Almost every family has a treasured recipe, handed down through generations, that is not only beloved because it’s delicious, but because it evokes memories of favorite family get-togethers.

A family heirloom recipe book is a wonderful way to combine favorite dishes and family folklore. According to Cheryl Wolf, a performance artist and graphic design instructor at The New England Institute of Art, "Family recipes are a valuable resource for a family history. I have built an entire performance around my family’s recipes and the stories they evoke! "Breaking bread" together is life-affirming. What better way to reach back and bring personal history to the present?"

Wolf adds, A family recipe is also a family history, and can be a wonderful work of folk art. For example, she says, take the opportunity to not only write down family recipes for generations to come, but include famous family stories (every family has them), photos and memorabilia as well.

But how to turn family culinary gems into actual recipes? Chef Peter Adams of the Illinois Institute of Art-Chicago has a few tips: Start with a family letter, asking everyone to send back one or more of their specialties by a particular date. Ask those who can to reply by email so you can cut and paste recipes right into your final document.

If you have a relative who never writes down recipes (it seems like all the best recipes are never written down), but rather cooks by "a dash of this, a little bit of that, consider having someone in your family be the helper, and prepare the dish along with them. Adams suggests the helper measure, guesstimate, and generally keeps track of how the dish is prepared, including cooking times and temperatures. The helper should also be sure to ask about consistency, color, texture and doneness. According to Adams, This last bit of information is always the most important part of passing along a recipe. Once you have a written recipe, prepare it again according to the directions, and adjust the recipe as necessary to get as close as possible to the original.

When you’re asking for recipes, provide everyone with a similar format. For example, ask family members to list the ingredients to be used in order, together with the quantities. Lay out the steps that are needed in order to make the item, and always add little comments about what to look for as the dish is prepared, and when it is done. It can be a lot of work, especially with recipes that were never written down. But, says Adams, ultimately its worth it because you be saving an important — and delicious bit of your family history.

Once you have the recipes, you want to create a look for your cookbook that reflects your family. A simple way to do this, says Merry Epstein of The Art Institute of Phoenix, is to include family mementos or old photos, along with the recipes. A simple way to share one-of-a-kind memorabilia is to take them to a local copy center and make color copies.

You can use the color copies you make as background, and print a recipe over the photo, or have the recipe on one page, and a photo on the facing page. You can also create a collage using items such as blue ribbons (won for a cooking), tickets stubs or airplane tickets from a favorite trip that produced a great recipe, says Epstein.

For text, use simple fonts like Times Roman or Arial so that they are easy to read for all ages. Save decorative fonts for recipe titles or chapter headings. Consider creating a box — with shading and borders — for the recipe itself so that there is enough contrast between the recipe and any background artwork you use.

Epstein suggests writing an introduction about the cookbook, its organization and how family responded to the project. Be sure to date the book and have a table of contents so family and friends can easily find a favorite recipe. Here are a few of her suggestions for organizing recipes:

* by category, for example, appetizers, soups, salads, entrees and desserts

* by family, for example, grandmother, aunt and uncle, or cousin recipes

* by holiday, for example, favorite dishes for the 4th of July, Thanksgiving or Labor Day

To keep recipes easy to read and clean, consider putting them in plastic sleeves (available in craft and office supply stores) and then in 3-ring binders. Says Epstein, This way, you can add a new recipe every year.

By: PARMOD BANSAL

Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com

Did you find this article useful? For more useful tips & hints, Points to ponder and keep in mind, techniques & insights pertaining to Dishies, Do please browse for more information at our website :- www.dishadvice.com www.dish.reprintarticlesite.com

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That’s it. Some folks use a little (1/2 teaspoon) extra virgin olive oil in their pasta, but it is optional. This recipe makes pasta enough for 2 regular servings, so if you want more increase the amounts in the same proportions.

The classic way to make pasta is by putting the flour on a board, make a well in it, and put the egg and salt into the well. With a fork, gently mix the egg with the flour until a rough dough forms, then knead the dough with your hands until it becomes soft. But it can also be made in a bowl, a food processor or a mixer with a bread hook.

A few tips: If the dough is still too sticky, dust with a little flour and knead it some more. If the dough is too dry, sprinkle a little water on it and knead it in. The humidity in the air determines if a dough will be too sticky or dry with the basic recipe, so you’ll need to act accordingly.

After the dough has been kneaded and is soft and elastic, wrap it in plastic wrap and allow to rest for 20 minutes. This will help ‘relax’ the gluten in the dough and make it easier to roll out.

Folks who make pasta regularly invest in a pasta machine. While this does make for more uniform noodles, you don’t need one. Take the dough after it has rested and separate it into small portions if you’ve made more than the basic recipe. Dust a board with flour, put the dough on the board and roll it out. Try to get the dough thin enough so that you can almost see through it. If the dough sticks, dust with a little flour.

When you have the dough as thin as you like, dust it with a little flour and roll it up like a jelly roll. With a very sharp knife, cut the roll into very thin slices. Unroll the pasta and let it dry for 20 minutes or so on the board, or drape it over a broom handle covered with plastic wrap that has been suspended between two chairs.

After drying, the pasta can be cooked or refrigerated for use within the next 2 or 3 days. Fresh pasta does not take as long to cook as fully dried pasta, only about 4 to 5 minutes, even less if the noodles are small and thin. You want to cook it al dente (to the tooth, a little firm in the middle, so watch fresh pasta closely as it cooks!

This basic recipe can be varied in many ways. Substitute whole wheat flour for the unbleached white flour for whole wheat pasta. Whole wheat pasta dough will have a little different ‘feel’ to it. Or you can make spinach pasta. Cook 5 ounces of frozen spinach as directed, drain and let it cool. Squeeze as much water as you can out of the spinach. The spinach should be about the size of a large egg when you’re done. Mix it in with the egg before adding to the flour.

Pastas can be flavored with most anything. Add a little garlic, use a little tomato juice, let your imagination run free and experiment! Making home made pasta is easy!

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Make Delicious Home Made Pasta

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A family heirloom recipe book is a wonderful way to combine favorite dishes and family folklore. According to Cheryl Wolf, a performance artist and graphic design instructor at The New England Institute of Art, “Family recipes are a valuable resource for a family history. I have built an entire performance around my family’s recipes and the stories they evoke! “Breaking bread” together is life-affirming. What better way to reach back and bring personal history to the present?”

Wolf adds, A family recipe is also a family history, and can be a wonderful work of folk art. For example, she says, take the opportunity to not only write down family recipes for generations to come, but include famous family stories (every family has them), photos and memorabilia as well.

But how to turn family culinary gems into actual recipes? Chef Peter Adams of the Illinois Institute of Art-Chicago has a few tips: Start with a family letter, asking everyone to send back one or more of their specialties by a particular date. Ask those who can to reply by email so you can cut and paste recipes right into your final document.

If you have a relative who never writes down recipes (it seems like all the best recipes are never written down), but rather cooks by “a dash of this, a little bit of that, consider having someone in your family be the helper, and prepare the dish along with them. Adams suggests the helper measure, guesstimate, and generally keeps track of how the dish is prepared, including cooking times and temperatures. The helper should also be sure to ask about consistency, color, texture and doneness. According to Adams, This last bit of information is always the most important part of passing along a recipe. Once you have a written recipe, prepare it again according to the directions, and adjust the recipe as necessary to get as close as possible to the original.

When you’re asking for recipes, provide everyone with a similar format. For example, ask family members to list the ingredients to be used in order, together with the quantities. Lay out the steps that are needed in order to make the item, and always add little comments about what to look for as the dish is prepared, and when it is done. It can be a lot of work, especially with recipes that were never written down. But, says Adams, ultimately its worth it because you be saving an important — and delicious bit of your family history.

Once you have the recipes, you want to create a look for your cookbook that reflects your family. A simple way to do this, says Merry Epstein of The Art Institute of Phoenix, is to include family mementos or old photos, along with the recipes. A simple way to share one-of-a-kind memorabilia is to take them to a local copy center and make color copies.

You can use the color copies you make as background, and print a recipe over the photo, or have the recipe on one page, and a photo on the facing page. You can also create a collage using items such as blue ribbons (won for a cooking), tickets stubs or airplane tickets from a favorite trip that produced a great recipe, says Epstein.

For text, use simple fonts like Times Roman or Arial so that they are easy to read for all ages. Save decorative fonts for recipe titles or chapter headings. Consider creating a box — with shading and borders — for the recipe itself so that there is enough contrast between the recipe and any background artwork you use.

Epstein suggests writing an introduction about the cookbook, its organization and how family responded to the project. Be sure to date the book and have a table of contents so family and friends can easily find a favorite recipe. Here are a few of her suggestions for organizing recipes:

* by category, for example, appetizers, soups, salads, entrees and desserts

* by family, for example, grandmother, aunt and uncle, or cousin recipes

* by holiday, for example, favorite dishes for the 4th of July, Thanksgiving or Labor Day

To keep recipes easy to read and clean, consider putting them in plastic sleeves (available in craft and office supply stores) and then in 3-ring binders. Says Epstein, This way, you can add a new recipe every year.

By: PARMOD BANSAL

Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com

Did you find this article useful? For more useful tips & hints, Points to ponder and keep in mind, techniques & insights pertaining to Dishies, Do please browse for more information at our website :- www.dishadvice.com www.dish.reprintarticlesite.com

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Here is a quick, easy and delicious summer Italian pasta recipe that you just have to make for dinner tonight. Anyone can make this. Your family will feel like they are eating at an authentic Italian restaurant after eating this dish.

But before we get to this recipe, I would like to provide you with a few tips on how to buy the best quality ingredients for this dish.

Tips For Buying Your Vegetables

The key to this dish, or any dish that calls for fresh vegetables, is to educate yourself on how to choose the best ingredients. It can be confusing at the store with all of the different varieties, textures, sizes and shapes that vegetables are available in.

I try to only use organic fruits and vegetables. They may be more expensive, but they are tastier, higher in nutrients, and for the most part, free of any dangerous chemicals.

For this particular dish I use Roma or Plum tomatoes. A Roma tomato is a type of Plum tomato, and to the best of my knowledge, there is no real difference between the two. I like to use Plum or Roma tomatoes for cooking and making sauces. They are more meaty and have less seeds and juice than other varieties. They also taste better in my opinion.

Choose tomatoes that are heavy for their size and have a deep rich color. This deep rich color not only indicates a tastier tomato, but it also is an indication that the tomato has a higher supply of the healthy ingredient "lycopene".

Smell the tomatoes. They should smell fresh and earthy.

Choose tomatoes that are smooth and free of cuts, blemishes and soft spots.

When choosing your squash , make sure it is firm and heavy for its size.

Examine the skin for any cuts or soft spots. Look at the stem and make certain it is not discolored or shriveled.

Choose squash that is smaller and younger as these are usually more tender.

THE PASTA

Am I really going to devote a section of this article to pasta? Can’t you just use any old pasta? Does it really make a difference?

In my opinion, yes, it does make a difference. There are many varieties of pastas on your supermarket shelves, but not all are created equal. I have tried many different brands of pasta and always find myself coming back to Barilla.

It just cooks up perfectly, every time. When I say perfectly, I mean "Al Dente". When Pasta is cooked "Al Dente", it should be firm, but not hard. Cooking pasta to this perfect state does require practice. Follow the instructions on the back of the box. They are usually quite accurate. My recommendation would be to taste the pasta a minute or two before the suggested cooking time is reached.

INGREDIENTS

Here are the ingredients that you will need. These measurements are by no means set in stone. Not everyone has the same preferences. You can easily adjust the ingredients below to suit your taste. Cooking is all about experimentation and I find that many of my recipes evolve over time.

1 Pound of Barilla Pasta - I use penne. I have tried other types of pasta like spaghetti and ziti, but penne seems to have the best texture and holds up the best with the ingredients in this dish.

3 - 4 Yellow Summer Squash Cut Into 1/2 Inch Pieces

3 - 4 Roma or Plum Tomatoes Cut Into 1/2 Inch Pieces

4 Cloves of Garlic Peeled and Smashed

1 - 2 Tablespoons Fresh Thyme Chopped

1 Cup of Torn Fresh Basil Leaves

1/4 Cup of Fresh Italian Parsley

1/4 Cup Asiago or Parmesan Cheese Plus a bit more for serving

Several Drizzles of Olive Oil

2 Tablespoons of Unsalted Butter

Salt and Pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 400 Degrees.

Add your vegetables and garlic to a large baking sheet. Drizzle vegetables with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Stir so that vegetables are coated well with the olive oil.

Put the vegetables in the preheated oven and roast , stirring occasionally, until vegetables are browned. Make sure they do not burn! It shouldn’t take longer then 30 minutes.

While the vegetables are roasting, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook until al dente. Drain pasta but reserve a cup or so of the pasta water. Return the pasta to the pot.

Add the roasted vegetables, fresh herbs, cheese, butter, a drizzle of olive oil and salt and pepper to the pasta.

If the mixture is dry, add some of the reserved pasta water.

Toss and serve. Top with cheese if desired.

Enjoy!

By: Ralph Serpe

Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com

Ralph Serpe is a passionate home cook and webmaster for www.chefability.com. Follow this link for more easy Italian cooking recipes and tips like this.

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