May 31, 2025
Saturday
Mise en Place
We've got a busy day today. We've got a pick up at the CSA farm this morning. After that, I hope to finish moving the mulch pile from the driveway, and then we've got a cooking class tonight. And I really need to get something going on the pool — summer temps are coming soon!
Back from the farm, so it's time to get to work on moving this pile of mulch!
Break time gives me a chance for a self portrait of sorts.
Made some good progress on the mulch, but there's plenty left. I'd say 20-25% of the original pile remains. Should have the driveway cleared by next weekend.
Renee and I had a cooking class tonight at a local non-profit that trains ex-prisoners as they work to re-enter the workforce. We won the experience at the boys' school auction earlier in the year, and went with a group of friends. The head chef was an amazing teacher and a real dynamo in the kitchen, with seeemingly unending energy. We made a four course meal from scratch, complete with pasta with a tomato vodka sauce over a ricotta cheese blend (with several other cheeses I can't remember), shrimp scampi, foccacia bread with cheese and arugula topping, and an amazing lemon cake desert with whipped cream. Everything was delicious
We learned how to make pasta from scratch. Here, Renee is collecting noodles after running a dried sheet through the cutter. We hade made and rolled the sheets earlier, letting them dry on racks for about 30 minutes before cutting them into noodles.
The foccacia bread was absolutely amazing, topped with prosciutto, arugula, and several cheeses.
I learned the meaning of "mise en place" during our cooking class tonight. The French phrase translates roughly to "everything in its place." The kitchen was a bit hectic at times, which underscored the benefit of preparation to me. I think "mise en place" can and should be applied to a lot of things, well beyond cooking.
(Toledo, Ohio)