Tues Apr 23: Piles and Pasta

Fitbit Activity: 8862 steps taken, 11 floors climbed, 3.69 miles traveled, 2009 calories burned, 530 active score

 Today we woke late - around noon.  We got dressed and walked down Hampshire for breakfast to Emma's only it turned out Emma's is a lunch and dinner place.  We split a pressed sandwich and salad and realized we really didn't have enough time to go to the Goodwill Store in Roxbury as we had planned.  So instead we went to the Garment District (not a district, a store) - it was really close to where we were.

DH went to the men's department, while I stayed in the By the Pound section....

This time the clothes were sort of arranged by color - and it seemed much nicer than when I stopped before.  I found several 100% cotton shirts to cut for projects, and a new jacket for me, a dress shirt for DH and several shirts to give to my son's friend.  So it was nice.  DH got pants and shirts.  He likes huckstering as he calls it.  For $9 I got 13 pieces of clothes so that's a good deal.

On the way back we realized that I didn't really have time to go home, as I had to be in Davis Square for the Dave's Fresh Pasta cooking class.  Tonight we took: EMILIA-ROMAGNA: ITALIAN COOKING The art of hand-made egg pasta is at the heart of Emilia-Romagna cooking. Learn to make a quick pasta in the traditional manner using durum and semolina flours and egg. Slow cooked Bolognese sauce along with the region's most famous exports; Proscitto di Parma, Parmigiano Reggiano and balsamic vinegar from Modena will all be used in traditional recipes from the region.

There were only five people in the class. Two I didn't know, then Ba and Me so it was fun.

We made the most tender pasta tonight that I have ever had. It was just 1.5 cups durum and semolina flour and two eggs. Put flour in bowl and make a well then break the eyes and make scrambled eggs with a fork - slowly the flour with come into the eggs. Once it's not sticky dump the flour on the counter and put the misture on the top then knead and bring more flour in. He said the dough would let us know when to stop adding flour - keep kneading for at least five minutes, then cover with plastic wrap and let it rest for 15 min to 2 hours to relax the gluten. Then unwrap and dust hands with flour and knead for a minute or two. Then you use pasta maker to make the dough thinner and thinner and then finally cut to the shape you want.

We made noodles and added to bolognese sauce - which was more of a meat sauce with a little tomato than what I thought it would be.

We also cut circles and made tortellini - putting a mixture of ricotta cheese and eggs and herbs on the inside. Some we cooked in a chicken/beef broth for a soup and some we boiled and put in his favorite sauce of browned butter and sage.

So this time there were lots of left overs so we have lunches and dinner of this food coming up in the menu here!

At the end of class Ci called to tell me the PT people told her my mom wasn't cooperative today,  when they came in to, well I'm not sure if it was to evaluate or to do a session.  I had thought they would let her stay still for a few days, but am now reminded that they push people to get moving immediately - and my understanding is that if they grade her as uncooperative or not making progress they can give her the boot  - move her to a skilled nursing place where they would not have any PT, etc.

I have often thought that she really needs an IEP for health care to be allowed extra time to do things and this is very apparent again now.

The insurance system is not set up correctly for my mom to improve, I'm kicking myself that I forgot this again.