Parade of Lights-Saturday Night

Joining us for the second night of the parade - Curt & Carolyn and Jack & Carol:My lame attempt at taking a picture of the parade:Curt, Jack and Carol:We were having way too much and I forgot to take food pictures again. Here are a few I took the next day. We had a tomato, cucumber, red onion, black olive and basil salad; Red Lasange; Mushroom Lasange; Veal Meatballs in Caramelized Onion Sauce; rustic bread (I think it was my best effort to date!):


Lasagne with Meat Sauce:

I made homemade pasta sheets for the lasagne. When I was layering the lasagne I swore I would use the no-bake noodles the next time, it was just such a pain dealing with the boiling hot pasta. But when we tasted the lasagne it was so worth the hassle - delicious! The sauce was made by sauteing chopped celery, carrot, onion and garlic. Then adding ground beef and Italian sausage and cooking until brown. Next add red wine and cook until evaporated. Add canned chopped tomatoes, fresh basil, fresh oregano and dried Italian seasoning. Simmer for about an hour and don't forget Mama's secret ingredient - a dash of cinnamon. The lasagne was layered with sauce, pasta sheets, fresh ricotta cheese, Parmesan cheese and fresh mozzarella, pasta, sauce, cheese, repeat, repeat, repeat and bake until bubbly and edges are crusty.

Mushroom Lasagne:

The sauce is made with finely chopped (in a food processor) mushrooms, I used white and baby bellas, sauteed in butter. I also added soaked and chopped dried porcini and some of the soaking liquid. Cook for about 10 minutes then add heavy cream and cook for another 15 minutes. The lasagne is layered with the sauce, pasta and Parmesan cheese.

And if that wasn't fattening enough - for dessert we had bread pudding:

This recipe is from one of my former cooking school classmates. Coat the bottom of a casserole with melted butter and brown sugar. Soak a loaf of cubed french bread (I used some of my panettone and raisin bread) in sweetened condensed milk, heavy whipping cream, egg yolks, cinnamon and Frangelico (I used Galliano - Kahlua would be good). Bake at 325 degrees for about an hour.