When my cannoli filling recipe says to drain my ricotta cheese overnight?!

They mean put it into a bag of cheesecloth, tie closed & hang over a pot.
The idea is to separate the curds from the whey, to make it firmer.
Most Ricotta you buy at the market is already drained.

While looking for cookbooks online I found a book that has hundreds of recipes from a lot of the famous restaurants including Red Lobster, Applebee's, Olive Garden and The CheeseCake Factory just to name a few. It is loaded with great recipes that I love. Save Money - Just imagine the sheer amount of cash you will be able to save just by cooking these dishes yourself at home! Check it out if you want to; http://bit.ly/ePoirn

http://bit.ly/ePoirn

Put it in a strainer with cheesecloth or something similar in the bottom. Put the strainer over a bowl and you can put a plate on top of the cheese. The idea is to drain the excess liquid out of it to make a firmer filling.

Put the cheese in a colander, place it in a bowl, Put it in the fridge, drain it occasionally if needed because you don't want it sitting in the water, which would prevent it from draining.