Christmas and Lasagna
Lasagna Is Part of Christmas
If food isn’t one of your priorities, you might want to skip this post. On the other hand, if you want to see what a great Christmas dinner looks like, read on.
Family And Food
My apologies for missing a few weeks of posts, but family and holidays take precedence, especially when food is involved, and being Christmas, we had lots of food! Below is a picture of the pan of lasagna Mikki made. She also made a few more pans for friends who had begged and bribed her. For those of you who haven’t been told a few dozen times or seen my many posts on lasagna (one of my favorite dishes), I’ll state it again…
Mikki makes what I think is the best lasagna in the world. Bar none.
I know what you’re thinking, that I’m biased because I’m her husband. Not so. To give you an idea of how good her lasagna is I’ll relate a true story.
My brother’s wife (now his ex-wife) loved Mikki’s lasagna so much that even though they are divorced, she still comes to dinner when lasagna is cooked (and she brings her new fiancé). I’m not certain about this next statement, but she may have negotiated the “dinner invitations” as part of the divorce settlement.
So, when it comes to food, I don’t hold back on my criticism, or praise. If Mikki makes a dish I don’t like, I tell her. When it comes to food, there is no room for political correctness.
Back To Dinner
My wife is always complaining about what she cooks, swearing that it isn’t up to par, when in fact, it’s magnificent. The joke around the house is that if she owned a restaurant she would greet everyone with something like this:
“Lasagna is the special tonight, but you probably won’t like it. It’s not as good as my usual.”
But I have to say that this year my wife outdid herself. She credits everything to a new frying pan—the CucinoPro—and although I admit it’s a great pan, I think it had more to do with my wife’s cooking skills.
Two days before Christmas, she started. Before she was done she had cooked 12 pounds of meatballs, and 46 pounds of lasagna! The one big tray pictured below weighed in at 30.2 pounds. The other three trays totaled 16 pounds.
On top of all that, my ex-sister-in-law and her fiancé brought wine–lots of it.
I told her she didn’t have to, but I think she wanted to ensure her seat at the table for next time. I also think that her fiancé realizes that if it comes down to a decision between him and the lasagna–he’ll be left holding the short straw.
No Gifts For Me
When I was a kid—like all kids—I loved getting gifts. Nothing has changed except the kind of gifts I look forward to are different. I no longer crave material gifts, just family and friends—and a good meal. So my son was kind enough to provide me with additions to Mikki’s fantastic meal. He cooked two of my favorites:
I’m embarrassed to say that I was caught eating the ricotta and pears the next morning for breakfast.
Unfortunately, like all good things, this too came to an end. But I kept these pictures so I can tease myself as we race toward Easter Sunday, when it starts all over again.
Thanks for stopping by, and I hope you enjoy some of these pics.
Lasagna
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Oh, that all looks delicious. You have a huge meal there. How many guests? Christmas and Easter are huge deals in my country too. This year my cousin decided to cook for the family of 11. Last year I cooked for 13 and the meal was a turkey, garlic shrimp, brown rice, stewed pigeon peas, small cornmeal pies we call pastels, Shepard pie, a lasagna that would be tiny by your standards, ham and potato salad. Trinis love a big spread! Dessert was a choice of ice cream or black cake (known as fruit cake in the US, but a lot boozier and tastier).
Rhonda: We only had 13, but everybody took some lasagna home. Your feast sounded good, too. Have a great new year.
Lasagna has been a part of our Christmas for years. It happens to be the most favorite food of my middle daughter, who’s birthday falls on 22nd December and that is her birthday treat. I would love to know what Mikki puts in hers.
Elizabeth, I’ve watched her make it for 40+ years, but I’ll have to get her to tell you.
WOW! Reading this brings back memories!! My dad and his side of the family are Italian. When we went by his side of the family for Christmas, it was lasagna, garlic bread, cannolis, wine & I can’t remember all of it. My grandma was in her nineties when she died. She also had her 4 children late in life. She waited until they came to the US to start a family. Papa Luigi was 61 when he died in 1963. I’m 60 now. About 3 years after he died, grandma Lena stopped having holidays! I was so sad!! It was like a part of my childhood died! This really brought back some great memories!! Thank you!
Glad you liked it. I love the family get-togethers on the holidays. My wife, who learned her lasagna from my father, cooks it for Christmas and Easter and everybody comes over to eat. it’s a great time. Hope you have a Happy New Year. Felice anno nuovo.