my italian valentine.

Happy Valentine's Day! Even if you don't celebrate it with someone {or if you think the holiday is bogus}, I hope you get an extra dose of happy somewhere along the line today :)

Since Valentine's Day fell on a Monday, we decided to celebrate on Saturday night. This is our first married Valentine's Day, though it's hard to believe this is our sixth Valentine's Day as a couple. {I feel SO old! AHH.} Anyway, in honor of {cv}'s Italian heritage and the crazy long name I inherited from him, we decided to make PASTA for our Valentine's meal!


We picked up some genuine Italian flour on Federal Hill in Providence and also 
picked up some semolina flour at Whole Foods because we weren't sure which 
recipe we were going to use.


One of the registry items we didn't receive was this KitchenAid pasta attachment, which {cv} insisted we spend one of our gift cards from the wedding to buy. After this fun night, I'm really glad he pushed for this little gadget.


Our best man {and loyal reader!}, {ao}, bestowed this KitchenAid goodness upon us as a wedding gift. I've made good use of it over the past ten months, but because of our small kitchen, it can't find a permanent home on our counters just yet. {Can we please grow up soon and buy a house? sigh.} Regardless, I was happy to pull it out from its hiding place for our night of pasta-making fun!


We decided to attempt the semolina egg pasta...


The ingredients cost next to nothing {it's literally flour, eggs, salt, and water}.


When the first batch came out of the mixer, something just didn't seem right...but {cv} tried valiantly to make it work.


{no...this isn't a cookie-making photo...though it sure looks like we changed plans}


{a dough heart?}


When we tried to pass those dough "cakes" through the attachment, this is the mess which fell into {cv}'s hands...


At this point, we were both DYING of laughter at our failure...and were extremely thankful for the second bag of flour we purchased because of our indecisiveness.


Needless to say, the directly imported Italian flour worked like a charm. This is what came out of the mixer in the second batch.


And this is clearly what success from the pasta maker is supposed to resemble...


Though I couldn't take pictures of the next step {since we needed all four hands!}, you can at least see the length of what we were working with here...


...about to meet their shredder...


{shredder = pasta magic maker}


TADA!!!!!!!! I'm like a proud little mother, though I'm just a proud faux Italian ;)


Can you see my love of cobalt blue carried from our wedding into our kitchen?


Looks like we bought the pasta...but we didn't! YAY!


And to top it all off? My parents so generously DROVE a few jars of my mother's perfect basil pesto from Indiana to Rhode Island last summer. I've only used two jars in the ensuing seven months so I could have it for any special occasions...and this seemed like the perfect one. {Bigger bonus: my mom made this batch on my favorite day of the year...other than Christmas or Fourth of July, my birthday!}

So...there you have it! My Valentine's Day with my Italian valentine, though I guess {by default} I'm Italian too? haha. I can see pasta-making in our future...and the fun we'll have with our future baby {v}'s with uncle {ao}'s mixer ;)

Much love to you all on this day of love! Thank you all SO much for your sweet words yesterday...you are one of the main reasons I've been keeping a smile plastered on my face. 
Happy Valentine's Day :)
xoxo {av}


And to {cv}, you are WAY more than I ever deserved...I am so blessed to call you my husband and that we get to experience this adventure otherwise known as life together. I count my blessings every day for your love, your compassion, your understanding, and your willingness to put up with little ol' me. I love you. Forever

54 comments:

  1. that was so sweet! fresh pasta is tricky at first but once you get the hang of it you wonder why you didn't do it in the first place! your little love note at the end made me well up! adorable!

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  2. Making pasta together looks so fun! That was a really cute V-day idea! Isn't love amazing?!!? *sigh*

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  3. Wow! What a fun make-it-from-scratch activity! I have never made pasta from scratch, but it looks like sheer entertainment... I may have to invest in a pasta attachment myself :)

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  4. WOW this is amazing! Nice work! I totally need to try this one day =P

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  5. i have been wanting to use my pasta attachment for awhile now. i think i should break it out.

    and it is our first married vday too! congrats!

    stop by and enter the vday soap giveaway: http://lachapstickfanatique.blogspot.com

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  6. YUM! That pasta looks great! I've done ravioli before and it's so much fun!

    Happy Valentine's Day! xo!

    Lauren @ tickled.

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  7. oh my gosh. this is far more ambitious than i could ever do. looks amazing!

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  8. Good job on the pasta! Hope yall have a wonderful valentines day!

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  9. NICE...i so can't wait to get married too with my LDR partner! haha. anyway, this is also my first Valentine's Day with my boyfriend and my first time with a partner. never celebrated it any of my exes in the past. so, this has been very speial to me. =)

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  10. What a fun night at home! We celebrated early too. The Kitchen Aid mixer was the one thing on our registry that we didn't get. So we just keep hoping to find one on sale.
    PS My kitchen is totally lacking counter space (and I own a grown-up house.) Make sure when you start looking that you really think about all the counter top needs :)

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  11. Awesome job you guys!! Looks so yummy :) happy valentines day!!

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  12. Hooray pasta! Great job you two!)

    Happy Valentines Day! <3

    xoXOxo
    Jenn @ Peas & Crayons

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  13. so sweet! and major props for making it from scratch! yall are too cute.

    happy valentine's!
    xo.ashley

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  14. you two are so cute. what a great way to spend valentines days!

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  15. What a fun Valentine's Day dinner!

    We bought a pasta maker a few weeks ago and I tried to use regular flour instead of Italian flour. By the end, I was able to get some pasta out of it but I think I'll try it again using Italian flour like you did: http://ktrefinishingschool.blogspot.com/2011/01/homemade-pasta-or-trial-and-error.html

    Happy Valentine's Day!

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  16. I can't believe you actually made the pasta! That is very impressive.
    Happy Love Day!

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  17. Aww, Alison, this sounds absolutely fantastic! The pasta looks so good, and homemade basil pesto? Oh my gosh. I would trek out to Indiana just to try some of it. Hope you have the loveliest Valentine's Day ever!

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  18. Oh my gosh, that pasta sounds delicious! Happy Valentine's Day! xoxo

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  19. I am a big fan of pasta, I can't believe you guys made it from scratch. Good job!! I bet it tasted delicious. Happy Valentine's Day to you :) thanks for being such a phenomenal friend, xo

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  20. Awww so sweet! Thanks for sharing your pasta-making experience, I am also married to an Italian and we both love to cook, but have yet to try this. Looks like a fun thing to do together. Enjoy your first married Valentines Day!

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  21. What a great V Day celebration! You two are so cute together....

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  22. this looks like so much fun..i might need to purchase that attachment in the future! so jealous of all your le creuset...we might need to go back to that outlet when I have some extra dough! looks like you had a lovely v-day dinner :)

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  23. i too have a love for cobalt blue things.. but i'm carrying over to the wedding rather than the opposite. :) btw i'm LOVING that stock pot of yours!! i'm gonna have to try homemade pasta sometime - its looks extremely fun to make.

    happy valentine's day my friend ♥

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  24. How neat!! Happy Valentine's Day!!! Sending love your way! xoxo!

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  25. Fresh pasta is the best! You two are adorable:-) Happy Valentines Day to you! xoxo

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  26. Happy Valentine's Day to you two! Just wanted to let you know I picked up your copy of Southern Living Weddings and I'm still dying over how beautiful your wedding was! Thanks for the inspiration!

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  27. wow that looks amazing! my girls and I are making pasta tonight... but it will not be as intricate of a meal as yours was!

    happy valentine's day girl!!

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  28. i am sooo impressed girl! what a wonderful meal!! and i love that you used your moms special pesto sauce (too cute)! happy valentines day to both of you!!! xoxo jcd

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  29. This makes me miss my boyfriends families Italian cooking! Looks like so much fun

    Happy Valentines Day!

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  30. Delish! Hope you have a lovely Valentines Day!

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  31. WOW you were serious when you said you made the pasta! Good job! Looks like you two had a great celebration.

    Happy V Day!

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  32. I got your Valentine card today, and I love it and any other card by Papyrus. Here is the link if you wanted to take a look at my post! http://itskodywithak.blogspot.com/2011/02/l-is-for-way-you-look-at-me.html

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  33. this is so awesome! looks like the pasta turned out great! you two are such a cute couple! happy valentine's day!

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  34. woah! you made your own pasta?! that's a lot of work. it's the first v-day for me and the mister as domestically partnered folk also, but we're doing absolutely nothing. we're the "think the holiday is bogus" type. but i'm glad you got an extra special meal out of the occasion.

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  35. This is so adorable!! Sounds like you had a wonderful time. We have the same issue with the kitchen aid - no home for it because of our lack of counters in our apartment. But soon, we will give it a home! I bought the hubs a pasta maker for Christmas and we're planning on using it tonight (or not, you don't need it for gnocchi, actually). We celebrated all weekend but we're continuing tonight as well..why not?! Enjoy your Valentine's Day!

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  36. YUM!!!!

    you had me at basil pesto. cute blog! thanks for finding mine, i'm excited to read more of your posts. and happy valentine's day!

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  37. Wow. You guys made your own pasta. I am in awe!

    PS: That is an adorable dress!

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  38. This looks like so much fun! I'm so impressed! And hungry now...:)

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  39. So cute! We are long distance too, and he just got the same stand mixer from his parents for Christmas. I've been itching for the pasta-making attachment!

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  40. What you wrote about your hubby is the sweetest ever! I'm not sure how you found my blog, but I'm glad you did! It's so awesome that you went to school in Georgetown and you're now in New England :) I love finding bloggers in my area. So cool!

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  41. you guys are so adorable!! i can't believe you had the patience to make homemade pasta! major kudos to you guys! super cute and romantic!!

    i wander, i wonder

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  42. I want to make pasta some day! I don't even have the kitchen aid mixer, let alone the pasta attachment! Looks like you had fun!
    Happy Valentine's Day!!

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  43. We have never attempted fresh pasta! It looks tricky! Y'all did a great job!! Y'all are just the sweetest things. Happy Valentine's Day!!

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  44. You two are too cute! What a perfect way to celebrate Valentine's Day!

    xo, Lena

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  45. yummy i really like your blog!

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  46. ahh i've just stumbled upon your blog and it's very fitting as i'm currently in a long distance relationship with my boy. he's currently in sweden and i'm in england. however, i have faith that we'll be together soon! love you blog and i'm a new follower :) Sx

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  47. What a fun and delicious Valentine's! I love that you cooked together!

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  48. This is such a great idea! I bet you guys had so much fun...and what's better than that! Looks delicious!

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  49. What a cute way to celebrate...an Italian Valentine's day! I've always wanted to make my own pasta...I will definitely have to someday! :)

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  50. Amazing!!!! I am soooo impressed with yall's pasta making skills! It looks like you had such a fun night ;) happy belated vday!

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  51. I am sooo loving that you used the kitchen aid pasta maker - we got one (plus the kitchen aid mixer) at my bridal shower, but haven't had the chance to use it yet!!

    Also I have cobalt blue pots / pans / plates / platters in my kitchen (with kelly green accent bowls), just like my wedding!! I love that I am not the only one!!

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  52. What a lovely Valentine :) so sweet. Being with lover in the kitchen is a great idea. Thank you for sharing!!
    Dog Breeds

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