Catching Up

I just downloaded twenty-something pictures and 2 videos so I can catch up with the last 4 weeks. When the winter break rolled around I crashed something bad. I went from running on high speed since August to running on zero. I slept late, didn't go out much, didn't get much done and was very sloth like. It felt good. G.O.O.D.

I am going to give you a whirlwind update, but I am putting it in posts over the next three days, that way you can come back, maybe say hi.

As you may have read earlier, we lost our 17 year old cat Blackjack in December. We still have Emily, the chipmunk hunter, who has become the queen of the house. It has been interesting to watch Maddy process this experience. She has been drawing lots of pictures of Jack and is still talking about him quite a bit. She asked a lot of questions at first, but isn't asking much anymore. The loss of a pet is a good way (is there every a good way?) to experience loss as a child.

Once again I took Maddy to the dollar store and gave her $20 to shop for presents for the whole family. She has so much fun and is so thoughtful in her decisions. I leave the final decision to her, but I do point out things that might make nice gifts. Here you can see she wrapped them herself. It is almost a decoupage of paper.  :-)

Our community has some ice sculptures on display. We didn't even know it and happened upon them on our way after school one day to pick up some fresh bread. We enjoyed the sculptures up and down the street and then home for hot soup and fresh bread. Yum.

Does this even need words? Marc usually puts Maddy to bed. She hears stories, then quiet music, and she is asleep. Marc fell asleep too. This picture is exactly how Maddy likes to sleep- all over the place, one hand up, one leg sticking out, sideways on the bed, pink baby tucked in at her side, lamb-y by her head.

Silly girl.

Ok, I had to throw in another one. Red fingernails (for Christmas), pink baby tucked under her chin, hair still in ponytails, sleeping on a pillow. It must have been early still.

Ravioli, Ravioli, Ravioli

Marc has great-grandparents from Italy. Maddy is named for his great-grandmother, Madalena. She came from Italy as a girl (possibly teenager), through Ellis Island and on to Chicago. Her family brought with them the tradition of Christmas ravioli. We don't know how many generations it goes back, but just in the Chicago area Maddy makes 5 generations. That's cool. My side doesn't have anything like that, unless Kraft Mac & Cheese went back 150 years.

Marc and Maddy stirring the Ching. We don't really know the origin of that word. If you Google it the word doesn't come up with any reference to ravioli unless you make fried Chinese ravioli or your name is Ching. We are guessing that is was a nickname or a distortion of a name in Italian.

Spreading the Ching on the rolled dough. We use a pasta roller and crank it out by hand. Marc's great-grandmother would have used a rolling pin.

Cutting and separating the ravioli with Grandma. Very important work.

This is about half a batch (or less, possibly). They dry out on the table and then they are frozen. On Christmas day they are dropped into boiling water and we eat! 

Marc was quite disappointed that the leftovers we brought home on Christmas made just one serving, so we made more for ourselves. I thought they were particularly delicious!  :-) You pour a little sauce on them as you pull them from the water so they don't stick together, then you can help yourself. I just found my 2008 post about ravioli here. Such fun. Ok, so come back tomorrow and I'll share more.