Salmon health benefits featured on show

Information on the health benefits of salmon and the history of aromatherapy will be the featured topics on “Creative Living” at noon Tuesday and at 2 p.m. Saturday.

Registered dietitian Pat Baird will talk about the health benefits of eating salmon and then demonstrate some delicious recipes. She represents the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute in Juneau, Ala.

Lorelei Taylor will discuss the history of aromatherapy, the uses of oils in the home, and she will also prepare two skin-care products using natural ingredients. She’s from Portales.

Information on a book written by a stunt car driver and former model, cooking pasta and stenciling furniture will be the featured topics on “Creative Living” at 9:30 p.m. Tuesday and noon Thursday.

Stunt car driver and former model Georgia Durante will discuss how these two diverse fields have played such important roles in her life. She is the author of a book titled “The Company She Keeps,” which tells about her life. She lives in North Hollywood, Calif.

Mark Wieser, owner of Fischer and Wieser, will talk about different types of pasta and explain which pasta sauces are recommended for different recipes. He’ll also discuss the history of pizza. He is from Fredericksburg, Texas.

Furniture refinishing expert and syndicated columnist Bruce Johnson will show how to stencil furniture without using stencils. Johnson is the spokesman for Minwax in Upper Saddle River, N.J.

Types of Pasta

Dried Pasta:

• Can be stored indefinitely without refrigeration because it rarely contains egg; the firmness allows it to be stored easily without damaging it.

• Requires slightly more cooking time than fresh.

• Yields about 50 percent more than fresh pasta when the same amounts are cooked.

• Except for very delicate pasta, works well with thick sauces and sauces containing meat and vegetables.

Fresh Pasta:

• Needs to be refrigerated and should be used within three to four days of purchase because it often contains eggs and has high water content. It can also be frozen.

• Does not swell in the same manner as dried pasta so you will need about 50 percent more fresh to equal the amount of dried pasta.

• Fresh pasta has a softer texture than dried and goes well with the lighter sauces, such as tomato or cream sauce.

Common Pasta Shapes and Appropriate Sauces

• Shaped: such as bow ties, spirals and wheels. These small shapes go well with simple tomato, meat or cheese-based sauces because the sauce holds well in the hollows of these shapes.

• Tubes: These can be long or short, wide or narrow. Examples of this type are macaroni, penne and manicotti. These work well with heavier sauces that can be held in the pasta tubes, such as tomato, meat, chunky and thick cream sauces. Manicotti is generally stuffed with meat or cheese, topped with a hearty sauce and then baked.

• Strands: These are long rods of pasta and are usually round. The main difference is the thickness of the strand. Examples are angel hair, spaghetti and fusilli. The thicker the strand, the heavier the sauce that can be used.

• Ribbons: These are flat strands of pasta and can be long or short, narrow or wide. Examples are fettuccine and lasagna. Thin ribbon pasta goes well with a light tomato or light cream sauce. Thicker ribbon pasta goes better with a heavier, more robust tomato or cream sauce.

• Stuffed: Stuffed pasta consists of fresh pasta sheets that are stuffed with a filling of meat, cheese or vegetables. They may be formed into different shapes, such as squares, circles, triangles and half-moons. Stuffed pastas are cooked and served with a light sauce. Examples are ravioli and tortellini.

“Creative Living” is produced and hosted by Sheryl Borden. The show is carried by more than 118 PBS stations in the United States, Canada, Guam and Puerto Rico, and is distributed by Westlink, Albuquerque.