ricotta gnocchi recipe

For 2015 I decided to try and cook more and with greater variety. This week I made gnocchi for the first time! My mom and I made a lot of pasta at the beginning of this summer, but as I do not have a pasta maker here, I decided to try a style that is easier to do by hand.

Ricotta Gnocchi

We used to eat gnocchi at "Gracious Dinner", a fancy supper put on at holidays by Mount Holyoke. Traditionally gnocchi is made with mashed potatoes, but because I am always looking for a way to eat more cheese, I decided to try an easier version with a ricotta base.

Made three servings: two large supper portions and a left-overs lunch the next day.

Ingredients: 

1 egg

1 egg yolk

2 cups of ricotta

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/2 cup grated parmesan

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup of flour

pasta sauce

olive oil

extra cheese for serving :)

where is winter?

It's 40 degrees in Charlottesville right now and we have an estimated high of 54! Where is winter?? The other day (tuesday i think) we had a thin dusting of snow and people freaked out, no one could drive, all the sorority girls broke out their uggs, it was ridiculous.

image from tumblr

I have been making non-fat chais ("do you have non fat soy?") alllll week for the girls rushing sororities. ("how many calories does this gluten free cupcake have?" "Can I get six forks so we can share this one cupcake?")

Today is my day off (yay!), it was a long week back, i've worked 6 days this week and work 6 next week, although it is still not full time which baffles me. I've been doing some redecorating and organizing this morning, Keegan just got up and is watching the Arsenal game, we have to go grocery shopping at some point. Keegan's friend Dan made fun of us last night over text message for being boring. However, his night of hosting a huge party at his frat because it's rush week and having people totally trash the place does not sound fun to me in the slightest.

this is the extent my "partying" ever gets to, eating chinese food and watching someone else drink beer

Weekend in the City

I went to NYC this past weekend to visit some friends from Mount Holyoke! It was really fun to see them, but almost as exciting to take the train. I love trains: no car sickness, you can nap without crashing, generally comfy seats…

When I got into the city I had a few hours to kill, so I got lunch at  SweetGreen (http://sweetgreen.com), an amazing salad shop - I highly recommend the Earth Bowl. I also tried blueberry basil lemonade, which was interesting but not my favorite.

Then I hung out in Bryant Park for a few hours, people watching and sketching.

I walked by my favorite store obviously:

And finally my friend Maria got out of work! She is a publisher-in-training at Simon & Schuster, this spring she will have her first crop of books coming out (it will say HER name on the inside!). This is great for me because she gave me a pile of new things to read.

I met up with my friends!

Saturday was rainy but we went to the farmers market anyways and got snacks.

(donuts part 1)

But it cleared up later and we went for a walk across the Brooklyn Bridge!

We checked out this cute coffee shop/ boutique based on the name alone: Fair Folks and a Goat

http://www.fairfolksandagoat.com

It was a really cool place! I would hang out there if I lived in NYC.

Saturday night we went to the First Night exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum, I felt very cultured. Outside we got to use these massive high powered telescopes to look at the moon! It was amazing, I felt like a child again.

Sunday morning we got Dough Donuts!

http://www.doughbrooklyn.com

They were amazing but so filling. We split each into 4 pieces so we could try all the flavors:

top l-r: orange hibiscus, toasted coconut, dulce de leche

bottom: lemon poppy, chocolate earl grey, dark chocolate sea salt

Not pictured in the supper I had on Saturday night at Cent'Anni (http://www.centannibrooklyn.com/#new-page)

They make home made pasta and sauces there, I am now really inspired to learn how to make meatballs!! Maria and I both got pasta with ragu, italian sausage, and veal meatballs. Crazy good.

Because of all the excitement I have not been reading as much, but I did just finish The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield. It was so suspenseful and awesome. I love novels that manage to do parallel stories well! Margaret Lea gets the opportunity of a lifetime to write the biography of the acclaimed author Vida Winter. The only catch is that Margaret is not the first to try to write Miss Winter's story, as the author always invents new tales to tell about her past. However, because of a tragedy the two women share, the truth comes out in bits and pieces, stringing everyone along. The book examines what it means to be a family, particularly what it means to be a twin. I highly recommend it.

Now who wants to go see Gone Girl with me this week?!? I can't wait!