Painting by Gene McCormick
Pasta Prodigy
My Italian grandmother
taught me how to make pasta.
She’d pour a mountain of flour
onto wood kitchen table,
add a pinch of salt, dollop of olive oil,
mix in an egg and knead
until silky dough turned bright yellow.
We’d take turns using the rolling pin
to stretch, flatten the stiff lump
into a thin sheet dusted with semolina
which she’d coil, slice into satiny ribbons.
Uncurled noodles dried on a clean dish towel
until boiled, topped with garlicky tomato sauce,
grated Asiago cheese, a sprinkle of parsley.
All afternoon, we’d lovingly prepare
and assemble our delectable dinner,
serve it with crusty French bread,
salad with radishes, lettuce,
and tomatoes straight from the garden.
Today I feel her presence standing beside me,
hear broken English instructions
as I work at my stone counter.
Strong hands reach from the past,
patiently guide my fingers.
Jennifer Lagier lives a block from the Monterey stage where Janis Joplin performed and Jimi Hendrix torched his guitar. She has published twenty-two books, in a variety of anthologies and literary magazines, edits the Monterey Poetry Review, helps publicize Monterey Bay Poetry Consortium Second Saturday readings. Website: jlagier.net, Facebook: www.facebook.com/JenniferLagier/
Gene McCormick's paintings are in private and commercial collections nationwide and are regularly exhibited throughout the Chicago area, his home base. He has illustrated more than fifty small press literary journals and his art has been used on couture sportswear by a non-profit clothing manufacturer. Several lifetimes ago he spent considerable time in the Monterey/Carmel area but now resides in Wayne, Illinois.
My Italian grandmother
taught me how to make pasta.
She’d pour a mountain of flour
onto wood kitchen table,
add a pinch of salt, dollop of olive oil,
mix in an egg and knead
until silky dough turned bright yellow.
We’d take turns using the rolling pin
to stretch, flatten the stiff lump
into a thin sheet dusted with semolina
which she’d coil, slice into satiny ribbons.
Uncurled noodles dried on a clean dish towel
until boiled, topped with garlicky tomato sauce,
grated Asiago cheese, a sprinkle of parsley.
All afternoon, we’d lovingly prepare
and assemble our delectable dinner,
serve it with crusty French bread,
salad with radishes, lettuce,
and tomatoes straight from the garden.
Today I feel her presence standing beside me,
hear broken English instructions
as I work at my stone counter.
Strong hands reach from the past,
patiently guide my fingers.
Jennifer Lagier lives a block from the Monterey stage where Janis Joplin performed and Jimi Hendrix torched his guitar. She has published twenty-two books, in a variety of anthologies and literary magazines, edits the Monterey Poetry Review, helps publicize Monterey Bay Poetry Consortium Second Saturday readings. Website: jlagier.net, Facebook: www.facebook.com/JenniferLagier/
Gene McCormick's paintings are in private and commercial collections nationwide and are regularly exhibited throughout the Chicago area, his home base. He has illustrated more than fifty small press literary journals and his art has been used on couture sportswear by a non-profit clothing manufacturer. Several lifetimes ago he spent considerable time in the Monterey/Carmel area but now resides in Wayne, Illinois.
