I will admit, I was not very prepared for this challenge. It was the Sunday following my arrival home from Hawaii. Of course, I am not complaining about going to Hawaii, but being the competitor that I am, did not, necessarily feel completely confident going into this challenge.
Please keep in mind it has been a few weeks since we all congregated at Jenna and Geoff's house for the meeting and since then we have celebrated Christmas and New Year's so my memory may be a bit foggy.
As a group our assignment was to make homemade ravioli and the filling for the pasta. As usual each entry brought its own unique flavor to the table.
But before I rehash the competition part, I have to give Jenna credit for her beautifully decorated home and her gorgeous Pinterest inspired cheese tray. Loved it!
With the exception of Tim and Nick/Jaime (whom I have decided to start referring to as Ninja -- stands for Nick 'n' Jaime) most of us created ravioli with similar ingredients in the filling. Well...I take that back. I would have to include Jenna M. in there, too because she used 1) goat cheese and 2) a lot more stuff -- almost creating a pesto textured filling. Again, please forgive me....it has been almost a month. And, yes, I fail as a blogger this month.
While the filling was different for each ravioli, I believe all of us pretty much used the same items to created our pasta. Ninja and Jenna M. were all able to use some kind of equipment to help them knead or roll out their pasta. Julie, Tim, AJ and I on the other hand used nothing more than our hands and a rolling pin. This is the part where I have to give Tim huge props because his filling to pasta ratio (I think) far exceeded anybody else's. I thought his pasta was delicious and not too doughy -- like mine. I tried and was even sore from the process of kneading and rolling, but my ravioli was very think and chewy. :(
Ninja's raviolis were the most beautiful. They had perfect shape and form. I was impressed. For a moment I thought maybe, just maybe, they bought them because of how precise each one appeared. They definitely looked professional. I know Ninja went through quite an extensive process to created their ravioli and filling, but again with a month worth of time passing...all I can remember is Jaime talking about the pine nuts and olive oil. For some reason, I am also remembering Ninja's ravioli filling also incorporated chicken into it. None of the raviolis in the picture below was Ninja's entry -- I, unfortunately, failed to capture it.
Well....because my memory is failing me to go into anymore detail....without further adieu....our winners of the homemade ravioli challenge were........
NINJA or also know as Nick and Jaime. Their effort truly paid off and they kicked all of our behinds. Job well you two! You brought your A game and taught is all a lesson in pasta making. Sorry for not updating the blog sooner and going into more detail about your delicious dish!
After congratulating the happy couple, we all enjoyed a festive cookie exchange and a few more glasses of wine. My cookies are in the picture below. These are my Grandma Smith's famous sour cream sugar cookies. They have become quite popular with all my friends. They are time consuming to make, but totally worth it. In fact, they get better with age!
A new tradition was also born during this AACC challenge -- as you can see below our trophy has been adorned with a new piece of wardrobe thanks to Jenna M's father's wife, who loves to crochet. The new layer of creativity rests on the winner of the challenge to add their own personal accessory to the trophy. I am anxious to see what Ninja comes up with for our next meeting!
Until we meet again.....
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