I am in the middle of this book and I don't want it to end. Are there similar books like this that tell a personal story about the making of Israel?

OMG!!!!!!!! I read this book sometime ago and I read it within a matter of days it was so good. I've got a couple of books at home to recommend to you. I'm at work right now and can't remember the author's name. I will let you know some good ones that I've found.

AWESOME book!!

lol.. your avatar is freak'n hysterical!

Thanks! There's so much competition here, I had to step up my game and search for a good one!

OH cool!!! Yeah it should be made into a movie for sure!!!!

oh allousa!!!!! I'm waiting!!!

Man....I forgot.

I got busy last night and really, I forgot.

Give me a second chance, okay? I will post it tonight after I get groceries and make a lasagne for company coming in this weekend.

I'll save you a piece of the lasagne...how about that?

Is Doodle the only one getting a piece of lasagna?

I had lasagna last night!!! Weight watchers though. Was pretty good actually!

Alright....a piece for you both!


Mine is DEFINITELY not Weight Watchers. I make my sauce from scratch and it's the meaty kind. I put 2 different kind of cheeses in it and it's about 4 layers. My first husband's father-in-law said that was the reason he let his son marry me!

Everytime that I go visit Hicham's family in Morocco, they beg me to make it for them too!!!!

Okay the two other books I wanted to recommend to you....

Once Upon a Country, A Palestinian Life by Sari Nusseibeh

Somewhat on topic:

Power, Faith and Fantasy (America in the Middle East, 1776 to the Present) by Michael B. Oren


I'm getting ready to read Paris 1919 which involves the Balfour Declaration and other treaties and alliances that essentially shaped the future. Some of which was the Palestine/Israel issue. I'll let you know about it when I get through. Although, as busy as I am, Hicham may be home (inshallah) before I get finished with it!


Didn't cook the lasgane tonight though. I've really been in pain tonight with my back so I just had a PB&J for supper. I will have to make it tomorrow though. I'll save you a piece!

Thanks!

Totally off topic but revelant..........I would love some lasagna, and I am sure Amal wants some too.

J

dont forget about me too. i love lasagna too.

Doodle...are you and MBP vegetarians?

I started to think so after the pumpkin conversation yesterday. I really didn't know, so I didn't throw the meat in to be an azz.

Not meand since doodle just cooked a rack of lamb the other day I think its safe to say we want the meat LOL All things in moderation.... Hey it looks like there is enough interest in your lasagna that you are gonna be making a second pan!

I do have a great reciepe for homemade lasagna too. I rarely make it because you need a house of people over to eat it. I do know that my pan weights like 20 lbs with all the fillings...so watch out and take care of your back

yeah...no I'm a carnivore to be sure! My kids are too. It's kind of funny 'cause my oldest daughter was telling me how the girl across the street is a vegetarian. She tends to copy her since she's very popular so I thought maybe my daughter wanted to become vegetarian too. Well I cooked some porterhouse's that night and she came back for seconds and asked if she could have "the blood juice". lol

I only make my lasagna a few times a year, because you're right about needing a house full. AND it weighs a frigg'in ton!!!!

My back really felt better this morning, so I got up at 5:30am and made it. Needless to say, I didn't feel like eating breakfast!!!!

My best friend from high school is coming to spend the weekend with us and she's bringing her twin four year old boys. We are taking our boys to see Elmo LIVE tomorrow morning and then we're going to take a wagon ride through a local animal park. So....I wanted to have something that we could eat off of for a couple of days.

I PROMISE to make a second pan.

Are we going to rename this the "Lasagna" Thread???????

Aaaaand I know what we're having for dinner tonight!

hmmm a perpetual ongoing thread about lasagna....i dont see the problem

Just so you know, I use about 4 cups of mozzarella cheese in mine! My lasagna is seriously meaty and extremely cheesy!!!!

My boy is not a big meat eater...but he devours my lasagna.

Not that I'm bragging....okay...maybe I am...some friends of Hicham and I were eating dinner with us one time when I had made the lasagna. The wife was a native of Italy, and I mean she had only been in the States for a few years. She actually said it was some of the best she ever had.

Not that I'm bragg'in or anything.

Oh man, my mouth is watering. I just sent out a mass text message (by mass I mean to 4 people) telling them to come over for lasagna tonight. I love lost of ricotta and mozarella and spicy italian sausage. I like ceasar salad with it.

One of the layers in my lasagna is a HUGE vat of ricotta cheese with 2 cups of mozzarella cheese sprinkled on top. The 4th and top layer of my lasagna is MORE cheese!!!!

Since I'm cooking the lasagna, you want to bring the salad????

I've also got some garlic bread that's going with it.

I will post a pic of the lasagna tonight!!!!

Hmmmm....you guys might just get a pic of an empty plate!!!!!!

Ok but the most important ingredient is what I'm curious about.............what do you use for the sauce?

Man! I want a good recipe for lasagna! I have a nice veggie one, but I added about 5xs the cheese it called for

I actually dice up the Roma tomatoes, but I use two can's of Hunt's sauce and 1 can of Hunt's paste. I don't use ANY OTHER brand. I also season with oregano, thyme, sage and some salt and pepper. I dice up one yellow onion that I cook with the meat while I'm browning it in the skillet.

This is my own very top secret lasagna recipe that I have come up with myself. IF.....someone will find a "spy" smilicon...I'll post the receipe. And it can't be this one......

The recipe on the brand of lasagne noodles (I think it starts with is actually really good. I also always add extra spices and of course cheese!

DANG!!!!! <bowing as I back out of the room> You are just tooooooooo good!

1 box of wide lasagna noodles
1 1/2 lb of ground beef
1 yellow onion (dice it up)
2 cans of Hunt's tomato sauce
4-6 Roma tomatoes diced OR 2 can's of Hunt's diced tomato*
1 large can of tomato paste
1 large container of Ricotta cheese (might be 16oz)
4 eggs
4 cups of shredded mozzarella cheese OR two bags of shredded mozzarella cheese*

*when I'm in a hurry, I use these substitutes to save time

Preheat oven to 350

Boil noodles while browning the ground beef. Add a splash of olive oil to the water before putting in the noodles. While browning the ground beef, add in diced onion. While above is cooking, dice up tomatoes and add them into a bowl with the sauce and paste. I mix in a pinch of rosemary, sage, oregano and thyme. I don't ever measure, but if I had to guess, maybe it's about 1/2 tablespoon. Salt and pepper sauce to your taste. Mix up the ricotta cheese and the eggs in yet another bowl. Once the meat is browned, add to the sauce mixture.

***DO NOT OVERCOOK THE NOODLES**** Boil no longer than 10-15 minutes. I quickly drain them and run some cold water over them.

I spray the pan with olive oil spray to help not stick. Then I get my bowls all together and get prepared to layer! Put at least 3-4 noodles on the bottom. Then add the first layer which is the sauce/meat mixture. Make sure that you use only HALF of the bowl (save the other half for another layer). Top this with another layer of noodles. Next add in the ricotta cheese/egg mixture. Spread 2 cups of the shredded mozzarella cheese mixture on top of this. Then add another layer of noodles. Next add another layer of noodles. Now add the rest of sauce/meat mixture. Depending on how many noodles you have left, add another layer of noodles. If you do not have enough, go ahead and put in the oven.

Cook the lasagna for 30 minutes. Take out of the oven and add the other 2 cups of mozzarella cheese. Put back in the oven and cook another 10-15 minutes or however long it takes for the cheese to melt.

***Straight out of the oven, this is really gooey. I will sometimes cook the night before and stick in the fridge, just so it's a little neater when it's warmed and makes prettier squares!!!

ENJOY!!!!!!


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mmmmmmmm that looks good. Have you ever used the "no boil" lasagna noodles? I hate boiling lasagna noodles!

Several years ago, this is where I first got the recipe, but as I've made it over the years...I've embellished!!!!




I haven't ever used those. Have you? Are they any good?

I wish I had the no clean up pans and bowls to make it all in. This lasagna is DAYUM good, but it makes the kitchen look like a nuclear accident!

The no boil noodles are just as good, and you dont have to boil water or anything. You just line them into the pan like you would with regular noodles.

Lasagne IS messy!

Looks great, Allousa -- no wonder everyone was raving over it. Thanks for sharing !



-MK

I've used them -- they work very well. But you have to make sure the sauce touches the noodles all over (both sides) or they will be kind of hard and crunchy in the dry spots.

Are you Italian? My italian ex mother in law only used Pastene. No other brand of tomatoes would do and it was always the ground crushed kind. We'd get a call every few weeks from her telling us that so and so store has the Pastene tomatos on sale and they'd all go in the same car and clear out the store. lol.


She would take a pork butt and fry it up in a big pot, then take about 5 or 6 huge garlic cloves and mince them, put them in the pot after taking the browned pork butt out and cook them with 1 can Pastene tomato paste, some olive oil, salt, pepper and italian seasoning. Then once that paste was going good she'd add about 4 of the huge Pastene cans of ground crushed tomatoes, plop the pork butt in there and simmer it all day long.

This would be done on a Saturday morning at around 4am and when the kids would wake up she'd plop an egg in the sauce and then take it out and give it to them on top of some crusty italian bread for breakfast. Her house ALWAYS smelled like "gravy" and you couldn't call it sauce you had to call it gravy.

That sauce was awesome and I used to make it once/month and freeze extras so I could use it in all kinds of recipes but now that I don't eat pork I can never get it to taste the same buttery taste that it had.

Does this mean Doodle and i are gonna have to make our own lasagna now?

I've used the no boil noodles and i makes no difference in lasgna. BUT i do prefer the regular. I am very picky abotu my noodles and my sauce. I only use barilla.

I now use Barilla sauce but I couldn't when I was married to my ex. Their family used to call people who used bottled sauce butanas or however you say that.

Well I use to be one of those people too but Barilla is so close to the real thing. I discovered it when I took my son to Italy and we had to cook Christmas dinner for ourselves. To this day he loves their sauce with olives best. I use the Barilla sauce in my lasagna too.

I use the one with basil in it. I forget the name. I just used it in american chop suey last night.


My older sister is friends with this couple who are italian. Every sunday all the family comes over like most italians but my sister went there about a month ago when it was still warm and the two grandmothers were all in black with the black stockings and the black orthopedic shoes and while everyone was sitting around the pool having fun they went and picked the tomatos and the basil and oregano from the garden and then went back in the kitchen and made the gravy nice and fresh for everyone. Then they even did all the dishes after!! They come over every Sunday and do this. They're both about 90+ years old. They make their own wine in the cellar too! lol

A whole frickin' thread about lasagne? Where the hell have I been?

shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh




don't let the cat outta da bag


btw is it "leave the gun, take the cannoli" or "take the gun, leave the cannoli"?

Yeah, where the hell have you been!

I'd never read the Lemon Tree and I didn't want any spoilers so I stayed out. Then I noticed that there were waaay too many posts in here to be about a book. Or else there was a good fight.

My grandfather was Italian, but I didn't learn any of my cooking skills from that side of the family. I really am self taught, I guess. I really love to cook and have come up with my own stuff the last 15 years or so. Hicham is just as good a cook as me though. Before getting stuck in Maroc, he and I would be eating seriously well. He worked in restaurants to put himself through school so that's where he learned. His specialty is seafood though. He swears that I married him for his cooking skills....

ONE of the reasons, but not the only one.

Is this them?


Seriously- I need to move to Boston.

I like that Barilla sauce too, its by far the best of the 'prepared' sauces.

When I make lasagne I thaw out a square of the chopped frozen spinach and squeeze it REALLY well to get all the water out then stir it into the ricotta/egg mixture. Also a pinch of nutmeg in there.

Adnan swore for a few months that he did NOT like lasagna and he didnt want to even try any if I made it. Finally I broke down and made some for me and my son one weekend and of course Adnan shoveled it wildly. then he confessed to me that the only other time he had it was when his sister made some but she didnt boil the noodles first nor did she use the no-boil kind, so they were crunchy. LOL. Now its one of our favorites. In fact, I think I might have to make a big batch this weekend and put one in the freezer for one of those crazy post-baby evenings.. MMMM...

Is that the North End? It used to be common to see the older folk sitting in those chairs outside their appts and even *more* common to see those very chairs on the street to save their parking spots. God help you if you touched the chair. Now it's more yuppyish which is sad 'cause it's losing it's character. There's a nursing home there that is one that we manage and althought it's transitioning to be more TCU patients there still are nursing home patients on the top floor. I went on that floor to take a look around once and I kid you not you see everyone sitting outside their rooms in their wheelchairs and God help you if someone takes their wheelchair spot!!!

It was odd because I was reviewing the food items and there wasn't any italian food that is common served, like spaghetti and meatballs, lasagne, etc. I asked the chef why, since all of the nursing home patients are Italian and he gave me a *look* and told me that the last time they served "gravy" there was a fist fight because they were absolutely miffed at the way it was made. They then had a cook off of sorts and another fight ensued so since then no gravy has existed there.



Oh spinach and some cinnamon or nutmeg sounds GOOD!!!!!!! I had a greek friend who always put cinnamon in her sauce.