Especially one hosted by Aarti. For those of you who don’t know, Aarti won the Food Networks Next Food Network Star challenge. And she wears the most amazing hair flowers!

Ok, so Aarti didn’t come to Fire & Wine night (we’ll work on that.) But she did inspire the delicious Green Chicken Curry.

The recipe lived up to every positive review on the site. I served it with basmati rice AND nAan. (Aarti suggested either or, but I figured a true Aarti Party would include both.) Mr. Quirky had never had naan before and he likened it to salty pancakes. Fair enough. Regardless, of what it tasted like,  it didn’t last long…

(I grilled it on my grill pan and brushed with olive oil and sprinkled with a little bit of Kosher salt.)

If you’ve never made Indian curry before, this is a great recipe to start with for a few reasons:

1. It’s not spicy. Trust me. DD Girl won’t even let me put black pepper on food. So she wouldn’t have touched it had it had heat to it. (You won’t miss the spice, but if you are like me and insane, you could add a little bit of pepper sauce to your own plate.)

2. It uses a ton of fresh herbs (please say that with a hard “h” like the Brits do. It’s much more fun.)

3. While the smell of it will linger for a few days, it tastes amazing and will impress your guests with your MAD International culinary skilz.

4. It uses easy to find ingredients.

5. It’s healthy!

Aarti’s Green Chicken Curry

• 2 small bunches cilantro leaves, coarsely chopped, 1 1/2 cups
• 1 bunch fresh mint, leaves, coarsely chopped, 1 1/2 cups
• 1 red onion, chopped
• 6 cloves garlic
• 1 1/2-inch piece ginger, peeled and coarsely chopped
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup water, plus 1 1/2 cups (I used low-sodium chicken broth.)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 shallots, thinly sliced
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/2 teaspoon garam masala
• 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs, about 1 3/4 pounds, halved
• 1/2 teaspoon malt vinegar
• 1/4 cup plain whole milk yogurt, whisked until smooth
• Cooked basmati rice or warm naan bread, for serving

Directions

When I try, it’s a disaster.

But apparently cooking French inspired foods is a different story.

One with a very happy ending  for three Fire & Wine night gals.

I may not be able to pronounce “cassoulet,” but I can make one.

This Weekday Cassoulet courtesy of the Food Network’s Melissa d’Arabian was the perfect meal for celebrating the first cool night of the summer on the front porch with friends.

The smell sent Gertie over the edge so far that she didn’t know what to do, other than run around in circles and end up on the one forbidden couch of the house. What, Gert? Is nothing sacred?

DD Girl also ran around in circles when she smelled the savory aroma of the bacon, onions, Chardonnay and chicken. But I let her get on the couch. I’m nice that way.

We were joined by a new friend to Fire & Wine night. Foodie Jr. (named because of the fact that she is seven plus years younger than DD Girl and myself.) refrained from running around in circles, but only because it was her first Fire & Wine night and she didn’t know that odd behavior is acceptable expected. She’ll learn.

Even though this cassoulet takes many shortcuts, the depth of flavor is spot on.

But if you are going to make it, you have to pinky swear two things.

1. You will NOT use canned beans. You must make your own beans. The texture of canned beans would ruin the creamy factor that the beans give it. Trust me. No cans. Period.

2. You will NOT use store-bought bread crumbs. There was something about the unevenness of the the bits of bread that transformed this rustic French pot dish into a complex textural experience. Please do not sell yourself short. Make the breadcrumbs! (said in my most growly voice.)

So, I stuck with Melissa’s original recipe with just a few modifcations/specifications-

There was no slab bacon available, so I improvised with thick-cut bacon. Because this bacon produces more grease, I scooped out a good portion of the grease so that only a sheen was left at the bottom of my dutch oven before adding the chicken thighs. This kept the finished product from being overly greasy.

For the wine in the dish, I used an oaky Chardonnay. Usually in cooking, I prefer a fruity Pinot Grigio, but this dish called for Chardonnay. It just did.

Speaking of wine, I’m no expert, but I think it would be perfect with a Cotes Du Rhone. Although, we served it with box of Malbec because Fire & Wine night is classy that way.

Also, I used these amazing fresh tomatoes that came from someone’s  garden.  The someone is a member of Adam’s family.  I obtained said fresh tomatoes at this weekend’s family reunion, and like many things that took place there, I am unclear as to the person to give credit to. So, aunties, if you wish to claim your tomatoes, please do so in the comments. They were the perfect tart and juicy accompaniment for the crispy bread crumbs.

Because these tomatoes were so fantastic, I used two instead of the one it called for. Please understand.

Finally, we served this with a big pile of crusty French baguette. The pile of which was almost as exciting as the bacony broth we soaked up with it.

While she may not have known it was okay to run around in circles, Foodie Jr. aptly summed up the delectableness (It’s my blog. I can make up words.) of this meal: 

This is so amazing. I kind of just want to take the chicken out and gnaw on it for a while. I won’t eat the bone. I promise.

Bon apetite!

Look mom, my first tart!

I was more than a little excited that my goat cheese & zucchini tart not only came out looking pretty good, but it tasted amazing. The crust was buttery and flaky and the filling was savory with hints of zucchini and pops of tomato, basil and goat cheese in each creamy bite.

I’m not going to lie. This is a lot of work. But it came together much faster and easier than I had anticipated.

The key is to organizing yourself in the kitchen before your start. (Isn’t that always the key? The French have some fancy term for it, but I just call it “get your act together.” )

For my recipe (And yes, I’m calling it mine because while I borrowed elements from other recipes, I put them together into one lovely little tart. But don’t worry, I’ll be giving credit where it’s due.)

 I’ll lay out the order of activities in the kitchen for you. I find this helpful.

A note on Fire & Wine:

One of the delights of Fire & Wine night is trying a new technique, recipe or food group each week. Sometimes it’s as “simple” as learning to put together a classic salad . Other times it requires leaving my comfort zone entirely.

These are the weeks I relish. Because they make me a better cook and help me push the envelope on what I’m willing to do.

Three years ago I told Virginia Willis I did not cook. I freaked out when she asked me to prepare her apple crumble for a morning news program we had pitched her on for her cooking demo with the American Royal. (She was going to prepare the crumble in studio, but needed a “finished product” to show.)

But Virginia was stubbornly insistent that I could do it. For whatever reason, she believed in me. (Also, she really needed that crumble.)

Since then, I have come a long way, both in my personal life and in the kitchen. I have channeled that spirit of cantankerous adventure in my cooking. Sure, I may fail. But even in my failures, I learn something.

So if you are new to Fire & Wine night posts, I encourage you to experience the joy that comes from taking a culinary risk in your own kitchen. I mean, you can always order a pizza in the event of a disaster.

Back to the show.

Time to get tarty.

First, make your crust*:

1 ¼ cups of all purpose flour

½ tsp salt

1 stick unsalted butter cut into ½ inch cubes

2-4 Tablespoons ice water

 In a food processor mix the flour and salt. Add the butter and pulse just until the mixture comes together in pea sized pieces. Add 1 tablespoon ice water at a time until the mixture comes together as a dough.  Remove from the food processor and shape into a disc. Sprinkle both sides with flour (or just place in parchment paper as I did), wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

 While the dough is doing its thing, start on your filling*

2 large zucchini

3 tablespoons butter

1 small onion

10 cherry tomatoes

2 tbsp chopped basil

1/2 cup of ricotta

2 eggs lightly beaten

2 tbsp chopped basil

2 ounces Goat cheese

2 tablespoons of milk

Salt to taste throughout

 Chop onion and set aside.

 Finely chop cherry tomatoes. Place in cheese cloth and strain. Set aside.

 Start to boil salted water in large pot.

 Grate1 zucchini into a bowl lined with cheese cloth add 1 tsp of salt.  Toss in salt and set aside to weep. (Don’t you weep, though.)

 Get out a cookie sheet or large plate. Line with paper towels.

 Slice remaining zucchini into rounds and blanch for one minute and spread out on the plate or cookie sheet.

 Go ahead and preheat oven to 365 degrees F.

 Wring out the cheesecloth with the grated zucchini to remove moisture.

 Heat butter in skillet. Remove a little bit of the butter for later.

 Add onions and cook until soft (5 minutes) Add grated zucchini.  Cook another 5 minutes. Remember to salt a little at each step.

 Transfer onion/zucchini mix to a bowl to cool.

 Remove the dough from the refrigerator and let sit for 10 minutes.

 Do dishes or tidy up.

 Then, sprinkle dough lightly with flour and use a rolling pin to roll out to a 12 inch circle about 1/8th of an inch thick. Gently fold in half and place in tart pan.

 From this process on out, it did not go smoothly. There was a lot of dough manipulating to get my dough into the tart pan and smoothed out evenly. It wasn’t perfect, but it tasted good. I was pleased.

 Poke bottom of crust with fork and place in the oven for 8-10 minutes (until golden, but not brown.)

While it’s cooking, return to the bowl with the cooling zucchini and onion mixture. Stir in tomatoes, almost all of the goat cheese, ricotta, basil and salt and pepper into bowl. Fold in eggs.

Add milk if you think it needs it to thin a bit.

Mix all ingredients well to incorporate.

 Remove crust from the oven. Cool for a few minutes.

 Place a layer of zucchini rounds at the bottom of the crust.

 Pour in mixture.

 Top with more rounds (you can get decorative if you don’t have enough to cover the entire top.)  Sprinkle with remaining goat cheese.

 Bake 40-45 minutes

 Remove and brush top with the leftover butter.

 Cook again for 20 minute, or until golden brown.

Served with a mixed green salad tossed with leftover green beans, olive oil and balsamic.

*Credits:

Crust – Recipe courtesy of

Italian Food Forever.

Filling- inspired by Saveur’s Zucchini Tart with Feta and the Italian Food Forever fillings.

So go, get your tart on! That’s an order from Queen of Quirky.

Have you ever thought about having the Queen of Quirky to dinner?  Well, I have… what do you feed the fancy foodie, mind you I’m not really a cook.  I may be super mom (as the Queen calls me in this post), but I don’t cook.  It’s just not my thing, it’s effort when I could be making an more enjoyable mess elsewhere .

Thought 2, guest blog for the Queen, what does one talk about.  I mean really, Foodie AND a funny writer.. hum… fine I’ll play along… so… here we are beer and pot… yep, that’s it, no fire and wine night here, no fancy food, alright it’s kinda fancy but not the effort the Queen puts into her dishes!

Well back when I was going to serve the Queen dinner, I was having a discussion with my mom (you read about her here).  What in the world do I cook for the Queen?  “Oh you make great stuff in the crockpot”  ”oh right, I do, don’t I?” so that led me to pull out my favorite “I look fancy” dish.  So being the courteous hostess I am, I ask for food allergies (since at this point, I haven’t met the new hubby).  Eh, no red meat?  Um… ok… crap crap crap… fancy food dish down drain… Fine, I’ll go with the EXACT opposite of what the Queen would fix on a normal night and what my fancy cookin’ mom would do.  So what do we have?  Pulled Pork, Jell-O salad and bruschetta  (the Queen insisted she bring hor’dourves).

While that was super tasty,  I had to share my favorite fancy dish with all of you.  Why, well I’m breaking Queen rules of course!  If you didn’t know , the Queen doesn’t 1)eat red meat 2)use a crockpot.  So peeps you’re in for a treat… not to mention my husband loved the fact that 2 times this month he got one of his favorite meals.  Are you ready??  Have you been dying to know what this fancy meal is… well… drum roll please… Italian Pot Roast.  I have 3 favorite Crockpot cook books… this comes from Food Made Fast: Slow Cooker.

Is your mouth watering yet??  Not only is this one heck of an awesome meal, but it only takes 30 min of prep work… move over Rachel Ray, supermom offers an alternative.

Italian Pot Roast

1/4 cup flour

salt and freshly ground pepper

4 lb boneless beef chuck roast, trimmed of excess fat and tied

1/4 c olive oil

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup dry red wine

1 – 28 oz can whole plum (Roma)  tomatoes

1 TB dried oregano

2 tsp sugar

2 bay leaves

1/4 cup fresh basil (this is a bit fancy for our house, we leave it off… mainly cause we forget about it, because we’re so ready to eat by this time)

1.  Brown the pot roast

On a large plate, stir together the flour, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper.  Coat the beef evenly with the flour mixture, shaking off the excess; reserve the remaining flour mixture.  In a large frying pan over high heat, warm the oil.  Add the roast and brown it well on all sides, 12-15 minutes total.  Transfer the roast to the slow cooker.

2. Deglaze the pan (I love how fancy this sounds)

Pour off all but about 1 tablespoon fat from the frying pan and return the pan to medium-high heat.  Add the garlic and saute for a few seconds until fragrant.  Sprinkle with the reserved flour mixture and cook, stirring, about 1 minute longer.  Pour in the red wine and deglaze the pan, stirring to scrap up the browned bits on the pan bottom.  Pour over the roast.

3. Cook the pot roast (while you do other things… see perfect)

Using your hands, break up the tomatoes as you add them to the slow cooker.  Add the oregano, sugar, and bay leaves.  Cover and cook on the high-heat setting for 3-4 hours or the low-heat setting for 6-8 hours.  The meat should be very tender when pierced with a fork.  Remove and discard the bay leaves.  Transfer the roast to a cutting board and remove the strings.  Cover with aluminum foil and let for about 10 minutes.  (At our house the recipe ends here, we’ve been smelling it for way to long and we have to throw it on the table and devour it like we haven’t eaten in 10 years.)  Meanwhile, skim off and discard the excess fat from the surface of the sauce.  Stir in the basil.  Slice the roast across the grain and arrange the slices on a platter or individual plates.  Spoon the sauce over the meat and serve.

I serve this with orzo pasta.  After I cook the orzo, I add a bit of butter, Parmesan  & Asiago cheese.  Usually a green veggie, because mr. supermom won’t eat salad .  Because this meal needs more carbs,  a loaf (yes the whole loaf gets consumed) of Artisan bread.  This is where the beer part comes in… a nice cold microbrew is fantastic with this dinner!

While no one was harmed in the making of this dish, the poor camera was dropped on it’s lens.  That’s why the crappy finished photo

About Anne

I’m a bit of a super mom, I design art in everything I do.  It may come out as a bra, a diaper, a scrapbook page,  or a web site, but each and every time, it’s something spectacular.  You can find my ramblings here, here , here, or here.

That’s what happens when your friends dine & dash on you on a Fire & Wine night.

(For those of you who are new, Fire & Wine is our weekly girls’ night cooking event wherein I try to create something new without burning down the kitchen. )

To be fair, everyone had a legitimate reason to cut out early this week.  And they told me in advance. 

What I loved about this week’s Fire & Wine creation is that the fire risk was very low. In fact, had I managed to start a kitchen fire on this dish, we would probably have to ban me from ever stepping a toe in any kitchen again.

And that would be a sad thing.

Kind of like when your friends leave you after dinner.

I kid. I kid.

Back to the meal. I decided to try my hand at Salade Niçoise. I love nicoise salad. I’m pretty sure I first tried it in Germany when my folks  lived there. It’s really much more than a salad. It’s quite the meal. And it’s nice and refreshing in the summer.

I served it family style, but you could plate it in individual portions.

I started looking in some of my cookbooks , but then I saw Elise at Simply Recipes had one. It was kind of over then, because if Elise has tried it, then it’s going to work and be delicious. It’s just that simple.

So I went with the Simply Recipes Nicoise Salad. And it was perfect. The only modification I made was a little extra Dijon in the dressing because I love Dijon. Also, do to a unfortunate incident, I only had five eggs.

But wait! You think I’m done yet?

In a unprecedented Fire & Wine occurence, I made dessert!

The perfect dessert for a summer meal. I’m pretty sure it will be a regular in future Quirky household meals.

Behold: raspberry sherbet.

 Sherbet is something I’d never considered making because I don’t have any of that high fangled ice cream machinery.

This is not a statement of complaint. I don’t have room for any more gadgets, gizmos or processors in my kitchen.

But when I was searching for a salad recipe, I found myself reading one of my first cookbooks. Remember Anne from the bra party? (Don’t forget- special custom bra offer for Queen of Quirky readers!) Years ago, her mom introduced my mom to this fantastic cookbook gem out of Kansas City.

Image courtesy of Amazon.com where you can still buy it used

It’s called Beyond Parsley and it was published in 1984 by the Junior League of Kansas City. I call it a cookbook gem because it is really rather remarkable – both in the recipes and the photography.

When I got married the first time, Anne’s mom gave me my own copy of the book. It’s moved all over the country with me, but rarely been used. I wasn’t much of a cook in my first marriage. (My ex-husband would snort if he read that. But seriously. He was a picky pants and cooking just wasn’t fun with him. Mr. Quirky loves to try my food — even foods he historically hasn’t liked. He encourages me all the time, even in my mistakes. He’s kind of Mr. Amazing Quirky.)

So the cookbook was really just waiting for me to find myself in the kitchen. I’m so glad I did.

I’m also glad I tried the raspberry sherbet recipe. I’m even more glad I doubled it. You are going to freak out when you see how easy it is.

Ingredients

1 10 oz bag frozen raspberries, thawed

1 scant cup sugar (I love saying “scant cup.” My recipes never sound so fancy.)

1 cup of sour cream (I used light)

1/2 tsp of vanilla

Directions

Mash berries (I used a potato masher.) Combine ingredients. Stir well. Freeze.

You should really make this for your Fourth of July gathering. But be sure to double it because this only serves four, and I don’t know what kind of portion size they were  thinking because my doubled recipe served five of us and there isn’t very much left.

Enjoy and keep it quirky this weekend!

I took on my second Real Women of Philadelphia challenge with the support of DD Girl, Roomie and friends Paul and Andy, and of course my #1 producer, Mr. Quirky. (Who says I need to take direction better…)

Now I know friends Paul and Andy were really invited b/c Roomie forgot it was Fire & Wine night and she had dinner prior to coming, so we had more duck to go around. And that’s ok. But now that we’ve opened the vault into our top secret Fire & Wine night activities, I fear they are going to want to come weekly.

Special thanks to my friends at Hen House Market who ordered two whole duck breasts for me. If you are ever looking for specialty meats or seafood, Hen House is fabulous to work with. (They also were the source of my lobsters – RIP.) And DD Girl who has eaten more duck in her life than I have raved about how delicous and fresh tasting our duck was.

Next week we plan to confit our duck legs (which are waiting in my freezer) and do something similar to Elise’s pasta dish. Stay tuned!

Anyhow, the video has been submitted, the duck breasts were demolished and several bottles of wine were killed on the front porch. Good times. 

(Note, Gertie made her national debut in this video – she pops in toward the end to see what’s going on and why her kitchen smells so good. Can you blame her? She’s a bird dog, afterall.)

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICQI0iv_YEo]

Besides, by now I know you’ve seen the video and all the shrieking and jumping that ensued.

And oh, the antenna….sticking out of the pot to remind us of what we had done.

And the carnage that remained.

We had killed three living beings.

And they were delicious.

And then Gertie had to comfort us and make us feel better for our animal cruelty.

It was that kind of night.

Because friends don’t let friends kill lobsters alone.

Isn’t she pretty?

(Thank you, dear blogging friend.)

It seemed more than appropriate to bring back Fire & Wine (post wedding break) and christen the new toy.

And simultaneously try not to boil my face.

Because we all know, I’m not to be trusted with even the simplest of kitchen tasks. Inserting a whirling stick into a pot of hot liquid could (have) spelled disaster for me.

Luckily for all of us involved, I did not boil my face.

Instead, I made a most delicious (and not so nutritious) artichoke bisque.

The key to this (aside from avoiding molten splashback) was to distract my guests with tasty appetizers so that they didn’t notice the entire stick of butter going into the soup.

Hey, look over there! Rosemary flatbread, goat cheese and tapenade!

Butter? What butter?

See how that works? It’s easy.

So was the soup:

(Adapted from this Group Recipe for Fresh Artichoke Bisque.)

Directions:

Dice leek and soak in water to remove dirt. Remove pieces with slotted spoon and dry thoroughly. Give artichokes a rough chop and make sure they are dried.

In a large pot, melt half of the butter and cook the artichoke hearts, leek, garlic, and shallots on medium heat until tender but not brown. Add the potatoes and stock. Tie up the bay leaf, thyme, parsley, and peppercorns in cheesecloth and add to the pot. Increase heat to bring to a simmer, then lower heat and continue to simmer uncovered, 1 hour.

Remove and discard the herbs.  Whip out the new immersion blender and carefully blend soup.

Whisk in the remaining butter and the cream. Using a microplane, grate nutmeg over soup and serve.

Some notes: I might suggest adding another potato to thicken the soup a bit. I served with chibatta bread.

And, last night, as we devoured our delicious gnocchi (recipe courtesy of the brilliant Elise of Simply Recipes) topped with a brown butter with spinach and pinenuts sauce (recipe courtesy of Cooking Light), we were screaming “GNO!” at our bachelor friend, Jake.

I decided to compile our list of “gnos” in lieu of our usual Cheese Whiz Ratings. Because last night was gno ordinary Fire & Wine night.

Image courtesy of EW.com

Things Jake should have said Gno* to in last night’s episode – with quotes and input from DD Girl and Roomie:

1. Girls in RV’s. – Didn’t Jake watch Road Rules? He should know that nothing good ever comes out of a bunch of girls sharing an RV.

2. Carrying his date (Gia) around the vineyard like a toddler. “She probably weighs as much as a toddler – DD Girl.” Jake, that’s weird and icky.

3. Girls who wear stilletos on a camping trip. Even Roomie who always looks cute and fashionable balked at these girls.

4. Taking your dates to a whore house-looking hotel, with each room you visit getting progressively tackier than the rest. If that is even possible.

5. The “I get lost in your eyes” line as said to Kathryn. Both times. Really?

6. A tie that looks like a tablecloth during the rose elimination ceremony. What was that thing?

7. Seeking wisdom on picking your future wife from Chris – the-network-is-going-to-love-this Harrison. Of course they are going to let you not give out all your roses, silly Jakey.

8. Girls obsessed with Vienna. Ugh. Enough already. All of it.

9. Ashleigh’s post-rose ceremony departure was less than graceful, as Roomie told DD Girl who was out of the room. So this gno is to Ashleigh – say gno to snotty, tearful departure speeches.

10. Girls who freak out over a cute little family of raccoons. (Gia!) Possibly the best part of the entire episode.

*Cheese Whiz Awards will return next week.

I thought about doing a ham or turkey breast, but to me, Christmas is Italian.

I grew up (and still do) eating spaghetti with my family on Christmas. This isn’t your ordinary spaghetti. This is cook-all-day slow-roasted-goodness spaghetti. My Italian grandfather passed the recipe down to my mother who will (I hope) eventually pass it onto me.

In the meantime, I decided to try my hand at lasagna. No, I had never made it before. Odd, I know.  I don’t like ground beef. But it dawned on me that I could substitute ground turkey for beef and then it dawned on me that I could add some Italian sausage to that.

So, I adapted this classic lasagna recipe from Southern Living by using 1/2 lb of ground turkey and 1/2 lb of sweet Italian sausage instead of the ground beef.

• 2  medium onions, chopped
• 2  tablespoons  olive oil, divided
• 4  garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2  lb ground turkey
• 1/2 lb  sweet Italian sausage removed from casing
• 1  (14.5-oz.) can basil, garlic, and oregano diced tomatoes
• 2  (6-oz.) cans tomato paste
• 1  (8-oz.) can basil, garlic, and oregano tomato sauce
• 1  bay leaf
• 1  teaspoon  Italian seasoning
• 1 1/4  teaspoons  salt, divided
• 3/4  teaspoon  pepper, divided
• 12  lasagna noodles, uncooked
• 8  cups  boiling water
• 1  (16-oz.) container ricotta cheese
• 2  large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/4  cup  grated Parmesan cheese
• 2  (6-oz.) packages part-skim mozzarella cheese slices
• Garnish: chopped fresh parsley

1. Sauté onion in 1 Tbsp. hot oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat 5 minutes or until tender. Add garlic, and sauté 1 minute. Add turkey and sausage, and cook, stirring occasionally, 10 minutes.  Stir in diced tomatoes, next 4 ingredients, 1 tsp. salt, and 1/2 tsp. pepper; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer, stirring occasionally, 30 minutes. Remove and discard bay leaf; set meat sauce aside.

2. Place lasagna noodles in a 13- x- 9-inch pan. Carefully pour 8 cups boiling water and remaining 1 Tbsp. olive oil over noodles. Let stand 15 minutes.

3. Stir together ricotta cheese, eggs, Parmesan cheese, remaining 1/4 tsp. salt, and remaining 1/4 tsp. pepper until blended.

4. Spoon half of the meat sauce mixture in a lightly greased 13- x 9-inch baking dish. Shake excess water from noodles, and arrange 6 noodles over meat sauce; top with half of ricotta mixture and 1 package mozzarella cheese slices. Repeat layers once.

5. Bake, covered, at 350° for 55 minutes. Uncover and bake 10 to 15 more minutes or until bubbly. Let lasagna stand 10 minutes before serving. Garnish, if desired.

Perfection is what that is.

The sauce is fantastic. (I ended up adding about 2 tablespoons of sugar to it because I like my sauce a little sweeter)

We enjoyed our meal while we watched Oprah interview the President and First Lady in the White House.

I wondered aloud where you would have Fire & Wine night at the White House. Like how would you eat on stools and wipe your fingers with paper towels?

We decided that Fire & Wine night is one of life’s pleasures that President and Mrs. Obama do not get to experience.

And then we decided (accidentally on purpose, please may I have another glass?)  it was Wire & Fine night.

And that was the funniest thing anyone had ever said.

Meanwhile Gertie entertained by tossing her pheasant around the room.

And the Fiance was up in his man cave rolling around on the office chair and cheering loudly at a University of Kansas basketball game.

DD Girl and I didn’t have to work the next day so we may have continued the celebration out on the Plaza with more friends, and I may have had a little much fun….

But whatever it was, it was just fine with me. Merry Christmas!