l'alimento

i make a v. nice lasagne, but i'm looking for suggestions on how to improve it. also, how does one make spaghetii-bolognese more exciting? hints? tips?

Afraid I only know Mum's boer recipes. No Italian.

post the recipes, Mike, then I can make suggestions...

lasagne: minced beef (enough for one person, not sure how much really. maybe 125g?) one can of plum tomatoes (yeah yeah, tins, but i'm a poor student :) garlic dash of salt freshly ground black pepper pinch of sugar mixed mediterranean herbs all fried together then added to the lasagne dish with cheese sauce, pasta etc. suggestions?

my initial response is a dab of butter, some minced onion, and a pinch of crushed red pepper flakes... but, any of the following will work (I don't know your likes and dislikes, so...) FATS a dab of butter a drizzle of a good olive oil VEGETABLES minced onion minced scallions minced shallots minced celery fresh or dried mushrooms grated carrots diced red bell pepper (preferably roasted) SPICES pinch of sweet paprika pinch of crushed red pepper flakes pinch of ground white pepper HERBS additional oregano fresh basil fresh flat leaf (Italian) parsley ETCETERA splash of wine (white or red, your preference, should be full-bodied) anything sound good yet?

btw, what did you mean by cheese sauce?

Men exchanging recipes - this is a definite first for me.

i'm not very into vegetables in my lasagne, but i could try those in spaghetti sauce. i'll try the fat thing, although the meat itself is quite fatty, and both butter and olive oil are v. expensive in the UK. Especially Olive Oil! It's outrageous! the herbs and spices sound divine, and when i'm not so poor i'll definitely invest. and the wine similarly...mmm...it never occurred to me to put wine in before. *schlurp* :-))) cheese sauce? lasagne: meat, pasta, cheese sauce, all in layers.

what's in the cheese sauce? (you could also add 3 to 5 g of minced pancetta... or brush a layer of pesto onto the pasta...)

it's just a packaged sauce, since I don't have the time/inclication/money to make my own. It's very nice, actually. i'm not a pesto man,I would probably leave that out. What's pancetta?

in it's shortest definition: Italian bacon finally figured out where I was confused with the cheese sauce: most Americans use a cheese blend of some sort and meat sauce...

Are we talking Cheez Whiz here, Mike? (*shudder*)

He's a student - that explains it!

Oh, yeah! I am now applauding Mike for cooking any lasagna. (clap, clap) Good for you, Mike, in the midst of fast food and vending machine hell.

Absolutely!

Belated response to this! Today I cooked a bolognaise and it was the *best* I've ever managed. I've been trying hardeer ever since I had one that a friend made that was out of this world, and finally I got closer to that level of greatness today! Yay! The trick, I think, was putting in a beef stock cube and putting a bit more sugar in than I noramlly would.

Sugar and beef stock????? �horrified gasp�

it was *gorgeous*, it really was. I'd recommend it to everyone :-)

And who recommended it to you?

It was how my friend made his, and it was superb. Tonight I'm having Cajun chicken and rice which should be nice :)

had leftover 'clean out the fridge casserole' rice, green chiles, monterey jack cheese, tomatoes, mushrooms and garlic... mixed together only slightly better than haphazardly, baked and eaten

sounds wild, stace :))

the fact I regularly clean out my fridge or the fact I insist on cooking all the odds and ends together?

the odds and ends together part - i never can do that. too bloody picky...guess it's about time i grew up :) *but* I did have a Chinese for the first time ever recently, so I'm still pretty impressed with myself at the moment :)

HA-HA!!!! Your first Chinese meal, and you're 20? That is for me the equivalent of remaining a virgin until one's 50! Do you at least make use of all the wonderful Indian restaurants you have in England?

Soho = curry

I actually had an Indian about a week later...but it was only tandoori chicken, which I've had before...I've got to say that I'm not very experimental with food, and I'm rather childishly picky. But, I'm trying to "branch out" a bit more :))

She gets pretty wild cleanin' that fridge!

Who??? And what sort of things do you like, Mike? Pastas?

Stacey, that's who.

huh? (i must've really lost this thread!)

No, Terry, Mike likes Michelles!

Oh, no, now I understand! Silly me! You were answering my 'who?'. OH!

Hehe...good one, Riette :) I am a big pasta fan, yeah, but I am getting in to other things :-)

and her name is...

lol! :-) Now don't be rude, stacey! However, I am feeling horny as hell today - it's terrible, cos I'm not going to see her for a fortnight...*damn!* Trust me to get horny now :)

Perhaps making lasagna would help to burn off some of that "energy"?

Or even better: a quick wank!

just not into the pasta water...

or it might add that extra "pow" to your dish!

Spaghetti Spermoso....

Y.U.K!!!!!!! I just wrote her a sexy letter, instead :-) You lot are more disgusting than me, and I thought *I* was a pervert :-)

Someone called?

How do sexy letters go? 'My Darling, I wish I could give you a little breast pummel....' And then?

Aren't they sick, Mike?

*grin* ;

wer, you were right!

about?

all Boards leading back to the same topic. (Figure it out!)

that! I tried to warn you...

This and Pizza were my downfall today. Yes, you did.

just join in...we all take turns, don't you see...what would your favorite Italian meal consist of?

Cannelloni(sp?) stuffed with ricotta, salad of mixed greens and tomatoes and onions with vinegar and oil dressing on the side. This is without thinking deeply. Tomorrow might bring new insight into my taste in this department.

hmmm...

Is that a good hmmm... or a bad hmmm...? It has been a while. I make excellent spaghetti. People who do not eat it come here for mine!

I'll be there! (I normally DO eat spaghetti but I am now intrigued) ... where exactly do you live?

Hilo, Hawaii - on the Big Island where the volcano is always erupting =)

that hmmm indicated a lack of anything else to say at the moment...

Ah! Yes! We all have our moments, and as host of this board, you are entitled to more of them than we.

actually, I'm entitled to maintain as many moments as possible in rapid succession...

whoever their author or owner... (although, the more the better!!!)

So I would gather...ah, but we cannot all be hosts and we are not all cute, so you get mine!

you can be a host...

I thought the idea was to help Terry...!

ha-ha! Some hosts know exactly what you're talking about.... No wonder the poor man is frequently driven to nekkid girls and booze. Yeah, Kitchen Man, I know just what you're going to say - it doesn't take inspiration does it? Okay, stupid point. I'll just sit down, eath my roasted jellyfish and shut up.

Ree, check out http://www.spring.net/yapp-bin/restricted/browse/geo/all

and, Marcia is now a host too... ah, Ree, your back and picking on me already... seems just like old times doesn't it?

It's great, Marcia. I LUUUUUV your background. Is geography what you do for a living? Wer, just doing my job - - - see, I know what keeps you happy.... �grin�

(Ummmm...so do I....) I am a researcher and editor and volunteer (disaster relief and fundraising for the UH at Hilo. I would have become a tasty and saucy (keeping on topic) Geologist had I been able handle the math, so I became a tech writer instead. My son is a Geologist. My degree was in Earth Sciences and Journalism.

BTW, thanks for the kind comments. Wer asked what I wanted for wallpaper and I sent him off with chisel and hammer for grey limestone. He came back with polished marble, and I was in love!

Too cool! That must be such an interesting career. My brother, who still lives in Africa, is studying to become a tour guide. It involves alot of geology and geography and stuff like that. I have no idea about any of it, but he tells me the most interesting stuff.

Your brother will be put on point duty sometime - just as my son was when he was a Park Ranger for Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. That meant, when he posted out in the field to answer tourists' questions, the most common one was, "Where is the eruption?" Obscuring the entire sky behind him was a cinder cone with a huge fountain of molten lava hurling itself into the sky and down the flanks of the cone with the most tremendous roar. His job was to turn and point to the eruption. Thus, point duty!

Gawd!!! I hope people will never ask my brother stupid things like that. He will not take kindly to it; afraid tact doesn't exactly run in the family...

That is just the beginning of the fun things he will be asked. David was asked if the Island was completely surrounged by water; If the ocean on the other side was the same one as on this side; and when he was a Ranger at the Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor, someone asked him if the ship's bell had floated to the surface or if they had to go down to get it. (Realize a Battleship's bell is a big solid bronze item weighing a great deal.) One must stifle the need to say anything untoward and just make me tal notes for discussion when the rangers all get together to swap stories! Tell your brother to save money on charm school and learn to say "fantastic" instead of Bull$h**

Good God, are people really that stupid??? It would be hilarious if it weren't so damned pathetic. I mean, why bother to put in those years of study if people are going to ask one nonsense like that?? I'll be sure to tell him though - he's bound to break into fits of laughter.

are people really that stupid...if only it wasn't so...

To be charitable, we are a tourist destination, and along with their problems and work, vacationers usually leave their brains behind. We try to keep them from hurting themselves like benevolent spirits.

can we have a vote for natural selection please?

I've never believed in that. The very fact that I am alive proves that selection has nothing to do with Nature, but everything to do with printing errors.

If natural selection means too weak to breed, I'll agree with wer, but these touri (plural of touriststs)either did not know about their being selected for the current list of Darwin Awards, or were not literate. Scarily enough, these people were being followed by tubby little miniature copies of themselves. Ree, Dear, let us do that dictionary!

maybe ya'll can teach somebody something useful that they ain't learned yet!

That is precisely the attitude I take and that is why I took on that Geo conference. I keep thinking no one is beyond teaching and inspiring, so I keep plugging at it.

Good thing, Marcia. I don't know of a single useful thing that I could possibly teach another person. 'Part from that plugging-thang, that is...

?

Ree, Dear, I am sure you could teach a lot...you have a huge conference on art, and if men were not reading this, too, I could suggest some other things in which I consider you an expert. I, on the other hand have rocks in my head...

wrong gender again...

No dear, you are just a tad too young to know these things...we would not like to wander too far afield from the ante pasto and linguini.

Oh...if my opinion matters, you are precisely the correct gender!

Whatever that may be! Wer is such a feminist, one can never tell.

I am pretty sure I know....and he is the perfect gender and what a specimen he is (as much as I can tell from half way across the Pacific!) Just let me asssure you he is not of the XX variety.

now... how exactly am I to interpret those Xs?? *grin*

*Grin* knowingly. Out here they are chromosomes. Other places we can define the Xs as we wish to. (I wish the host would awaken and talk to us. It is lonely in here without his pithy remarks!)

oh l'alimento of our conference... awaken... awaKEN... AWAKEN...

He can DO that??? �grin�

I shall investigate and report back....*grin*

*cackle* (now he's just to embarassed to comment!)

I think it is more that he is working today and has not posted at all...but, when he gets home I am sure we will hear from him *giggle*

thank you, ladies! can each of you see my swelled head from your current residence? (and with help like this, I can do just about anything!!!)

but you may need help reducing the swelling???

I'm sure it will go away of it's own accord...

Unfortunately, it never lasts for long...

If would if people could tell each other they're gorgeous ALL the time.

Since inner beauty lasts forever, I think that is truly a great idea, and a wonderful morale booster. You are some of the most beautiful people I have ever met. Thank you.

�glowing� And you are the kindest and most knowledgable, and sound just like the place you live in.

�beaming�....�hugs�

And as such, I'll ask you something really stupid. What does 'l'alimento' mean???

Italian for "food stuffs". Italian food stores are called "Alimentari".

Oh. I spoke out of turn. Sorry, ladies!

Anyway, go south and look for your self, Ri�tte! Florence (Firenze) is not too far from where you live, and as well as Siena worth visiting. Especially for people who care about art history... intrigues... feudes... and good food. In the region around it, the Toscana, many artists give courses. And there are hot springs! While in the area, do not miss Pisa and Ravenna. I did. I regret it. While driving around the motorways, stop at least at every second service station for a caf� (another expression for espresso), or a cappucino. And sample the wonderful sandwiches! Nice alimentari are the sun-dried tomatoes, the olives, the Parmigiano cheese (if freshly grated), ham from Parma (sliced so thin you can read our postings through it), Pesto (a mix of herbs, olive oil and Parmegiano, perhaps even pine seeds, that is e.g. stirred into cooked pasta to provide for a simple, fast and delicious dish; also nice as sandwich spread - very thinly spread!) and of course the very nice pasta. Not to forget the extremely superb olive oils (even IBM uses them in their commercials thes days...)! Amaretto comes from Florence, too. May I recommend a wine? Be sure to sample some Vernacchia, grown around the small town of San Gimignano (thus called Vernacchia Di San Gimignano). It is a wonderful dry white wine that is quite an experience and contrast to all the Chianti, which is rather heavy and not be as becoming. (For those who get an allergy around Germans: Do not visit during Summer. Fall is quite enjoyable, Spring (Easter!) a treat.)

Alexander, light of my life, WHAT do you think I DO over here? Go around with my eyes shut? I'm an artist - for me not to have seen Florence and Pisa and Rome would be like a clown who never visited the circus. And I eat spaghetti with pesto sauce every other night, even when I'm not in Italy, I order a crate of heavy red whine from the different little towns just across the border every year (don't care for white wine), and when I feel like Italian food and have no money, I just go to Lugano or Ascona or wherever in the south - food there is just as good. But ALL that doesn't mean I know the word 'l'alimento'. Sure, I knew it had something to do with food (otherwise it wouldn't be here, right), but it might as well have meant 'cook' - so, I thought I'd ask. See? �shaking head, grinning� I don't know - male logic!

Good Morning (at least in Hawaii) Riette and Alexander. I am afraid my sources would not have given you a better answer to your question than his. I do envy that lovely trip you are taking...and (for the record, there is no such thing as a stupid question.)

R., I just thought anybody who has ever been anywhere in Italy would have seen the shop signs all over spelling it out. Please excuse me. My fault.

No, I actually didn't notice! ha-ha! How embarassing. I think there are 2 reasons for that, the first being the obvious: I usually live on McDonald's from the 2nd day of holiday onwards, since I spend too much money on other useless things. And the second is, I think, that I tend to notice places only when they look strange. For instance I can't remember looking at the names of shops and restaurants when I was in Cyprus, but I vividly remember a sports shop in Nicosea (spelling????), called 'Athlete s Foot'. Almost make me wet my pants!

They're a huge chain here! But I digress. Hugs to all my fellow springeurs! You are beautiful.

Hugs, Autumn. One great thing about hugs is when you give one you usually get one =)

It's hard not to reciprocate a hug, isn't it?

Virtually impossible, I'd say.