An introduction to the many shapes of pasta

Pasta comes in a wide variety of shapes and sizes. It can be long and thin or short and curly. The many shapes include ones that are associated with particular dishes. Some people want to be able to eat their pasta with a fork and others enjoy using both a fork and a spoon.

Whichever shape you choose, these days you can probably get it whole wheat, gluten-free or with semolina as well as dried or fresh.

According to the Sicilian Culture website, The best known of  the  many shapes of pasta is spaghetti, which means "thin strings" or "twine" in Italian. It is long and thin and is often served with meatballs and red sauce. It can be used in all kinds of other dishes as well and even broken and added to soups.

there are more than 350 different shapes of pasta in Italy. The basic division between the shapes is short and long.

Fettuccini

Fettuccini is a long flat noodle that is often served with an Alfredo sauce. According to Ronzoni, this shape originated in Rome and means little ribbons.

Linguini

Seafood lovers enjoy their clam sauce with linguini. It is flat shape but not as wide as fettuccine but it is wider than spaghetti. Creative cooks can combine it with a variety of different shellfish including shrimp and scallops as well as crab and lobster.

Elbow

Elbow macaroni is a staple in many households. It is the traditional shape used for macaroni and cheese and also for goulash. These days it comes in different sizes and also may be ribbed.

Penne rigate

Penne is a popular choice in many restaurants. Penne is a hollow tube; penne rigate has ridges which make it great for picking up more sauce. Penne means pen in Italian and it is cut on an angle which gives it a pointed look. Popular dishes include penne ala vodka.

Ziti

Ziti is very much like penne except that it is a smooth tube. It can, however, be found in the rigate style of penne and then it is called ziti rigate. Ziti means bridegroom and it is commonly served at weddings in Sicily.

Farfalle

Farfalle is shaped like a bow tie. They are an attractive shape that works well in cold salad with mayonnaise and tuna. Farfalle means butterfly in Italian.

Campanelle

Campanelle means bellflower in Italian and these do have a very floral shape. They are twisted to form a flute where sauce can gather and so are perfect served with hot sauces, however; they are so pretty that they also are a good choice for a cold salad.

Orecchiette

Orecchiettes are shaped like an ear and they are from the Italian region of Apulia.

Shells

Shells are a very common shape and yes, they are shaped like a shell. They come in small shells and in large shells. The large shells are often stuffed with ricotta cheese and baked. 

These are just a few of the many shapes of pasta that are available probably at your local grocer. Among the many other shapes is rotini which is shaped like a corkscrew, rotelle which is shaped like a wheel, tortellini which comes in tri-colors and is stuffed and ravioli which can be square or round, large or small and filled with a wide variety of cheese, vegetables, and meat.

Hot Cross Bun bread pudding

Every year I buy a package of hot cross buns at Easter time. Al and I eat one each and the other four gets thrown away. Wel this year, with a suggestion from Al, I decided to turn the 4 leftover buns into bread pudding. 

I got a 2 cup measure and poured in a cup of 1% milk, I added two large eggs, 2 tablespoons of white sugar and a teaspoon of rum flavoring. I beat it together. 

I took the rather stale buns and sliced them and placed them in a greased meatloaf pan. I poured the milk mixture over and then made sure all the pieces were well soaked in the mixture. This took the most time but is the most important. 

Place in a preheated 375-degree oven for 45 minutes. 

I served this with heavy cream and a little maple syrup. It was a great way to avoid throwing out stale hot cross buns. Sorry, but I didn't take any pictures. 

Grilling the perfect steak

Who doesn’t love the taste of food cooked on the grill, it is one of the joys of summer? One of the most popular meats to cook on the grill is steak. There is an art to grilling the perfect steak and it all begins with choosing the perfect cut of steak.

It is important that the steak is of the same thickness so that it cooks evenly. You can ask your butcher to cut the steaks just the thickness you prefer.

Whether you prefer gas or charcoal, the steak is sure to be the star of any summer barbecue or picnic.

Choose your cut

While you can choose just about any cut of steak to cook on the grill there are some that naturally lend themselves better to grilling than others. If you choose a tougher cut like chuck or sirloin, you will need to marinate the steak.

A simple marinade of one small bottle of Italian Salad Dressing placed with the steak in a Ziploc bag and allowed to sit for several hours will make the steak much more tender. To add additional flavor, add three cloves of minced garlic to the marinade. For a steak that will shine without marinade go with a ribeye, porterhouse, New York strip or T-bone.

Room temperature

Never freeze your steak if you can avoid it. Buy the steak as close to cooking time as possible. If the steak has been refrigerated, take it out and bring it to room temperature before grilling. With a brush apply a thin coat of canola oil to the steak and then your seasoning, Kosher salt, and fresh ground pepper or one of the delicious steak rubs available at the grocery store.

Heat the grill

With a gas grill, preheat the grill at high for twenty minutes. If you use charcoal, let the charcoal briquettes get to half gray ash.

Season the steak

There are many commercial steak seasonings and most are quite good. I prefer the Montreal spice and if not that then a thin layer of spicy mustard on one side of the steak adds great flavor. If you are a purist, grill it up plain.

Cook

Insert the grill thermometer and place the steak on the grill. Cook the first side until you have good grill marks. Always use tongs to turn the steak over, no forks are allowed. The following temperatures will tell you when your steak is done:

• 140 rare
• 150 medium rare
• 160 medium
• 165 medium well
• 170 well

Meat will continue to cook after it is removed from the grill and remember that it is recommended that meat be cooked to at least 160 degrees.

Allow the steak to rest for at least five minutes before serving. While it is resting, place a pat of plain or seasoned butter on top and be prepared to eat the best steak ever.

Dining at the Pirate's House in Savannah, Ga.

Located one block from the Savannah River on the site of the original Trustees Garden, The Pirates House in Savannah offers the opportunity to dine in a truly historic location. The Herb House inside The Pirates' House is thought to be the oldest house in Georgia. It was the home of the gardener of the Trustees Garden. The garden failed, but the peaches that were grown there were spread throughout the state, and the rest is indeed history.

The Pirates' House opened as a seaman’s inn in 1753. Here you could meet both honest sailors and bloodthirsty pirates. More than one hapless local found himself shanghaied and on a ship for the Orient. As you can imagine, this has led to rumors of haunting and strange happenings at The Pirates' House. Maybe it’s Captain Flint, who it is said died in one of the upstairs bedrooms trying to tell us where he buried his treasure.

We, however, didn’t see any unusual happenings; what we saw was a delicious luncheon buffet, for which we had a $2 discount coupon.

That brought the price down to a price which was a steal. We got to choose from green beans, squash casserole, Savannah rice, roasted potatoes, burgundy tips, fried tilapia, fried chicken with an optional honey-pecan sauce, barbecue ribs, and lima beans with bacon. 

A salad bar, which we totally missed, was also offered. They deliver a board to your table with the most delicious cornbread I have ever tasted on it.

The quality of the food was amazing for a buffet. I fell in love with the honey pecan sauce for the chicken, and the lima beans were fabulous, as was the squash casserole. We could not drink our drinks as fast as our waitress kept filling our glasses. She was amazing and always had a smile to offer us.

Just when you think you are going to explode, it's time to check out the dessert bar. There was strawberry shortcake, pecan pie, and cake with a sauce. I tried the pecan pie and the strawberry shortcake. I know I have been trying for weeks since we got back to get that weight off, but it so delicious, I hardly have any regrets.

This is one buffet I highly recommend. You don’t have to have the buffet, however, there is a full menu of lunch and dinner choices. The food is good and the place just oozes atmosphere. It is slightly dark and there is a lot of wood, and of course, a nautical theme decor. It is no surprise that The Pirates House in Savannah is considered a must-do when you visit the city.

Cookbook review: Dump Meals 5 Ingredients or Less by Cathy Mitchell

I admit it, I am a cookbook junkie. I love cookbooks, I love to read recipes and especially I love to read ones that have stories in them about where the recipes came from. This cookbook is not one of those at all. I found it at the Dollar General near my home in Florida and couldn't resist the idea of dumping five ingredients into a crockpot and having a meal. Dump Meals is a unique idea really and it works. 

Before I tell you more I do want to say that I like this cookbook so much I bought a second copy to take home. I didn't want to take the chance that I might forget to bring it back next year.  That does say something about this cookbook, doesn't it? 

The book starts off with some slow cooking hints and tips and if you are not real familiar with slow cooking this will be helpful. It is made for a "Crock-Pot" butt don't let that deter you if you happen to have another brand, 

Next, we get some of Cathy's Favorites and they include pot roast, pulled pork and barbecued ribs. 

In the Soups, Stews and Chilis section, I made the Black and White Chili. I did something rather odd after it was almost done, I added honey. It smoothed out the acid in the tomatoes and gave it such a delicious taste. This is the first white chili I have ever made and we ate every last bit of it. 

Next up is Chicken Favorites followed by Bountiful Beef. I made two recipes in this section Brisket with Sweet Onions and Easy Beef Stroganoff. I could not find uncorned brisket so I used a London Broil. Both of them were excellent. I again made small changes to the recipe by using beefy onion soup mix in the stroganoff. 

The book has additional chapters for Pleasing Pork, Spectacular Sides,  and Sweet Treats. 

If you are looking for a new cookbook to add to your collection or if you like the idea of just throwing the ingredients into the crockpot and forgetting it for a few hours while you go about your business then I think you will enjoy it. 

The cookbook does use packaged ingredients like cans of soup etc. You can use the healthier versions of these. I plan to experiment with using fresh mushrooms for instance instead of the canned mushroom soup but I will have to figure out how the get the creaminess that the soup provides while still maintaining the flavor profile. 

I highly recommend this cookbook and I actually got it on sale for $4.99 so it is a bargain as well. 

Meridian Restaurant Winston Salem NC

Meridian Restaurant came to us highly recommended. The fact that it is located right next door to the Brookstone Inn made it convenient for us to visit. We would have gone there no matter what though after the recommendations.

Meridian has a chef-owner who brought his prodigious talents to Winston-Salem.   The menu changes daily as is explained on their website. If you want to use the freshest ingredients, which they do, they have to be flexible and adjust to what is available on any given day.

This is a very open concept restaurant. The kitchen is visible to the restaurant and the whole place has that open industrial feel. There are lots of windows and the noise level tends to be quite high. You pass the bar area as you are entering.They offer a tapas menu as well as an extensive selection of wine, beer, and mixed cocktails.

We made reservations just to be on the safe side and the restaurant was busy even though it was a Tuesday night.

I did check out the menu ahead of time and of course, it was not the same when we went there but there were enough similarities to make us all happy. There were several daily specials as well. We began dining adventure with some really good bread and dipping oil. We did make quick work of it. They didn't bring us more which was a bit disappointing but what the heck, we needed room for the main event.

I ordered mussels which were served with two pieces of crostini, I could have used more because the sauce was killer, white wine, and cream. I also had to ask for a bowl to put my shells in which should not have happened. However, the mussels themselves were very good and since I eat mussels quite often I am a pretty good judge.

Both of the men had the bistro steak and frites, with a salad on the plate. The steaks were cooked perfectly and presented beautifully. This is not a terribly tender cut according to the guys but flavorful. At any rate, not a lot of leftovers were sent away on the plates.

We decided it was a good night to have dessert, we decide that most nights on vacation. They have a nice dessert menu which also changes. They offer crepes but what is actually in and on them will change; the same is true for the crème brulee.

We all tried different desserts, our friend had the house made ice cream, my husband had a mile high mousse dessert with chocolate and peanut butter. It was so big he ate half of it for breakfast the next day. It does say something that he wanted to have it again the next morning. My luscious pudding with coconut and fresh blackberries was divine and I did not have a bite left to take away. We also had coffee and settled back to savor our desserts.

I really liked Meridian Restaurant Winston Salem, the food was near perfect. Our waitress was friendly but very busy and I felt our service though efficient, was somewhat lacking. We had to ask for several things that should have come automatically. Having said that; I would come here again and would recommend this restaurant to anyone who is visiting Winston-Salem.