There are three ways of making pasta shapes. You can extrude the dough through shaped holes, cutting the forms off as needed. You can roll the dough thin, then hand cut the dough to be shaped. The same can be done using a “pasta machine” which rules the dough to a known thickness. Or you can use cutters to cut sheets of pasta.

I’ve been making pasta dough for a couple of years. I stepped up my game recently by deciding to roll my dough instead of squeezing it in the pasta machine.

Since I was going to roll out the dough, I decided to get rid of my mixing bowl and do it on my board with the well method.

This is a step forward. One of the lessons I’m still learning is how small a batch can be made this way. If the batch is not large enough, there isn’t enough floor on the board to create a well with deep enough walls.

I was lucky, there were only two eggs in play, so the eggs didn’t go everywhere, just a slight panic.

Which brings us back to dough. Normal pasta dough is an egg and floor mixture. My recipe is 3/4 of flour to 1 large egg. Occasionally, it is two eggs plus a yolk. It really depends on how the dough feels.

Today, the dough was too wet. I should have added more flour, but I didn’t.

The eggs are mixed into the flour until it comes together. At that point, I switch to kneading. I knead for 10 minutes, by the clock. The sad thing is that I always check the time remaining at 2:30. I don’t know how I get there, but I do.

This egg pasta works well for rolling out or squeezing. This was turned into rigatoni.

I didn’t know I could make this by hand, I thought I would need to use an extruder for rigatoni. I am happy with my results.

It does not look like machine made pasta. The dough was a little wet. I also had some issues cutting it. Next time I will use the bicycle cutter to get nice squares.

Ally took the other half of the egg pasta and made beautiful bow tie pasta.

The other type of pasta dough is made with water and semolina flour. Bluntly? I just guessed at the amount of warm water to add. It came out nearly perfect.

This pasta dough doesn’t roll out as flat as the egg pasta, but it is used for other pasta shapes. We started with Orecchiette. Those were easy to make, but I didn’t like them. Ally loved making them, so I let her do it.

This is made by cutting a 1/2 diameter rope of dough into 1/2 long chunks. Then you roll the under your thumb.

Malloreddus is made the same way, but the pasta is pressed on a grooved board to make a wonderful pattern. This was my favorite shape to make. They go fast, they look nice, and they have a good bite to them. Plus they hold the sauce.

The Busiate was another fun shape. It uses a 1/4 in rope of dough cut into 3 inch long sections. These are twisted around a skewer and the rolled flat.

I think they look delightful, I want to practice them some more.

I’m hoping that Ally will do an article about the sauce she made for our homemade pasta. I will say it is the best I’ve had in years.

I had to give this one a few days. I watched most of the debate, but had to tune out after the umpteenth time the moderators interrupted the debate to say things that are just not true. All in all, it wasn’t so much a debate as a dog-pile on Trump. I thought Trump handled himself fairly well, but I was irritated that he let himself be baited by Harris. It was obvious what she was going to do, and she did it, and the fact that he fed right into it was painful.

The main topics were Jan. 6th, the economy, immigrants, war, unemployment, job rates, trade deficits, gun confiscation, and a few other things.

David Muir asked Trump if there was anything he regretted about January 6th. I thought it was a decently worded question, and open ended enough that Trump should have been able to find something to talk about. I’m sure that Trump has regrets that people turned into a mob (not a riot, no, but yes a mob), that a person lost their life, etc. Instead, he chose to talk about how he had nothing to do with it except to make a speech. While that’s factually true, it left opponents open to making all sorts of commentary and accusations.

Harris, for her part, was just ridiculous. She said, “On that day, 140 law enforcement officers were injured and some died, and understand the former president has been indicted and impeached for exactly that reason.” Sure, lots of people were injured, but the ones who died were not due to their injuries sustained at the Capitol (FactCheck.org). Her bullshit about Trump threatening a “bloodbath” is just ridiculous.

The fight over tariffs is beyond my paygrade. There’s a lot of information on it online, and I encourage people to go read it. Both Trump’s and Harris’s various economic plans will cost the country money. The question is how much, and when. Trump’s tariff plans seem to indicate that We The People will see a slight increase in prices initially, because tariffs always do that (increase a price to someone and they pass that along to the consumer), but the general expectation is that American producers will be able to compete, thereby making American goods cheaper to purchase. That takes time, though, so right now it looks bad. And honestly, it IS bad, but only in the short term. I don’t know that many of us can handle a short price hike while things sort themselves out.

Harris just seems to be wanting to give people money, which might seem “nice” on the outside but… where’s the money coming from? In a crap economy where the government is bleeding dollars down the drain, where are these grants for new housing and other monies coming from? I gather Harris is just planning on printing more, but we all know how that works out. NPR suggests that the pandemic messed with the economy world wide (NPR) and I believe that to be correct, but only sort of. People were better under Trump in general. NPR suggests that prices under Trump were “depressed” for some reason, without actually giving a reason, so that now that they’re “normal,” it seems like more. NPR also states that prices have risen about 21%, but salaries have risen about 23%, so it’s all about the same as before the pandemic. I don’t think they understand economics.

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Barnett v. Raoul, 3:23-cv-00209, (S.D. Ill.) is one of the cases filed in response to the Illinois Bruen tantrum. It was opened January 24, 2023.

It was decided at the district court level in favor of The People. It was part of the group of cases that went to the Seventh Circuit where Judge Easterbrook and Jude Wood decided that the plain text of the Second Amendment actually means, something besides what the plain text says.

It was remanded down to Judge McGlynn’s court for a do-over.

The state went into the “we need more time” dance. Judge McGlynn was having nothing to do with delay tactics, instead moving the case towards final judgement as rapidly as possible.

Of note, he had the plaintiffs, the good guys, file extra briefings to counter what the circuit court said. He has done everything in his power to establish a good record for appeal.

The case went to trial on Monday, the 16th, and is continuing for a few more days.

Yesterday, they heard testimony from one witness, James Ronkainen. He testified for around 4 and a half hours. They presented just shy of 60 exhibits.

In addition to his testimony on Monday, Mr. Ronkainen was disposed for hours. The transcript of his deposition runs for 240 pages.

So what makes this strange? There was an hour of discussion to define what a MSR was? This was mind-numbingly difficult to read. I gave up after 80 pages.

I am eagerly awaiting to hear what Judge McGlynn has to say in a couple of weeks.

You can read James Ronkainen’s deposition yourself, if you wish.

From the YouTube description:

The following are a series of war correspondence films from the Simba Rebellion in the Congo in 1964/65 set to the tune of “Roland the Thompson Gunner” by Warren Zevon. The film features a platoon of mercenaries from Europe conducting a platoon attack on the town of Boende in the Cong. The mercenaries primarily come from the Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany. Of note, there is an ex-ss officer in the film according to the source, I can’t confirm this, though.

EDIT: The German officer is Siegfried Müller, one of the mercenary captains. He was a Wehrmacht First Lieutenant in World War 2, not an SS officer.

This is the type of war the leftists are pushing for. I fear for my children and grandchildren.

Stew is the bedrock of my winter meal plan. Part of my family dislikes soup, but is okay with something thicker. Stew is the way to go! Stew is basically a protein (chicken, beef, lamb, etc), a fat (bacon grease, olive oil, veg oil, etc), vegetables (onions, carrots, celery, etc), and a starch (rice, beans, potatoes, etc). In whatever combination you like, mix together, and you have stew. Of course there’s a bit more to it, but that’s the basic “stew recipe.”

Because stew was usually made with leftovers or scraps, the little bits that weren’t enough for another full meal, we don’t really have written stew recipes.  A good stew is different every time you  make it, because the ingredients will never be exactly the same. That is the right way to do it! So let’s make a nice, hearty chicken stew.

Ingredients

• a cut up chicken, or several thighs, bone in and skin on
• 1 or 2 onions or leeks, rough chopped
• 3 large carrots, coined
• 2 ribs of celery, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, rough chopped
• white wine (optional)
• 1 purple top turnip, diced
• 2 parsnips, coined
• 2 to 3 cups shredded cabbage
• 1 cup barley, well rinsed
• spices (salt, pepper, oregano, parsley, dill, sage, rosemary, etc.)
• oil for searing
• water to fill the pot

In a large soup or stock pot, add a drizzle of oil (olive, safflower, or vegetable) and bring up to a medium heat. Add the chicken and brown it all over, then remove it from the pot (set it aside on a plate). Add the carrots, onions, and celery, and cook until the onions soften and begin to brown very slightly. While they’re cooking, you may need to add more oil. This mixture of carrots, onions, and celery is called a mire poix, and it’s the basis of most good quality soups and stews. You want to scrape any of the browned chicken off the bottom of the pan (that’s the fond and it’s part of what makes for a rich flavor later). Add in the garlic and saute until they are fragrant, usually less than a minute.

Drizzle in some of the wine (or chicken broth if you don’t do wine), and deglaze the pan entirely. Once that’s done, add the rest of the vegetables and allow them to cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Add all the remaining ingredients, and enough water to cover everything, plus 3 cups (this is to allow for the barley to absorb some of the water – you may want to try a bit more or less, to make it the thickness you prefer). Add in some salt, pepper, and other herbs to taste, and bring to a boil, then allow to simmer for a minimum of an hour.

Check for flavor, then add more spices as necessary. The above are only suggestions, and you’re welcome to try whichever spices you like! Simmer for another hour or more, until the chicken is falling off the bone and shreds easily. You may wish to pick out the skin and bones at this point, or serve it as is. Serve this up with fresh baked bread for a hearty and healthy meal.

Notes:

You can make this recipe with diced chicken breast if you prefer. I like the added flavor and the moistness of the meat when I use bone-in, but not everyone likes bones. I almost always make this recipe with either a full cut up chicken, or with chicken legs with thighs attached. It comes out meaty and delicious!

Recipe by M. Allyson Szabo, author of The Re-Enactor’s Cookbook (available on Amazon).

Allyson had picked up a wooden box a few years ago to take to events. It was a plain wooden box with just a bit of decoration and a porcelain knob attached to the sliding top.

The knob and screw holding it are not period. The rest was pretty period. Or more precisely, it was period-20.

It looked period at 20 feet.

Over the years, it has taken a beating. This knocked the back off, pulling out the brads.

She asked me if it could be repaired. TiteBond III to the rescue. I pried the back out enough to get glue where it was needed. Clamped the entire thing closed and called it a day.

Until I decided that it could be better.

Today, we use petrochemicals to create high-quality, strong, enduring coatings for our cabinetry and furniture.

Modern finishes are long chain polymers that have all the right characteristics for a long-lasting, shiny surface.

I’ve used polyurethane finishes. They can be polished to a near mirror like finish.

But that is the modern world? What were they doing 100 years ago? 200? 300? They were using some of the same finishing methods we use today.

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I’m trying to export a video from OpenShot-community, and it is refusing to cooperate. Switching to a filler article.

Poor Ricky, he thinks that government inspectors keep us safe from bad business practices. Maybe he should ask about all the mandated state inspections of Gosnell’s medical facilities?

MSNBC is likely lying by omission and by intentionally ignoring the rest of the story.

It isn’t that this one person posted a video, that may or may not be a correct interpretation, it is that there are now many such reports.

According to my leftist sources, this is Biden trolling Trump. I think they are half right. This is Biden trolling Kamala.

Are you ready for what happens after the apocalypse? I’m not talking about the zombie apocalypse here, nor am I referring to the next pandemic. The apocalypse I mean is the one that’s currently predicted: Harris winning the election. I know some of you are laughing, but please don’t. I am quite serious about this. What are your plans for if she wins?

There are so many moving parts to planning for a Harris win. We have to consider the possibility (likelihood?) of social unrest. There may be a repeat of January 6th, this time with weapons, even if Harris is a clear winner (which I think is unlikely). More importantly, we need to plan for the economic downfall of the country.

It’s time to stock up on some basic things. From now until the election, prices have eased slightly. Harris is trying to buy votes. I know money is tight, but it’s really time to go and buy up all the canned goods you use in a year. Pick up extras of all your dry goods. If you can, order a half cow and stash it in your freezer. I have a funny feeling that if she wins, the country is going to get very expensive, very fast.

I always say, prep what you eat, and eat what you prep. This isn’t for a long-term emergency, though. This is food that you expect to eat over the next year. So look at what you use on a regular basis. For me, in the canned goods department I use a ton of canned tomatoes (both regular and the type with the chilies in it). I use canned beans (black, red, chili, garbanzo, etc.) as well as dry ones. I use rice, specifically Jasmine or Basmati. My family likes sausage, and I can usually find them on sale, so I will buy extras and toss them into the freezer. Last week, I found turkey breasts on sale for 99 cents a pound, and I bought the limit.

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Wednesday was a good day, sort of. I was able to shut down my K8S cluster.

The amount of grief this new fangled thing has given me cannot be overstated.

Bluntly, most of the issues could have been resolved by throwing more money at the problem. K8S does work for large infrastructure solutions. The sort of infrastructure where you have 10+ nodes and each node has 32+ GB of memory.

What does this mean for Troglodite? We are moving sideways to a different type of infrastructure. This is built on more VMs but smaller.

“The” debate happened. It was the first presidential debate I’ve watched in years. I had to tune it out about 15 minutes in, when the referees tackled Trump for the second time. I.e., did a fact check and reported Trump lied when he had not.

It was the three on one that I had hoped not to see.

The number of manipulative things that were done to make Trump look bad.

His microphone was louder. This makes him sound more aggressive.

They were keeping his microphone muted after Kamala stopped talking, he started talking into a dead mic. A second or so later, his mic goes live, but it makes it sound like he is talking over Kamala when he is not.

They asked him questions that were phrased in the negative, they asked her questions phrased in the positive.

The fallout on the debate was surprising. Immediately after the debate, there were all the cheerleaders claiming that Kamala won and talking about how bad Trump was. Many claiming that the fact checking proved that Trump does nothing but lie.

This filled my X feed. More leftist noise than I normally see in a month, all in that first 5 hours.

But, the discussion has morphed into “How bad was ABC? Can we give them a -5 on a scale of 1 to 10?”.

Not just on the right, but CNN is holding up the ABC debate as proof they aren’t leftist. When you lose CNN, you are really messing things up.

Social media, thank you to all of those that are following Follow @vineofliberty.

It is sad, I check the number of followers I have a few times a day, looking for those triple digit follows.

More federal judges are twisting the words of the Supreme Court to get the outcomes they want. Most of those are ending up in court, and losing. Even the Ninth Circus is putting up (temporary) wins for The People.

Have a fantastic weekend!