Cooking with Friends: Spinach-Artichoke Stuffed Shells and Red Velvet Cake

Last night, Zack and I got together with friends for dinner. I think it may turn into a regular thing, which would be cool, because they have a really nice kitchen (and we happen to like them too). And they have a dinner table. Which is also good for having people over to eat. Sitting on the floor Asian-style around our coffee table would probably only be fun for so long.

So Zack and I made a trip to Central Market for groceries, I made a red velvet cake, and we took a box of ingredients over to our friends' to cook stuffed shells together. The cake was actually adapted from Ina Garten's Red Velvet Cupcakes recipe. We thought a cake would be more dinner party-like in comparison to cupcakes. And boy, was it party-like. There's something about red velvet. Why is it that a few drops of red food coloring just make a cake like nothing else? So smooth. So moist. And this cream cheese frosting just tops it off perfectly. I'll definitely make this recipe again. Cupcakes or cake.

About the spinach-artichoke stuffed shells. Let's just say, cooking in someone else's kitchen is a little high stress, because you just don't know where anything is. And then your pan of olive oil gets super hot because you can't seem to chop things fast enough, so then your garlic almost gets burned. Eventually, you're just shouting out orders because that's the only way anything is going to get done in a timely fashion. Yep, I make a great guest. Ha ha. No, it was really fun. Everyone helped out and we made these greatest tasting stuffed shells. They were really good. If you like spinach-artichoke dip, you'll like this filling. Ricotta, lemon zest, thyme...so delicious. And all laying in an amazing marinara sauce. San Marzano tomatoes all the way, baby. If you haven't tried San Marzano tomatoes, you have not lived. Definitely the best canned tomatoes, and they make the best sauce. Some fresh basil, and boom, you've got a great sauce.

It was a really fun night. So here's to great food, and great people. And thanks to Naomi and Jim for being the first people (besides Zack) to partake in my still-kind-of-amateur cooking.