Entry 19

A smack is heard in the kitchen. Rough hands grace the marble table top on which this shrine to good cooking lays.

A sheet of dough is presented to the alter. The rough hands kneading, creating a dance with the dough. A tug of war, back and forth as the elasticity of flour and water finely tune the dough into a marvelous yellow. That kind you get on a new Corvet, the kind that makes mouths water.

Nonna Carla finishes of the kneading. Her rough hands completing an unknown, unfathomable amount of pasta sheets. She is the matriarch of the family, the nucelus upon which all family activites occur. That is how it is in her household and many other Italian households around the world. Food brings family together, pasta the glue to family life.

The water boils to 100 degrees celcius. At this point water starts evaporating into steam, the violent rumlbling of the water is wild and untamed. Nonna Carla always says, 'make sure you make the pot of water is as salty as the Mediterranean Sea'. Every sheet of pasta made has to be accompanied with enough salt to keep that firm taste in.

Nonna Carla drops the raw pasta into the boiling water. She's done this so many times that she knows instinctively when it's done. A couple bites here and there along the way and she can feel when the pasta is, "al dente", literally "to the tooth".

While the pasta cooks her bolognase sauce simmers away. The kids playing in the living room with their new toys. Nonna Carla smiles, what more else would she want from this world?

#365daysofwriting

Every morning I write for 5 minutes continuously and do not stop until the timer runs out. What you see is a stream of consciousness that is me at a point in time just letting it all go, no editing, just automatic mode. Enjoy.