I'm Back!

Did you miss me?

I took an unannounced hiatus for the last few months, mainly because I was sick as can be.  Turns out, I was pregnant, and it seems that with each pregnancy I have, I get worse morning sickness.

But here I am, 12 weeks along, and feeling a lot better than I was. I have energy for the first time in forever, and even managed to get things done around the house.  At the end of the day I'm definitely more tired, but at least now I don't quite so useless.  I managed to survive, but for one reason only- I have the most awesome husband EVER.  I'm glad that my first post back can be on this day.

Feeling better meant I could make pancakes for breakfast.

Lilia LOVES pancakes, and Letters.

Despite being the end of the semester, and being super busy, my husband stepped up and just took charge of the house and the kids while I whimpered in the corner of the house with my bucket and pillow.  He made meals,, he did laundry, he cleaned, he shopped...he took care of the kids- baths, school, playing, clothes, hair, lunches...the man was a SUPER man, and he never once complained about it, nor did he guilt me for all the work he did.  I am telling you- I am one lucky woman.  As I started to feel better, he didn't push me, he still pampered me and made me feel like a Goddess.  Last week, he drove me to three different midwives (all over an hour away from Herkimer) so we could interview them.

Liam ate his L and M before we could grab a picture!

And today for Father's Day? Do you think he took a break?  Nah- he took the kids outside and started working on cleaning and filling our small pool, and then went to Walmart and went shopping.  Now the pool is slowly filling, the kids are napping, and so is he.  I don't know how I ended up being so lucky, but I'm so happy to have such an awesome husband.  "Happy Father's Day", and "I love you, John" don't seem to be enough to convey how happy I really am.


For dinner, I'm making him his favorite meal- Home made Manicotti.  It's the recipe his Grandmother gave and taught me.

Shells:
4 eggs, slightly beaten
1 cup flour
1 cup water
1 tsp salt

Mix all the ingredients- the batter will very thin.

Lightly grease a  7 inch skillet with oil, and place over medium heat.

Place about 1/8 cup of batter into the skillet, and cook like pancakes.  It should be very very thin- like a crepe.  They will also cook up very fast, so be careful!  I always just cooked it completely on one side, for about 1 minute, and then about 5 seconds on the other side.

Filling:
2 pounds course ricotta
4 eggs
1/3 cup grated mozzarella + more for topping
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 TB parsley

Spaghetti sauce

Mix ingredients together, except spaghetti sauce.

Scoop 1 TB of mixture into the center of the manicotti shell, and roll up.  Place rolls in a single layer in a baking pan (I usually end up with 2 pans).  Layer sauce and additional mozzarella cheese on top.  Cover, and back at 375º for 25 minutes.

We usually freeze one pan, and you can take that out to defrost in the morning/afternoon, and then bake in the evening.  I also half the ricotta recipe quite often.  I never seem to make quite enough shells for the full recipe of filling.  It's absolutely delicious, and one of my favorite recipes to bake (mainly because of the memories I have of learning to make it with John's Grandmother.)  And it's probably John's favorite dish ever.  It's super good with home made sauce, but I didn't get a chance to actually make any, so it's a jarred sauce tonight.

Manicotti- fresh from the oven and being devoured very quickly.