Adventure #1: Braided Spaghetti

            Last night, Garrett and I embarked on our first cooking adventure together. Our mission was to successfully create braided spaghetti, a recipe that we happened to find through Pinterest. While the end result was not a complete catastrophe, we did have some mishaps along the way.  I wish I could say the wine played a role in this, however, that wasn’t the case.

            Let’s start with step 1, grocery shopping. The ingredients for braided spaghetti are as follows

1 Loaf Rhodes Bread Dough or 12 Rhodes Dinner Rolls, thawed to room temperature

½ pound Italian sausage, cooked
6 oz spaghetti, cooked
1 cup thick spaghetti sauce
8 oz mozzarella cheese, cut into ½ inch cubes
1 egg white
Parmesan cheese
Parsley Flakes

Shopping for the ingredients did not pose any major problems for us. We did have to ask a Wal Mart employee where to find the Italian sausage, but who hasn’t been there before? Overall, the hardest part of step 1 was choosing which wines we wanted. We stood in the aisle for a solid ten minutes mulling over all of the possible choices. This was mainly due to my indecisiveness, which always gets the best of Garrett. (Sorry!)

            On to step 2, cooking. This is where it got interesting. It was about 5 o’clock when Garrett and I arrived home with the groceries. Our plan was to start cooking immediately. However, something that we didn’t take into account was that you have to thaw the rolls. (Whoops!)

            After reading the package, we discovered that it could take up to FIVE HOURS to thaw them! Thankfully, there was a “speed method” which took an hour and a half. It probably took us 45 minutes to actually get the rolls and the boiling water into the oven and start thawing. I’m not sure we would have ever figured out the whole pan of boiling water under the pan of rolls thing, so I will shamefully admit that we had to consult my mother regarding this whole thawing process. (Thanks Mom!)

            Nevertheless, around 7:30 we were ready to start cooking! For the most part it was smooth sailing from here on out. I mean, who can’t boil spaghetti and brown Italian sausage? Oh wait, I should probably mention that after browning the sausage, we forgot to drain it prior to adding the sauce. Another whoops on our part, but it turned out okay.

            The most challenging part of this whole process all had to do with those darned rolls! After rolling them out into a 12x16 inch rectangle, making ½-inch cuts along the sides, and filling the middle with the spaghetti and Italian sausage, we had to braid it. Needless to say, we are not professional dough braiders. It wasn’t a complete failure, but not surprisingly, ours did not look as pretty as the picture.

            With the oven set at 350, we pressed on, baking the braided spaghetti for 35 minutes. Garrett enjoyed some of the extra spaghetti and Italian sausage while I continuously peered over at the oven, waiting and wishing that ours would turn out that perfect golden brown color. Yeah, that didn’t happen.

              It may not have turned out picture perfect, but it was pretty tasty! Overall, we agreed that our first culinary adventure was a success.

It's on to adventure #2 for us! What should we make next?


Find the full recipe for braided spaghetti here http://rhodesbread.com/blog/blog/braided-spaghetti-bread