Just after midnight Tuesday I tweeted, aware of the possible ambiguity, “we had local mushrooms and hemp pasta tonight; now enjoying a little California rosé as a chaser, listening to @WilliamBasinski” (we had turned to the Basinski after the Vaňhal symphonies that had accompanied the meal itself).

The reality had nothing to do with hallucinogenics, although there was real wine.

• nine ounces that remained from a box of Sfoglini hemp reginetti opened for an earlier meal, boiled until just before it would have reached the point when it was al dente (about 10 minutes), drained and served with a mushroom sauce made by heating 4 tablespoons of rich Organic Valley ‘Cultured Pasture Butter’ until it had stopped sizzling, after which one large sliced ‘camelot’ Dutch red shallot from Quarton Farm, and 10 small whole fresh sage leaves from Phillips Farms, and 10 ounces of separated or sliced sections of yellow oyster mushrooms from Blue Oyster Cultivation were tossed in, followed by 2 chilis (a pinch of crushed dried hickory smoked Jamaican Scotch bonnet pepper and a slightly larger amount of light colored home dried habanada pepper), the mix sautéed until the mushrooms were soft and golden brown, then seasoned with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, arranged inside 2 shallow bowls, and almost a quarter of a cup of shredded Parmigiano Reggiano (aged 24 months) from Whole Foods Market scattered on top, finished with a garnish of micro purple kale from Two Guys from Woodbridge
• the wine was an Italian (Chianti) red, Chianti Santa Fiora Villa Travignoli 2014,from Garnet Wines & Liquors
• the music was an album of symphonies by the classical Czech composer Jan Křtitel Vaňhal [here using the modern Czech spelling]

Gosh, this pasta is so good. Then every other Sfoglini product is as well. It’s just that, well, hemp is pretty special, even without the absurd extra-culinary associations someone who grew up in the American no-no land is never going to shake.

• eight ounces out of a box of Sfoglini hemp reginetti, boiled until just before it would have reached the point when it was al dente (about 10 minutes), drained and served with a mushroom sauce composed of roughly 6 ounces of chopped oyster mushrooms from Gail’s Farm in Vineland, New Jersey, cooked until almost soft in a large tin-lined heavy copper pan with a couple tablespoons of rich ‘Kerrygold Pure Irish Butter‘, 2 smallish chopped ‘yellow shallots’ from Norwich Meadows Farm and 2 medium-size cloves of chopped garlic from garlic, also from Norwich Meadows Farm, and 2 teaspoons of chopped thyme from from Trader Joe’s Market on 6th Avenue added to the mushrooms and cooked until fragrant and soft, at which time another 2 tablespoons of butter was added, and, once melted, a tablespoon of coarse stone-ground flour (Oak Grove Mills Whole Wheat Flour from the Blew Family of Oak Grove Plantation, from their stand in the Union Square Greenmarket) introduced and stirred to make something of a paste, before a third of a cup of Noilly Prat Extra Dry Vermouth (I didn’t have an opened bottle of white wine handy) slowly poured into the pan while being slowly stirred with a wooden spoon, cooked until the mix thickens, some chopped parsley from Phillips Farms stirred in, before adding a couple tablespoons remaining from the very rich, complex juices of a chicken entrée prepared the week before, the whole mix seasoned with salt and pepper before the cooked pasta was turned into the pan and mixed with the sauce, the completed dish served in 2 bowls, with some grated  ‘Parmigiano Reggiano Bonat 3’ from Buon Italia sprinkled over the top, a bit of micro red mustard scattered around the edges
• the wine was an Italian (Tuscany) red, Castello di Gabbiano, Chianti Classico, 2015, from Philippe Wines
• the music was François Couperin’s four ‘Concerts Royaux, “..ensemble pieces for a mixed consort of instruments…”, composed in 1714 and 1715 for, obviously, the king (Louis XIV in his very last years), and published in 1722, here performed by Christophe Rousset leading Les Talens Lyriques