I suppose there’s millions of people out there barbecuing and grilling, today. Lord knows we’ve been there. We just didn’t feel like grilling in 90°F weather with thunderstorms and ridiculous humidity. Better to stay indoors with air conditioning.

July 4th is also my favorite brother-in-law’s birthday. I’ve known Mike since the mid-’60s, so there are a few birthday celebrations I have difficulty remembering. today. Our misspent youth was definitely misspent. Or not. How many of you remember the days when you had to make sure you had a wad of cash because ATMs would only give you a paltry amount per 24 hour period and were often Out Of Service after 1:00am?!?

Ah… the good ol’ days…

If we were on the west coast, we’d be celebrating with him, today.

But since we’re not… we’re celebrating with homemade ravioli!

Victor had leftover pasta dough and ricotta filling from the ravioli he made last week, so he pulled it from the freezer and went to work.

He took the ricotta filling and added chopped shrimp he sauteed in olive oil, salt, and pepper. Really simple.

He then made a sauce of olive oil, garlic, white wine, clam juice, lemon juice, fresh oregano, crushed red pepper flakes, butter, salt and pepper. When it had reduced by about half, he added the shrimp and in three minutes the sauce was ready. Again, really simple.

The pasta was feather light and the filling screamed flavor. Rich shrimp flavor with perfect chunks to offset the creamy ricotta. The sauce was light but rich in flavor. It was the perfect topping.

Meanwhile, I made a loaf of sourdough walnut raisin bread. I screwed it up – more detail than I can go into, here – but, the flavor was excellent.

A successful holiday, and a successful meal.

Plus, the DC festivities are in shambles because of the weather… Who could ask for anything more?!?