That song is playing in my head today as I sit in the Concourse B Delta Sky Club in Atlanta. Except this vacation was not expected to be spent alone as the song by the Go-Go’s stated. I just arrived from Knoxville, TN after spending 5 days with my wonderful friends near Gatlinburg, TN. We usually get together around the same time every year. This year it was a little earlier. We missed one year due to COVID-19. The previous years had been a little lighter, but this time five of us were able to make the trip.
We rent a large house that has at a minimum, a full kitchen, multiple bedrooms and bathrooms, and a nice common area for us to gather so we can play games, catch up on each other’s lives, and make new memories. We all like to cook and try new foods so we evaluate the kitchen more than we do the other amenities in the house.
Our usual scheduled is to wake up whenever we want (we all are fairly early risers) and we make breakfast. We eventually get ready for the day, head out to either go shopping, see the sights, or participate it some activity. We have lunch somewhere and eventually make our way back to the house in time to prepare dinner. Then we settle in to play a game, spend some time in the hot tub, or watch a movie that is either a new release or has some nostalgia for us.
We are from all over the United States and one member of our group is from Canada though she couldn’t make it this year. We all work with the same software platform and met at one of many conferences over the years. We even have a name for we use four our event. It is the Women’s International Networking Event aka W.I.N.E. Through this annual event, we have built our tribe.
We have a strong, loving, and supporting network. Some members have come and gone, but we work to keep in touch through social media platforms, text messages, and during the Pandemic, we had virtual happy hours through Microsoft Teams or a Facebook Messenger group call. This year’s event was even more special as many of us had not seen each other in -person for two or more years.
As conference season starts up and we are starting to have more in-person events, it will be even better. Our group from this year is renting a home in one of the conference cities so we can save money on a hotel and still keep connected. It should be a great time. Perhaps a little exhausting, but wonderful.
I have so much to share about our food experiences that I will cover them in subsequent posts. I will leave you with a homemade pasta recipe that I used on the first evening. Two of us arrived at the house early and we purchased groceries to cover that evening’s dinner and breakfast the next morning.
This is a recipe I borrowed from Bon Appetit (https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/fresh-pasta-dough):
Fresh Pasta Dough
Ingredients:
3 large eggs, beaten to blend
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon kosher salt
Directions:
Mix eggs, flour, oil, and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer or mix with your hands until a shaggy dough forms. Knead with dough hook or hands until dough is smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. If the dough seems crumbly or a little dry, add water in increments of 1 tsp. It does not take much water to give the dough moisture.
Cover dough with plastic wrap and let rest at least 30 minutes.
Cut and roll as desired.
Do Ahead: Dough can be made 1 day ahead; tightly wrap and chill.
Some notes on the recipe. I didn’t have a stand mixer, so I had to mix it by hand. The house did not have a rolling pin and we didn’t have a suitable replacement, so I rolled the dough into smaller ropes with a diameter of about 3/4 – 1 inch. I then cut the dough into smaller pieces and pushed them against the back of a fork to create a gnocchi-like shape. This worked to help hold the sauce.
This cooks quickly in salted, boiling water for about 4-5 minutes. Drain and serve with your favorite sauce.
Sarah Roonie 