35 weeks: Cooking in the {New} Kitchen

Baby nesting is in full swing as we hit 35 weeks!  Hudson's arrival seems so close, yet incredibly far away (especially during sleepless nights).  It is amazing how much I feel like I've accomplished in the kitchen the past few days - quickly prepping all of my favorite dishes.  Here are some renovation progress photos by the way of our gorgeous kitchen before my cooking bug took over:

We added hardwoods in the kitchen and converted the previous kitchen and breakfast nook into one space, so the island is pretty long and narrow.  We doubled the thickness of our Ceaser Stone island counters that sit on top of our more traditional, espresso island cabinetry.  Oh, and that statement spaceship, I mean chair, on the end?  It is Hudson's newborn - four year old high chair. 

I wouldn't budge on the range accent wall, so Adam sourced this 2x8 Carrara Marble tile from a company in Canada, Antica Stone + Tile.  It took forever to ship, but was worth it in the end to get the herringbone pattern I wanted without having it custom cut.  Our perimeter cabinets are a seashell colored Shaker style cabinetry from Kitchen Kraft.   

Our hardware options are a mix from Colonial - we used oil rubbed bronze on the espresso cabinetry, and brushed nickel on the seashell shaker cabinetry.  Our sinks our Shaws (looooveee our main ceramic farmhouse one), and our faucets are Rohl.  Appliances are mainly from the GE Monogram line, with the exception of the refrigerator, which is a Thermador.  Since these pictures, we've added an appliance garage and are looking forward to receiving our Urban Cultivator soon (a blog post of it's own)!

Getting back to the 35 weeks + cooking bit - you truly would think the grocery stores are closing and we are going into Apocalypse if you were a fly on our kitchen wall.  Adam might be fearful that I've hit a food-hoarding stage, but I know he will be forever grateful when all he has to do is defrost and reheat those meals during the weeks leading up to and after the birth of our first child and son, Hudson.  Now all I have to do is teach him how to use the oven ...

So here's our list, although, knowing me, I've forgotten to add a few items to the list.  Who is coming over for dinner?

Today I'm simmering my go-to, homemade pasta sauce.  With my cooking (and life in general) you will find I rarely write things down and like to go off memories.  Cooking therefore is the perfect hobby for me since it is hard to screw up, especially since I enjoy savoring every meal and deciding what ingredients went into each dish.

A side goal of blogging is putting my creations on paper though so I can track my recipes along the way.  Bear with me as I put my experience into words, and feel free to ask questions!  Without further ado, here is a slice of my heaven that I began crafting during my summer abroad in Italy:

Ali's Homemade Spicy Tomato Sauce

Ingredients

• 2-3 pounds Vine-ripened tomatoes (preferably from your garden, but store-bought/farmer's market works too!  Just make sure they are super red and come in a cluster with the vine attached)
• (2) medium or hot Schmeca's Italian Sausage (local KC brand)
• (1) mild Schmeca's Italian Sausage
• (2) large cloves of garlic
• Olive oil 
• Fresh herbs - any that are in season or growing in your garden will do - I used Italian Parsley + Rosemary, but often throw basil in at the end
• (2) 6 oz. can of Tomato Paste - since this is my only non-fresh ingredient, it is important to choose the purest form - look for low/no-sodium organic options
• Salt + Pepper, for taste

Directions

1. Pull out your stove-top dutch oven and add in a splash of olive oil and your chopped garlic.  Fresh garlic is key!  Chopping it up takes 30 seconds - you will thank me.  Make sure the heat is low, we don't want to burn our most savory ingredient.
2. While your garlic is simmering, dedicate a few minutes to de-casing your Italian Sausage.  Just slide a sharp knife down the side and pull the meat out of the casing, then throw all the links into the dutch oven.
3. Continue by cooking the sausage like it's ground beef (you can turn the heat up just a bit at this step).  Once cooked, lay it out on a towel like bacon so some of the grease is eliminated.
4. Now cut up all those beautiful tomatoes.  I usually cut each into 4-6 pieces, orange slice style.  Throw them into a bowl and lightly toss in half a tablespoon of salt and a splash of olive oil.
5. During this next step, you can either choose to simmer the tomatoes on their own, or throw the sausage back in with the tomatoes.  Either way, the two ingredients will eventually mix, so there is no right or wrong way.  If you are in a hurry to get dinner on the table though just throw them in together.  Bring to a slow boil and then simmer for 20 minutes with the lid on.
6. After 20 minutes, stir up the tomatoes (should be mushy now with skins falling away from tomato pulp) - add your meat too if you haven't already done so.  The tomatoes will appear watery, so add in those 6 oz. cans of tomato paste.  Bring to a slow boil again.
7. Add in the fresh herb you have on hand.  This time I mixed in half a handful of parsley and a small sprig of rosemary.
8. Leave your dutch oven uncovered for the next 45-60 minutes while the sauce thickens up.
9. Layer this savory, homemade sauce over your favorite pasta and top it with some shaved Parmesan.  Yum!  Also it's delicious enough to eat without pasta, and thickens up even more if left to cool in the refrigerator overnight.

I started with more tomatoes, just snapped the rinsing picture late!  I like to cut my tomatoes at an angle so it is easier to slice away the top.

I have two sauces going at the same time - one with chicken sausage, the other with pork sausage.   I finished cooking my sauce and threw it in a glass freezable container before snapping a picture.  Trust me, this homemade sauce is worth it, especially since the Italian Sausage spices do a lot of the work for you!  Will be sure to take a picture and update this post once we thaw and reheat our sauce.