Do something special for Valentine’s Day!  We tend to stay home vs. going out to a restaurant. Fresh pasta is relatively easy and each year I make these for our family Valentine’s Day dinner.

This Four Cheese Ravioli recipe is dated 2/10/2010 from Annie’s Eats, a food blog.  She has since changed her blog name to Everyday Annie and has expanded to a food, fashion, lifestyle and travel blog.

First, I make the cheese filling (you can also use any cheese combination you like). The basic egg pasta is made with eggs, water, olive oil, flour and salt.

After combining the ingredients in a stand mixer with a paddle, you then knead the dough for 1-2 minutes by hand.

After the dough rests for 20 minutes, you flatten it with a rolling pin so it will fit into a pasta sheet roller.  I have one from KitchenAid that attaches to the front of my mixer.   If you don’t have a pasta sheet roller, then you can do it the old fashioned way~~with a rolling pin.

The goal is to get the dough smooth and supple.  By passing it through the rollers (starting at #1, the widest setting), you continue folding and inserting into the roller until you reach the desired thickness (I went up to #4). See how the dough changes.

I have a variety of heart-shaped cookie cutters.  For this recipe I selected the red one, which is 3″ in diameter.  Annie’s recipe doesn’t specify a size so I guessed on this.

Next, I cut hearts out of the long length of pasta.

The recipe calls for 2 teaspoons of filling, but I would guess that my hearts had 1 teaspoon of filling (therefore I wonder if a 5″ diameter heart would have been better?)

Dip a finger in water and lightly brush around the edges of the heart topped with filling.  Place one of the remaining pasta hearts on top and press edges together to seal.  Make sure to press out any excess air.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.  Cook the ravioli until al dente, about 5 minutes.

Serve in warmed bowls with marinara sauce (or any sauce of your choice).

Also, if you live in Phoenix and don’t have the Pasta attachment for your KitchenAid, just let me know and I’m happy to lend it to you.

Bon appetit!

Pottery Barn Emma bowl, Wallace Napoleon Bee flatware, Ballard Design napkin

Here is the recipe for Heart-Shaped Four Cheese Ravioli.

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As embarrassing as this is, I have to show you the “before” picture of my kitchen pantry.  How do things get this messy?  It became the room that we just tossed stuff in.  You couldn’t even walk inside.  Moan. After hanging onto the door frame and stretching long and reaching in, nearly breaking my neck, I decided it was time to clean it.

Here is the “after”:

Ok. So I’m a little giddy over this.  I threw out all the expired food (2013, really?) and donated all the “near” expiration dates and those items I had multiples of (way too many garbanzo beans).

I finally sorted and organized piles of recipes I had cut out of magazines or printed off the internet. Years ago, when I was swamped with 3 little children, I hired my friend Linda to sort and organize my recipes.  She created these fabric covered binders which I use ALL the time.

All the food items are now organized alphabetically.

Shelves are labeled so hopefully, other family members will know where things are located.

I reduced my cookbook collection significantly, only keeping those I use or cherish.

Cleaning out this room made me realize we don’t need to buy Ziploc bags for a long time!

Beverages are now organized and in one place.

My sweet husband polished all the copper Martha Stewart cookie cutters I purchased long ago.  The salami and cheese ball are fake, but fun to use when staging for a party.  The miniature utensil rack was a gift I received several years ago from my sister, Joanie.

There are 9 foot ceilings in our home and I used the upper sections for hanging large platters that don’t seem to fit anywhere else.

The original pantry had one door that unfortunately would swing right into the adjacent door to the basement.  We resolved that by putting in two narrow swing doors with metal mesh screens.

Since I am not cooking on a daily basis for a large family, my husband and I decided to be more European and buy things as we need them.

I was inspired to clean this out after seeing one of those amazing pantries on Instagram.  As much as I sometimes complain about too much screen time, technology does have its benefits.

Have a wonderful week!

After cleaning out the butler’s pantry, I was inspired to use one of the many sets of pots de creme that I have collected.

Yesterday I was feeling out of sorts.  Blah.  Not physically sick but emotionally restless.  I tried exercising and that didn’t fix it.  I ate healthy food all day to no avail.  Typically I wake up each morning in a happy state ready to tackle the day with lots of focused energy.  I was wandering around aimlessly trying to pin point what was bothering me.

Have you had one of those days where you are on the verge of weeping?  Well, that was me. I felt like I was ready to have a good cry, yet I couldn’t understand why.

That afternoon I got a call from my friend, Janie, who wanted to spontaneously meet me at Whitfill Nursery as she needed flowers for her garden.  I LOVE Whitfill Nursery and enjoying a sunny day surrounded by plants, flowers and a dear friend sounded like what I needed.

Maybe I was missing all the wonderful activity from the holidays-where the house was filled with my children, their friends and laughter.  Maybe I was just overtired…

But spending time with my dear friend filled my soul.  As she loaded her cart with bedding plants, I took some of these photos.  Nothing like the simplicity and beauty of nature to help reset your compass.

I believe that situations and people cross your path when you need it most.  We went into the Garden Shop at Whitfill where Maya Angelou‘s words of wisdom jumped out at me.

Janie had no idea that asking me to join her in flower shopping would make me feel better.  The warm greetings and conversation from both Janis and Patti at Whitfill help ease my weepiness. Being around the friends, flowers and sunshine was my soul food.

The saying at our house is “in order to be a good friend you have to have good friends”. I feel so blessed to have dear friends who enter my life at the most random times, but always when needed.  At the end of the day, companionship and great conversation was my medicine. This is balm for my soul.

Do something nice for a friend today.  You never know if they need you.

Yesterday, I visited the home of a friend who is an interior designer with a contemporary, minimalist style.  I was amazed that she lives with absolutely no clutter.  Nothing. Granted, we have vastly different lifestyles but when I came home, I felt my home was cluttered.

Isn’t it interesting how different we are and how we live?

Anyway, back to the kitchen.  Welcome to Part 2.  If you missed Part 1, please click here.

Baking/Prep section:

In the baking/prepping section, the retractable shelf for the mixer and food processor provides additional workspace.  Equipped with their own electric outlet, these appliances can be pulled out when in use and tucked away later. All bowls and baking items (flour, baking powder, etc.) are stored in cabinets nearby.

Utilizing the 4″ toe kick under the kitchen island, a collapsible stool is hidden in that dead space.  This stool was used ALL the time when the children were my little baking helpers.

The Step-Fix collapsible stool is made in Germany by Hailo. This could also easily fit into a drawer and I believe it’s less than $50.

The double Dacor ovens allow baking choices from pure convection to regular baking. We tend to use the upper oven much more than the lower one, but it’s nice to have an additional oven on hand, especially during the holidays.

It’s frustrating to be in a kitchen and lack electrical outlets.  I made sure this didn’t happen by adding a plug strip under the large kitchen windowsills.

We have three refrigerator sections.  The side-by-side SubZero refrigerator and freezer are fabulous.  They provide more than enough storage and refrigeration for our family of 5. Grizzly Welding made the iron door pulls.

Double drawers (also made by SubZero) were initially installed for everything and anything child related. The drawers provided easy access to snacks and drinks.  The 3rd refrigerator is the glass front wine unit by U-Line.

Dining and everything else:

The island in the center of the kitchen is very large and serves as the hub for all family activity-baking, cooking, school projects, sewing, dining, and entertaining.

In the island is an additional sink ~~very handy and convenient for fruits and vegetables coming out of the freezer. Our reverse osmosis system is located here too, steps from the ice maker.

Two warming drawers are also housed in the island, on the range side.

In the center of the island is a pastry shelf, which helps break up the expanse of the island. I also like to seasonally decorate it, but it can also be used while entertaining for desserts or other items.

The goal was to create a high functioning kitchen in a classic design that would look like it had always been there. I love this room as it truly is where everyone gathers.

I hope you enjoyed the kitchen tour.  I am now off to declutter.

Dacor Double Ovens

Dacor Warming Drawers

Kinetico R-O system

Stepfix by Hailo

U-Line wine refrigerator

Wedgewood china tea cups/pot

Subzero Refrigerator/Freezer and Drawers