Hey, Good Lookin', Whatcha Got Cookin'?

I'm kind of out of my funk now.

I had a great visit with my aunt T, who isn't much older than I am. She hasn't been over for a visit here in probably 18 months, but as I hardly get any visitors, that's actually a good track record.

My parents called from the Motherland. Mum had the accent already.

I'm feeling happy enough to really cook again. The weather is getting chillier so I'm more apt to work over heat as well.

Yesterday, I made four cheese cannelloni with fresh pasta I made myself. I bought this Mario Batali silpatish thing. I can't bake on it but it's great to roll dough on.

So I just made flat lasagne-like pasta and rolled up a mixture of ricotta, parmesan, pecorino romano, and mozzarella with a bit of egg and herbs. I used the last of my parents' tomatoes to mix in the sauce (and had to pick them all out for Middle Child) and even made a béchamel roux (actually, more of a balsamella). I used skim milk and it came out just fine. How awesome is that?

Yes, it takes time. Yes, all that cheese isn't cheap. But it was so worth it because everyone ate it and wanted seconds. I still had some left over so the kids took it in their lunch today.

Now THAT makes me happy.