I wrote a few months ago about how difficult it was to make and then leave behind dear friends when we moved. Our friends are important, aren’t they?! They support, encourage, uplift us. They share joy and laughter, frustrations and tears. I’m blessed to have wonderful friends.

One of those friends is Christy. She has been a guest contributor on here a few times (as have two of her kids, Katy and Will!). She’s shared how to make yogurt in the Crock Pot, and a yummy Pea Tendrils dish. She loves food and cooking as much as I do. We have great conversations about it. I think we would talk for hours and hours if we were could. Last week, before our weekly lunch, we decided to attempt to make homemade pasta. Neither of us had made it before and we both really wanted to. If I hadn’t committed to making it with her, I doubt it would have happened. I would have made some excuse to not do it, had I been left to my own devices at home. But, I went to her place, arms laden with eggs and flour, and we got to work.

The reason we wanted to make this pasta was we’d both read about it in a Cook’s Illustrated magazine. It was a recipe that didn’t require a pasta machine! It calls for a bit of olive oil, flour, and lots of egg yolks. And, you guys, it turned out perfectly! (I don’t mean that it looked perfect or anything – mine definitely had some rips and wrinkles and some were awkwardly long or way too skinny.) It was so fun to try this out. And it turned out way better than I could have hoped. After I use up the pasta that’s in our cupboard I may never buy pasta again. It was that good. It does take some time, and admittedly a lot of eggs (8 in total, 6 are yolks), but I’d totally recommend this to anyone who wants to try it for themselves.

Here are a few photos of the process.

Christy, rolling out a 6″ “square”.

Pasta gets rolled out to 12″x6″.

Thin enough to see my fingers through, just like the recipe said!

Drying slightly on a tea towel, when it’s 20″x6″.

Once the edges were a bit firm, it gets folded and cut.

Unfurled on a baking sheet.

Boiled for 3 minutes.

Combined with squash and cream.

Topped with Gruyère, served, enjoyed. 

The recipe is on p. 13 of the May & June issue of Cook’s Illustrated. (It’s also on CooksIllustrated.com and it’s free for 14 days if you sign up for a trial.) I’d recommend reading the article and trying the pasta, if you can get your hands on it! (It’s totally going on my Christmas list! I learn so much every time I read it!!)

Now here’s what I did with it… I made a sauce with roasted butternut squash and garlic, and browned butter. I added a touch of cream just before serving, and a sprinkle of Gruyère. It was simply divine. I can’t wait to make this again. I wish I was eating it right now… there is some in the fridge… but I promised Husband that he could take it for lunch. And I’m not hungry. I just want to eat it.

Browned Butter and Roasted Butternut Squash Pasta

Last modified on 2012-09-10 22:57:01 GMT. 0 comments. Top.

It’s been a year since I launched my site. My goal has been to empower you to eat well. This is one of the places where I share my passion for food. Thanks for joining me!

Some of the highlights (and a few low points from the last year)…

September 2, 2011 Heart in my throat, I launch my site with my first real post. My first posted recipe that appears on the blog is Tomato-Corn Salsa. Even though I’ve grown and learned a lot over this year, I’ll still leave older recipes as they are, and just keep adding new ones. It’s a learn as I go job, and it’s so much fun!

October Celebrated 5 years of marriage to my fabulous Husband. I told you what I made for our anniversary dinner with photos and a post. Mmmm, I still remember that meal. It was delicious.

November A Cooking Show with Rachel O began. I do the show in association with Abundant Harvest Organics. I have a blast making up recipes and cooking on camera (and it’s still a little weird that I’m filming myself, I’ll admit it). I hope you enjoy watching as much as I enjoy making these episodes. I do them for you, ya know! I hope they’re a good reference for you and show you that you too can make any of these dishes in your home! Or, if you’re just watching them because you’re family, friends, or you just want to see my weirdness, I’m OK with that too. 😉

Here’s my first episode

and my most recent episode

Notice any differences?! It’s been almost a year… I’m having fun!

December My brother, Josh visited and we had so much fun together. We cooked and ate in, we ordered food, and ate out. What a great time! I wrote about the BACON Pizza we made together. We cook well together.

January 2012 My Oma passed away. I learned I would be an Auntie. All in the same week. I’m so excited about being an auntie (any day now), and I still miss Oma so much that it brings me to tears re-reading the post today.

February I met Joy the Baker! I was so nervous and excited. I wrote about it the next day, while still kinda giddy. That was fun. I also launched the Legacy section on my blog. A tribute to my family. My first legacy recipe was Oma’s Lemon Buns.

May I turned 31. KitchenAid gave me a beautiful Hand Blender. I had some giveaways on the blog. It was so fun to give away some of my favorite things!

August We needed a break, so we went to the mountains and then to Cherry Valley for two mini vacations. We came back feeling refreshed. Earlier in the month I made the best meal ever… Julia Child’s Boeuf Bourguignon. Amazing!

And now it’s September. So far, in my first week of my second year of blogging, I’ve learned how to make homemade pasta. I’ll write about that next week. It’s a must share. It was divine. Simply divine.

It’s been a lot of fun going through the last year and thinking of all that’s happened, the good and the bad. Lessons learned, fun times cherished, memories made. I feel blessed.

Some of what I’m looking forward to in this next year…

Each day that I get to share with my wonderful Husband. He’s so supportive and encouraging and we really enjoy doing life together. A lot of what I do wouldn’t be possible without his support. Thanks, Babe, for being cool with a wife who works from home rather than earning the “big bucks” somewhere else, who forces you to be the taste tester, watches you take your first bite to see if you like it, lets the food get cold because photos have to be taken, gets up in the middle of a show because the food needed some Parmesan cheese… I like you.

The baby that I learned about in January is due two weeks from today. I’m so excited to meet him or her. I don’t know when that will be, as we live 2,505 miles away. So for now, I will just wait for the call that my little brother is a daddy!

Growing with A Cooking Show with Rachel O. Working to make it even better. Hopefully challenging and encouraging more people to be inspired to eat well!

Celebrating my 6th anniversary next month.

Fall and soup season. Always good.

Family reunions and get-togethers.

Pizza Fridays.

My 40th episode of A Cooking Show with Rachel O and hopefully my 50th and 60th and on and on…

Building business relationships and friendships, making connections, learning from the brilliant and inspiring people that I know (and those that I have yet to meet).

Learning more about food and nutrition and how to be a better cook. I love this stuff!!

Being surprised by the adventure of life. Who knows what the next year will bring?!

Until next time,

Happy Eating!