This week, I looked for an online cooking community to connect with. I need to find out how to make the dough better. I found a discussion board, but haven’t yet found out how to ask questions:
Here is another one I haven’t asked anything of yet,
And a few more options I am following in hopes of finding some tips.
http://www.povitaliancooking.com/blog
I also perused my facebook post and the “advice” my friends gave me…
Though visiting Tuscany and drinking wine all sound fine, I think I might try some of the yummy recipes people shared, but after I perfect the dough and the pasta creation techniques.
My son helped me the first time, using his high school chemistry skills to give me ideas about how to get the consistency of the dough right. He was also fascinated by the pasta maker. He would love to learn more, but he had to take the SAT...SO, Ethan, my better half, stepped up to be my mentee.
We chose a different recipe the second time, this time from a website:
The dough looks a little better this time. My mentee also used his high school chemistry skills to convince me to add water to hold the dough together better.
After letting the dough rest, we rolled it out and made the ravioli. This time, the dough was easier to work with, and rolled out more easily. We used the ravioli press, though I’m not sure if we used it right. We will have to look that one up!
But they did look better..
They also tasted better; thinner dough. I didn’t make the sauce this time, preferring to focus on the ravioli. I will work on a more flavorful filling next time.
Collaboration, all in all, was a net positive. My mentee was helpful in giving me ideas and supporting me. Also, there was lots of advice online, but by reading widely and reading the comments, I was able to make my own decisions. Ultimately, I am ready to be more creative after using online forums to guide and support me. However, though I have never made pasta, I am an okay cook, and not afraid to try new things and to improvise. I am not sure if I would have been as successful if I were a novice cook. I might have needed more guidance and more of true mentor, instead of just guidance from the hivemind.
Learning to cook ravioli, however, is a low-stakes endeavor. Worst case, I order a pizza. Best case, I have good, homemade dinner. I think learning more technical and less familiar tasks would be much more challenging, but not impossible, in this way. There are many resources for say, learning algebra, but it’s harder to know if you aren’t doing it right.
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