Lasagna!

Thursday night found me so stressed out that I decided to make lasagna. What? Make lasagna at seven in the evening? Yes, make lasagna! When my brain is on overload, I turn to the kitchen to calm me down. For me, there's something very relaxing about peeling carrots, dicing onions, and sauteing peppers. Cooking takes you away from the troubles of the day, transporting you into a warm enclave of tastes and smells. I love, for instance, the smell of garlic as it's being sauteed in the pan or the crackle of chicken skin getting crisp in its fat. Wonderful!

So that's how I found myself chopping away, and it was great that my son K volunteered to help me. Here then is my recipe for a fast and cheesy lasagna:

* Ask 12-year-old son K to prepare lasagna by boiling for about 10 minutes or so.
* Start peeling and dicing. My lasagna has more veggie than meat; to a half kilo of ground pork (I use pork because I don't really like the taste of beef), add three big onions, minced; three big carrots, diced; two big bell peppers, diced; and as much diced celery as you want.
* Toss ground pork into pan. When brown, add onions, carrots, bell peppers, and celery. Don't overcook veggies; you want them to be crisp, not soggy. Add in a big pack of Clara Ole three cheese spaghetti sauce; simmer. This is your red sauce.
* Meanwhile, ask K to grate a block of cheese; add cheese to a a third of a block of butter, then toss in two packs of Nestle all purpose cream. This is your white sauce.
* Now prepare lasagna by layering noodles, red sauce, and white sauce in pan then tossing everything in the oven for about 20 minutes.

When the timer clicked, we all gathered around and much like Garfield, wolfed down that beautiful lasagna. Yum!