shayne — glad to hear it! I think I had a rough start, but now, I’ll almost always make the noodles myself unless I’m truly in a pinch or didn’t do a good job of planning. Those noodles sound like they’d be a fun one to make and to eat–I can picture just what you mean! And thanks for visiting!

Adrianne — haha, the only time I would have associated “violent” with noodle making would be my less successful first and second batches! If he can roll it by hand, more power to him (I wasn’t so successful), but I’m definitely a fan of this appliance. And thanks for visiting! Hope to see you again

Your post does make me think I should get a pasta maker attachment for our KitchenAid instead of making my fiancé roll it out by hand.

Lydia — thanks for the tip!

Susan — thanks, hope it was helpful! I figured photos would have been nice for my first time, so maybe I could encourage more people to try it, too.

Deb — I won’t lie, the first one or two times were tough. A big part was that I *thought* I got the dough right, but in reality, I didn’t and it was too dry. However, with practice, it does become easy and a lot of fun. If you eat pasta with any frequency, I think its a fun way to take your pasta up a notch. And thanks about the osso bucco, too! As for FL, I’m a bit further north (in Ocala)–I think you live in the best part of the state!

Pam — I’m convinced you need it now, as well!

Kevin — Another option (since the KitchenAid items aren’t exactly the cheapest) is to go for a hand-cranked pasta roller. I haven’t used one myself and I imagine that might take a little more getting used to (seems like a three hand operation, but I can’t say), but they are definitely a good bit more affordable.

Alexis — hey! Glad to see you here and thanks! After my first time, I felt equally frustrated. I came into it the second time with renewed vigor and greater frustration when it was still difficult. Somehow, try #3 went flawlessly start to finish and it was a very quick and fun affair. Here’s hoping I can keep the streak going…

Pixie — thanks! I think I had the exact opposite problem my first time: too dry! Too bad they can’t send a sample piece of dough with the machine so you know what the goal texture is because I think that’s half the battle. And thanks for the tips–I look forward to seeing your posts about it!

Nora — haha, yeah, I think I have a few “must haves” in my kitchen that rarely see the light of day. I hope you give it a try soon, I’d love to hear the results.

RecipeGirl — haha, thanks! I hope the photos help and I hope that it goes well for you. Let me know!

Ruth — thanks! I’m really happy with the attachment although I recognize there are other, probably more affordable options out there (e.g. hand cranks)…but I’m a sucker for integrated things like the KitchenAid. The one thing to be careful about is KA sells several different pasta-related attachments and some of them have gotten absolutely awful reviews. I got this particular attachment as its more general purpose and has been fairly well reviewed. So I guess that’s a long-winded way of saying go for it! I would think if anybody would get use of the pasta roller, its the creator of Presto Pasta Nights.

Helene — definitely worth trying. So far my favorite use for it: lasagna (post coming soonish). You can really appreciate the taste and texture of the noodles more.