For as long as I can remember, my family and I have always sat down for dinner no matter if it was take out or home cooked meals. Of course, I rather eat a home cooked meal and I always loved coming home to smell lasagna coming from oven. This dish does not just hit the spot as a delicious entree, but also holds endless personal memories. These memories include family, friends and strangers that have become friends. This dish has such a great impact on my life because the significance it holds when it comes to spending time with my family.
Christmas, it happens once every year. My mom never knows what to make to please everyone that is coming over, but she knows how much everyone loves her lasagna. For Christmas this year I was able to enjoy my favorite meal two times in one week and I couldn’t of been happier. Christmas dinner was spent with close relatives: my two grandma’s and papa. We had lasagna, mashed potatoes, corn and green beans. Obviously every meal should be served with bread and butter, so that was included too. During the same week of Christmas my family and I went to Rangeley, Maine to snowmobile with family and close friends. Before we left, mom made two more trays of lasagna to share with the big group of us that were going to Rangeley. Two days into the trip, we were all able to sit down for a huge family dinner, and the menu consisted of mom’s famous lasagna. The men were out in the garage working on the sleds, the younger kids were upstairs playing video games, the older kids were outside building a snow fort, and the women were all in the kitchen area drinking wine. I remember walking in the door just at the right time. My mom yelled “dinner is ready” and everyone from separate rooms fled into the kitchen in a heartbeat. There were about eighteen of us that sat to eat dinner that night. We all gathered in the same room but not all around the dining room table because we all could not fit. The men were talking about the ride we were all going on the following day. The women were gossiping about the people in town and the kids were stuffing their faces with food. It was certainly a meal that would not be forgotten.
To me this dish is a form of unity because most of the time when mom makes lasagna both my grandparents come over to share this time and this dish with us. However, this does not just include my grandparents. When mom makes her mouthwatering lasagna it’s a time for multiple friends to come join us in sharing this lovely meal. Making dishes like this is what brings everyone together at the end of long days. For me personally, eating lasagna together brings us closer together no matter it be friends, family, or both. Meals like this have turned my parents family friends into my close Aunts and Uncles.
It wasn’t until then when I finally realized how much this meal means to me. My mom comes from an Italian family and most Italians love to cook. My mom on the other hand is the one out of her whole family that does not. She explained to me that, “I’m not a good cook and Kayla will back me up on that. I enjoy this meal because the people around me love to eat it and this is only dish I enjoy making”. My mom loves making the dish because it makes her feel like she can actually cook. Something my mom always fears is that her lasagna is not going to come out good, but usually it never disappoints. The lasagna dish is really enjoyable for my mom to make because it’s fast, effortless, and a crowd pleaser. The next reason is because when we have a lasagna dinner that means our friends and family are coming together to send time with one another. Something I did learn while talking to my mom was that this is not her favorite meal because she has to cook it. She told me that she rather go out and have someone else make her baked stuffed shrimp.
Coming into college I now realize that I enjoyed having all those family meals, even though sometimes they seemed annoying. Having us all sit at the dinner table together and talk about how our day was has always been something important in my household. I can’t recall a time when I didn’t sit at the dinner table for supper and talk with my parents. This is a tradition in my family because my parents both work all day and I am either out with friends, working, or going to school. For us, this was the only time we get to see each other and spend quality time together. A part of me carried this tradition into college with me. Every night after classes have ended, a group of us from Avila second go to the dining hall and are able to talk about our day. If we happen to go off campus to a restaurant we have a rule, everyone stacks their phone face down in the center and whoever touches their phone first pays the whole bill. This rule keeps us off of our phones and we are able to socialize with one another. I feel this is important in today’s society because people are so attached to their phones and face-to-face communication is lacking.
Recipe:
1lb ground beef
1lb ground sausage
3 cups of your fav sauce (homemade sauce from Macera’s…a restaurant from Rhode Island)
1 3/4 ricotta cheese
1 egg, slightly beaten
1/2 tsp dried basil leaves
1/2 tsp dried oregano leaves
1 box Oven Ready Lasagna, uncooked
4 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 clove garlic
- Heat oven to 400
- Large skillet cook beef and sausage and garlic, remove from heat drain
- Stir in sauce
- In small bowl stir together ricotta cheese, egg, basil, oregano and some of the mozzarella
- In a 13x9x2 bottom of dish put a little bit of the sauce to cover the bottom
- uncooked pasta crosswise over sauce
- add cheese combination than meat sauce
- sprinkle mozzarella cheese.
- Repeat twice
- Last layer lasagna noodles than sauce and the rest of the mozzarella
- Bake for one hour
