Ravioli Night

I know you're all dying to see proof of ravioli night. You've probably woken up in the middle of the night wondering if Jim and Joanne's little raviolis turned out anywhere close to Grandma's. Well folks, the wait it over!

After three late nights of making filling, rolling dough, pinching out air pockets and trimming edges, Jim and I felt like we'd really earned this ravioli. We also learned little tips and tricks along the way, so hopefully next time it will be easier. For instance, the pasta roller is worthless...it is so much easier and faster to roll out the dough by hand. It must be his Italian genes, because Jim can roll that dough pretty thin. (Maybe he can flip pizza crusts in the air too?! Must experiment. Preferably not when we're starving, for obvious reasons.)

In honor of the birthday boy, we bypassed the wedding china and went with the not very eco-friendly, but oh-so-chic "Thomas the Tank Engine" paper plates. Our centerpiece was a bowl full of toys for the guests to peruse during courses...including mini rubik's cubes, wind up race cars and robots, foam rockets, mad libs and super balls. Throw in a little wine, some childish adults, and a good time was had by all.

Charlie was quite enamored by the robots...

Here was the bread before it was cut, slathered with garlic butter and broiled. Yum.

Like responsible adults, we had a salad. This is a recipe I've been carting from house to house for the last decade, but never made until recently. Luckily it was decent, and I've made it a few times now. Greens, endive, pear and chevre with a homemade vinaigrette. Simple but tasty.

Eventually, we ate. (Like Jim's hat? Thanks to Kim for taking the picture!) The verdict...pretty good. We were discussing it after everyone left and both agreed that the ravioli were a bit overcooked and the filling definitely needed more salt. Although in our defense, it is difficult to "salt to taste" when it's a big bowl of uncooked meat and raw egg! So, not exactly Grandma's but good. Maybe we'll get closer next time.

Jim is a chocolate cake kinda guy. (Bill Knapp's, anyone?) So for dessert we had chocolate covered strawberries and chocolate cloud cake. It's the kind of cake that tastes much better than it looks. Not helped by the fact that I was chatting while whipping the cream (that is supposed to be billowing out of the center) and wasn't paying attention...let's just say there was nary a billow in sight. Ahh well, forgotten after a few flavorful forkfuls of dark chocolate and Grand Marnier...

And surprise, surprise - guess who wasn't in bed?! Charlie had a good time and dined on both carrot and peach purees. Followed by some good gnawing on a foam rocket...

Happy Birthday Jim!