Cheesyless Crabbyless Alfredoish - Aka recipe 8, dinners, Crab Linguine Alfredo

Dinner and a half a Rowan dog!

It's a GORGEOUS day out!  And I'm happy.   I have done it again..  went and impressed myself with my veganizing culinary skill.
I made Skyline Chili last night.   It was hot and questionable last night as we were sucking it down.. but this afternoon - after it's flavors had a chance to meld in the coolness of the fridge.. you can NOT tell a difference from carnivorous Skyline.. the only difference.. you don't have to skim any nasty fat off the top to re-heat it!!!  I piled mine with Daiya.. and that would be the only way you would know it was vegan.. if you were an ovo-lacto and added real cheddar, you'd be hard pressed to tell me you didn't just eat the real thing. ;)  My plan is to make some one weekend and take it to my dad on a Monday.. and not tell him it's vegan.  This is where the true test will lie.. daddy is a HUGE Skyline chili lover - and carnivore.  Wish me luck.  This will happen - soon!

Regardless, this isn't about Skyline chili, rather - my crabbyless, cheesyless alfredoish linguine.  It is Friday - and my plan (although that might change) is to make my linguine noodles tonight.  Yes, I am going to hand roll my pasta.  It needs to dry overnight, so it's best I make it now.. if not, i'll be busy in the morning before I head out to a german bakery with my sister in a hunt for eclairs for the dad man.   So, onto the linguine noodle makin'... it should be a bahlast... right?
........
So, I found wd40.   So what? Right?  No! No So what!  I needed it!  I couldn't find it!  Now maybe I can fix my squeaky bed!

Shiva's  noodle maker.

Why am I mentioning this in my blog?   It was in with my noodle maker. (?) And speaking of.. now I understand why my grandma didn't like the thing.   From what I've learned here - I always seem to be working with a handicap in everything I do.. last week it was the thermometer.. blah blah.  Apparently, you need to not only be right handed to work with the thing (which i'm not) but you have to have at least four hands (you must be Shiva) to utilize the thing!   I did it, but it wasn't fun.   Quick though.. I think my clean up took longer.    If I wasn't Ms. 'I have to clean up the house and have dinner cooked before the husband I don't have gets home' I wouldn't have worked so hard at my clean up. (Good thing I found my lil dirt devil.. perfect for floury floors!) But the noodles are done and ready to dry for my evening throw down tomorrow.   Check em out.. they've got healthy flax meal in them.   MmMmmm..  :)

look - worms!  :P

So - here goes.   AK decided to mention this blog on her radio show today.. which is awesome, because she's the one who's about to endulge in this (hopefully) tasty treat.   From what I hear - there's going to be brownies involved for dessert, and she was TRYING to get me to agree to Lion King on blu-ray for an after dinner movie.. but I can't watch that again.  That would make my third time in a month.  I can't do it!!!  So, I have no clue what is going to happen with that.  All I know is that I need to get started on this dish... and hope that because I'm putting it in crocks that I'm warming in the oven before I leave - that it stays warm and tasty for the eating.  It's pretty much going to have to be eaten at the moment it gets there.   So - I'm off to make food for my 7:00 dinner meeting.  Wish me luck!
As a side note - I'm learning a bit about myself.  I realize I do not know how to 'talk' about my food.  I don't know how to engage people in conversations about it to really get to know the true feelings it brings out - or how they really like it.  Most people just say "oh it was good" even if it wasn't.   I think it's time for another public speaking class.. or an engaging conversation class!

noodle to the left, sauce to the right - dance dance

So I moved quick last night.. sort of like a lil dance. I started the noodles and let them boil while preparing to make the sauce.   I've made this sauce a million times now so I know it like the back of my hand, but I really wasn't sure about the crab.    I used 'match meat ' crab, which I have to say was AWESOME.  I used it because I wasn't really sure how to physically make crab.  I found recipes a plenty for crab cakes, but nothing for the actual texture and flavor of what crab would taste like.  This stuff = AWESOME.  I have no idea what they do to plant protien to make it taste like crab, but they have me as a customer forever.. this stuff matched it almost perfectly.   My goal is to attempt to make this stuff on my own.  We'll see how that goes - someday.
Anyhoo - I got it all together, made the sauce and put it all together in a big pot.. (I added some kelp to it too - haha no one knows that til now!)  I love kelp.  I had put the lil crocks in the oven to keep them warm so they could stay warm taking the 1/2 hour trip to AK's house so I popped those out and filled them.. found I had extra, so YAY!  Lunch!

dinner's ready!

So, the consensus?  I think the girls appreciated it for what it was.   Sandra, (the cancer crab) really loved the crab.. and gave me some ideas for the noodles.  We learned that I should probably use hard durham pasta for this particular dish, as my home-made noodles really sucked up the creamy sauce more than durham would.  Normally I WOULD use a hard pasta for this.. but I wanted the extra work of creating my own.   But this is still a learning experience and I learn as I go.  
AK made us some lemon brownies.. which were not cooked all the way but tasted really good!  I loved them anyway.  I guess I should have brought them home.   In between my attempting to watch:  The Rosemary Clooney Story while getting Songified  (i was TRYYYYin to watch that movie, that is all!)   And then moving from that to Carnival Of Souls in the dark, to Absolutely Fabulous to finish the evening.. I think the night and the veganization was a success.  Now, onto my next job - which is going to be a BIG breath of fire.. and I don't mean that in Kundalini terms! 

Music Enjoyed whie writing and cooking.

Goldfrapp - Head First - (the whole album, it's all I have til someone gets me Felt Mountain - hint hint)
Frank Sinatra - I've Got You Under My Skin
Dean Martin - You're Nobody til somebody loves you
Frank Sinatra and Count Basie - More
Michael Buble' - Dream a little dream
Chet Baker- The song is you
Charlie Spivak - Ac-Cent-U-Ate The Positive
Ella Fitzgerald - Let yourself Go
Anita O Day - Side By Side
Frank Sinatra - All My Tomorrows
Ella Fitzgerald - I can't get started


Current Motivation - It's a beautiful day!

Current Craving - Disney World Popcorn.