Dinner is meat pies again. They are good and I know it is my fault that they are being served twice daily but they are getting old. As I am eating I try to think of a dish that can be cooked in the oven; Roasted meats and vegetables, baked fish, lasagna (no, that won't work, no tomatoes). Humm, does Tilly even know about pasta or noodles? I'll have to ask her. I turn to her, "Tilly, do you know of a food that is made of a dough of flour and eggs, that is rolled thin then cut into strips, to be cooked by boiling or baking?"

I can see she is thinking. "No, I don't think I something like that. What kind of dishes does it make?"

"A lot of the dishes are the boiled pasta with a sauce pour over them. The simplest is garlic herb butter melted over the warm noodles. Another is herb infused olive oil sprinkled over the pasta. Cream sauces with seafood, a sauce of finely chopped green herbs, nuts and garlic in olive oil, cream cheese based sauces, grated hard cheese. Layers of cheese, vegetables, ground meat and pasta sheets baked until the cheese begins to brown. Tomatoes, simmered with herbs, with or without meat. Meatballs, large and small in different sauces over noodles. Oh, so many dishes. Shrimp braised in garlic butter on a bed noodles." I sigh.

"Are the noodles hard to make? You have recipes don't you?"

"Basic pasta is wheat flour and water. There is another type that adds eggs, oil and salt. The ingredients mixed together, kneaded well then rolled thin and cut into strips. The strips can be narrow or wide, depending on what you wish, from this," I hold up my hand with my fingers near touching, "to this," my fingers are now three inches apart. "The dough can also be formed into tubes, grains, or sticks. Small stuffed dumplings can be made. On Earth there were hundreds of shapes of pasta."

I stop talking about pasta and go to take a bite of my pie but find I have eaten it all. I look around the table, everyone is looking at me, a look of desire on most of their faces, tongues licking lips. I look at Tilly, she has her eyes closed but her hands are moving like they are measuring and mixing.

Tilly speaks up, "Are you free this afternoon, your majesty?"

"I can be. Do you wish to talk recipes and food?"

"Yes, please." I know what I will be doing for part of the afternoon now.

I rise, placing my plate and cutlery on the tray then go to the study to get writing supplies. If I am going to give Tilly and Abbey recipes I should write them down so they have a record of them. There may be a cookbook in the near future. Speaking of cookbooks, I need to get the recipes for the stews to feed to apprentices to Scott and the other innkeepers.

I place my tools on the table in the kitchen then return to the dining room as it is Emi and my turn to wash the dishes. Emi has the tray already and is heading to the kitchen so turn around. Picking up the bucket I go to the parlor to fetch the water. I full the bucket before stoking the fire then returning to the kitchen. Emi has the plates in the tub partially covered in cold water. I top up the tub with hot water then fill the rinse tub. I take a bucket of cold water out to the parlor and top off the cauldron then return. Emi has started washing so I start rinsing and drying.

While we are washing the dishes Tilly and Abbey are cleaning the table in middle of the room, preparing to make dough. Abbey brings out a large bowl of flour from the store room, followed by a bowl of eggs. A jug of olive oil and a crock of salt is moved from the shelves on the back wall. "What tools will be needed, Rufina?"

"Measuring spoons, cups, a rolling pin and a knife."

When Emi and I finish the dishes, Emi gives me a hug kiss then leaves the kitchen, going to help finish the daily house cleaning. I write out the basic pasta recipe, 1 cup of flour, 1 egg, 1 tablespoon of oil and 1 teaspoon of salt. As I write each item, I say it out loud so Tilly and Abbey can start. I have them beat the egg and oil together, then mix the salt in the flour. Next pour the flour in a pile on the table, forming a depression in the center. The egg mixture goes in the depression. Then the flour is slowly mixed with the egg mix forming a dough ball. Then they knead the dough, ten minutes or so, until springy. After dividing the dough into four parts, they roll sheets of dough out, laying each piece to the side to dry a little as they roll out the rest. When the four pieces are rolled out I have them slice the rolled dough into different sized strips. We end up with eight different widths, very narrow to three inches wide.

Next, I have them do a batch without eggs, just flour and water. Basically the same process just with water instead of eggs. This batch is turned into Chinese style noodles, folding and stretching the dough repeatedly, making long thin noodles. It takes a few attempts to get it right, but in the end they do it. As these dry I have them start a pot of water heating. As the stove is unusable yet, this is done at the hearth in the parlor.

As the water heats and the noodles dry out some more, I sit them down and we start writing sauce recipes. As there is no cheese available, cheese sauces are out, as are tomato based ones. Melted butter or olive oil, with garlic and other herbs are the bases then different meats are added. Then there are the gravies. Stroganoff, thin beef strips in brown gravy. Different gravies with meat and vegetables. Creamed eggs, hard boiled eggs in cream sauce.

Tilly pours some oil in a small pan, adds a couple of cloves of garlic and some minced basil. Taking this and several plates of noodles we go to the parlor where we place batches of noodles in the water. Tilly has Abbey stir the noodles as she prepares the sauce. The odor of cooking garlic and basil fills the air. Emi and the maids who are cleaning the atrium are so gathered around. I pull a strand of noodle from the water, blowing gently on it to cool it then break it open to show the center. As a show the noodle to Abbey and Tilly I explain that when the core is no longer white the noodles are done and should been removed from the water so they don't over cook.

The cooked noodles are placed on a plate and a spoonful of sauce pour over them. I stir the noodles to cover them all with a light coating of sauce then offer the fork to Tilly. She picks up a single noodle, placing it her mouth. She chews slowly, eyes closed then smiles before handing the fork to Abbey who snags a noodle also. She is nodding and smiling also.

"By the smiles on your faces it must be good."

"I like it." and "Very good." are their replies.

Abbey hands the fork to Emi, who soon is chew a noodle. Molly, Christina and Mabel soon follow. I get the last one, sucking it in then licking the sauce from my lips before chewing. Yum. The bits of garlic and basil coated in oil, season the firm yet soft noodle perfectly. Memories of pasta dinners with my family come to me, causing tears to form. I blink to clear the tears but Emi sees them, giving me a hug. Tilly makes a different sauce with a different mix of herbs and oil as another batch of noodles cook. We spend the next hour or so taste testing noodles and sauce combinations until Emi leads me up stairs to change for our run.