Ravioli

On Sunday, the boys and I went to the Alley/Brown Compound for the annual Making of the 50 Dozen Zanone Family Ravioli. The Alleys take several dozen to the extended family Thanksgiving celebration, freeze some for use throughout the year, and feed the rest to their hungry volunteers.

This was my fourth year participating and I have to say that I really, really look forward to it. Not just because I get to eat the best ravioli in the world, but because I get to spend the whole day with some of my favorite people!

Last year Satchel and Jiro were interested in helping. This year, not so much. They spent most of the day climbing trees (in their socks!) with JP.


I did manage to get Jiro interested at the very end, but for the most part I watched the other kids. C expertly cranked out ravioli faster than anyone, licking his lips the whole time. S also worked diligently, but has yet to meet her mother's and aunt's high standards for ravioli construction. (I only got fussed at a little bit.) Abe and GK also helped out for a good part of the day and it was fun being in the middle of such happy busy-ness.


Warren, in what has become something of his own tradition, arrived just in time to eat! He contributed some homemade bread to the feast, so we didn't make fun of his timing too much. (Actually after checking the archives, last year was the first year he actually got to come at all. He was sick in 2007 and working on the deck in 2006.)

I ate so much ravioli it was scary. It's so good!! I couldn't stop. I envy the people who get to eat it year round!

I hope that I'm lucky enough to participate for many years to come. (I just had a vision of us all drinking wine as we show our grand kids how to make the ravioli!) Since I'm dreaming--maybe someday I'll even get to help cook the filling or get a glimpse of the secret gravy recipe! Until then I'll enjoy carefully placing just the right amount of filling on the dough, folding it up, and poking it with a fork until it looks pretty.

Thanks to the Alleys for including me and my family and making us feel like a part of theirs.