Guest Blog Post: by Kazden Haugen
I have been wanting to try to make my own pasta for as long as I can remember. When the opportunity came up to try out Weston’s pasta machine, I couldn’t wait to give it a go. The pasta maker was easy to set up. I simply gave everything a good wash, clamped the appliance down and attached the rollers. The instruction booklet is clear and offers pasta tips, cleaning, assembly, rolling and cutting information. It also has a few recipes to try. Since we didn’t have any semolina flour on hand, I went with the recipe for White Flour Pasta Dough. I actually didn’t have white flour either, so my recipe used whole wheat flour.
Wheat Flour Pasta Dough
INGREDIENTS:
- 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour, sifted
- 1 egg white
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- A few drops of water
INSTRUCTIONS:
- Measure the flour into a bowl, or pour it in a mound onto a pastry board. Make a well in the center of the flour.
- Pour the egg, egg white and oil into the well in the flour.
- Mix together with a fork or your fingers until the dough can be gathered into a rough ball. Moisten any remaining dry bits of dough with drops of water and press them into the ball.
- Knead the dough until all the ingredients are thoroughly blended, and the dough is the same consistency throughout. If it sticks to your fingers, add some flour a little at a time. just until it no longer sticks. If it seems too dry, add water a few drops at a time. The dough will be stiff at this time, you will use the pasta machine to continue kneading it until it is smooth, shiny and elastic.
STEP BY STEP
The dough was a little stiff so I added drops of water until all the flour was incorporated.
Kneading the dough was the most challenging part as the dough felt very firm at this point. I really didn’t think this ball could possibly become a thin sheet of pasta.
Getting the hang of the machine was easy. I started on the thickest setting and kept sending it back through, adjusting thickness each time.
The dough was so elastic, there was no worry of it breaking.
Surprisingly, the dough didn’t stick to itself when it piled up under the machine.
I kept the sheets in manageable lengths as we were planning to make lasagna with some of the noodles.
A baking rack made a perfect pasta drying rack.
Improvisation with hangars as drying racks worked well for the pasta I wanted to keep separated.
Although the pasta was ready to cook and didn’t actually need to dry, we wanted to save it for dinner later that night. This pasta is nicely dried and ready to cook.
Into boiling, salted water it went. The pasta was tender in a matter of minutes.
I drained the pasta and put the noodles back into the pot.
In went my homemade Basil & Watercress Pesto with a little precooked bacon. It only needed to be warmed on low heat.
Sprinkled with a bit of parmesan cheese, the pasta was ready to serve.
For my Basil Watercress Pesto, I used my mom’s pesto recipe, subbing out 1/2 cup of the basil leaves for 1/2 cup watercress leaves.
I want to thank Weston Products for the opportunity to try out their pasta maker, it was a lot of fun to use. My family will be enjoying homemade pasta for many more meals!
Little did I know, this was already an element of Troll Cooking, as Trolls use what they have on hand to create their meals. Kazden chose Rhubarb Bread, due to the fact that we had an abundant plant that was ready to harvest. 
The bread was delicious, right from the oven, as well as the next morning for a mid-morning snack with a cup of tea. Everyone in the family loved the bread, even my other son who doesn’t think he likes rhubarb. I attribute this to the fact that Kazden followed the recipe to the letter. There is only a cup of fresh rhubarb which keeps it from being overpowered by rhubarb flavor. 
When I make this again, I will likely double the amount of rhubarb which after reading the book, I know the Trolls would approve of. The texture of the bread was light but moist with a soft crumb. Kazden liked it so much, he made the same bread a few days later substituting fresh picked raspberries for the rhubarb, it was equally delicious. He left the walnuts out of both breads as none of us are fond of nuts in our baked goods. 
“All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn’t hurt.†
We first met Dylan, owner of 
His knowledge and passion of chocolate was on a level I didn’t know existed. When he invited Scott and I on a factory tour, we didn’t hesitate blocking off an afternoon to learn about chocolate production on the island of Oahu, from bean to bar.
Walking through all steps of the chocolate process from start to finish and ending up in the tasting area is a real treat. Once our heads were full of interesting facts, we satisfied and challenged our palates with small samples of several bars. Manoa Chocolate Hawaii seeps with creativity as not only are you picking out nuances from different regions but experiencing chocolate laced with ghost pepper, goat’s milk, Hawaiian sea salt and honey. To top it all off, you can have a cup of Chocolate Tea which is a tea made from roasted cacao husks. This tea has become a family favorite, especially when served with a bit of coconut sugar and cream.
Our first introduction to tempeh was while living on the island of Sumatra in Indonesia. Firm, nutty, strips of tempeh caramelized with onion and ginger in a sweet, spicy sauce, looked like some kind of chicken dish as we pointed to them in the tiny, crowded cafe. Our goal was to try something new every time we left our quiet jungle home venturing into the busy city of Pekanbaru. We relied on the expert advice of our Indonesian and expat friends (or taxi drivers) when researching interesting spots to eat.
Another blog post from Kazden…
When you are trying not to eat sugar but you have a few overripe bananas in the fruit bowl, you make No Sugar Banana Cake. This recipe is adapted from my 
“No, coffee stunts your growth,” was my reply, every time Braxton asked for a cup. “How about when I am taller than you, Mom?” was usually his comeback question. Braxton passed me a few years ago in height, but has only recently become a coffee snob. After numerous cups of varying bean and brew styles, Braxton has learned how to attain coffee nirvana. We spent an educational few hours in the kitchen tackling all aspects of that morning cuppa he has come to love so much. Here’s how Braxton sees it…
Simple syrup is just that… SIMPLE! Any ratio of 2:1 depending on how much you want. We wanted a big batch so we did 6 cups of sugar to 3 cups of boiling hot water.
ALMOND SYRUP
And now for the beans… get the good stuff, it makes a difference. The best deal we have found is from 
Grinding your own… YES! Just the aroma is worth the few minutes of extra work here. After using a 
When you want that coffee NOW! French press is the best option. For 1-2 cups we use the small one, 2-4 we get out the 
No one in our house drinks a black cup of coffee. But how we “cream” it can vary. Whole milk, 1/2-n-1/2, coconut milk, evaporated milk or the decadent, sweetened condensed milk (Vietnamese-style coffee) are all options around here.
Cold brew coffee is ready for iced coffee anytime and can be warmed on the stovetop or in the microwave for a warm cup. Cold brew coffee last up to 2 weeks in the refrigerator (ours never lasts that long).
