what?  That spaghetti supper at Dutch Fork Elementary back in the early 70's was a resounding success.  In fact, up until that time, I wasn't such a spaghetti fan.  But I became one that night.  I think it was the soy sauce.  No, I know it was.  Soy sauce is one of the most precious liquids on Earth, if you ask me.  

So, here's the message I wanted to impart to you all this evening.  When you have those quicky weeknight suppers of spaghetti sauce from a jar <<oh don't act like you don't use it from time to time!>>  add some soy sauce and little garlic powder.  It elevates jarred sauce tremendously.  In fact, my little diner dove into hers this evening and said, 

"Mommy, did you make this yourself?"  <<Okay, I told her yes.>>  Her response? "I love it!  Thank you so much!"  

Do I feel guilty about using a jarred sauce now and then?  Not with a compliment like that from the most important person on the planet!

Quality Kitchen Time

Sharing the kitchen with my daughter has been a long-time dream.  She's actually been interested for quite some time, but ever since that hot soup incident when she was 18 months old, I've been very, very careful about allowing her to venture into cooking.  But she's old enough now that I don't have to be a complete paranoid, over-protective micro-manager when we're in the kitchen together.

**Restaurant Review: Za's**

One of Vivian's new pastimes is going out to "the restaurant," as she refers to it (this applies to ALL restaurants).  One of her favorites is the spaghetti & meatballs at Za's.  Neil and I like taking her there because it's one of the few meals we order that she eats without a bunch of fiddling around and playing and non-eating.  Interestingly, she rejects spaghetti at home, but will plow through a bowl of Za's spaghetti.  

If any of you read my post "How my husband has influenced the Columbia restaurant scene"then you know we are no strangers to this restaurant. So this isn't a new place review, just a review of today's meal.  


Vivi ordered her usual, and as usual, ate very well.  She gave it a thumbs up and was very pleased to be able to demonstrate to our waitress her "happy plate."  For those of you without kids, that means a clean plate.  She was also delighted about the itty bitty grapes that were included in her side of fruit.  I must admit they were quite cute indeed.


Neil ordered the roast beef sandwich.  It's thinly sliced beef on a crusty sub roll with peppers, onions and cheese.  I tasted it and thought the roast beef was nice and flavorful, but the steak sauce that they served with it didn't do it any favors.  It was thick and very vinegary, but Neil tells me "It's just steak sauce.  That's how food service steak sauce tastes."  Ok, then.


I ordered an old favorite, the personal size (although I can only handle 1/2) "Zeus Za." Za's has very nice thin crust pizza that is baked in a wood-fired oven.  The Zeus is a beautiful combination of tomato, Kalamata olives, artichoke hearts, red onion and feta.  My pizza today was quite good, but the chef du jour was pretty heavy-handed with the red onion and light on the feta.  The onions were well cooked and soft but there were just too many.  A little more feta would have provided that subtle little goaty "bite" that makes feta so special.  

This is not an actual photo of my Zeus, but it looks pretty similar...

For any of you who have never been to Za's (and I doubt there are many who have not) I do wholeheartedly recommend this restaurant.  It's a comfortable yet mod locally owned spot right in the middle of Shandon & Heathwood.  They will make you happy whether you're there for appetizers before an event, drinks on a crowded people-watchin' Friday night or just a good ol' fashioned pizza and beer outing.  Check out their menu here, and then give it a go. I'm pretty darn sure you'll leave there happy.