The weather outside if frightful, but inside it is so delightful!

The snow that Tommy is working on in this picture is still here. It looks like a winter wonderland here in Nebraska. But inside our kitchen the elves are busy working away preparing raviolis for our Christmas Eve Open House. My favorite part about his activity is that all of my children are back together under one roof having a great time. Pete tries to rein in their excitement and keep them focused and productive. He succeeds about half of the time! They are all so excited to be together and are busy telling each other about their lives that they get a little distracted. But in the end we always end up with the raviolis finished and ready for Christmas Eve.

This year they made 160 veal raviolis and 150 cheese raviolis. The bonus is that if any are broken they can be eaten later that day as a late lunch or dinner.

Tonight, Pete will be making meatballs and tomorrow they will conquer stuffed shells. This is a fabulous time in our house! We have so much fun preparing for the Open House and our house smells incredible.