We have a 10-inch cast iron frying pan and we were short 1 pie plate:

The frying pan made a great pie plate!  Cast iron retains it’s heat, the pan was well seasoned and prevented sitcking and it is really pretty.

Although this was out of desperation, this pan is probably my new favorite pie plate!

We’ve had a few people ask, “What Pasta Machine do you use?” lately so we thought we’d share a little review.

I should start the review with what we don’t use – our old pasta machine.  We had used an older model that appeared to be a knock-off of a full-blown machine.  It was decent and had great results – for about a year.  It started to ‘stick’ a few months ago before I realized that the cutter blades for wide noodles had become misaligned.  Once this happens, the cutting action is rendered useless as the machine seizes before making a full rotation.

I turned to our friend, Italian Chef Massimo Bruno, for advice.  He looked me dead in the eyes and said a single word.

“Imperia.”

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