Edrie

It's a known fact that every little girl dreams about their wedding day. Their Prince Charming, the dress they will wear, the colors that will be chosen and the flowers that will be held. It is perhaps a lesser known fact however that little girls also dream of the day they get their very own KitchenAid Mixer. For as many years as I can remember, I have theorized that a kitchen isn't complete until it has a KitchenAid sitting atop the counter. I am happy to report that as of this week, my kitchen is complete - and it was Kyle (my very own Prince Charming) that made this happen as a late birthday/early Christmas present.

It was the day after I received this gift, this passed week, that my grandma Dorene lost her battle with cancer. Up until her final days she was one of my blog's biggest fans. She was one of the first ones I sent the web address to, and she was instrumental in encouraging me to make it public to share with the rest of the world. She really enjoyed reading it, and I will truly miss sending her the link each time I write a new post and waiting for feedback via email or phone call.

Now I don't know if this is just something my family does, or if it is more common than I may think, but we like to name our mixers, just as young boys name their first cars. The mixer is such an important part of the kitchen, it just deserves to have a name. I saw it only fitting that in honor of my grandma, my mixer be named after her. Her full name was Edrie Dorene McNulty. She hated the name Edrie and chose to go by Dorene, but I actually like the name Edrie, and it fits my mixer a little better than Dorene does. Now everything I make will have a piece of her baked into it. She has always supported my cooking, and though she has passed, I will be reminded of her support forevermore.

Grandma in the kitchen

Edrie in the kitchen

Butternut Squash Cream Sauce

I guess its been long enough, its time for me to post again. I actually really like this whole blog thing because unlike school, I can write when I feel like it without being docked points for grammatical issues...or turning it in late. I really haven't made anything this passed month that was blog worthy anyway besides the tiny pumpkin pies, which I will still get around to writing at some point. I have been planning this meal for over a month now but I needed to find the right audience to make it for. Not something I would want to make for myself, not something Kyle would have been interested in, and not something my sister wanted last time she was home. So when one of my friends, who isn't too picky (when it comes to vegetables) wanted to do dinner, I knew this would be a good opportunity. I also invited my mom, knowing that she would appreciate just about anything I made.

Last month while wandering around at World Market I came across this:

Little pastas in the shape of pumpkins and leaves! Since its no ordinary pasta. it had to be paired with an un-ordinary sauce. Spaghetti or alfredo sauce just wasn't going to get the job done. I got to thinking, and thought that a butternut squash cream sauce just might do the trick. Squash and fall just go together so this seemed like the perfect idea for my fall harvest pasta.  I've never really had anything like that, but I figured someone had to of tried it before and there must be a recipe somewhere on the internet. Sure enough, I googled it and came up with about 2,500 different options. They didn't all seem to be quite what I was looking for though, so I settled on one that was adapted from a pumpkin cream sauce recipe by Rachel Ray. The adapted recipe can be found here.

First thing was first: slice the squash in half lengthwise and scoop out the inside. Seemed easy enough. However, after a good 10 minutes of battling with it, I ended up with a semi-mutilated squash and a sore wrist. I literally had an easier time carving Professor Snape in my pumpkin with a tiny knife.

Not the cleanest cut, but it got the job done

Next step was to place both halves cut side down on a roasting pan and slap them in the oven for 45 minutes at 400 degrees. I'm not exactly sure what a roasting pan is, so I got out a cookie sheet, put some foil down on it and called it a roasting pan. After it was done I was happy to find a couple of soft squash pieces that didn't stick to the foil and scooped extremely easily out of the shell. I scooped them into a bowl and pureed them with an immersion blender. My mom, who was at my house by this time insisted that an immersion blender probably wasn't the right tool to use, but I did it anyway, and it turned out just fine...

Pureed version of squash.

 I like squash, so I liked the taste and texture of it at this point. It was a lot like baby food, which is apparently something I like. Next, saute an onion over medium heat with a couple tablespoons of butter, salt and pepper. Once the onion is cooked add the squash and a cup of half and half. That will start to boil and then add a half of a cup of parmesan cheese. At this point I also added a teaspoon or two of dried sage.

Don't you just want to eat that by the spoonful?

Once the cheese melts, its done! Add your cooked pasta to the pot and combine them. And don't forget extra cheese on the side.

Finished product

The bread that I fixed was homemade as well, but I'll save that for another posting. And just as I suspected, I picked the right crowd to serve this to. I had three empty plates to clean after dinner, a full stomach and new recipe to add to my repertoire.