Well-Fed

If you asked me what gnocchi was a week ago, I would've said, based on my experience in Davidson's dining hall, that it's a slightly underwhelming, gummy potato-based pasta. If you asked me now, after Wednesday night's cooking class, I'd say that it's one of the best things I've ever tasted.
Quick instructions on how to make gnocchi: boil a ton of potatoes (skin-on to keep them from soaking up the water). Peel them while still hot, difficult to do without burning a finger, and then mash the potatoes with a super sweet potato masher that makes the potatoes come out looking like spaghetti-shaped strings of play dough. Lacking said super sweet potato masher, use a fork. Add one part flour to four parts potatoes, and throw in a heap of grated parmesean cheese. Knead until just combined, and then STOP kneading. Roll out the dough into cords about as thick as a virile Italian man's finger, then cut into pieces slightly less than an inch long. Next, roll the little lumps of dough with the tines of a fork to create grooves that will make it easier for the sauce to cling to the pasta. Throw into boiling water and fish them out when they float to the top.
Presto!
The result: little pockets of potato heaven that practically melt in your mouth.

For secondi piatti, we had roast pork stuffed with rosemary, garlic, sage, and BUTTER. A girl at our table said she didn't eat red meat, so her lack of meat knowledge meant more pork for the rest of us. 

And for dessert? Warm apple tart with rum-infused whipped cream. 

Oh, you know, just a typical Wednesday night meal.