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:

A mushroom medley to be enjoyed on crostini.

And one of my all time favorites—homemade ricotta with pears and cinnamon.

Needless to say, we munched on these all day—until it was time for dinner—and then we waited a few hours and started up again.

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.

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My niece Emiliana learning the family recipe.

Meatballs in the new pan. (below)

 

Mikki making meatballs (12 pounds of them!)

Lasagna

Now that I’ve looked at all the pictures, I’m hungry, so I’m off to find something to eat. But thanks to everyone for stopping by. I wish everyone a fantastic new year.ciao,Giacomo

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Giacomo Giammatteo is the author of gritty crime dramas about murder, mystery, and family. And he also writes non-fiction booksincluding the No Mistakes Careers series.

He lives in Texas where he and his wife have an animal sanctuary with 45 loving “friends.”

Filed under: Family, Food by Giacomo