It's an Italian thing...

On this past rainy Sunday, CK and I went to his Aunt M's for the annual Ravioli making.  Yes, his family still makes their own Ravioli for the Christmas dinner for 26 (the number continues to grow)! It is quite a process, and awesome to watch, and I have been going for years, though I have to admit, my first time actually coming to X-mas dinner was only last year.  It's hard giving up old traditions for new ones, but I think last year we finally figured out how to do it!  Sometimes I help with the ravioli making, but I try not to mess it up.  Here's some pictures of the process, all personal photos!...

Making the dough...doesn't CK's phone take way better photos then mine?! Yea, I know, I can't wait til I get my new phone!!  Anyway, I learned how to make the dough this year.  Whenever I can find a reason to use my Pink Kitchen-aid Mixer, I'm in!  I could lie and say it was a simple task, and it should have been, but it included things like me saying "oh I'll get the eggs"...I said to Ck, as I took the eggs out of the door, isn't that weird that the eggs are in the door? This totally wouldn't work for our house, and he agreed.  His cousin J and I went to crack the eggs and we were confused, and no, not because we are both blonde.  Here, these eggs that were in the door, were hard boiled! (umm, duh!) Whoops!  Once we got back on track, CK's Aunt M called out measurements to us, with things such a "half an egg shell of water", yes fabulous real-life measurements :)

Next, involved hand rolling/cranking out the dough through this pasta making contraption.  (this is actually tougher than you may think)

This is the cheesy ricotta filling.  I missed the part where this was made.  However, I can tell you that this is a bigggg bowl and every year it seems that it takes forever to even put a dent in it but then all of a sudden it's almost done.

Then you can take a long form like this sheet or they have individual hand making ones to create the shape.  This photo is taken after the first layer of dough has been placed, the cheese put in the middle, then a little egg wash and the top layer is placed.  A rolling pin movement is next to help secure each in place.

And pop, the final product on the cookie sheet to go in the freezer.  Notice the flour on them?  That's a good point to see because the flour helps them pop out of the mold a little easier because sometimes they stick.  Also, cornmeal on the cookie sheets, like most breads you would make, help them not stick.  So, now you will have to wait the 2 weeks until Christmas to see and hear how they turned out!


Does you family have any homemade traditions for the holiday?