Make Homemade Ravioli

5 Comments • June 14, 2012

Ah, the trials and tribulations of homemade ravioli.

For best results, wear a cute apron.

We’ve always talked about wanting to make homemade ravioli, but never got around to it. An experiment with Gnocchi (a long experiment) last year made it seem like maybe our Ravioli dreams would never be fulfilled. But, thanks to our Sunday Bucket, we put together a pretty nice dinner in about 25 minutes.

First, we got a recipe for Olive and Artichoke ravioli (Chris can’t have dairy, so eating Ravioli to him is like a dog riding a bike… possible, but few and far between). Here’s the link to the recipe.

Lianne made the filling with a food processor (3 mins), then prepped the dough. The dough needs to be rolled really thin, so for lack of better muscles, Chris put in some elbow grease. We didn’t exactly go old-world-Italy on this one. Instead, we used a Ravioli tray, borrowed from a friend. If you’re following along, after laying down the dough, scoop the filling into each part of the tray, and then cover with a second layer of dough.

Important! Don’t over-stuff. A couple of our raviolis looked like hippos after a gastric bypass.

Last, roll over the tray with a rolling pin,  pick the cut raviolis out one at a time, and stick them in boiling water until they float.

We used a pretty simple sauce; olive oil, fresh tomato, parsley, garlic, and roasted pine nuts. Cracked open a bottle of wine and Buon Appetito! It wasn’t as hard as expected, and we’d definitely do this again. Happy cooking!

 

A Blog-Worthy Idea

1 Comment • June 4, 2012

It started off as just a regular Sunday.

Nothing to do, nowhere to be, (like most of our Sundays at our Scottsdale, AZ apartment). We’ve been married for almost two years, and we love doing spontaneous/exciting things when we have free time.

So, we decided to come up with a list of 5 simple ideas to check off by the end of the day:

  • Do something thrilling
  • Try a new food
  • Go back in time
  • Do a good deed
  • Learn something new

One at a time, we drove around Phoenix checking things off our list. Do something thrilling – Go-cart racing at Octane Raceway. Try a new food? Sausage crumble pancakes!

We found and developed an old disposable camera (go back in time), donated to a good cause (a great deed), and learned basic knife skills in a class at Sur La Table (a theme park for domesticated adults).

By the end of the day, we were a little tired, a little broke, but extremely exhilarated! We always hear people talk about their bucket lists – big lofty adventurous goals to accomplish during their life – but not as often about the little joys of doing something novel and different in your own backyard. So, with that idea, we created Sunday Bucket.

Sunday Bucket is our new tradition of picking and completing one fun idea each week, which we’re excited to share through this blog. First, we bought a little red bucket (also at Sur La Table), for about $15. We stopped at Target and bought a big sheet of black stock paper, and cut it up into 52 rectangles. Then we brainstormed 52 things we’d like to do this year, and wrote one on each slip. Most things are easy (try a new restaurant, breakfast in bed), and some are a little pricier, so we made sure to budget appropriately. Unlike a traditional Bucket list, there’s nothing like “Swim with Penguins in Antarctica,” or “Ding-Dong-Ditch at the White House” in our bucket (though we would pass up neither opportunity). The Sunday Bucket is something that any person or couple or family can do within any budget.

So, this blog is about our experience, but we hope it inspires you to put a little more fun into your every day! Thanks for reading :-)