In Other News

It might be hard to believe but I have a life outside of running. haha! Although some days it feels like its consuming me.

This summer has been great. B and I are on a Wednesday night bowling league that has been so much fun. Frustrating at times because I'm not that good but its a fun activity to break up the week with. We bowl three games each Wednesday night, which for me is just enough. Everyone on our team but me is making improvements, I seem to be very inconsistent but I don't take it very seriously either. I believe our team is in last place or second to last, but we're having fun!

In addition, we found time to cook together. I know I've mentioned that B likes to cooks a time or two but I just love it. Its nice to have another set of hands or another someone to make a meal if I'm feeling under-the-weather. We had made a plan before the CF Cycle for Life ride that we'd make fettucini the night before and then make ravioli for the night of. We started out assembling both the night before so that after the ride we didn't have to do anything but boil the ravioli. Here is our pasta making frenzy:

Dough Making:

One for fettucini and the other for ravioli:

Preparing dough: 

Cutting fettucini:

 Fettucini final product: Blackened Chicken Alfredo 

We make a pretty good team! The fettucini was sooo yummy. The bonus is that I can add my Duocal (fat soluble powder) to it for added calories which B just gets the normal fatty goodness that is Alfredo. I failed to capture the ravioli process on camera, but its just as easy. If you've never made your own pasta I highly recommend. We've been doing for almost a year and the pasta is just so much tastier. You can add whatever you'd like to the dough for added flavor without all the crappy stuff.

So, thus far the summer has been filled with good food, good friends and a lot of exercise. We have our 7 year wedding anniversary coming up in just a few short weeks and I'm planning a hot date in downtown Portland, shhhh!

~Doodlin'

Pasta Making & Impromptu Game Night

PASTA LESSON 101

In the midst of all this doing IV's business I was invited to a ravioli making class at a store in the mall. I had hoped to be done with IV's but this is an activity I could do with the PICC regardless. Let me just say that watching the instructor make a ravioli make's it appear sooo easy. When it was my turn to fill and put the ravioli together, the attempt was slightly less than disasterous. I struggled to pinch the ravioli together, not so easy. If the dough is too dry you must put water or egg wash on it in addition to getting as much air out of the center as you close it up. The fun part was cutting the edges to finish it off, thus making it look like a ravioli.

I am glad I went. The biggest reason is so that I could see just what the dough should look, feel, and taste like. For this class, the dough was already made ahead of time. But we got to "play" with a piece and it should be the consistency of play-do. During the class we were able to sample two ravioli's that were made; meat filled and ricotta filled. Yummy!

I can't wait to begin making pasta here at home. I have wanted to try this for a long time. This weekend I'll make a go at it. I have all the attachments to my mixer for rolling out the dough, cutting spaghetti and fettuccine noodles. I just hope I can get the dough right!

GAME NIGHT

In the beginning of January B and I with another couple joined a bowling league. It's so fun. We bowl two games every Sunday night for 15 weeks. It's a nice ending to a weekend. The league isn't' super competitive, thank goodness for the girl who bowls a 75 average! It's open to all ages, we have a few kiddos, who are so outgoing.

Well, having been house bound for a few weeks with the exception of doctors appointments, grocery store and getting gas I have been missing out on socializing and bowling. I couldn't bowl with the PICC line in due to the swinging motion and weight of the ball.

This past Sunday the couple we bowl with came over of dinner. We spontaneously decided to play a board game. I haven't gotten down on the floor with a board game all spread out in a very long time. It was fun. We even drank root beer and cream soda. Sort of nostalgic.

We played Pandemic. It's the type of game that requires working together to cure diseases before they become outbreaks and then epidemics. It's strategic. We enjoyed it so much so that we've decided on a game night every once in awhile.

If your in the neighborhood stop by for some homemade pasta and game!