Cooking for a Crowd

I'm starting to think I need to be a spokesperson for Pinterest, I literally use it on almost a daily basis, and am in love with it! So since this is obviously a cooking blog (inadvertently) it only seems right that I include the recipes of the night...I have been dying to make this lasagna ever since I saw the recipe- so glad I finally got the chance! I used hot chicken sausage, because Harris Teeter seemed to be out of the turkey variety, and I think it was awesome! (I normally am not a pasta person, and I hateeee sausage...I wouldn't have been able to eat this if it didn't involve removing the casing...thank goodness for that step!)


 Caprese Lasagna with Hot turkey (or chicken) sausage


http://iowagirleats.com/2012/05/31/caprese-lasagna-with-spicy-turkey-sausage/

And if serving pasta isn't carb-olicious enough...Obviously adding fresh baked bread is the only way to go!! This was another recipe I was dying to try out, and while I'm not sure if it's okay in the culinary world to serve it with lasagna, I did, and I found it awfully delicious!!! (Like I think I need to join the gym tomorrow to work off the 3-4 lb gain induced by this meal...just saying...) 

Artisan Bread Recipe

http://theitaliandishblog.com/imported-20090913150324/2010/2/26/amazing-artisan-bread-for-40-cents-a-loaf-no-kneading-no-fus.html

So now, obviously a big part of my cooking is trying to broaden Jack and Jill's horizons of foods they will eat...Jill ate like 3 bites of the lasagna (which was more than we would've expected...) and they both loved loved the bread, so that's good...But then there's Jack, and the lasagna. If they say it's a compliment to the chef to belch after a delicious meal, then I should be outrageously flattered that Jack threw up *on me*(!!!) mid-bite, right? (Whatever helps me sleep at night!) 

I don't handle throw up well, which means for the future- I will probably make him taste more flavor-neutral foods, and I will probably choose my seat at the table methodically from now on. 

At least Pluto still loves me and my cooking- he ate any dropped pieces right off the floor, and licked up Jack's vomited lasagna- yummmoooo. 


On a completely unrelated note: last week I ventured into DC twice- once to see the Air & Space museum with a friend, and once with Jill for a picnic on the Potomac River. She had the day off- so after our picnic we went to the MLKJ Memorial and meandered around a bit! Loveddd it!

View from our lunch spot

MLKJ Memorial (which I think is a fairly new addition to the DC Memorials)

Me with the majority of a cool MLKJ quote...gotta love Jill for trying...7 yr. old camera skills are still slightly amateur I guess...

Then this weekend we went to Monticello (Jefferson's home). I would love to show pictures of  just how beautiful this house is, but unfortunately, I was quite a goof, and left my sd card in my comp...which meant zero memory on the camera...ie...no pics :/ But it was so fun, and a nice way to bond with the family and their friends! I didn't realize how far Monticello is from DC- it's about a 3-hr ride (one-way), so that was quite the trek- but well worth it! 

Welp, I best go restore my Pinterest collection as I'm beginning to deplete my recipes (not really, but can you ever have too many pins? I think not!)

I'll post picture-progress soon from my picture challenge!

xoxo

Rachel