I feel like this post is like one of those freestanding episodes of The Wonder Years thrown in the week after something exciting with Kevin and Winnie happened. You didn’t care about that episode–you just wanted to see if Kevin and Winnie were going to get back together after kissing in the previous episode. And then you were forced to watch an episode all about the father without even a mention of Winnie. Anyhow, you will have to wait a little longer (and I know the world is waiting with bated breath) for my official Grilled Cheese Invitational post and how Team We Aim to Cheese fared. Crafting highly entertaining posts on important events take time, you know. What also takes time: getting the necessary digital images from my friends in charge of photography.

Poor Stuffed Tomatoes with Spinach and Ricotta. No one cares. But I will post a picture of them to pique your interest, and then I will discuss them without a decent transition.

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I used to request the ricotta cheese be left out of the calzones I ordered since I felt it overwhelmed the other cheeses. Ricotta was strange and oozy. The others were stringy and familiar. And stringy, melted cheese is one of the most tempting things ever.

But I never gave up on ricotta completely—for some reason I felt compelled to give him additional chances because while he never made a huge impression, we got along and I liked his company well enough. I just didn’t know if anything long-term was in the cards for us, but sometimes I would wonder. . . . I’ve been flirting half-heartedly with ricotta cheese ever since. I’ll avoid him, then determine I like him, grab his upper arm when I see him, and then avoid him again. I’m pretty sure this is why he’s into me.

The turning point for ricotta and I was a dish at AOC where the ricotta was so mild and smooth and wonderful that I didn’t even recognize it. It’s lame that I can’t remember the actual dish or who I ate it with (my mom, maybe?), but the fact I remember the ricotta and nothing else says a lot about ricotta.

Stuffed Tomatoes with Spinach and Ricotta is intended to be an appetizer, but since I happened to have all its ingredients lurking in my kitchen one evening, it became my dinner.

Adjustments: I used Roma tomatoes, which are more dinner-like, rather than cherry tomatoes, which are more adorable and appetizer-like. I also let it bake in the oven longer since I was using the bigger tomatoes, though I can’t say how long because I wasn’t paying attention.

Assessment: Very pretty and mellow-tasting with a nice crunch from the pine nuts. I should have included more salt. I wasn’t as wowed as I would like to have been by this, but the taste did grow on me as I continued to eat it—ricotta is like that. I think I’ll sit on this recipe, and if I return to it again, then I’ll take the time to type and post it.