Homemade Italian Sausage
We're back from California after a whirlwind visit. The occasion was my nephew's wedding.
I hafta tell ya - my family does great weddings! Loud and boisterous while still reasonably civilized. We had a blast. The wedding was in Capay, California - about an hour and a half northeast of San Francisco. The venue and the weather were picture perfect and it was great spending time with the family. Even more fun was walking into a restaurant the following morning with 35 people for breakfast. Needless to say, we tipped well!
But all good things do come to an end, and we're back...
First thing we did was hit the garden - five days of not picking tomatoes meant we had a lot to deal with.
Victor made more sun-dried and I made more paste. And then we made Italian Sausage.
A nice, spicy Italian Sausage!
3 pounds of pork gave us 12 4oz sausages. 10 went into the freezer and two were saved for dinner. Perfect.
As per usual, the recipe is a bit vague.
- pork butt, ground
- salt
- pepper
- fennel seed
- fennel pollen
- garlic powder
- onion powder
- brown sugar
- aleppo pepper
- cayenne pepper
- crushed red pepper
- oregano
- thyme
- red wine
- paprika
Grind pork, mix in spices, regrind, stuff into casings... It really is up to you to add how much of something you like. Ya want spicy - add a lot of the hot spices. You want it sweet - leave them out. You could get by with just fennel, salt, and pepper...
And then we got to eat it!
First, I caramelized a couple of onions. Then I grilled the sausages. I cooked the orecchiette, drained it, and added some tomato paste - the awesome homemade stuff - and 2 chopped tomatoes from the garden. Then went a pinch of S&P and a bit of oregano.
It went onto the plate, a sausage on top of it, and the onions on top of it all. Some freshly grated pecorino romano topped it off.
It was a great combination of flavors.
Homemade Tomato Paste
The tomato bounty contines.
Victor was online and came across recipes for tomato paste. We had both thought about making it, but neither of us were thrilled about stirring it on the stovetop for literal hours, worrying about scorching or burning...
Enter the Oven Method!
The concept is to take the tomato juice/pulp and reduce it in the oven instead of on the stove. Since we can't do it outdoors as they do in Sicily, it seemed like a perfect solution. We watched a video of people in Sicily making tomato paste - spreading the juicy pulp on five wooden tables outdoors, and then gradually combining it until they were left with a bucket of paste.
The reality is you don't get a lot of volume - it reduces 90%. One woman made a great point, though, about it - Yes, it's a bit of work, but would you ever consider spreading canned tomato paste on a crusty slice of bread?!? Most likely, not. You will with this, however! We spread it on fish and then topped it with fresh tomato relish - but that's another story.
We added just a bit of citric acid. Tomatoes are naturally acidic - something you want for canning - but the seeds carry a lot of that acidic content and you take out the seeds for paste.
You can use any tomatoes, but plum tomatoes will give you the most volume per pound - they're more meaty. We did a combination of about 7 pounds of plum/San Marzano and 3 pounds heirloom.
You'll need a food mill and 2 rimmed sheet pans. You will also need 3 to 4 hours of oven time. It will vary based on the juiciness of your tomatoes.
Tomato Paste
- 10 pounds tomatoes
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp citric acid
Wash and cut tomatoes. Add 2 teaspoons of salt and 2 tablespoons of olive oil, and mix well.
Simmer the tomatoes until they break down and are soft and cooked through.
Let cool a bit and then pass through a food mill.
Spread juice/pulp onto two sheet pans and place in upper and lower thirds of a preheated 350°F oven. Bake for 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes, remove from oven, stir, and return - switching pan location each time. This is after the first 30 minutes. Still quite thin, but noticeably thicker than when it went in.
After an hour and a half.
After 3 hours. The deep brick red color you're looking for.
Ready to jar.
The finished product.
You can place it in containers and freeze, or you can can it either with a water bath or pressure canner. We have a pressure canner, so I use it almost exclusively.
Use 4 oz jars.
For a water bath, process for 15 minutes or process for 15 minutes at 11 pounds pressure with the pressure canner.
The result is unbelievable - the most awesomely rich tomato flavor you may ever experience.
We're hoping we'll be able to do at least one more batch before the season is over.
It really is awesome stuff!
Stuffed Tomatoes
The tomatoes just keep coming! The eggplant fizzled, the peppers fizzled, but the tomatoes are coming on strong.
If I was going to hope for at least one of the three to come on strong, it would be the tomatoes - there are so many more things you can do with them.
Tonight, Victor took a few plums and stuffed them Victor-Style - the perfect side dish!
Stuffed Tomatoes
- bread crumbs
- parmigiano
- garlic powder
- oregano
- salt & pepper
- crushed red pepper flakes
- fried hot Italian peppers
Slice tomatoes in half and core. Lightly salt and lightly cover in olive oil. Dredge in bread crumbs.
Mix bread crumbs with parmigiano, garlic powder, oregano, crushed red pepper, and S&P.
Place a hot Italian pepper in tomato cavity. Top with bread crumb mixture.
Place in small baking dish and drizzle with olive oil. Add about 1/2 cup white wine to dish, cover, and bake about 30 minutes at 350°F.
Uncover and bake an additional 20 minutes.
Absolutely delish! We're both fans of hot peppers, so the Italian hot in the tomato was perfection. If you don't like heat, leave it out - but it was really really good!
The steaks were liberally doused with Nick Stellino's magic spice mixture - equal parts of:
- garlic powder
- onion powder
- brown sugar
- salt
- pepper
- paprika
Onto the grill they went.
There are more heirloom tomatoes ripening with another round of San Marzanos and plums not far behind.
This is fun!
Red Lentil Soup and Tomato Galette
It's summertime and it's rather hot outside, but with the air conditioner running, it could be any time of the year, at all, indoors. Time for some soup!
Victor found a recipe for a Turkish red lentil Soup that sounded like the perfect dinner. A spicy red lentil soup drizzled with a spicy oil. How perfext!
Turkish Red Lentil Soup
INGREDIENTS
For the Soup:
- 1 cup red lentils
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- 1 large onion, finely diced
- 1 large carrot, diced
- 1 heaping Tablespoon tomato paste
- 2 teaspoons cumin
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon dried mint
- 1/2 teaspoon thyme or oregano
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 4 cups water
- 4 cups vegetable broth
- salt, to taste
For the Paprika Oil:
- 3 Tablespoons olive oil
- 1 1/2 teaspoons paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
INSTRUCTIONS
Pick through your lentils for any foreign debris, rinse them 2 or 3 times, drain, and set aside.
In a large pot over medium-high heat, sauté the olive oil and the onion with a pinch of salt for 3 minutes. Add the carrots and sauté for another 3 minutes.
Add the tomato paste and stir it around for around 1 minute. Now add the cumin, paprika, mint, thyme, black pepper, and red pepper and sauté for 10 seconds to bloom the spices. Immediately add the lentils, water, broth, and salt. Bring the soup to a boil.
After it has come to a boil, reduce heat to medium, cover the pot halfway, and cook for 15-20 minutes or until the lentils have fallen apart and the carrots are completely cooked.
In the meanwhile make the paprika oil by swirling together the olive oil, paprika, and red pepper in a small sauce pan over medium heat. The moment you see the paprika starting to bubble, remove the pan from the heat. It's done.
After the soup has cooked and the lentils are tender, blend the soup either in a blender or simply use a hand blender to reach the consistency you desire. Taste for seasoning and add more salt if necessary.
Serve the soup with a drizzle of paprika oil, wedges of lemon, and extra mint and red pepper for everyone to customize to their taste.
While Victor made soup, I set my sights on a tomato galette
It's a stellar year for tomatoes - they are just sooo flavorful - I doubt I will ever get my fill of them.
This was about the easiest thing to make in the history of easy things to make. I pulled the pie dough out of the freezer, but it's really easy to make.
Tomato Galette
- 2 lbs heirloom tomatoes, sliced
- 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- 4 oz mixed cheeses, grated (about 1 1/2 cups)
- 1/2 tsp oregano
- salt & pepper, to taste
Preheat oven to 400°. Gently toss tomatoes, garlic, and 1 tsp salt. Let sit 5 minutes (tomatoes will start releasing some liquid). Drain tomato mixture and transfer to paper towels.
Unwrap dough and roll out on a lightly floured sheet of parchment paper to a 14" round about 1/8" thick.
Transfer on parchment to a baking sheet.
Scatter cheese over dough, leaving a 1½" border.
Arrange tomatoes and garlic over cheese.
Bring edges of dough up and over filling, overlapping as needed to create about a 1 1/2" border.
Sprinkle tomatoes with sea salt and pepper. Chill in freezer 10 minutes.
Bake galette, rotating once, until crust is golden brown and cooked through, 55–65 minutes.
Let cool slightly on baking sheet.
Top with sun-dried tomatoes, if desired.
It was the perfect combination - soup and galette - and it really brought home the flavors of summer.
Shrimp Ravioli, Part Deux
When Victor made his Shrimp Ravioli, last month, he made a double-batch. Half went into the freezer. When he made the Goat Cheese a few days ago, the whey went into the freezer.
Tonight, they both came out. So to speak.
Creating new meals from leftovers can be a lot of fun - it's almost always a one-shot deal, never to be replicated. That can be a good thing or a bad thing, depending upon what it is you're cooking. Tonight it's a bad thing - dinner was great!
We knew we wanted a light sauce for the ravioli, so I went with minimal ingredients - a couple of mushrooms, a fresh red onion, one small hot red pepper, and a couple of yellow tomatoes. And the whey.
I sauteed the mushroom and onion, and then added the pepper and tomato. Next went the whey, and I brought it all to a nice boil, adding a bit of salt and pepper. Finally, I added just a smidge of cornstarch to pull it together. No garlic, no other herbs or spices.
I cooked off the ravioli about 3/4ths of the way, and then added them to the sauce to finish.
It was one of those dishes that worked on every level. Rich and creamy, and light, yet filling. The yellow tomatoes from the garden have really been outstanding - really flavorful - and were the perfect foil for the whey, mushroom, onion, and hot pepper.
I kinda doubt the stars will align to make this, again, but I'm really glad they did, tonight. And it's a perfect reminder not to get rid of the whey when you make cheese. It has lots of uses - and lots of nutrition!
Dinner From The Garden
It is so much fun going out back and picking dinner! Tomatoes, cucumbers, beets, tomatillos, and hot peppers are all starting to arrive. Well... the cucumbers are arriving with a vengeance, but that's okay. We're figuring out lots of fun things to do with them - most recently by thinly slicing them and making roulades!
Victor thinly sliced them on a mandoline and spread them with a mixture of mascarpone, dried figs, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Really, really good.
I made a tomatillo salsa to use as a salad dressing. The tomatillos, tomato, and habanero pepper came from the garden!
Tomatillo Salsa
- 6 small tomatillos, chopped
- 1 small onion. chopped
- 1 yellow tomato, chopped
- 1 habanero pepper, minced
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- salt and pepper, to taste
Place everything in a blender or food processor and pulse until mixed but still slightly chunky.
When that was done, it was time to make salads.
I grilled a small pork tenderloin and sliced it.
On the plate, I started with a layer of mixed greens, and then added sliced tomatoes and mozzarella. Next went roasted vegetables, and roasted beets. I added one of the cucumber roulades, some sliced pork tenderloin, and topped it all with the tomatillo salsa.
The salsa came out good. Really spicy from the habanero, but we like our spice. Habaneros are great because, while they are pretty hot, they have a lot of flavor. It's not just heat for heat's sake.
We have lots of tomatoes ready right now, so I'm already thinking of something fun for tomorrow.
Stay tuned...
Chicken Pesto Pasta
Tonight, dinner was cooking some pasta and mixing it with stuff in the fridge and from the garden. Victor made a batch of sun-dried tomato pesto and a batch of traditional pesto, so I had options!
We're still working on the roasted vegetables from the other day and there's still more of the roasted chicken - creating dinner has never been easier.
I started off by tossing a couple handfuls of the vegetables into a skillet along with some cubed chicken and some broth. When it got hot, I added in about a half-cup of pesto and mixed it all together.
Meanwhile, I had the pasta cooking. When it was about 3/4 done, I pulled it out and mixed it in the with chicken and veggies to finish cooking in the sauce and thicken it a bit.
Onto the plate with some freshly-grated parmigiano.
Rich, creamy, and indulgent.
Gnocchi and Stuffed Artichokes
Tonight's dinner was a bit of a tag-team affair - Victor made the artichokes and gnocchi, and I made the sauce.
I never had stuffed artichokes as a kid - they were always steamed and served with mayonnaise for dipping the leaves. Stuffing them brings them to a whole new level.
The basic recipe is breadcrumbs, grated parmigiano, garlic powder, some crushed red pepper flakes, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Mix everything together, trim the artichokes, and then pull the leaves apart and stuff the breading into all the cracks and crevases. Place in a steamer and cook until tender.
The gnocchi came out of the freezer - Victor made a double batch the last time he made it.
For the sauce, i started by grilling a pork tenderloin. When it was mostly done, I brought it in to rest.
Into a skilled went a chopped onion, chopped zucchini, about 2 cups of Victor's pasta sauce, and the pork that I sliced.
Everything simmered a few minutes, and dinner was served!
Lamb Kebabs
My impulse buy of the week - this week - was a small boneless leg of lamb. Right now, my tummy is rather glad I bought it!
The plan was to marinate it and throw it on the grill, but when I pulled it out of the 'fridge, this morning, kebabs made their entry into my culinary brain - and who am I to argue with myself?!?
The marinade was simple - pomegranate molasses, olive oil, garlic powder, and lots of fresh mint - with a bit of fresh rosemary and parsley.
I skewered them with dried figs and dates and onto the grill they went.
It was another OMG moment! Really tender, really flavorful, and I didn't even mind that I had to change propane tanks halfway through cooking. Yes, I always have a spare. The figs and dates were perfect from the grill.
We picked a few more purple-beans-that-turn-green and Victor made a quick bean and potato salad - olive oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper, and garlic powder.
Dinner was served.
Methinks I will have to pick up another one of those little roasts sometime soon.
Lamb Burgers with Fennel Slaw
Ya know how sometimes you make something that is truly excellent?!? We did it, tonight. Lamb Burgers with all the trimmings!
We tend to get into a rut, now and again, with beef-chicken-pork because it's almost always in the freezer and easy to pull out and thaw, so last time I was at the grocers, I picked up a package of ground lamb. No real plan for it, but I thought it would help to get the creative juices flowing.
And it did!
Victor found a recipe for lamb burgers with a fennel slaw and aioli that had promise, so he went off to make his own version of the aioli. That left me with the fennel slaw and the lamb. We do good tag-team kitchen!
Lamb Burgers with Fennel Slaw
Lamb:
- 1 lb ground lamb
- 2 oz Sambuca
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon chili flakes
- Salt and Pepper
Lemon-Caper Aioli:
- 1/4 cup rinsed salt-packed capers
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
- 3 tablespoons (or more) fresh lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 2 garlic cloves, finely grated
- Cayenne pepper
- Kosher salt
Fennel Slaw:
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 celery stalks, thinly sliced on the diagonal
- 1/2 fennel bulb, thinly sliced
- 1/4 large sweet onion, thinly sliced
- 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint
- Salt and Pepper, to taste
Directions
Lamb Burger:
Place lamb in bowl. Sprinkle with Sambuca and spices. Mix well and form into patties. Grill to desired doneness.
Lemon-Caper Aioli:
Whisk capers, mayonnaise, oil, lemon zest, lemon juice, mustard, cayenne, and garlic in a medium bowl; taste and season with salt and more lemon juice, if desired.
Fennel Slaw:
If you have a mandoline, use it to thinly-slice the fennel, celery, and onion. If not, cut as thin as you can. Toss the fennel, celery, onion, and mint with the lemon juice and olive oil. Add salt and pepper, as desired.
To Assemble:
Toast thick slices of bread or good rolls. Place aioli on bread, top with burger, top with more aioli, and then the slaw.
This was definitely a hit! Lots of spice from the aioli, crunch from the slaw, and sweetness from the lamb. The flavors just worked. It was the perfect knife-and-fork burger.
The aioli recipe makes a lot, so the challenge will now be to see how I can incorporate it into something else.
I love a good challenge!
Cucumber and Bean Salad
The garden is starting to produce! Beans and cucumbers abound, beets are almost ready, eggplants and tomatillos are starting to poke their heads out, peppers are coming in, and in a few weeks we're going to be inundated with tomatoes. We may even see a few leeks!
I love it!
Produce fresh from your own garden is so rewarding - and so good. The factory-farmed-picked-before-it-is-ripe produce of the grocery stores just can't compare.
After bringing in our haul, Victor jumped in and made a really good salad with the beans and cucumber.
He started by blanching the beans - those purple beans turn green the minute they hit the water - and then peeled and sliced the cuke. From there, he added thinly sliced radishes and thinly sliced onion. The dressing was lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper. We had started a new batch of Limoncello earlier in the day, so we have lots of lemon juice! A sprinkling of feta finished it off.
Very simple and very refreshing!
I sliced up a pork tenderloin and marinated it in Pistachio Liqueur. I pan-fried it and added some mixed mushrooms and pine nuts along with another splash of pistachio liqueur. I would have added pistachios, but we were out. On the shopping list for tomorrow.
Really simple and really refreshing.
Tagliatelle with Creamed Leeks, Sausage, and Peas
We've had friends visiting for the past few days - and that always means fun times. It's been non-stop laughter and conversation and non-stop food - with a bit of wine thrown in for good measure. Definitely my kind of gathering.
We haven't been doing a lot of non-stop eating this past year, but we were able to graze away without stuffing ourselves to the gills - just a bit of willpower and knowing when enough was enough. We ate well, we ate a lot - definitely more than our normal routine - but we did pay attention. As I have said many times, we're not on diets. We eat what we want when we want and do not deny ourselves. We paid attention.
What we didn't do was take a lot of pictures of what we were making - I tend to completely forget about snapping a photo when we have friends around. No pictures at all of the Dungeness Crab and Shrimp Louie's from Monday, but I did get a picture of the tagliatelle Victor made for dinner on Tuesday.
It was totally awesome!
The pasta recipe is a take on Alon Shaya.
Fresh Pasta
- 1 1/4 cups Tipo "00" flour or all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup semolina
- 2 eggs
- 2 egg yolks
- 2 tsp olive oil
Mix and mound the flours on the counter and make a well in the center.
Add the eggs and oil to the center and slowly start incorporating flour into the eggs. When it becomes cohesive enough to start kneading, begin by pressing the heel of your hand down and pushing the pasta, fold it over itself, and repeat. The process will take about 10 minutes. The dough will become rather stiff, but smooth. The more you do it, the more you will get the feel and the more natural it becomes.
Wrap the dough in plastic and let rest for at least 30 minutes at room temperature.
Take pieces of the dough and roll through a pasta machine or by hand, and form into your desired shape.
Fresh Sausage
- 1 lb ground pork
- 1 tsp fennel seeds
- 1 tsp fennel powder
- 1/4 tsp chili flakes
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- S&P to taste
Mix all ingredients.
Fry small chunks of sausage mixture in a hot skillet, keeping the pieces bite-sized. Set aside.
Creamed Leek Sauce
- 1 lb leeks - white and pale green parts - well-cleaned
- 1 cup white wine
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1 cup peas
- 1/2 tsp thyme
- S&P
Clean and slice leeks. Place in skillet with a bit of olive oil and cook until they begin to wilt. Add 1/2 cup water and 1/2 cup wine cook until liquid is mostly reduced. Add remaining liquid and cook until leeks are very tender, adding more wine, if needed.
Place leeks and their cooking liquid, 1/2 cup cream, and thyme into a blender and puree until smooth.
Place back into skillet and add the reserved sausage and the peas. heat through.
Thin, if necessary, with a splash more wine or water.
Check for seasoning and add salt or pepper, as desired.
Mix with pasta and serve.
Everything about this dish was right.
The pasta was light and delicate. The sauce was also deceptively light. It gets its body from the pureed leeks with just enough richness from a bit of cream. The sausage added flavor and texture, and the peas did, as well.
It took a bit of time to make the individual components, but the dish, itself, came together in mere minutes.
Definitely a keeper!
We had limoncello tiramisu for dessert. Small portions - I made a half-recipe! I neglected to get a picture, so here's one from Easter. Same dessert, different plate.
And we had lots of fun things to nosh on... The beauty of good friends is you make a lot of whatever and then you bring it out, put it back, bring it out, again, put it back, lather, rinse, repeat.
We had a big batch of hummus that we just kept refreshing and switching out things to dip into it...
Hummus
adapted from Alon Shaya
Ingredients
- 1 pound dried chickpeas (2 1/2 cups), soaked overnight and drained
- 4 garlic cloves, peeled
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 cup tahini
- 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
- 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- Salt
In a saucepan, cover the chickpeas, garlic and baking soda with 2 inches of water and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer over moderately low heat, stirring every 15 minutes, until the chickpeas are tender, 50 minutes; if necessary, add water to keep them covered.
Drain the chickpeas and garlic and transfer to a food processor; puree until very smooth. With the machine on, gradually add the tahini, lemon juice, 1/3 cup of olive oil and the cumin; season the hummus with salt.
Spoon the hummus into a bowl and drizzle with olive oil.
Pork tenderloin grilled and marinated in spicy garlic sauce. This is the basic Asian-inspired marinade I make for any number of meats...
Spicy Garlic Sauce
- 1/2 cup soy sauce
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 1/4 cup minced fresh parsley
- 1/2 cup rice wine, or sherry
- 2 tbsp minced fresh garlic
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 2 (or more) tbsp chili paste (Sambal Oelek)
Mix all ingredients.
Slice meat into bite-sized pieces and place in marinade. Chill at least one hour.
And one of our new favorite snacks, roasted chickpeas.
We've made them with several different toppings, but really like garlic powder and finely grated parmigiano reggiano. You can use canned, just rinse well.
Crunchy Roasted Chickpeas
adapted from NY Times
- 2 cups cooked chickpeas
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 heaping teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 tablespoons finely grated parmigiano reggiano
- Salt to taste
Spread out chickpeas on a paper towel. Pat dry, then let dry for about an hour.
Heat oven to 400 degrees. Line a heavy rimmed sheet pan with parchment paper, and spread chickpeas evenly on the pan.
Bake in the center of the oven until crunchy, about 30 minutes, stirring and rotating every 10 minutes.
Place hot chickpeas in a bowl and drizzle with olive oil, garlic powder, parmigiano reggiano, and salt.
And, we made bread, of course! Sourdough, using Susan's fabulous starter. Ann loved it so much we sent her home with starter to make her own!
I made two baguettes on the baking stone and a boule in the cast iron pot.
It was great for cheeses, the pork, dipping into hummus, sopping up pasta sauce, and slathering with butter.
The measurements are a bit vague, but I more or less follow the Tartine Sourdough method...
I keep about 75 grams of starter from each batch and have that in the 'fridge. When I want to bake bread, I pull it out and add 200 grams of water and 200 grams of bread flour, mix it, and leave it out about 8 hours or overnight - depending upon what time I started it.
I take 75 grams of that and it goes back into the 'fridge for the next batch.
To the remaining, I add about 300 grams of flour - and it can be an assortment of rye, sprouted wheat, and/or white bread flour - 10 grams of salt, and about 100 grams of water. The water varies by flour types. I'm looking for a loose but not wet dough.
I almost always mix with the Kitchenaid, but, it works by hand, as well.
I more or less follow the Tartine folding, and then form into loaves or boules. Regardless of shape, the oven is preheated to 500°F and temperature is dropped to 450°F once the bread goes in and baked until golden and hollow-sounding when tapped.
The food was good, but it was the company that made everything so great. There's a comfort with old friends that brings immeasurable pleasure. There's no pretense, there's no having to be on your best behavior. There's no mincing words or having to worry that someone will take something the wong way. It's simply basking in the joy of being together.
Something we just don't do often enough.