When Celebration Is In Order...

We celebrate! First off, thanks for all the well wishes. So many of you out there know the ins and outs and ups and downs of this process probably more than you'd like to at this point, and your comments always provide a refreshing breath to any day when we're just not certain how everything is going to play out. Thanks.

So on to the celebration. We started with a late lunch where Ash indulged in some BBQ. Well, BBQ sauce that is...

Then, after deciding which apron he wanted to wear (he had to try on all 3 before deciding which one suited him best) Ash dove head first into making his first batch of homemade ravioli.

He ate a nice amount of the ricotta/motz/sage/sausage filling before it actually became filling, had a BLAST playing with the dough as we slowly turned it into ravioli noodles (as far as he was concerned it was just beige colored playdough that he was allowed to eat...) and not once did he get his fingers stuck in the pasta machine, a feat in and of itself. The result was a semi-delicious (we have a few things to learn about past making) organic chicken sausage and cheese ravioli topped with a butter, shallot, sage, and asparagus sauce. Ok, it was a bit more than just semi-delicious, I'm just bummed that I didn't get the noodles thin enough so they were a bit thick and chewy for my Italian blood (which is actually Italian-in-law blood, I inherited the Italian gene through my husband's family and have been a die hard saucy sauce lover of a great Tuscan with a constant craving for more garlic ever since).

Toss in a boy who insists on jiving to the music all throughout dinner, a scrumptious Tuscan, and a big piece of paper on prominent display with a title that starts with "The State of NY hereby certifies..." and you pretty much have all of the ingredients for one of those nights that you never want to see end. Quite a way to start a weekend. Cheers!