113 - He Didn't Know He Was Creating A Legend

[captain_slinky]

Today was my 42nd Birthday and, just like every year since I was 16 (which is as far back as I can remember having requested it), I chose to have my Dad's Famous Lasagna instead of a cake. Two things about that Famous Lasagna, though - it wasn't my Dad's specialty AT ALL, and it was only famous to *me*.

I don't recall exactly when or how the evolution took place, but this Lasagna went from being a treat to an expectation to a full-blown necessity of LIFE ITSELF over the years - and my Dad barely knew or remembered how important his Lasagna was to me. On my Birthdays in my youth, it was just expected - "Hey how about a Lasagna for your Birthday Dinner?" Then in my early adulthood it was "Happy Birthday, I brought you a Lasagna!" As I got older, I had to actually request them and remind him that I get a lasagna for my birthday, and he always provided one for me even though he had no idea that this was a "Thing".

I learned his secrets of Lasagna making when I was young, before the Internet or Food Network could learn me about how terrible this stuff is. If you are a "Foodie" of any degree, you should skip this recipe:

1 Box Dry Lasagna Noodles, boiled.
1 Can/Jar Spaghetti Sauce
1 Lbs of the fattiest Ground Beef you can buy, browned
1 Brick Cream Cheese
1 8-oz Tub of Sour Cream
1 Bunch Green Onions
1 Package Individually Wrapped Processed American Cheese Slices (Yellow)
1 Package Individually Wrapped Processed American Cheese Slices (White)

Mix the spaghetti sauce and the ground beef (with all the fat), set aside. Chop up the green onions and mix them in to the sour cream and the cream cheese. Layers in a pyrex pan, then make a checkerboard pattern of yellow and white cheese on top. Cook at 425 till the cheese is bubbly and brownish.

Yes, it's topped with American Cheese. Yes, it uses a Sour Cream & Onion Cream Cheese mixture instead of Ricotta. I nor my Dad has any idea where he got this recipe, he just figured that this is what must be in a lasagna and BOOM! Lasagna!

It's not my Birthday without a pan of this stuff, and it always makes me wonder about what things we do for/with Molly will become the "Things" she simply can't do without. As a parent, you have no control over this stuff; it just happens. ANd there's something warm-n-fuzzy about that to me :)

Comments

[pete23.livejournal.com]

Mmm. I might make a lasagna tomorrow. I might stick to my own Béchamel recipe though:-)

Everyone has one of these dishes in their repertoire: mine is a corned beef hash with such an epic onion deployment that both God and the Devil weep allium tears.

[aurora77]

Heh. One of my dishes is a mac & cheese involving pepper jack and Tostitos Salsa con Queso.

[man-of-snows.livejournal.com]

This is so epic!