squash + brownies + pasta = ?

So I love to cook. And my go-to recipe source for cooking is the Pioneer Woman (either her website or her new cookbook I got for Christmas thanks to Kevin and Helen!!). I love this woman. I often consider buying a cattle ranch and moving to Oklahoma or wherever she lives just so I can be her neighbor and cook with her (and/or eat her yummy food!). Okay, not really. But I do love her! I have made so many of her recipes and haven't found a bad one yet!

So yesterday when we were grocery shopping and Ben spotted Acorn squash at Albertson's, I bought one and came home to look at her website for a recipe. We have both had Acorn squash with butter and brown sugar. And that's pretty hard to beat. But then I found this recipe for Sweet Roasted Rosemary Acorn Squash Wedges. I love rosemary. I love acorn squash. I love butter and brown sugar. What could go wrong?!?!

But first, there were brownies to bake. You see, the night before Ben and I had made an impromptu stop at Panera Bread Company for a goodie. And I got the Best Brownie Ever. So when Ben brought up how good that brownie was last night, I decided I needed another brownie. So once again I turned to the Pioneer Woman (this time in her cookbook!) for a mocha brownie recipe. While I didn't have unsweetened chocolate baking squares so instead cooked with a hershey's bar (which led to pretty mildly chocolate-tasting brownies), I happened to have everything else on hand. And the mile of mocha frosting piled on top of the brownies made it not matter one bit how mild the brownies were. It also made me almost throw up because it was so sweet. But that didn't stop me from finishing it.

So after the brownies were done and cooling, I started on the squash. And thought I'd cook up some chicken. And then decided on some pasta. I sprinkled the chicken with some more rosemary and cooked some pasta. I didn't really have a plan for the pasta until I remembered the Pasta with Tomato Cream Sauce I'd had before and loved. So I just heated up a can of tomato sauce and poured in some half-and-half. But it just didn't quite do it for me.

Now, occasionally I branch out from Pioneer Woman to see what else the world of food blogging has to offer. Smitten Kitchen is another great website full of wonderful (although sometimes more complicated) recipes. A while ago I was perusing that website and found a recipe for Tomato Sauce with Onion and Butter. Butter? Butter. I don't know why I never thought of it before. Butter makes everything better. Trust me. I remembered this recipe as I was pondering what else I could add to the simple tomato sauce I had made. So I threw in a little butter. Oh. My. Goodness. Who would have thought what a difference it could make. I don't think I will ever make another tomato sauce again. So incredibly simple. And so amazingly delicious. Add a little parmesan on top and you've got the best pasta dish ever!

Anyway, the morals of the story are:
-the Pioneer woman is amazing
-I had a cooking spree inspired by brownies and acorn squash (they don't go together, you say? I say you're wrong.)
-Butter is the best thing on the earth.
-one can tomato sauce + a little half-and-half + a little butter = AMAZING.
-I'm not very good at measuring when I'm cooking sans recipe....see above.
-don't use a hershey's bar in place of baking chocolate. Unless you are making a gallon of frosting.
-don't get impatient and cut the brownies before the frosting has cooled and set. It will be a disaster.


I'm eating a brownie as I type this. Despite the barely-cooked, hardly-chocolate-tasting brownie, and the mile of frosting that oozed over the side where it then set, it is amazing. I might eat the whole pan.