Day 56: Saucy

I've said it before, and I'll say it again, "I'm a meat and potatoes kind of girl." But, if meat and potatoes didn't exist, I'd get along just fine on pasta.

Before "60 Things," my idea of "cooking" was either throwing marinade on meat, or opening a jar of tomato sauce to throw over pasta. Over the past few weeks, I've come to appreciate cooking so much more... I fear cooking a whole lot less, and have grown so much more confident with what I actually can do in the kitchen. I've had a lot of help along the way, for which I'm so grateful and appreciative, and look forward to experimenting even more in the future. While I don't expect to become the next Iron Chef, I've certainly surprised myself with some of the dishes I've made along the way.

So, tonight, I made my first tomato sauce from scratch. Alli came over with tomatoes, basil, and mozzarella... and I had the rest. Alli has been one of my closest friends since we were teenagers... we met briefly at a state student council conference, and became close when we were 16 and working together at the Gap. Although we don't get together as often as we did when we were younger, we always manage to pick up right where we left off whenever we do meet up. For the sauce, we sautéed some garlic in olive oil, and then added the tomatoes, oregano, basil, white wine, tomato paste, salt, and pepper. In the meantime, I'd also cooked the penne... I was quite the busy girl! After the pasta was cooked, we added the fresh mozzarella, fresh parmesan, and sauce. It was delicious... and yet another home-cooked meal that I was proud of making!