Do It -all of it- Yourself dinner party.

It's the ultimate food endeavor: a meal where everything is made from scratch.And we mean that literally- from the foraging to the fermenting, each step an attempt to celebrate the process of making a meal. Mmmmm...just talking about it makes me hungry. So invite some friends, set aside some making time, and get ready to go behind the scenes- wherever you happen to live- to create the most interesting Italian feast to ever grace your table.


Forage for Mushrooms and Greens

Advice from: Jeremy Faber, Foraged and Found Edibles, Seattle, Washington; 206.547.2278
Faber started out pursuing a degree in forestry and ended up graduating from the Culinary Institute of America. His two loves merged when he turned foraging into a full-time business supplying wild foods like mushrooms and greens to discerning chefs. Now you can forage for free (fancy) food, too.

Foraging 101
1. Start simple. For mushrooms, look for chanterelles and morels, which are common throughout the U.S. Good starter greens are dandelion, miner's lettuce (which has saucer-shaped leaves dotted by white flowers), and watercress. 'There's nothing very poisonous that looks like them,' Faber says.

2. Know your habitat. 'Habitat is key,' says Faber. 'The first step is to learn the trees. Almost all mushrooms are symbiotic with a certain type so learn where, what, and when things grow in your area of the country. In the Pacific Northwest, for instance, chanterelles are symbiotic with Douglas firs; elsewhere you'll find them with oaks.

3. Get a good book. 'Simple identification isn't that hard,' says Faber, who points out that chanterelles do not have true gills but rather folds that extend all the way down the stem. He suggests David Arora's books to learn more about mushroom hunting (and to practice the pastime safely and avoid picking poisonous varieties). Try The Forager's Harvest, by Samuel Thayer, for info on everything from wild grains to greens.

Tip
Feeling finicky about foraging? Leave it to the experts and buy from them at your local farmer's market. Or, simply source some shiitakes at the supermarket.


Make Goat Cheese

Advice from: Tasia Malakasis, Belle Chèvre, Elkmont, Alabama
'Making goat cheese is really very easy,' says Malakasis, who uses an ancient recipe with just four ingredients--including milk from local goats--at her Belle Chèvre creamery in Alabama to make award-winning chèvres. To make goat cheese at home, Malakasis suggests this recipe.

1. Heat the goat's milk to 75-80ˇF in a stainless steel pot. (Look for local goat's milk because the closer the milk is to its source, the fresher it will be—which results in more nuanced flavors in your cheese.) Stir in the culture. Add the distilled water into a small cup and stir in one drop of liquid rennet (culture and rennet available at dairy connection.com). Mix well and add one tablespoon of the mixture to the milk. Stir well, cover, and place in a warm room-temperature spot for about 18 hours.

2. Place two layers of fine cheesecloth over a strainer and set in a deep pan or bowl. When the milk has coagulated, ladle the curds into the strainer. Let drain for an hour, stir in salt, scrape into a covered container, and refrigerate for up to two weeks. Makes roughly 8 ounces of spreadable cheese. (You could also shape the cheese into disks or logs and let them age—from two days up to two weeks uncovered in the refrigerator—into a firmer consistency.)

Tip
Cut straight to the cheese: Belle Chèvre offers many of their cheeses online; Cypress Grove makes truly wondrous fresh logs.

Ingredients:
2 g fresh goat's milk
8 t MM Mesophilic Culture
5 T distilled water
Liquid rennet
1 t kosher salt


Keep Honeybees

Advice from:: Rick Christensen, Country Fresh Bee Farms, Gumboro, Delaware
'The queen bee does nothing but lay eggs all day,' Christensen says, a necessity given the short life (four to six weeks) of the worker bees. They build combs to store eggs and extra food (honey); when plants blossom, the bees collect nectar to feed the queen and her brood. When peak flowering hits, the bees convert the surplus nectar into honey and storeit in the combs, creating a sweet treat for you.

1. Get your gear. 'What you need for a good colony is space and room,' says Christensen. Start with a simple structure (placed in a sunny spot) of two deep hives to act as the brood chamber where the queen lives and lays her eggs. On top of that you'll need one honey collecting box (called a super) to start, plus more to add throughout the year. For collecting and processing the honey you'll need a bee suit, a smoker, a heat knife, a couple of stainless steel vats and screens, and a honey extractor (most items available at countryfreshbeefarms.com).

2. Buy your bees. Christensen recommends one queen bee and three pounds of worker bees (roughly 8,000-10,000 bees). Place the queen into the lower hive, then release the bees into the upper. They'll seek out the queen and tend to her.

3. Start your hive. You'll want to order your bees in late winter to early spring to give them enough time to make their wax and start drawing cones. (They'll be OK outsideŃthe bees regulate the temperature within the hive.) The first month, feed them with a sugar-water solution. After everything starts to bloom, the bees will collect pollen and, eventually, begin storing honey in the combs they've built in the top super. Keep an eye on the box, taking it off when it's half full, adding another empty super above the brood chambers, and then topping it all with the half-filled one. 'The bees will see there's more to fill and increase the colony.'

4. Collect the honey. Suit up, then give a few puffs of smoke on the bottom and the top of the hive and wait 10 seconds for the smoke to dissipate. The bees may seem calmer, but they're gorging on honey in preparation for evacuating their home, which they believe to be on fire. 'The bees are concentrating so fully on the honey they're carrying that they can't really sting you.' Once the bees are subdued, lift off the top of the hive and check the frames. If all are full and completely capped with beeswax, they're ready to harvest (although leave a full super come September or October to get the bees through the winter).

5. Jar the honey. Remove the frames from the super and, one at a time, stand vertically in a stainless steel container fitted with a catch-screen. Slide a heat knife along the combs to release the beeswax caps (you can leave them in the screen to let any additional honey drain off) and place the frame in a honey extractor, which will spin the honey off the frame. The last step to raw, unfiltered honey is to pour the liquid through a mesh strainer (to catch any stray bits of beeswax) and into jars.

Tip
Too buzzy to bee keep? Try Christensen's raw honey or one of the exquisite varietals, such as orange blossom, from Bee Raw.


Make Sausage

Advice from: Dave Nosiglia, Boston Sausage Company/The Smokehouse; Norwell, Massachusetts
Nosiglia, who started Boston Sausage Company (better known as The Smokehouse) with his dad 26 years ago, learned to make sausage in Germany, France, and Austria. Sausage-making is an art with very few ingredients: meat, salt, and seasonings. Pick the right ones, combine them wisely, and you have magic.

For Any Sausage:

1. Choose your meat. Nosiglia says to choose meat with around 85% fat content to avoid dry sausage.

2. Measure your salt. Salt brings out the flavor in sausage, but too much can be overpowering. Nosiglia recommends using between 1 teaspoon and 1 1⁄2 teaspoons per pound of meat.

3. Choose your seasonings. You can let your imagination run wild. In general, you'll want to use about 1 tablespoon of spices per pound of meat. Some favorites of Nosiglia are fennel (whole or crushed seeds), coarse ground pepper, and coriander powder. 'If you want to spice it up, add a dash of crushed red pepper.'

4. Mix it well. If you're starting with ground meat, mix the salt and spices first with a few tablespoons of water to create a slurry (to blend better with the meat). If starting with a whole cut, cut the meat into chunks about the size of an ice cube, mix with salt and seasonings, grind through a 1⁄4-inch grinder, and mix again. Then stuff into sausage casings or use as is.

For Italian Sausage:

1. Toss together pork with spices and salt in a large bowl. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.

2. Using a ¼-inch meat grinder or a grinder attachment on a stand mixer, grind the pork mixture. It's ready to use.

Tip
Meat another maker: Consider the sausage selection from Lobel's, those made by Belmont Butchery, or finding a local producer.


Bake a Baguette

Advice from: Matt James, Anson Standard Baking Company, Portland, Maine; 207.773.2112
James knows baguettes--many think his bakery creates the best in the country. His advice? 'Have faith in gluten. Here's his 3-step plan for a perfect loaf.

1. Make a poolish (poo-LEESH). To get flavorful, well-developed loaves like a professional bakery, James suggests making a simple starter called a poolish. In a large bowl, mix 1 cup bread flour with 1 cup warm water and 1 tablespoon active dry yeast. Cover with a damp dish towel and let sit in a warm place for 4 to 5 hours. Making a poolish allows for 'greater breakdowns of starch into sugar for richer flavor and a stronger dough,' says James.

2. Mix it good.Dissolve 2 teaspoons yeast in 2 cups lukewarm water; mix it along with 1 tablespoon salt and 5½ cups bread flour into the poolish just until the water is absorbed. Let it sit for 15 minutes. 'This lets the gluten start forming bonds so that the dough doesn't need to be kneaded as much.' At this point, the dough will be quite wetŃwhich is how you want it. 'Wet dough creates a nicer variety of holes and a better texture.' After the wait, dump the dough onto a floured cutting board and shape it into a circle. Take a dough scraper (or a large chef's knife) and flip two-thirds of the dough over onto itself toward you and press it down with the scraper a few times. Then turn the mound clockwise 90 degrees and do it again (if your hands get sticky, wet them a bit). Repeat until the dough is smooth and silky. Transfer the dough back to the bowl and place a damp cloth over the top. Let it rise for an hour, then punch down with your palms to release the gases. Cover and let rise for an hour.

3. Shape and bake. Place a baking stone (preferably) or a baking sheet in the oven and preheat to 425ˇF. Measure out the dough into 4 chunks and shape into long loaves on a peel or piece of parchment paper placed on an upside-down baking sheet dusted with cornmeal. Use a sharp knife to make slashes in the top of each loaf. Spritz the inside of the oven with water and slide the loaves onto the hot stone or sheet. (The parchment can go in with the loaves, though pull it out after about 8 minutes when the loaves have set.) Bake for 18-24 minutes, until crust is golden brown and crisp and loaves are cooked through.

Tip
Rather buy your baguette? Find a local bakery and visit often, preferably in the morning so you can enjoy heady fresh-from-the-oven wafts.


Roll Your Own Pasta

Advice from: Lia Huber, Nourish Network, Napa, California
Several years ago, Huber and her husband traveled throughout Northern Italy to train with pasta makers, grandmothers, and chefs for the pasta shop they had planned to open. 'In Tuscany and Abruzzo we'd see chefs discreetly cracking eggs into dough they insisted over and over again was just flour and water--aquafarina,' Huber says. 'But then I'd ask the ingredients again, pointing accusingly, and finally they'd shrug their shoulders and admit, ‘e un poco uovo' (a little bit of egg).' Which makes sense; egg adds strength and elasticity to the dough.

1. Pulse together the ingredients in a food processor until they form a loose ball. Turn out onto a floured board and knead for 8-10 minutes, until dough is pliable and has a dull gloss. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest for 15 minutes.

2. Flatten dough into a ½-inch-thick disk and slice into ¼-inch-wide strips. Cut each strip into 1-inch lengths. Working with one length at a time (keep others covered with a slightly damp dish towel) on an unfloured wooden cutting board, use your fingertips to roll and stretch the dough from the middle to the ends until it resembles a thick piece of spaghetti.

3. Set the pici on a cookie sheet lined with a piece of floured parchment paper and repeat with remaining pieces. Fluff the pasta occasionally with a sprinkle of additional flour to prevent the
strands from sticking together.

Tip
Easier-than-pici pasta: Try the bucatini from Rustichella d'Abruzzo (sold in rustic brown bags), which is cut on bronze dies from the 19th century. rustichella.it, markethallfoods.com


Raise Hens for Eggs

Advice from Jeanne Thiel Kelley, author of Blue Eggs and Yellow Tomatoes, Los Angeles, California; jeannekelleykitchen.com
Forget bling. Chickens are the attention-getting topic of dinner parties these days. For advice we turned to Jeanne Thiel Kelley, who's kept hens in the backyard of her Los Angeles home for more than 15 years.

RM: Is it legal to have hens in your backyard?
Kelley: Check with your city, town, or county council about livestock ordinances. In general, you can keep hens for personal use if they are 20 feet from your residence and 40 feet from your neighbors. Hens are pretty quiet, and fresh eggs keep neighbors mum.

RM: What about roosters?
Kelley: Roosters really aren't necessary. The hen will ovulate regardless.

RM: How many eggs can I expect from each chicken?
Kelley: Chickens lay eggs depending on sunlight. In the spring and summer, my 12 hens give me about six eggs a day. Their coop is in the shade of a big oak tree (which helps them stay cool), so the lack of sunshine keeps them laying only every other day. (Normal is about one egg per day.) In the winter, my coop gets little or no sun which means only two or three eggs a day.

RM: Are there certain breeds that are easier to keep than others?
Kelley: Rhode Island Reds are good layers but tend to be mean. Araucanas lay beautiful blue eggs but are temperamental layers. I like Red and Black Sex Links, Buff Orpingtons, Australorps, and Barred Plymouth Rocks.

RM: Do you have to start with chicks?
Kelley: No, but it's so much cheaper and more satisfying. Also, when you raise a bunch of chicks together, they'll get along. It can be very difficult to find a laying hen at a feed store. I mean, who wants to get rid of a good layer? Most people buy chicks from a local feed store, but if you can't find what you're looking for, mypetchicken.com is a good bet.

Tip
Egg-cellent alternative: Find a local egg producer at your farmer's or specialty market to reap the flavor rewards sans a backyard coop. localharvest.org


Ferment Vinegar

Advice from: Paul Kolling, Nana Mae Organics, Sebastopol, CA; nanamae.com
Kolling has been making apple cider from the heirloom Gravenstein apples that grow on and around his Sebastopol ranch for 25 years, and apple cider vinegar for 20. Now you can too.

1. Make a starter. Mix 8 ounces of the apple juice with a teaspoon of an appropriate yeast. Let sit for 30 minutes until bubbly. 'It serves the same purpose as using a bread starter- it jump-starts the process.'

2. Let it ferment. Stir starter into the rest of your juice in a large glass container with a loose-fitting top, leaving four to five inches of headspace. Allow mixture to ferment three to four days in a warm corner, or three to five months in the fridge. You'll be able to tell when the fermentation has stopped because there will be no more bubbles on the surface and the juice will no longer taste sweet.

3. Allow it to convert. The liquid (now alcohol) will become vinegar fairly quickly. You can speed up the process by spooning a few tablespoons of the cloudy substance (called the mother of vinegar) from an existing apple cider vinegar (preferably organic and unfiltered) into your mixture. Once vinegar, it will keep indefinitely stored in glass jars with tight-fitting lids.

Tip
Straight off the shelf: Taste artisan-quality cider vinegar without the wait with a tart and sweet bottle from Spectrum Naturals.


Make Creme Fraiche

Advice from Molly Wizenberg, author of A Handmade Life; Seattle, Washington; orangette.blogspot.com
Once you make creme fraiche for the first time, you'll wonder why on earth you waited so long. We've had a batch going ever since trying Wizenberg's recipe.

Creme Fraiche:

1. Place heavy cream in a bowl or large jar. 'The cream shouldn't be ultra-pasteurized or full of additives; that kind doesn't work well, so check the ingredient list,' Wizenberg says. Add the buttermilk, which will act as the culture. Partially cover the jar or bowl and let it sit at room temperature until mixture has thickened to approximately the consistency of yogurt. 'Stir it gently a couple of times over the course of the process so you can keep tabs on how it's doing. You'll notice that it thickens in clumps at first, and then more broadly. Depending on the temperature of my house, it takes between 12 and 48 hours to thicken properly.'

2. When it's ready, give it another good (but gentle) stir, cover, and refrigerate for at least a day before using. 'It needs this time to thicken to its final texture.' Reserve a bit to use as the culture in your next batch, instead of buttermilk. 'The flavor is better, I find, when I use crème fraîche than when I use buttermilk.'

Tip
Craving crème today? Find Vermont Creamery's in most food stores; Bellwether Creamery is touted for making one of the best. vermontcreamery.com, bellwetherfarms.com

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