BKD Cookbook Club.....Going on Holiday

It's time again for  Jo Tracey's BKD (Brookford Kitchen Diaries) Cookbook Club. I've followed Jo for awhile and have read several of her books, including one of her most recent which features a group of ladies who have a cookbook club. If you haven't read any of Jo's books, you should.

Okay, guys. I just laughed at myself....I'm starting this post early, even though I don't have anything picked yet. BUT what I laughed at was that when I saw "holiday" in the subject for this months theme, I thought literal holiday...you know, Valentines Day, Easter...etc...I was pretty much ready to not join in because I, 1. procrastinated again, and 2. Don't do much in the way of Valentines Day, then I thought, well, maybe St. Patricks Day, or even birthdays....and THEN, I re-read Jo's explanation and realized she meant what we refer to as vacation. By the way, I love how "holiday" sounds so much better. In fact, my grandkids watch a few kids shows that use this term and one day I went to their house and asked where they were going (I knew), they said "we're going on a holiday". I refuse to correct them and I hope they continue to say it. 

ANYWAYS.....now I'm pivoting with only a few days left so we'll see what I come up with.. It might not be from a cookbook.....I tend to get so much inspiration from recipes I find online. 

We love traveling, whether to local spots, here in the U.S. or abroad. Because I love to cook, when I travel, I love to research what foods are popular to a region or state and then I find those foods and try them. I'm always inspired by cuisine from all over, and it makes me want to try various versions of those dishes or to continue trying new things when I get home. Sometimes it's a spark I need to get the "love" back for cooking meals almost every night of the week for my entire life. 

I will say that traveling to Italy inspired me to break out of my fear of making homemade pasta and give it a go. We traveled to Italy in 2019 and loved everything there. One afternoon when we were walking back to our airbnb, we passed a restaurant that had sheets of lasagna laid out across tables. It caused something inside me to say "maybe I can do this at home". We all agreed that the taste of fresh pasta was far superior to anything else. 

On one of our first nights in Como the weather was a bit "iffy"...we stopped at a local grocery store and purchased some items to make a nice salad with. 

This market was in Venice, and I just LOVED it!. 

 I received a pasta maker for Christmas one year after that, but you know what? It took me a few more years before I used it. What did it take? I'll tell you....

A few years ago my hubby thought it would be fun to do a cooking class at our house. Somehow he found this Italian chef (here's a video of him on a local news show) who spends part of the year in Italy (he's from Rome), and summers in Oregon (his wife is from Portland). We invited a handful of people and invited him out to teach us how to make pasta. We broke out my pasta maker, as well as his, and set to work. I couldn't believe how easy it actually was. In all honesty it takes about the same amount of time as boiling water and waiting for store bought pasta to cook, because the cook time is greatly reduced. 

Since that time, I've made it several times, with mostly successes, and a few fails..while it's not "hard", it can be tricky to get the dough to be right. That hasn't discouraged me. We have all also agreed that when we eat homemade pasta, no one feels as "full" or "bloated". I've made regular spaghetti noodles in various thicknesses, lasagna noodles and ravioli. I'd love to try some trickier shapes. 

I buy the "Caputo Chef's flour Tip '00'" and their Semola flour as well. I usually find them on Amazon. The simple ingredients of homemade pasta are flour, eggs, salt and maybe some oil. One tip the chef gave us is to measure ingredients, even the eggs since all egg sizes are NOT created equal. Typically it's 1 egg more than flour...so 1 c. flour, 2 large eggs + salt and a little oil if needed to make it more pliable and silky. 

My Mother in law and a friend of ours.

Even the grandkids got involved.

Prepping the sauces. My youngest is on the left and a friend of mine, and my grandson.

My oldest daughter, mother in law (on right) and another friend.

Chef Renato giving instructions...did you know you shouldn't keep your oils close to the stove? It can cause the oil to go bad faster because of it's constant exposure to heat.

This was such a fun hands on experience. 

Explaining how the dough should feel.

Running it through the pasta maker. Sometimes it takes more than one person, especially when you're first learning. He had us work in teams.

The best part was getting to enjoy what we made. 

The following weekend was my hubby's birthday so I broke out the pasta maker and made homemade lasagna and spaghetti with homemade noodles.

Oops...out of order...more from the cooking class. My youngest holding the dish she made. We made two sauces, both red, one was heartier, and the other much lighter, using fresh tomatoes.

We broke up into two teams with each team making a pasta dish. My hubby was the judge.

So while no cookbook was involved, these experiences have shaped how I approach cooking, simple ingredients are often all you need, and just "going for it". I will always try new things, even if I never have it again...haha! Like the lau lau I had in Hawaii....it was different, not bad, but not something I would intentionally seek out to have again or try to make at home. Now, Musubi, that was pretty good. It would be fun to try and make that. I love thinking "how can I make this at home".  

I was about ready to hit publish and then remembered I had this old Italian cookbook someone gave me, which then reminded me that for my birthday my girls made homemade ravioli, and they have made homemade pasta at other times. Sometimes our willingness to step out and try something, encourages others.

We had leftover dough and filling so I made some extra to freeze. Today I decided to cook up a few and see if they were still good. A few had cracked, but they still tasted good. 

Upcoming Prompts:

March 18, 2026 – We often refer to our favourites, but this month, let’s look at something new. I’m talking about a cuisine or recipe you haven’t tried before, or a cookbook (either on your shelf or from the library) published no earlier than 2025, perhaps a new-to-you recipe website.

April 15, 2025 – It’s autumn here in Australia, and by now the humidity (and the cane toads) should be gone and the evening temps beginning to cool. Of course, on the other side of the world, it’s spring. Wherever you are, let’s celebrate the season.

With Joy Unquenchable,

Kirstin