Last Saturday we had round two of Sophie's birthday celebration. 


We had family and cake and presents and noodles - Sophie's special request.  The only little girl in both sides of our families, everyone had a good time picking out girly presents.  She received dresses, nightgowns, a tutu, tiaras, a purse, backpack, a little dog that comes with a handy carrying case, and I think six pairs of sunglasses.


I made my first layer cake which didn't turn out too badly (see visual evidence below):


On the menu:
Antipasto Salad
Marinara, meatballs with linguine
Sausage and Bean Ragu on Quinoa Macaroni (this was really good, but the quinoa is too delicate, upon reheating it turns into a polenta-like paste...I'll use regular pasta next time)
Shrimp Arrabiata with linguine (loosely based on a recipe from Buca)
Red Velvet Cake (making the original recipe non-dairy made the cake a bit dry, but it was still good.  also, I need a cake plate and a cake plate cover to protect it from Martin's fingers.)