The day started with the purchase of an innocent-looking flat of tomatoes at Saturday’s Lawrence Farmers’ Market. And ended with me standing on a stool at 9:30 p.m. kneading dough into small elastic piles of pasta.In between there was me buying four pounds of apples, going on a scavenger hunt across Lawrence for a “Victoria Strainer” and creating some of the best tomato sauce I have ever tasted.This is what the 100-mile diet had turned my life into – my entire Saturday spent in the kitchen. At least, it was a rainy Saturday.That morning just as the clouds where lifting over the Farmers’ Market, I eyed some ripe Roma tomatoes. The vendor offered that for just ten bucks I could have an entire flat of them. I looked up to see clouds that had the capacity to keep raining all day. I thought why not. Eventually, in my month-long 100-mile diet quest, I am going to need tomato sauce. After procuring my flat of tomatoes, I strolled over to a nearby table that was full of apples. And that is when things started to snowball. If I am going to spend the day making tomato sauce – I reasoned – why not make applesauce too.’ So, I took the leap and bought four pounds of the green, knobby things. Then terror struck. I realized I had nothing to use in actually physically making the apples into sauce. Let’s jump ahead to a frantic phone call I made to my mom while sitting in the parking lot of Bed, Bath & Beyond. I am holding a cell phone in one hand and scribbling down directions on the back of an old grocery receipt with the other. Be assured, this is a scene that has been played out many times before.According to mom, what I needed was a Victoria Strainer (at least to make the kind of applesauce I was so fond of as a child). And, she guessed it could be found in just about any store’s home section for under $20.Clearly the last time she bought one was right after I was born. Bed, Bath & Beyond didn’t have one, not even at their warehouse. Neither did the downtown kitchen boutique store Bay Leaf or the canning section of Cottin’s Hardware. It was at the last stop where I found my lead. Ernst & Son Hardware might have one, the salesman said.With it’s old attic-smell, creak of hard wood floors and rows of cubbyhole drawers, the store on Massachusetts Street is just the place to find something as antiquated as a Victoria Strainer. And, I did find one, or at least something close to it.Perhaps a common trait for items with the name Victoria in the title, I had romanticized the Victoria Strainer of my youth. It had a large white funnel at the top, a metal tray for shooting out the unwanted skin and seeds and – most fun for a six-year-old kid – a crank to turn the apples through the press.What I got was half the size and bright red. And it came in a box with directions written in five different languages, none of which were English. The cost (written on top of the dusty cover with a pencil) was close to $30.Having tracked down the needed equipment, I headed for home to start the cooking frenzy. Piping hot, the homemade applesauce was delicious – even without the half of cup of sugar I usually douse on it. And with just boiling water and cut up apples, it was easy to make.I moved on to my next challenge: tomato sauce.And, this is where I confess to my first instance of cheating on the 100-mile diet. When I started out last week, I was certain if I cheated it would be with something decadent, like a full-fat mocha, whip cream and all. So I was a little taken back when the thing that broke me was a lack of olive oil. I don’t have an ounce of Italian in me, and still I couldn’t bring myself to make tomato sauce without olive oil or a nice full-bodied red wine. So, I broke my vow and I threw both into a pot of local garlic, basil and onions.I am glad I did because the sauce was amazing. So good in fact that I decided – as I tested my third spoonful – I had to have pasta to go with it. I mean had to have it … as in that night.So after several unanswered phone calls to my mom, sister and aunt, I pulled out the slightly-dull-but-trusty culinary bible, the Joy of Cooking. On page 303, was all that I needed to know. Making pasta isn’t much harder than making a pie crust. Halfway through as I was rolling the dough, then stretching it out and then rolling the dough out again, I wondered why more people didn’t do this.It turns out, there are very good reasons for that.Primarily, it tasted awful. At least, my version did. I am pretty sure gnawing on cardboard would require less chewing and have more flavor.Secondly, it took a heck of lot of work. The mixing, the kneading, the rolling, the cutting, the drying. This is no simple process for something that turns out to be less than a delight to the taste buds.Despite the disappointment in the pasta department, I went to bed happy and full.Two out of three isn’t bad.