Bad drivers abound, fresh pasta with bleu cheese sauce and broccoli

Today was quite busy but equally good overall. It is such a blast to laugh hysterically with girlfriends. I met two of mine for coffee after school drop-off this morning, and almost immediately, we were in peals of laughter about god knows what. The decibel level continued to amplify, and I'm sure that if others hadn't been infected by our joy -as they surely were at 8:40a- they might have given us the stink eye. We also managed to plan a delicious menu for a cocktail party we're hosting in a couple weeks. Fun, fun. I'll be making my leek and aged goat cheese tart, a blackberry pie, some roast veggies, possibly cheddar biscotti, and definitely some fabulous spiced nuts (the recipe for which was given to me by my dear friend, Donna, who also gave me the Summer Beef Salad that's in Em-i-lis Recipes and wrote Waiting For Bones, which by the way, I was very sad to finish two nights ago. It was a blast; D is a talented gal). While I was without inspiration for tonight's dinner for most of the day -Oliver and I did enjoy a fantastic compost salad for lunch though- I was struck at the gym by an urge to attempt fresh pasta on my own. What to sauce it with? Well, I've got some gorgeous broccoli in the fridge as well as some of that leftover fourme d'ambert from the crostini invention several nights back. I think some combo of this would be wonderful, so off I go. My pasta balls are done resting...wish me luck on rolling them through my machine, cutting and then hanging them to dry.

Oh, and about those bad drivers. Watch out DC-area folks, they're out in full force today. This morning I drove behind a man who, I kid you not, straddled the lane divider for nearly a mile despite honks and other suggestions to pick a lane. No, he was not north of 80 (years).