Today is the first day that I haven’t worked on some aspect of work in a long time.
Last weekend I spent well over 12 hours working on one project, during the week I’ve been drowning in another project. Yesterday I spent three hours on the tail end of a different project.
All of this is to explain why I haven’t been verbose on my blog—I’ve been chewing up my writing abilities on work thus leaving me too exhausted and unable to think when it comes time to think about the blog.
I actually have a ton of things to write about—but I’m prevented from doing so for a number of reasons.
Meanwhile I’ve been taking the blog-writing break by being more creative in the kitchen.
Actually this is something worth blogging about: Chica and I have started cooking every Monday night. It started by accident last November and it’s made me cook more interesting things on Monday night (my lazy Pasta/Pesto is boring after two weeks), and the Monday night creativity has spilled over into other things.
One week we made latkes; while soups and a variety of other things have occupied other Mondays. If I have enough time, I’ve even make homemade bread. A couple weeks ago I found a recipe for corn muffins and I’ve been making those at least twice a week since then.
Last Thursday (we were unable to meet on Monday), we made lasagna! It was excellent too, and it was the first time I’ve ever made it at home. Honestly I have always been daunted by it, but we bit the bullet and made it. It turned out to be a whole lot easier than I expected.
That said, it wasn’t perfect: I’d made the tomato sauce before everybody got here (Chica came with her boyfriend, plus we invited a fabulous fourth friend) and although I thought I was going to have leftover sauce for spaghetti on Friday, instead we ended up being short on sauce. Next time I’ll make even more sauce.
Here’s a question for people who’ve made lasagna both in Europe and the US: Is it my imagination or are the lasagna noodles here thinner than the ones in America? I used Barilla lasagna noodles, but I seem to remember that the ones my Mother used in America are a lot thicker and absolutely required boiling before assembly. These were thin enough they could absorb the juice from the tomato sauce and be cooked in the amount of time it took to bake the lasagna. When I told my Mother this, she was impressed.
In my experience there are two kinds of lasagna noodles in Germany: the thicker kind like in the US, and a thinner kind that require no pre-cooking. Check your box and see if it doesn’t say “ohne Vorkochen”. I have these at home and they’re almost like crackers. For the record, I get good results with both kinds without pre-cooking. Boiling the noodles is a pain – when you go to assemble they’re either too hot to handle or they’re too cold and they break. If I use regular noodles, I make sure the sauce is relatively liquid, cover with tin foil so it doesn’t brown too quickly, cook at ca. 175 for 45 min, and then bump it up to 200 or more until it’s done. If I’m feeling really ambitious, I make the noodles by hand with my hand-cranked Mini Ampia. Why am I hungry all of a sudden?
Michele J, where do you find that thicker kind that nominally require Vorkochen? We have looked for them at several grocery stores to no avail.
@Cliff: I get mine at TeGut (sometimes referred to as TeBad in our household, depending on mood). Cheap store brand. I didn’t realize they might be hard to find? Only occasionally do I shop at Rewe or Globus, but I would think they would carry them too – can’t confirm officially though.
What, no more attempts with Coke Cake?
You can get both kinds of lasagna noodles in the States. Murph and I have been experimenting with the thin noodles (which are labeled “1 Step Lasagne” in our New Orleans grocery store). The results have been yummy. On the other hand, I don’t recall ever seeing the thin lasagna noodles before moving to New Orleans.
I abhor the ohne Vorkochen noodles and the major brands in large grocery stores in Regensburg seemed to stop doing the thicker, Vorkochen noodles. I go to the Bioladen if I absolutely must have them. Michele’s right about the hassle in handling the pre-cookers, but I just like the result so much better that I put up with it.
I’m sure something exciting will be announced by you shortly. Usually when you say you have things to write about that are blog-worthy but you’re holding off, it’s followed by something good. 🙂
Michele J – You’re right, mine say “ohne Vorkochen” — but they were the only lasagna noodles available at my downtown REWE, which is the largest one I can easily access. I wouldn’t dare undertake making noodles at this point–you have more expertise than I do.
PseudoWife – Germany has yet to find enough sugar for me to make another Coke Cake. It will have to wait for another day.
Jay – Interesting — I actually never would have thought to undertake making lasagna myself until Michele J made me a lasagna. I hadn’t realize how simple it was. Next time we meet, we should make lasagna!
Sarah – I can understand wanting thicker noodles — the thinness of the ones I bought were a lot thinner than I remembered.
I think you should pass on that recipe for corn muffins. I’ve got a bag of cornmehl sitting around here that is begging to be used up. 🙂