We love gnocchi in our family. My parents would always make their own, and when they make them, they really ramp up the production. They freeze them and have them ready whenever. We eat them boiled (with goulash or just breadcrumbs and butter), or fried (my favourite!).
The other day I got a photo of my parents doing yet another batch of gnocchi. And I got an idea – since I don’t really have much to do these days, I can make some homemade gnocchi too. Boil some potatoes, let them cool down, peel them, then and some salt, butter and an egg, and mash all together. Easy, right?!
I did exactly what my mum said. However, for some reason she forgot to mention that mashing cold potato is not as easy as it seems at first glance. First I tried with a mixer. No good! The handles got stuck at the first go. So I took out a stick mixer. Same story. Then I took that hand-held mashing thingy and finally made some progress. However, I still didn’t come far. The potato was sticking to everything! I decided to add some milk, like I would do mashed potato. That kind of helped a bit (although both mixers were still useless). My arm was sore, I was angry and fed-up and frustrated and... Somehow I got through and mashed that damn potato as much as I could. The end result looked rather terrible…
As per my mum’s further instructions, I started adding flour and kneading the dough. The problem with following ‘mum’s recipes’ is that I have no idea what quantities we are talking about. ‘Add flour as per your feeling, until the dough stops sticking to your hands.’ Well, this just added to my frustration, as after I added what seemed like endless amount of flour and ran out of it, the dough still seem to be sticking to my hands. ‘Aaaaaargh, this can’t be happening. F*** that, I’ll just try to make gnocchi and see what happens!’
And so I started rolling them. And I rolled them. and I made some more. And then some more. And the dough would never end! Cooking is supposed to be fun and relaxing and enjoyable. Instead, I was agitated, fed up and miserable.
Finally I got through the dough and ended up with a batch of (funny looking) gnocchi (of all shapes and sizes). I deep fried them this time, added some salt, and…
They were delicious!!! Since I ran out of time (and inspiration and any desire for any further cooking), I just made some salad on a side. Yum, yum, yum, they tasted just like at home (just looked a bit different)!
MAYHEM IN THE KITCHEN 
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