Labor of Love

Today was a full day of exciting events. It is DH's 47th birthday! When Tigger called him at the office this a.m. to ask him what he wanted for his birthday dinner he said he wanted my homemade spaghetti noodles with meatballs and sauce. When I heard this across the room I literally wanted to lay down and cry because this particular dish isn't just something someone whips up. This particular dish is a labor of love that takes hours to create and minutes to consume because it is soooo good. (Why couldn't he just want to go out?) The kids were all aglow just thinking about it because it had been years since I made these noodles.

The kids and I made a shopping list because the meatballs contain a secret ingredient I NEVER keep in the house - white bread. It is the "glue" that holds the meat together and soaks up the sauce. It is a necessity in this particular recipe - but I loathe buying it. I put it in because it is the only thing that makes my meatballs close to the ones my DH is used to having as a child. He loves them and so do the kids - so it is essential for this recipe.

The noodles are made of mostly eggs and wheat or some other flour like spelt. After the dough is formed it must be rolled out a billion times before it is long and flat enough to cut into spaghetti. The result are excellent noodles my kids call "butter noodles".

I told the kids that a lot of love goes into making this dish and they have to help me put the love in this meal. We visited several stores and didn't even start cooking until 3:30. The meal wasn't complete until 6:30 but everyone had done something very important in making it special. It wasn't the chore I originally envisioned, it was a real accomplishment of which we were all proud.

Afterwards DH's team won the world series - so that made his birthday complete.