Baked...And Loving It!!

Not to crib from a fellow blogger, but MY OVEN WORKS! MY OVEN WORKS!! I know this because tonight, for the first time ever in my life, I baked.

Chills, people, chills.

For my first baking experience, the great and oh-so-spectacular Chef X recommended that I try her Stuffed Shells recipe:

Stuffed Shells

1 lb. box jumbo shells (pasta)
2 lb. ricotta cheese (it will be by the sour cream at the store)
1/2 c. grated parmesan cheese
2 eggs
2 tbsp chopped parsley
salt and pepper to taste
garlic powder to taste
26 oz tomato sauce (spaghetti sauce. this is also where you could buy a jar that already has meat in it)
1/4 c. grated parmesan cheese

Cook shells as directed on package. Mix all ingredients, except tomato sauce and 1/4 cup parmesan cheese, thoroughly and fill cooked shells. Line a 9x13 baking dish with enough tomato sauce to cover the bottom of the dish. Place filled shells in pan in a single layer and cover with the remaining sauce. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup parmesan cheese. Bake at 350* for 20 minutes.

I have to say, surprisingly enough, this was the toughest recipe for me to make, A lot of it had to with the fact that I screwed up on the pasta. Yeah, memo to self: do NOT place pasta in the water before it has come to a boil!! It makes the water starchy and utterly nasty to look at and the pasta gummy in texture. I realized that early enough that I could get a new pot, bring some fresh water to a boil and drop the half-cooked (read: soft and chewy, but with a nice crunch. Ick.) pasta in the new pot. Admittedly, a lot of the pasta shells kind of got thrashed and ripped in the transfer from strainer to pot, but everything seemed to come out OK.

Naturally, when the going got rough, I started to doubt myself and my ability to make this dish. At one point, the thought crossed my mind to throw in the towel and make the Mexican dish for my two guests, but I quickly pressed the eject button on that one, clearing my brain of any negativity. When I was a young lad, my mom always used to drill one thought into my brain: the word "can't" was not in my vocabulary. Tonight was no different. I saw it through to the end and the result was nothing short of a small miracle.

Not necessarily for the reason you might think, though.

In the end, when it was all said and done, we didn't eat until 8:45pm. It was worth the wait. Not just because the meal was delicious or because watching my two dinner guests eat until their bellies were full made me beam with pride. No, it was deeper than that. See, this was the first time in several years that my two friends, Derek and Crystal, had hung out together. I really never thought I'd get them in the same room again. We all went to high school together but once we closed that chapter in our lives, as is the case with that type of situation, Derek and Crystal just kind of lost touch and faded away from each other. The food that I made brought them here tonight and watching them reunite, embrace, catch up, relive old times and laugh together made me well up with emotion and a feeling of self-satisfaction that I can't even begin to describe.

I'm starting to realize that cooking really is good for the soul. It has not just fulfilled me emotionally, but it has boosted up my confidence immensely. It has made me start to ask a very important question: If I can do this, what else can I do? It's so easy for one to be complacent or satisfied with they think they can do. Much harder is being willing to push things further and risk staring into the face of possible failure. Tonight, I'm happy to say that I did just that.

And yeah...using an oven? Not so bad either.