Friday with Friends. Friday! My favorite day of the week. And friends! I love their stories, their passions, their businesses and I always love finding out their latest recipes for pasta.  So………I have decided that every Friday, I am going to do a feature on a friend. My definition of “friend” is very, very broad. It can be someone I meet on the street. It can be a store owner. It can be a family member. It can be a chef, a student, an artist, a musician, a kid………My table is where all worlds meet and intersect and I want to include YOU at this table!

Looking through my photo album, hear is a sneak preview of some of the people I will be featuring:

Writer. Artist. Cook. Volunteer. Activist. Jenn came into my life via the Ypsilanti Food Co-Op. To say that we “clicked” is an understatement! We’ve had major fun together and the things she has done for Al Dente Pasta, out of the good in her heart, are amazing. She wrote an article about Al Dente for the Ypsi Mix, she got us in to the Ypsi Farmers Market at the Corner Brewery where we will be selling our new Gift Baskets, she created a new recipe for our Pappardelle Pasta which I will share in the future, she has sat in on numerous brainstorming sessions and has contributed her creative forces for the betterment of all!

Another woman of many talents………who also works with another friend, Cleetus at City Provisions. Wait till you see what she did with Al Dente Pasta and Monique’s Leek and Sundried Tomato Sauce.

Southport Grocery and Cafe recently picked up Al Dente Pasta. They are probably the first in the city to carry our brand new Pappardelle Pasta, so that would be the place to get some!

Where would I be if Eden had not come into my life?  Well, I probably would not have this blog. She had the time and patience and skill to help me set up The Al Dente Canoodler. The rest is history.

Now this will have to be a long story as it will involve an entire series of connections. From Art and Design Department at University of Michigan to Selma Cafe in Ann Arbor to Marije Vogelzang in Amsterdam. All tied in with pasta, of course!!!

I will feature each one of these uber talented women, individually, in their full glory, highlighting the many things they’ve contributed to my life, to Al Dente and to the world! Take for example, my friend, Vicki Honeyman. Her store Heavenly Metal is the coolest!

We are SO lucky in Ann Arbor to have a multitude of fantastic food retailers. I’ve traveled the country, and this town, for its size, is unbelievably blessed. Arbor Farms was one of the very first stores to carry Al Dente Pasta 30 years ago.

My friend, Maria Phillips