#eos 400d

I make my own pasta for things like Bolognese Tagliatelle and Mushroom Fettucine. Years ago, my parents bought me an Imperia pasta maker. At catering college, among many other things, I had learned to make pasta in a commercial kitchen (and had come home raving about it). They also bought me a Bialetti Mokka pot. I still have both! Many many years, and a successful catering business behind me, they are still in use. When it comes to batterie de cuisine, it pays to buy the best you can (or get someone else to treat you!).

Making high quality pasta is really easy (and extremely cheap). You need flour and eggs. Yes, that's it! 6ozs of flour to a large (or a couple of small) eggs. I use an 80:20 mix of white and wholemeal flours. If you want green pasta, just add some home made spinach puree. If you want red, just add tomato puree. In both cases you'll need a little extra flour. Put the flour on the counter top and make a well in the centre. When you add the beaten egg to the flour, add only a little at a time and knead with one hand only (less messy). Don't add all the egg at once as you may not need all of it (depending on the absorbency of the flour).

A pasta maker is like an adjustable mangle, enabling you to roll you pasta, thinner and thinner. Once you've got to the finest setting, you use the cutter attachment (I have one for tagliatelle and fettucine). You end up with very long strands of perfectly made pasta.

Unless you want to cook it immediately, you'll need to dry it!

Here's the finished pasta wrapped around my rolling pin. My husband however, rigged me up this drying pole in my quirky, oddly shaped kitchen.

The Bolognese sauce is already on in the pan you can see on the left. I prefer to make my own; I know exactly what goes into it.

Enjoy :-)

Jane xx

If you grew up in the 1970’s or even the 80’s this piece of music by William Walton will maybe conjure up images of old war movies; memories passed on by grandparents or the air shows of bygone years. Maybe your Dad looking up at criss-cross aircraft  trails referred to them as a 'Battle of Britain sky’ (then went on to talk about spitfires.

This iconic British airplane took part in it. The aircraft and its brave pilots played an important part in the second world war; 1939-45 yet the last mission by a Spitfire was actually flown as late as 1954. Yesterday, we got to look at a full size replica up close.

An armed forces day here in the grounds of Burnley’s Towneley Hall, included two aircraft: a Supermarine Spitfire and a World War One bi-plane an SE5a.

My maternal grandfather, over 30 years older than my grandmother had served with the Royal Flying Corps.  This group of early military aviators were to become the Royal Air Force in later years.  My grandfather’s discharge papers to RAF reserve duty, described him as a rigger. Here he is, pictured below.

He had been a master joiner by profession.  These aircraft were built using canvas stretched over a wooden frame.

The SE5a was a biplane with two wings, stayed with struts and wire cables.  The concept (the slot effect) is familiar to me as a sailing helm: Two aerofoils together create additional lift.

My grandfather, on active duty, is pictured below, second from the right with 3 others.

We talked to the guys from War and Peace, the organisation based in Dover, Kent, which had brought the aircraft up to Lancashire.  It was fascinating to hear about their use in wartime.  Sometimes referred to as the WWI Spitfire; the SE5 was armed with two machine guns, a wing mounted Lewis gun and a Vickers .303 inch calibre synchronised with the propeller, fired directly through its rotational arc.

Most of the tiny cockpit apparently was taken up with spare magazines! This small plane was one of the fastest and most maneuverable, capable of 138 mph and with a service ceiling up to 20,000 ft!

If you ever get to see one of these up close, take the opportunity. They are an incredible piece of British history.

All recent images were taken using a 'scrap' Canon EOS 400D with a heavily used Canon EF 18-55 f3.5-5.6 IS STM lens. Images were edited using Canon Zoom Browser EX and DPP4. The older images, property of my grandfather were shot by unknown photographers.