The end of an era at Nino's

Last weekend we didn't have much of an appetite - we were all grieving - so food was not a high priority.

On Friday the 29th of July, we made the heartbreaking decision to let our Norman go. He had lost his spark and didn't seem to be enjoying life anymore, and more worrying to us, he seemed to be suffering. We took him to the vet and they discovered a mass in his abdomen, likely to be stomach or spleen cancer. Up until we got him inside, I was worried that we were making the wrong choice, then his back legs gave out and I knew we were making the right decision. The vet also told us that it was clear he had finally given up which is a pretty big deal for a Labrador.

He did wag his tail at her though - he was that sort of dog.

So, at around 8 pm, the vet injected him with an overdose of anesthetic and he fell asleep for the last time. He looked very peaceful, all the strain and tension washed from his face. It's taken me until today to be able to remember him as he was, not as he had been for the last few weeks. To erase the image of him as I last saw him and remember how happy he had made us, and how much he loved life. Although we didn't have him for as long as we wanted, we were all very happy together and he had a good life. We were so lucky to have him.

Chester was suffering on his own so we have also added to our household with Otto Macduff - he's settled in well and he and Chester are already bonded. No doubt this blog will also record the path of destruction to follow - although Chester has a pretty big legacy so maybe Otto will struggle to live up to that. We can only hope!

Yesterday morning I woke up early and made pasta dough. I'd felt like making pappardelle for a while and finally had the energy yesterday so went with it. It was quite lovely to be making dough at 6.30 am.

Egg pasta dough
150 g coarse semolina (I like coarse semolina, it adds a nice texture but you can use fine semolina too)
150 g 00 pasta flour or plain flour
1 dessert spoon of olive oil
pinch of salt
3 eggs


1. Mix dry ingredients together on your work surface.

2. Make a well in the centre and add the eggs and oil.

3. Mix the oil and eggs together with a fork and then gradually bring the flour in with the heel of your hand, until a dough forms. You may need to add more flour if the dough is too sticky.

4. Knead the dough for ten minutes until smooth and elastic.

5. Rest the dough for at least 20 minutes in the fridge. Mine was in there all day.

6. Roll the dough out into a rough rectangle and divide into four, working one part at a time.

7. I rolled mine out to about a centimetre thick and then cut it into strips.

8. Roll the strips out until they are papery thin and nice and wide. Mine weren't uniform lengths or widths as I hand rolled (my pasta machine is somewhere in the cellar!) but that suited me - it's looks home made!

9. Keep going until all the dough is rolled. This made enough for four meals for two people.

10. Cook in boiling, salted water for a few minutes until al dente. Serve with your favourite pasta sauce. Mine was cabbage and leek slow cooked with a little chicken stock, a splash of white wine vinegar, a drizzle of vino cotto, and crushed tomatoes. Served with grated parmesan, chopped shallots and cracked pepper.