Fresh

I love cooking with fresh ingredients! Nothing quite replaces fresh basil and garlic, two of my favorites. Andrea and I (and Emily who is no longer here on A-lag) had been wanting to make fresh ravioli for some time, but never got around to it. Andrea and Florina came over a few days ago and we tried our hand at it. None of us had ever made fresh pasta before and it was fun to try something new. Andrea made the sauce, Florina made the ricotta, parmesan, garlic and walnut filling and I got the fun of making the pasta! The pasta shrunk up after I rolled and cut it and ended up being a bit thicker than it was supposed to be. We just cooked it a bit longer! Yay for pasta machines that do a perfect job! No, we are NOT going to make this for A-lag.

"Place the eggs in the middle of the flour well and do not let any egg run over the side before all the egg has been mixed in."

Haha, good luck with THAT!! Maybe next time...

The finished result - FANTASTIC!!

Today: I'm loving the fresh breeze that's been blowing in the past two days. The snow is ALMOST gone and the seagulls have taken over again, beginning their noisy rounds at 7:00 a.m! The sound of children laughing and scuffling has once again become the norm as everyone settles in for the Easter Conference. At least 5 times a day I hear the side door by my office in House 33 open, and the sound of little feet and giggling. As always, when I go to see what they are up to, they hear me coming and run shrieking out and tear around the corner. Sometimes, like today, I catch them in the cleaning closet where they look up at me with big eyes like "I had no idea I shouldn't play in here" when I inform them that this is not a play place. I lock the door, and they come back and pound on it, demanding to be let in, making fish faces on the glass! Frekk Norwegian kids. Yesterday, Haike and I made the cakes for Andrew's 60th birthday feast and we were going in and out of the outdoor refrigerator all day. I was in the freezer room and heard laughing so I came out and startled some little boys just coming out of the refrigerator. They were quite speechless and I told them quite nicely, but firmly, that this was not a place to play and one little fellow says, "Ok, I believe you" and they scampered outside. Never a dull moment, I tell you what! It ended up I didn't have to move out of my apartment for the conference, so Christa, who did have to move out, moved in with me for the weekend. I'm looking forward to seeing Teresa & Co. and others from home! It's only a few minutes until the meeting now, so I'm out of here! Have a good weekend and HAPPY EASTER!