Pasta genovese – at least my version

Posted on August 26, 2017 by johnageddes

Whenever I visit my friends in San Michele, Italy, Gloria makes me this pasta dish and I love it. Adis Pasalic and I used to get a similar version of it at a restaurant in Zenica, Bosnia. Today I saw the new potatoes and green beans at the market and decided to indulge.

This is not really a recipe, but an ad hoc version of how to make Pasta Genovese that is close to what Gloria taught me. It is delicious and very easy.

Ingredients: (I dont measure, use what you think you need)

Potatoes (sliced in 1 inch cubes or thereabouts)

Green Beans

Pasta ( Tagliatele is the traditional pasta for this dish but I usually use penne)

Pesto (you can make your own or buy a jar)

Pine nuts, lightly toasted

Method:

Put a big pot of water with some salt in it on the stove to get boiling. While the water is coming to a boil you can cut up the potatoes into cubes, prepare the beans, and lightly roast the pine nuts under the broiler (watch them).

Throw (gently) the potatoes into the boiling water and boil for about 5 minutes. Add the pasta and boil for about 9 minutes. Add the beans (I cut them up into one inch pieces with a scissors into the water). Boil for another 2-3 minutes or until the potatoes are cooked and the pasta is al dente.

Drain. Add the pesto and pine nuts and mix. Add salt to taste.

Sprinkle with some good quality Parmesan cheese.

This is so easy and tastes so good!

ADDENDUM: I had this with a glass of OPEN Cab2-Merlot VQA wine from the Niagara Peninsula. Generally I don’t like Ontario Red wines but this one is really good and has drawn me from California Cabs. $12.95 at the LCBO or Wine Rack (where you can get a case at $10.95 a bottle!)

August 17, 1947

Posted on August 17, 2017 by johnageddes

Last week I found my hospital birth certificate from August 17, 1947 complete with a little foot print and thumb print. ( Don’t worry, privacy freaks, I altered the prints to post the photo here.)

What else was happening on the day I was born?

Tex Willams country tune “Smoke, Smoke, Smoke that Cigarette topped the hit parade.

Dec 27 1st “Howdy Doody Show” (Puppet Playhouse) was first telecast on NBC with Claribel the Clown and Buffalo Bob.

Here is how my Mom recorded my birth in my “baby book”.

I have always enjoyed a good party.

Posted on August 3, 2017 by johnageddes

Last fall, my friend Margi McKay interviewed me as part of a Kingston Public Library project to have people select an old photo from their past and talk about it. You might enjoy listening to the 22 minute interview. I am happy to have it preserved. Some day my grandchildren or great grandchildren will be able to hear me talk about my childhood.

And how things have changed in my lifetime. I feel like a bit of a pioneer. The TV set in the photo was the latest technology. Now everyone has this in their pocket.

There is a link below to an edited version of the interview but if you have the 20 minutes, the longer interview is better as it is more thoughtful and complete. You can access it by clicking on the photo below or here.

For the shorter edited version you can click here. It is a bit more rushed and the editing sounds like I have had about 4 cups of coffee prior to the interview. But in these days of shorter attention span, this works well. Click here for the abbreviated version.

I talk about 448 Mornington Ave, London in the interview. It is where the party took place. Here is my brother Bob and I on the front porch of that house about the same time.