Hiatus

Posted on February 29, 2012 by katherine

As I mentioned last time, our family had an eventful 2011.  What I didn’t mention was that somewhere among the wedding preparations and the holiday festivities, I was presented with an opportunity to take a job leading worship at our church.  After an almost decade-long hiatus, I am back in the singing saddle.  And it feels so good.

Currently, I work one afternoon and three mornings a week, plus additional hours from home in the evenings.  I get to share the worship leading responsibilities with one other person.  This arrangement allows me to have some Sundays off from singing, but I still take care of all the administrative tasks every week.  It’s been so much fun, so rewarding, so life-giving.

The new job has brought it’s own set of new challenges and odd adjustments.  Primarily, I have had to relearn how to manage all the other parts of my life.  Homeschooling happens in the afternoons.  Homemade dinners only happen two weeknights and one weekend night per week.  Grocery shopping and laundry are done only once a week and only on the weekends.  Personal time has become almost nonexistent.

The first few weeks I kind of felt like a crazy person.  Then I sat down and did some serious strategic life planning (i.e., I made a lot of lists), and I came up with a few ways to reduce the stress.  I’ve posted meal plans on the fridge, outsourced some household chores, tried to get smarter about how I use my time.  I’m not sure I’ve figured it out, but I’m trying.  My Husband has also been amazing at filling in my gaps and taking up the slack around here while patiently enduring the fall-out from the transition that translates into messy floors and sandwiches for dinner.  What a trooper.

The best news is that my heart is so exuberantly excited and elated to be doing the very thing that I am convinced God designed me to do.  Singing.  It’s a part of me that can’t be fulfilled in any other way other than to stand up in front of people and let it go.  And singing enlivens a part of my soul that nothing else comes close to touching.  This particular part of me has been dead for almost a decade {the back story on that is going to have to wait until another time}.  Believe me when I say that lately there has been nothing less than a resurrection in me.

The sad news is that I still have not figured out how to also do that other thing that makes me feel alive and inspired.  Writing.  Mainly, writing and sharing and chronicling things here with you.  I get sad every time some one asks me how my blog is going.  I miss it so much.  I can not believe that I used to post three times a week, sometimes more!  I have written my whole life, but I think in the absence of singing, writing became my outlet, and I discovered how much I truly love it.  Only, now that the singing part is back, I don’t have the time to write, and the whole thing leaves me feeling fulfilled, but still lacking.  Like I said, it’s been odd around here lately.

I’ve decided to be honest and just call this what it is, even though it pains me.  I’m taking a hiatus from the blog.  I have to.  Truth is, I have been on hiatus since December, but today I’m making it official.  This is for my sake so I don’t keep walking around under the looming shadow of all my unwritten posts, feeling like a failure and a disappointment.  Instead of being a no-show, I’m calling to officially say I can’t make it.  It’s the polite thing to do.

I’m not quitting.  I AM NOT QUITTING.  I am putting a particular life-giving endeavor {this blog} on the shelf for a minute while I give some much-needed attention to my newly resurrected life-giving endeavor {singing}.  This part of me merits a season of focused attention and reaquantance, don’t you think?  I mean, ten years is a long time to be dead.  Come on, let’s throw a party or something!  Kill the fatted calf?

So maybe I don’t blog regularly until the summer.  Or maybe it has to wait until the fall.  I really don’t have any idea.  I do know it’s worth it to be living again.

Seriously, I could cry.  But, this isn’t good bye.  It’s see you soon, but not soon enough.

*******

As a post script, in case you are interested, my music is available by clicking the “Products” tab on the menu.

Posted in Uncategorized | 4 Comments

Full Circle

Posted on January 11, 2012 by katherine

I’ve been writing this post in my head for weeks, choking up every time I start to string words together in mental phrases or paragraphs.  I’ve also been avoiding this post because I know how hard it’s going to be for me to write. See?  I’m already crying and it’s only my third sentence.  Hold on while I grab some kleenex.

It’s time for me to get this out.

One night this summer I finished reading one of my favorite books.  I closed the cover, set it on my bedside table, turned off the light.  I rested in the dark, letting the last chapter sink in.  Quietly, my mind turned the words of the book inward.  Maybe it’s time for me to start writing about my family and my childhood. Wait.  Did I mean that?  Hmmmm.  I pondered the unexpected words.  Yes.  Oddly, something about that idea felt right.  I closed my eyes and decided to come up with a plan the next day.

That night while I slept, Scott Walker died.

I started this blog one year ago.  My first post was on January 19 of 2011, and it was called My Piece of Heaven.  I shared with you a glimpse of Annie’s eighth birthday family celebration.  I knew I wanted to tell you all about the details of what we ate, how I set the table, what kind of cake she requested, because I thought that was going to be the point of this blog.  But I also ended up sharing something more about that night.  I remember struggling to find the right words to adequately describe the feeling I had in my gut that I was witnessing something amazing and other-worldly in our home that night.  I tried, but I’m not sure I did that great of a job.

My memories of that evening in our home last January are sweet.  Our family gathered around a banquet table to share a meal together and toast to Annie’s eight years.  We prayed, ate, drank, laughed, loved.  I stood in my kitchen and ached for it not to end.

Maybe that feeling in my gut was a gentle nudging encouraging me to make sure I soaked in every drop of time we spent together that evening.  I’m so glad I was paying attention that night, that I paused and chose to feel the weight of beauty happening in front of my eyes.

I couldn’t have known then how much change our family would experience in the coming months.  I couldn’t have known this would be the last time all these people would be together in our home.  I couldn’t have known how much change would come to so many of the lives seated at our table.

A life.  A baptism.  A death.  A move.  A loss.  An engagement.  A baby.  A wedding.

I like thinking about how our family began last year gathered around the birthday-dinner table, and then we ended last year gathered around the wedding-dinner table.  Even though a slew of emotionally charged events took place in between, and we all ended the year much different than when we began it, our family still had reason to celebrate around the table.  We came full circle.  From one table to another, and then back again.

Tragedy and change have not been wasted on me this year.  I like to think I have willingly submitted to their torturous blows trusting that somewhere in between the tossing and turning of the unexpected, new life is being unearthed in my heart.  And here is where it all comes together.

I’ve brought you along on a year-long journey of story-telling.  I feel like I’ve figured out how to tell you about other people and other things:  my children, my husband, song lyrics, nail polish, and pie, to name a few.  I’ve established a place where I get to share so many things I like, and I could probably continue in this fashion for a long time and never once be forced to learn to tell about the more difficult parts of my life.  But all the unearthing in my heart this past year has brought about a different sort of inspiration and desire inside of me.  There is a story I need to learn to tell.  A different kind of story lingering in a shadowy corner of my mind just waiting for me to get the guts up to look it square in the face.  This story is harder to figure out and messier to tell.  It requires quite a bit of work for me to unfold it.  It’s not as pretty as the other things I’ve told.

It’s my story.

I don’t expect the telling of my story to illicit huge gasps of anticipation from most of you.  But, I have decided that even if the telling is for my benefit alone, then I’m game for the challenge.

So what does this mean?  The short answer is, I’m not really sure.  I still really like writing about dinner recipes and song lyrics and birthday parties.  I can’t really see myself putting an end to that.  But I think I am going to have to allow more space for me to dive into the deep end and start sharing bits and pieces of my story.  Believe me, there is a list a mile long of things we need to catch up on.  I mean, we had a wedding in our house for crying out loud!!  There are at least a good dozen posts coming from that magical event alone.  I haven’t figured it all out, but I know what I need to do, and I know this is the place where I want to do it.

Let the fun begin…

 

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A Pretty Peek

Posted on December 15, 2011 by katherine

Take a look…

Rachel and Patrick were married in our home on Saturday, December 10.

How can such a grand event be contained within such a simple sentence?  It can’t.  But I wanted you to know the wedding was a success, and the evening was beautiful.

Several weeks ago, when everything began to shift into high gear, something in my world had to give.  My something was this blog.  I stepped away so that I could be fully present in our home and for our family as we prepared for Rachel’s wedding.  Believe me, there is a geyser of details I can’t wait to share with you, but it has been necessary for me to be elsewhere.

And, let’s be honest.  The blog is going to have to wait a bit longer for my attention.  It’s December 15.  I currently have not purchased a single Christmas gift.  I have a bit of work to do.  But when Christmas passes, maybe even after New Year’s, then you can know that I will return, posts ready, pictures a plenty, and we will catch up.

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Weeknight Wonders {Chicken Enchiladas and Black Beans}

Posted on November 9, 2011 by katherine

I feel like a fraud.  Here I am offering you lovely weeknight meals to prepare for your family, and guess what we’ve had for dinner this week?  Pizza Rolls, Pancakes, and Peanut Butter Sandwiches.  Actually, last night I had corn chips and a glass of wine for dinner, but don’t tell anyone.  It’s not something I’m proud of.

The Husband is out of town this week, and quality dinners have been replaced with speedy meal solutions as I shuffle everyone to afternoon practices, oversee the bath-time circus, and try to maintain some sense of order around here.  Given our current circumstances, I don’t have a lot of words to accompany this week’s post.  But who needs words when you have pictures like this…

Simply stated, sour cream chicken enchiladas are one of my favorite meals, and this recipe is the best I’ve found.  They aren’t difficult to make, but they are a tiny bit more involved than just wrapping up chicken in a tortilla and covering it in cheese.  This is one of those recipes that puts the “Wonder” in Weeknight Wonders, and the results are worth it.

Almost every time I serve these beans, someone asks for the recipe.  They are simple to make and can be held on the stove while you prepare everything else.  I tend to include them as a part of any Tex-Mex menu.

Finally, In my opinion, nothing goes better with Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas and Black Beans than a side of guacamole.  Don’t you think?

Both of these dishes can be prepared up to one day in advance.

Click below for printable copies of the recipes.

{Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas}
{Black Beans}

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The Fort Worth Shower

Posted on October 27, 2011 by katherine

Rachel recently had a shower here in Fort Worth to celebrate her upcoming marriage.  Five of my friends hosted the event, and they put together such a lovely party.  Here are some photos from the celebration.

Annie and Rachel in their pretty shower dresses.

The guest book.

The food table was decorated with a variety of silver and mercury glass pieces, white feathers, long strands of plastic pears, and fresh flowers.

Pretty pink cake balls were a hit.

The banner over the mantle says “Happily Ever After.”

Even the beverages were beautiful.

These are the hostesses {minus one} with the bride:  Leslie, Beth, me, Rachel, Krista, and Sarah.

Kellie {the sixth host, missing from the above photo}, with Rachel’s friends Katy, and Megan.

Annie, Mary Margaret, and Norah found a comfy spot to enjoy all the delicious party food and some quality conversation with Zsa Zsa.

Katie and Jess.

Beth and Rachel.

Rachel gave each hostess a beautifully wrapped gift.

Who cares about what’s inside…the wrapping is gift enough!

And her shower wouldn’t be complete without opening a few fun presents.

A new waffle maker!  I know one groom who can’t wait to put this gift to good use.

 

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Weeknight Wonders {Chili}

Posted on October 26, 2011 by katherine

This post may surprise you.  It may even shock you.  Get ready.

Years ago, after Timm and I were first married and I was beginning to cook on a regular basis, I went searching for a chili recipe.  After looking through a few online, I found one that seemed very basic with nothing outrageous or off-the-wall.  I was just looking for good solid chili.  Nothing exotic or complex.  Just the basic cold-weather, game-watching, standard chili.  So I gave the simple recipe a go.  Not unlike my experience with chocolate chip cookies, it happened that without even trying I had struck chili gold.

I wish this recipe were more elaborate, that the ingredients were less canned, but honestly, the results are so tasty I don’t let it get to me.  I hope you won’t either.  There are some chili purists out there who will pass this chili recipe up because it’s not authentic enough, it’s not from scratch enough, or it’s not difficult enough.  That would be their loss.  If, however, you are after the best-tasting results possible, then this is the chili for you.

I made this season’s first batch of chili last week.  Upon tasting his first bite, Timm declared, “Oh sweet sweet holy Lord this is good.”  You know he wouldn’t lie.

A few notes.  There are three ingredients in this recipe that come from a can.  Go ahead and check your high standards at the door.

Two cans of diced tomatoes with garlic, basil, and oregano.

One can of Rotel diced tomatoes and green chilies, which come in original or mild.

THREE cans of chili beans {only two are pictured here}, which come in mild {on the right} and medium {on the left}.

You can mix and match the heat index on these ingredients to your particular liking.  I use mild Rotel, two medium chili beans, and one mild chili beans.  This is just the right amount of heat for our family.  Spicy enough for the adults, but not too spicy for the kids.  It’s juuuuuust right.

This recipe also has bacon in it because, in the words of my sweet husband, bacon makes everything better.

And finally, the actually flavoring comes from two packages of McCormick chili seasonings.

I know, I know, it’s terrible.  I should be above using the pre-fab chili seasoning mix, but I’m not.  It’s so good I shamelessly put my chili in the hands of a ridiculous package of premixed spices.  Don’t judge me.

The finished chili hits the spot.  But are you ready to take your chili to the next level?

Around our house we wouldn’t dream of eating a bowl of chili without three key ingredients:  grated cheddar cheese, sour cream, and Fritos.  In fact, Timm will insist that guests in our home who are eating this chili for the first time try it his way.  He offers them a full money-back guarantee, but so far no one has had to ask for a refund.

Trust me.  Try it.  Your chili palate will thank you.

This chili can be made ahead, refrigerated, and reheated when you are ready to eat.  In fact, it is even better this way because the flavors have a chance to mesh together and form an even greater chili flavor experience.

Whip up a pot of chili, crank out some World’s Best Chocolate Chip Cookies, and you have yourself a party waiting to happen.  Just in time for Halloween weekend!

Click below to download and print the recipe.

{Chili}

 

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Rats, Bats, and Ravens

Posted on October 25, 2011 by katherine

We have an infestation at our house of the spookiest kind.  We have rats.  We have bats.  We have ravens.  We even have spiders swarming up our wall.  Our candles are dripping blood, there’s a vase full of skulls, and I found a cat, a jack-o-lantern, and two owls hanging out on our staircase.

I’m excited to tell you the story of how they all got into our house.

I didn’t grow up celebrating Haloween.  There, I said it.  Now you know the truth.  Ours was the house that shut the blinds and turned out all the lights to discourage the knock of trick-or-treaters on our door.  Every once in a while a brave group of kids would knock anyway, just to make sure, but we were all hiding upstairs trying to avoid being seen.  We didn’t dress up.  We just made up lame excuses to explain why we couldn’t.

Timm and I, being the full-throttle holiday types, do celebrate Halloween, and began to do so even more once we had kids.  However, decorating for Halloween has always fallen very low on my heirarchy of holiday decorating.  I never felt inspired to do so.

Two years ago, inspiration hit.

Two years ago, Lillian was but a wee baby around the time of Halloween.  For most of October I would sit on couch during her mid-afternoon feeding and watch my daily episode of the Martha Stewart Show.  For those of you who don’t know, Martha loves her some Halloween.  It’s like the biggest holiday she celebrates.  I watched and realized how much fun Halloween decorations could be.  She made it almost beautiful, but it was a creepy kind of beautiful.  I was entranced.

I took notes of the ideas I like, downloaded templates on to my computer, and began to form a plan.  I knew full well I did not have the time or energy to create a Halloween wonderland while living with a newborn.  But I knew from past experience that newborns grow up, mommies eventually get to sleep through the night, and pockets of time open up for creative ventures.  So I waited patiently for an entire year.

One year later {i.e., last year}, with Rachel’s help, I pulled out all of my notes from the previous year, printed out my templates, and got to work.  We had a ball.  We cut shapes out of black paper for hours.  We glittered the grossest of creatures, we turned the foul into fabulous.  We made our house come alive with Halloween spirit.  In fact, once everything was up I realized what how well-suited our house was to Halloween.  The architecture perfectly enhanced the haunted shadows and images we had lurking everywhere.  At night it was really spooky.  Even from the sidewalk it gave off a ghostly glow.  I was very proud of our Halloween crafting, and I knew Martha would have been proud of us too.

Then, last year without thinking, on November 1 I began to take it all down, carefully storing it for Halloweens to come.

It wasn’t until everything was neatly put away that the horrible truth hit me.  I hadn’t taken one single solitary picture of our amazing creations.  Fail, fail, fail.

Why such a sense of failure?  Why not just take pictures the next year?  Well, we were in the market for a new house and had been looking for quite some time, certain that a move was in the very near future.  I knew there was no way we would still be in the Hurley House long enough to see another Halloween.  No way we would still live here another year.

Wrong.

A year later, here we are, still living in the Hurley House.  Still looking for the right house, and at times a bit frustrated by how long the process is taking.  But I’m secretly thankful for the chance to Halloween up this old house one more time.  And this year I took pictures.  Victory!

Here they are, taken in the light of day so as not to be too scary.

First, the bats.

Large vampire bats with red glitter eyes are flying through the dining room…

…while a fleet of smaller bats covers our entry mirror.

A gang of floating ghostlets hover under one of the thresholds.

They are light as air and have two tiny eyes.

Our candles are dripping with blood.

Creeeeeeeeepy.

The swarm of spiders starts near the floor, climbs the wall, and trails up to the ceiling.  Almost too realistic.  Almost.

The living room has become home to a flock of ravens.

They perch everywhere.

Rats have taken over the kitchen.

They crawl above the mouldings…

…trapse along the widow casings…

…and lurk in corners.

This is the view from the living room.  Eeeeeeek!

Our bug problem continues on the entry buffet.

This monster of a spider hangs suspended from our front staircase.  She has woven a lovely web…

…and has trapped some especially beautiful flies with glittered wings.

This is my bowl full of skulls.  Festive.


A jack-o-lantern…

…an angry cat…

…and not one, but two fierce looking owls have taken occupancy on our staircase.

Don’t look directly in their eyes.

One of my favorite crafts from last year, and one that I haven’t yet reproduced this year, was the bean bat jar.  It’s a jar full of white beans with the image of a bat in black beans.  Tricky tricky.

If you like any of these ideas, everything you could ever need to know about Halloween crafting can be found on Martha’s website.  Everything you see here came from her amazing collection of Halloween projects.

Happy Halloween!

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Posted in Celebrate | Tagged | 2 Comments

Boo and New

Posted on October 21, 2011 by katherine

First, the Boo.

This is my clan all dressed up for Boo at the Zoo.  We have an Indian, an Army Man, one Super-girl, and a tiny TCU Cheerleader.  Oh, and Bear dressed up in her new Tinkerbell costume that she received on her birthday.

The Fort Worth Zoo is an amazing place to view live animals, and every year they take it up a notch by offering Boo at the Zoo.  Your kids get to dress up, play games, decorate pumpkins, trick or treat, and get a jump start on the Halloween fun.  We took full advantage of our flexible homeschool schedule and went in the middle of the day today!  It was a hit.

Allow my experience to perhaps save you some trouble if you plan on going.

  • Fake firearms are not allowed in the zoo.  Army Man had to check his weapon at the Guest Services desk.
  • The zoo will provide you and your children with treat sacks so you don’t need to bring your own.
  • Everyone has to pay $3 on top of the price of zoo admission {so thankful for my mother-in-law’s gift of zoo membership on days like today}.  Even if you are a thirty-something mom whose sole purpose in attending Boo at the Zoo is to chaperone your children, you have to pay $3.

The games are really fun, and you get a treat just for trying.  All the game treats are non-candy, which I appreciated.

Each Boo at the Zoo guest receives six tickets that can be redeemed for one serving of candy each.  I also appreciate that there is a limit to how many sweet treats each child can stockpile while at Boo at the Zoo.

One ticket can be redeemed at the pumpkin decorating tent.  Games, candy, and a craft…all for $3.

They also have animal shows every 30 minutes, clowns walking around doing magic tricks, and food and beverages for sale.  It’s a great fall scene.

The best part {in my opinion} is that we were able to play every game, use all our candy tickets, and decorate a pumpkin in one hour without rushing through anything.  The kids had a blast, we spent time at the zoo, and everyone was home in time for naps.  How lovely.

Second, the New.

My Recipe page has a new format.  If you look at the menu options across the top of the website, you will see the “Recipe” tab.  If you click on it, it will take you to a page where all the recipes from all my posts are listed by category.  If you click on a particular recipe, it will link you to the post where that recipe was introduced.  A printable copy of the recipe can be downloaded at the end of the post.

As I continue to share new recipes they will be added to the Recipe page.  Hopefully this is a helpful resource for you.  I would love any feedback you may have that would make this particular page more helpful or user-friendly.

Hope you have a happy weekend!

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Posted in Chronicle, Family, Organize | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Norah’s Birthday {4}

Posted on October 20, 2011 by katherine

We celebrated another birthday recently.

Our little Norah turned four, and per her request we had ourselves a fairy party.  It is worth mentioning that this is the first year Norah hasn’t had a produce-themed party.  Her first birthday had a pumpkin motif because she was a fall baby, and I decorated everything with pumpkins.  Her second birthday was an apple party because I found these cute little felt favor bags that had apples on the front…so I went with it and made everything apple-based.  Then last year she requested a strawberry party.  We all scratched our heads trying to figure out what that meant, but she insisted that strawberries were in fact a party theme, and that’s what she wanted.  I managed to make that work, but barely.

So this year when she told me she wanted a fairy party, I was thrilled for something mainstream and easy to find on the party aisle.  Fairies are easier than produce.

This was the party scene.  We asked all of her friends to come dressed in their fairy best, and told them we would provided the wings and wands.

I sat the table with giant fairy coloring pages, bowls of crayons, and bowls of fruit loops.  A vase full of wands made the perfect centerpiece.

These are my three girls dressed up and ready for a fairy good time.  Small, medium, and large.  All super sweet.

Don’t tell Norah, but one of my favorite parts of her party was watching Lillian.  She was thrilled to be a part of the action and to be dressed up like all of the big kids.  She waved her wand.  She flew around the room.  She sat at the big table and colored.  She was a part of the party, and she loved every minute of it.

The girls colored and decorated crowns and plastic jewelry.

It is rare that I don’t make the cakes for my children’s parties.  But Norah requested one of the very beautiful cakes from the Target bakery.  She had been looking at them for months.  Who am I to argue with a four-year-old’s birthday request?  I bought a cake, bought a Tinkerbell figurine, stuck Tinkerbell in the icing up to her thighs, and Presto! we had a fairy cake.

Sweet girl was very pleased.

Pause.  I know this isn’t the greatest photo.  You really can’t see everyone’s face, and it’s not all in focus, but I love it.  All four of my children gathered around the cake, plus the two in the background lovingly watching.  It’s everything my motherly heart could ever want captured in one little moment.

All the tiny fairies gathered outside for a group shot.  What a cute bunch!

Then it was time to sit and watch the Birthday Fairy open her gifts.

Norah loves gifts almost as much as her brother, and the experience was entertaining for everyone in the room.

Four-year-old friends are the best.

So the fairy party was a huge success, and Norah was pleased as punch.

Her real birthday was the following Monday, and at our house we celebrate as a family on the actual day.

These were Norah’s gifts that were waiting for her on the breakfast table.  I show you this to point out that if you look very closely you will notice that Bear had a gift wrapped and ready to open.  Because even though Bear seems to celebrate a birthday every few weeks, Bear’s real birthday happens to be the same as Norah’s.

This was the first year one of my children requested donuts for their birthday breakfast.  Usually it is pancakes or waffles or cinnamon rolls, but Norah asked for donuts.  So she got to ride with Daddy in her pajamas to the donut store and carry the precious cargo inside.  {Look how excited her brother is in the background.}

We all sang “Happy Birthday”…

…and she got to open one gift.  The rest were saved for after dinner.

And speaking of dinner.  Norah has had her birthday menu solidified in her mind since this past summer.  She wanted three things:  Hot Hammies, Homemade Macaroni & Cheese, and Corn.

And, of course, cake.   “Chocolate cake with pink frosting food coloring.”  That is word-for-word how she described it to me.  I was happy to oblige.

Nina, JR, and Ash joined us for Norah’s family birthday dinner.  We all agreed her menu choices, though not gourmet, were very delicious.

The Birthday Girl blew out all of her candles…

…and enjoyed a large piece of her much-anticipated cake.

Annie, Jake, and Lillian gathered around as Norah opened her gifts.

Timm and Ash shared some quality time together.

And Norah enjoyed having gifts lavished upon her by those who love her.

Big Sis Rachel sent her a box of dress-up clothes, and a brand new umbrella.

Perfect.

Happy Birthday, Norah.  We love you!

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Weeknight Wonder {Lasagna}

Posted on October 19, 2011 by katherine

Everyone loves lasagna, right?  And everyone has their favorite rendition, right?  I get it.  And I’m in the same boat.  Up until a few years ago I thought I made a pretty good lasagna.  I mean, the recipe came from the back of the lasagna noodle box, so it had to be legit.  I think most people have gotten used to very average lasagna.  Yes, you can layer noodles, sauce, and some manner of cheese together and call it lasagna, but if you are going to go to the trouble to make lasagna why not make one that rocks?

Everything about this lasagna rocks.  The sauce, the cheese, the meat…it all rocks.  Hard.

I thought about not posting this recipe this week because of the pictures.  However, my friend Kellie told me that my word could convince you all to try this lasagna even if the photos weren’t compelling.  I don’t know a lot about food styling other than I am not that great at it, and I now have a heightened appreciation for all those beautiful pictures of food I see in the magazines.  Basically, I could not get my lasagna to look appealing on the plate.  How do you make a pile of noodles, cheese, meat, and sauce stand up straight and smile for the camera?  It’s beyond me.

That being said, this lasagna is the cream of the crop.  It is rich, creamy, saucy, tangy, cheesy, gooey, and hearty.  Everything you love about lasagna, and then some.  Like I said before, it rocks.

A few notes…

First, this lasagna calls for sweet Italian sausage.  ”Sweet” in reference to sausage simply means not spicy.  And when it comes to Italian sausage, there are some brands available in the grocery store, but the best will come from a meat counter like those you find at Central Market.  I’ve made it both ways, and there is a difference in taste.  Fresher {big surprise} is always better.

The recipe tells you to brown the sausage.  As I mentioned when we made Spaghetti Pie, browning the meat means to actually brown the meat.  Don’t just cook it until it’s not raw.  Brown it.

This sausage is cooked, but not browned.

This sausage is browned.

Second, this lasagna calls for a few different cheeses, one of which is fresh mozzarella.  Fresh mozzarella looks like this…

…and I get mine from Costco to save money.  You are going to slice this thinly, and in order for that process to go smoothly, the cheese needs to be nice and cold.  Stick it in the freezer for ten minutes to firm it up if it seems especially soft.  It also works best if you use a serrated knife.

See?  Nice thin slices, thanks to a little help from the freezer and a serrated blade.

Third, these are my favorite lasagna noodles.

You can use any brand or size of lasagna noodle that you like, but I like these because they fit so nicely into the pan.

The rest is very self-explanatory.  Don’t forget to let the lasagna sit for fifteen minutes after it comes out of the oven.  Otherwise, you will be scooping lasagna instead of slicing it.  Honestly, there are worse things than scooping lasagna, so even if you decide not to let it sit, you’ll still be happy.


This lasagna can be made ahead and even frozen before cooking.


{See how non-pretty this looks?  I guess love has to be blind when dealing with lasagna.}

Click below for a printable version of the recipe.  Happy Lasagna-ing!

{Lasagna}

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