Lots'a Pasta!

OK, so I have been inspired, of late, by a classy couple I met, they have moved me yet again to reach beyond my comfort zone. I speak fondly of "My Pans". Those of you who know "The Pans" are familiar with my introduction to them but, in case you don't know the story, I will elucidate. For years I have been buying your standard "crappy nice" cookware. Not too expensive and not too cheap. The job they do fits exactly that description of their purchase price, Not too good, not too bad.

I have always hated non-stick because it tends to peel way before the pan is ready to retire and that peeling makes me think that I am poisoning my friends and family. Now, I have always peered in at those brands of cookware that chefs use, All-Clad, Rikon Circolo, Staub, Bourgeat Copper, Mauviel, and Le Creuset. I have fantasized about having them and how much better my food would taste "if only". I can blame the freakish saucy stuff that I made 15 years ago on a "poor quality pan". You know that my brother still gives me crap about that stuff! It was the pan I tell you, the pan!! Flash forward to February 2010, I have noticed that my non-stick skillet is freakin' peeling and I am pissed off about it. "I don't want to buy another crappy pan!" So I did a little stress reduction by looking at the pots that I wished I could have and after some stumbling around on the internet, I found out that there was a Le Creuset Outlet store 10 miles from my house. "I just want to go and look at them up close and personal." So on a work day, on my lunch hour, I went and looked at the pots of my dreams. HOLY CRAP! The store was riddled with all the colors of the rainbow, it oozed the Caribbean blue that almost made me smell the salt air, and I stood in the doorway amazed at all that beautiful stuff! Blah, Blah, Blah and I bought a brazier pan in a stunning cobalt blue. Shut up! You knew that I bought one! But I got a crazy deal on it too and this is where the story becomes dangerous. You see, getting these pans for a great price is just like when a drug dealer wants to give a sample! I was hooked and I immediately wanted more!! So I begged and had my whole family chip in so that I could purchase "1", that is right, just 1 more pan. I now have two pans, a brazier and a dutch/french oven and I am now a world class cook! See! You need the right tools for the right job and that's it!! So, now I am moving forward with my cobalt couple and we are going to tackle home made pasta! Max and I are going to try our hand at some spaghetti this weekend. (I want to see if I can tempt him with the green kind, I just won't tell him it's spinach). I have the italian pasta machine, the 5 year old to crank it, and the perfect pot to cook it in. How could it be wrong!! Wish me luck. If it is good I will tell you about it, if it is great I will invite you to dinner! Please always remember and don't ever forget: My cooking is so bad my kids thought Thanksgiving was to commemorate Pearl Harbor. Phyllis Diller