It was a good week in the kitchen, starting with Boyz Lunch, though we’re down to just two of us now. We toasted John with iced coffees then enjoyed philosophical conversation, homemade french fries and a herring salad sandwich on fresh rolls.

Later that day I went to the Arbol farmers market in Paonia which was a festival of color. I was specifically seeking mushrooms.

I came home with three kinds of mushrooms and a mushroom-honey liver tonic, four tomatoes, a dozen ears of corn, roasted green chilis, and a bowl full of Indian supper. The next day it was a plain and simple, delicious tomato sandwich for lunch.

Thursday it was time to make the long-anticipated Gourmet tuna-noodle casserole. I chopped up the brown oyster mushrooms and sautéed them with an onion, then added soy sauce and sherry.

For the topping, I used the last few slices of sourdough to make breadcrumbs and tossed them with grated cheddar and set it aside.

I cooked a quick roux for a white sauce, added one can of tuna and the mushroom mixture to it, tossed in the cooked noodles, spread the mix into the ceramic dish, and topped with the breadcrumb mix and baked it.

It was delicious, not exactly simple, and almost as much trouble as it was worth.

The next day, lunch was a smoked salmon club with refrigerator pickles and another market tomato.

Saturday was Zoom Cooking with Amy, and I had asked to make ravioli. She chose a recipe with mushroom filling, and I chose the Lion’s Mane for mine.

Sizzling butter just because.

Minced shallots in the butter, then the mushrooms, then a splash each of Vermouth and cream. We made our filling ahead, and mixed the pasta dough and rested it in the fridge, so when we got together in the evening all we had to do was make the raviolis and a simple sauce by simmering tomatoes in brown butter.

I’ve only used the pasta roller a couple of times but I’m so grateful for the gift of it. I think making pasta dough daunted me, but this recipe was so easy and worked so well, and it was so much fun, that I’ll be making a lot more fresh pasta.

I lacked the right tool for the job to cut the pasta—I was sure I had a pasta cutting wheel but couldn’t find it—but I found a reasonable facsimile in the potato crinkle cutter. I froze some, and the rest cooked in about four minutes. By the next time I try ravioli I’ll have the right tool for the job. Practice makes perfect, or close enough.

I only used half the dough last night, and probably should have frozen the rest but didn’t think about whether the raw egg in it would be ok overnight in the fridge. This evening I took a chance and rolled the remainder, then took the adventurous step of attaching the fettuccini cutter to the Kitchenaid. I’m grateful for the drying rack, too. Tomorrow I’ll bag up my dried noodles and figure out the best way to store them. I’m grateful for a great week in the kitchen.