After working on our own garden this morning, we drove over to the Duke botanical gardens. The sun was warm and plenty of flowers where in bloom. We had to work around a couple of weddings, but the ducks and house sparrows kept us plenty amused. More photos here.

Unbelieveable. It does, in fact, taste like regular.

When we lived in Georgia, we tried take-out from several Chinese food restaurants. Unfortunately, none of them seemed to understand that you simply cannot mix the fried sweet and sour chicken nuggets with the sauce until just before consumption. After a few failed soggy meals, we gave up on take-out and just ate at the restaurant when the mood struck. And for some strange reason, it always rained whenever we planned to go out for Chinese.

It became a joke with us, whenever it rained we suddenly felt like Chinese food. Well, it was absolutely pouring when we left work today, so we stopped at the local place on our way home. I was delighted to see they included a separate container for the sauce. That and a little Kung Fu Hustle made for a good evening.

“Begin nothing until you have considered how it is to be finished” … in bed.

By this time it’s pretty well known that whenever Eric heads out of town without me, I get bored and work on home improvement projects. It’s been a while since he’s left me alone (good!) but that means I have been acquiring a bunch of ideas, yet starting none of them (bad!)

Regardless of my current record of organizing and decorating, I have several things planned for the next few weeks, so I’ll be posting photos here as things progress. Final photos, of course, will not be shown until Eric gets back… it would ruin the surprise! :)

Interesting story on MSNBC (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13149218/ ) - I had no idea that people raced mules…

Eric has been having a wonderful time with his new macro lens. Several little creatures can be now be seen in amazing detail… as long as they don’t move too fast!

The theme for our Supper Club this month was Italian and in the past I have been sticking with Cooking Light recipes (since that’s the message board we all met on). However, I am all for easy and delicious fried desserts (who isn’t?), so this is what I prepared for Saturday night’s dinner. They were a huge hit!

Chocolate-Hazelnut Ravioli
recipe from Giada De Laurentiis

16 wonton wrappers
1 egg, beaten to blend
1 cup chocolate-hazelnut spread (recommended: Nutella)
Vegetable oil, for frying
Powdered sugar, for dusting

Line a baking sheet with plastic wrap. Place 1 wonton wrapper on the work surface. Brush the edges of the wrapper lightly with egg. Spoon 1 tablespoon of chocolate-hazelnut spread into the center of the wrapper. Fold the wrapper diagonally in half over the filling and press the edges of the wrapper to seal. Place the ravioli on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining wonton wrappers, egg, and chocolate-hazelnut spread.

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees F. Add enough oil to a heavy large frying pan to reach a depth of 2 inches. Heat the oil over medium heat to 350 degrees F.

Working in batches of four at a time, carefully add the ravioli to the hot oil and cook until they are golden brown, about 45 seconds per side. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the ravioli to a plate lined with paper towels to drain. Then, transfer the cooked ravioli to another baking sheet and keep them warm in the oven while frying the remaining ravioli.

(The fried ravioli can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cool them completely, then cover and refrigerate. Before serving, place them on a baking sheet and rewarm in a preheated 375 degrees F oven just until they are heated through, about 7 minutes.)

Arrange 2 fried ravioli on each plate. Dust the ravioli with powdered sugar. Serve and enjoy!

Eric sent me this article a while back and I recently rediscovered it while cleaning out my bookmarks. I will say that as an extrovert, I am immediately suspicious of anything in this article. :) However, I happen to be married to an introvert, so I’ll share the link anyway…

http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200303/rauch

Other Side of the World by KT Tunstall