I wanted to make ravioli with a machine (I made it by hand a week ago and it was so thick that it was almost inedible). I had little idea that to whip up a little mushroom ravioli with cream sauce would take 2 hours. And I almost sliced off my finger in the process. Near the end of the whole preparation. The first thing I thought (okay, technically the second after uttering an f-bomb expletive) was “oh no, I’m going to have to go to the hospital and we’re not going to be able to eat all these good looking raviolis!” Thankfully it was “only a flesh wound” and apart from the blood and the pain we were able to continue on. Kind of a made-up recipe (I wanted to use dried Porcinis, but couldn’t find any, so we used Shittakes and Chaterelles), it was a good chance to break-in the new Imperia pasta machine. After using this, I can’t believe I tried to roll out pasta by hand before–and my hat is off to all those who can do it manually!
We drank a Sine Qua Non “Covert Fingers” Pinot Noir. While not up to the level of the Pinots made with Oregon fruit, this was the best bottle yet I’ve had of this wine. It had some initial hints on the nose (popped and poured, no swirl) that were Syrah-like (incredibly rich, dark fruit, almost a meaty characteristic) but after a swirl or two it was pure Pinot Noir. I can understand why those people who are into varietal “correctness” don’t appreciate wines like this, but, to me, letting varietal correctness get in the way of enjoying a superlative wine such as this one only hurt those who adhere to a textbook definition of what a wine should be. And it went great with the mushrooms and cream sauce.