Hawaiian Lasagna - Hot, Tangy and Flavorful

I've been down with a bug since last week. Not a cold or the flu, but a sore throat, headache and fatigue. It persisted a week, and now my energy is returning. I hope to get busy out in my garden, get the flower beds cleaned out and the yard tidied. We've had some fairly good weather, intermittent showers, then sunbreaks. I've done my walk everyday, but discontinued jogging this week. Just not up to it.

I managed to do some cooking every day, as that is something I enjoy doing. One of my experiments was Hawaiian Lasagna, which had a hint of mango and peach salsa, tomato and onion, kale, red and yellow peppers, buffalo and three cheeses - ricotta, mozzarella, and parmesan. I used a hot chili paste in the sauce, so the lasagna was slightly sweet and sour, hot and cheesy.

The only problem with this lasagna was that George couldn't wait for it to bake a full hour in the oven. When my back was turned, he moved the timer on the clock down 10 minutes, so it would be served sooner! I served him a small piece, to tide him over while the rest of it cooked; then he asked for two more servings, saying it was really good. (A hungry man will say anything to fill his stomach.)

I also made lentil soup, with pita-bread pizza and salad on the side. Our friend Patabi, from India, told me a few years ago that when you are ill lentil soup will help. He said to add fresh limes, hot chili peppers, tumeric, cumin, and fresh ground pepper. I made a big pot, put most of it in the freezer and will pull some out when needed. I made bread pudding too, with apples and walnuts on the top.

This was breakfast one morning last week: left-over barbecued pork spareribs, khasha with veggies, and oven-fries.

A wonderful lunch: Zucchini Parmesan with leeks, onion and bacon. This is quickly stirfried, then more cheese is added.

Well, our family had quite the scare this weekend. One of our cats, Pandora, was missing Saturday evening, never returned all night. We were very worried about her, as she always comes in at night. It was cold, and I was so worried about her (darn cat). When we let Mordred out, pictured here, he prowled all around the yard as if he was looking for her. And, wouldn't you know, he found her! She was trapped behind a screen in the crawlspace of our neighbors house. They had removed the screen during the day, and Pandora had crawled down, inside. When our neighbor reattached the screen, he didn't know she was inside. But, the next morning, Mordred sat by the screen, as if to wait for us to notice. George did, went over to him, peeked inside, and there was Pandora. He got her out, readjusted our neighbor's screen, and brought her inside. Much as I loathe all her cat fur, I'll have to admit I was sure happy to see Pandora again! Thanks to our hero, Mordred.