Last night I pulled out the homemade spaghetti sauce I had made last weekend and pulled together two pounds of baked penne to bring to my teacher's meeting (we're working on negotiating our contract--there's a good time). I put the sauce in a big bowl of cold water so it would thaw faster. When I went to lift it out, the lid slipped off and a bunch of the sauce got mixed in with the water. Homemade sauce from the freezer is like gold to me, I couldn't believe the gasp I let out! I remember a few times pumping breastmilk and spilling it and I had the same reaction.
Baked ziti (I like to use Penne instead) is a great way to feed a group. Sometimes people serve it and they've just put pasta in a baking dish with sauce and mozzarella on top. As my brother Chef Lee would say, "SHOEMAKERS!"
To make baked ziti, you need to use ricotta cheese mixed with an egg and mozzarella. You stir that together with the cooked pasta and sauce, THEN put the mozzarella on top and bake it. I made two pounds for eight people, and they hardly ate half! I guess people who aren't Italian just don't stuff themselves with pasta the way we do.
I haven't photographed any food this week--who wants to see tonight's Subway on the way to Lacrosse? But here's a photo I found of my mom's sausage, meatballs, and eggplant parm!
My kids are young, and I'm not sure how I'm going to handle the busy sports schedules on the horizon with Owen, who is truly an athlete. I wish we had a place like the one that Stonyfield Farms' founder started in Maine. It used to be called O'Naturals, and my sister took me there when she lived in Portland. It was set up almost like those Boston Markets, but all healthy, yummy, natural foods. I just read that they renamed themselves Stonyfield Cafe. I wonder if they'll ever open more than one?
In the meantime, check out my cutie in his lacrosse gear!
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