Day 362: The Weekend

Today I made pasta from scratch. It was delicious. I used a basic egg and flour recipe. I have wanted to do this for a long time but I never had the equipment. I have always made sauce from scratch but never the pasta. My husband gave me the attachments for my blender that included a pasta roller and a two pasta cutters for my birthday. I made a thick cut pasta and a tomato sauce with fresh herbs from my garden. I have a very small garden but I am hoping to expand it this summer.

Last month I went to the farmer's market in the rain and quickly picked up a few things I needed for lunch including two non-descript tomatoes. Had it not been raining I never would have grabbed them. I would have spent much more time inspecting all the varities and trying to find the firmest, reddest tomatoes I could find. Due to the rain I had to just grab and run. They were small regular looking tomatoes, not Roma or Heirloom. I sliced up the first one for my sandwich and it was the best tomatoe I have ever had in my life. It was sweet and the flesh was meaty. It wasn't acidic at all. So, I seeded the second tomatoe and planted the seeds. Now I have about 40 small tomatoe plants growing in pots in my back yard. By this summer, I should have enough tomatoes to use in my sauce. Tomatoes are one of the many superfoods that should be included in your diet. You can find out all about tomatoes at www.tomatoesweb.com. In addition to nutritional information you can also find tips on how to grow them. I think you will be surprised at how much a tomatoe can benefit your efforts for successful aging. For starters they contain a nutrient called lycopene. Lycopene is an antioxidant that reduces DNA damage at the cellular level.

I also walked for about an hour today at the Los Angeles Arboretum www.arboretum.org. I doubt I burned too many calories, it was more a symbolic gesture of becoming more physically active. It is also a place that you can learn about plants and gardening including fruits and vegetables. For example, this summer they are offering a certificate in Permaculture Design. I don't think my tomatoe farming efforts require me to step up to the next level of sustainable land use management, but you never know.