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Pasta vs. spaghetti


Randomguy

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I am confused by the number of pasta choices presented these days, and fondly recall the days when momcheese used to serve the help whatever spaghetti was the cheapest.  

When did it become pasta?  What percentage of your pasta consumption is in spaghetti form?

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27 minutes ago, Randomguy said:

I am confused by the number of pasta choices presented these days, and fondly recall the days when momcheese used to serve the help whatever spaghetti was the cheapest.  

When did it become pasta?  What percentage of your pasta consumption is in spaghetti form?

You didn't have Mac and Cheese as a kid :(  Or lasagna?  Or the so decadent fettuccine alfredo?

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1 minute ago, Razors Edge said:

You didn't have Mac and Cheese as a kid :(  Or lasagna?  Or the so decadent fettuccine alfredo?

Mac and cheese is not pasta even though it is pasta in a way, it is its own thing.  Lasagna is the whale shark, there but on the fringes.  Lasagna is hulking, but rare, and is also its own thing.  No Fettuccine as a youth.

I feel that everyone likes the first half-serving of lasagna, but then is tired of it.  I should make some, never having made it myself before.

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When I was a kid, my mother would make spaghetti and meat balls or meat sauce at least 2 or 3 times a month.  My favorite meal.  She would usually make it for me on my birthday.  She also made macaroni and cheese (home made), but I was not a big fan.  I didn't know about lasagna until I got married.  Once again, not a big fan.  I guess I prefer my pasta covered in a tomato sauce, rather than some artery-clogging cheese concoction.  

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15 minutes ago, Indy said:

Fettuccine Alfredo is really popular in my house.  Helps if freaking stupid easy to make.

It's nice to have a go-to that is popular.  Clam linguine is a frequent pasta dish in our place, but spaghetti with a homemade sauce is second most popular. We have a delicious pasta bake that I love as well, but haven't made it in several months :( 

We have a Vapianos a few minutes walk away that we enjoy.  You basically pick a combination and they make it.  I usually choose the preset one of Smoked Salmon Carbonara, and choose spaghetti as the pasta type. So effing good!

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12 minutes ago, ChrisL said:

We didn’t have spaghetti growing up, never ate it until my HS GF who was Italian  invited me over for dinner.   We had Indonesian chow mein “bami” growing up.

I always considered spaghetti just a type of pasta, not its own thing...

In the midwest, it was just spaghetti if it was covered with spaghetti sauce, which was all types of tomato sauce.  Different shapes were the mark of the devil or communists, there just wasn't supermuch variety.

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54 minutes ago, wilbur said:

Yay!  Indy is back.   Is that the latest pic of your beautiful little girl?  

Yes, just turned 4 last month.  Though little with her is very relative as she continues to tower over anyone in her age range since she's about as big as your avg 7-8 year old.

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We had spaghetti when I was growing up - either with meatballs or just tomato sauce and served with some sort of fried fish on Fridays in Lent. 

Now I'd say most of the pasta I eat is penne.

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2 minutes ago, Randomguy said:

That is just thin or flat spaghetti, you know.  Angel hair is nice, cooking quickly is a great quality.

How do you make your spaghetti sauce?

 

Mrs mooseworth makes it from cans of tomatoes and tomato sauce and sometimes she buys expensive Italian deli sauces. 

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4 minutes ago, Randomguy said:

Does she eat spaghetti or do you feed her pasta?

She like vegetables, pasta, chicken nuggets, you name it, she eats it and a lot of it.  She out eats her 10 year old brother.  He's generally still good with a kid's meal, her, not so much.

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1 minute ago, Indy said:

She like vegetables, pasta, chicken nuggets, you name it, she eats it and a lot of it.  She out eats her 10 year old brother.  He's generally still good with a kid's meal, her, not so much.

Where is she on the avocado or the dreaded @jsharr sliced tomato scale?

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Just now, Razors Edge said:

Where is she on the avocado or the dreaded @jsharr sliced tomato scale?

Okay, she doesn't like tomatoes.  Wife got some cherry tomatoes, Fin thought they were grapes, took a bite and spit it out.  Haven't tried guacamole, she usually just scarfs down a big plate of Mexican rice and several bowls of salsa when we go out for Mexican.

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When I was little my mother would make home made sauce on Sunday's occasionally, but for an easy dinner during the week sometimes she would mix elbow macaroni with a jar of Ragu, hamburger and mozzarella cheese, then bake it.  She called it Johnny mozzarella.  It was good.

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It's nice to have a choice!

I usually have rotini and thin spaghetti on hand, as one or the other usually strikes me as being just right.

But there are times I want flat fettuccine or simple elbow macaroni or large shells.

When I was a kid, I don't remember mac & cheese being made by my mother.  What she did was make al dente spaghetti, and then fry it in a pan, with a little oil or margarine, with onions and cheese (usually Velveeta, but also sometimes with Swiss or American cheese) and whatever leftover meat she had - if any.

I decided to reproduce it with American cheese (I'm not a fan of Velveeta), though the leftover I had was shrimp, as follows and it tastes great:

Mickey's Shrimp Skimpy 

(skimpy only due to cheap ingredients besides the shrimp: feel free to add more!)

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Back in the days when my mother would scrape together things to make a meal, one of them was fried spaghetti with cheese.  She used Velveeta because it was about all that we could afford but, with a little leftover meat and the cheese, she delivered the protein we needed!

I had leftover steamed shrimp and, after a "fried spaghetti" Google search to point me in the right direction, made a delicious, somewhat-reminiscent-of-mom dinner for two (two very full dinner plates) as follows.

Ingredients

 

1) 5.2 oz (1/3 box - they usually weight 15.6, not 16 oz) of thin spaghetti (any of the typical Italian pastas will work)

2) 1/2 lb deveined shrimp, previously steamed (or boiled in water with a little vinegar for 5 min. or until pink)

3) 1/2 of a Vidalia onion (about a hamburger-bun sized onion)

4) 1/4 lb American Cheese (7 avg. thickness slices worked great: I used white, but yellow is fine)

5) 2 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese (optional)

6) 2 eggs

7) 2-3 tbsp olive oil (or any cooking oil)

? salt and pepper and garlic powder/salt or minced garlic to taste.

Directions:

1. Cook the pasta to al-dente as per directions on box (8-9 min. typically for thin spaghetti), adding the cooked shrimp for the last minute to heat them up. Drain into a colander

2. Cut the onion into bite-sized slices, add the oil to a 12" or larger skillet, and begin to fry the onion on medium heat (if adding minced garlic, add it now as well).

3. When the onion begins to turn translucent, turn the heat to low and crack two eggs into the center of the skillet, stir them around to scramble them.

4. Immediately after stirring the eggs, while they're still mostly uncooked, add the pasta and shrimp from the colander and stir quickly so the egg will break into small pieces as it cooks like it does when making Chinese fried rice.

5. Turn the heat to medium-low and do NOT stir the spaghetti for 2 min. periods so it will develop a little fried-texture.  Stir twice (6 min. total).

6. Season with salt and pepper and, if using, garlic salt or powder.

7. Turn the heat to low, place slices of Cheese and grated Parmesan on top of the pasta and slowly stir until all the cheese has melted and been distributed throughout the dish.

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Mom would make spaghetti with sausage in the sauce. Dad didn't like meatballs. She always used regular spaghetti, but overcooked it (Just like the directions said to). Mac and cheese was also popular. 

It wasn't until we met Fran that we learned more about pasta. We would go to her house with her son and eat her leftover lasagna after detasseling and before going to the pool (so much for waitng 30 minutes to swim!) She taught my mom how to make lasagna and taught her al dente for noodles. Fran later opened an Italian restaurant that is still legendary. It was in the main floor of their home. She closed it 10 years ago when they decided to retire. 

When we were poor newlyweds, we would buy a ham and stretch it over several meals. A favorite was spinach fettucine sauteed in a little oil with garlic, basil and parmesan with a little ham tossed in. We got tired of ham and haven't made it in a long time, but it sure sounds good, now! 

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2 hours ago, AirwickWithCheese said:

MomCheese specialized in both pasta and spaghetti so the only choice was which one for lunch and which one for dinner.   :nodhead:

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for some reason I envied kids who got chef Boyardee ravioli.  We never had canned pasta.

Sure I had spaghetti with homemade tomato sauce.

Nowadays I eat light pasta -- Asian or egg white noodles.  I eat pasta in lieu of white rice.  I find it healthier for me. I've been like this for almost past 8 yrs.  I avoid rice based pasta. It does not make me feel well. I have pasta 3-4 times per wk.  I enjoy true handmade pasta occasionally....egg based Italian or some of the fanastic wheat or buckwheat handmade Asian noodles.

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12 hours ago, Randomguy said:

That is an evil communist pasta, you know.

What do you do with it?

Buy it from the Italian place nearby - often mixed with chicken, feta and spinach, but sometimes mixed with ground beef, tomato sauce and cheese.

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2 hours ago, shootingstar said:

for some reason I envied kids who got chef Boyardee ravioli.  We never had canned pasta.

Sure I had spaghetti with homemade tomato sauce.

Nowadays I eat light pasta -- Asian or egg white noodles.  I eat pasta in lieu of white rice.  I find it healthier for me. I've been like this for almost past 8 yrs.  I avoid rice based pasta. It does not make me feel well. I have pasta 3-4 times per wk.  I enjoy true handmade pasta occasionally....egg based Italian or some of the fanastic wheat or buckwheat handmade Asian noodles.

My mom bought me canned ravioli as after school snack as a kid.  That and canned Mac & cheese with all the chemical tasting goodness.  

Every once in a while I’ll eat Chef Boyardee canned ravioli for old time sake.

Oh and udon is my pasta indulgence.  It doesn’t spike my glucose either.

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