Catching Up! Super Bowl Sunday and Dinner with the Fam

I was a slacker this week on the blogposts.  Nonetheless, I'm getting caught up!
Starting off, this weekend we decided to celebrate Valentine's Day all weekend.  We went out with some friends on Friday night to Lunar.  One of my favorite weekend activities that doesn't happen as often as it used to (and as much as I would like it to!):  shakin' my booty on the dance floor with my husband! We have fun! :)

Saturday night, we went out to an East African restaurant we've been wanting to try - Emanu.  http://www.emanuea.com/  It was true Ethiopian food.  I enjoyed parts of it...but not all of it.  The service was incredibly slow,  and we didn't get the memo that you could BYOB.  I was a bit disappointed we didn't have any wine to help pass the 45 mins it took to get our food.  I'm glad we at least tried it!  Though, not sure we'll go back.
I'll be blogging about our dinner from tonight and tomorrow night later this week!  Stay tuned!

Back to last weekend!!!.....

Last Saturday, Colin's family - including a few Georgians - and his parents were in town to see our new niece, Charlotte.  There were 8 of us (+ the baby).  I decided to make a very crowd-friendly recipe that's been in my family for as long as I can remember...... my dad's Lasagna! 

Lasagna

Ingredients:

1 box of Lasagna Noodles                                        

1 lb Ground Italian Sausage (hot or mild)

1 Large jar of Sauce (whatever you like best - I use Prego original)                                      

1 Large container of Ricotta Cheese                         

1¼ lb. Mozzarella Cheese, sliced thin (I prefer to use the soft mozzarella, but you can use the hard kind from the deli)

1 egg

Fennel Seeds

Parsley Flakes

Directions:

- Preheat oven to 350^○

- Boil pot of water for noodles.  Cook noodles until al dente (DON'T OVERCOOK!).  Drain and leave in cold water to keep them soft while you work with them.

- While noodles are cooking, cook sausage, drain, and add to sauce.

- In a medium bowl, mix egg, ricotta cheese, palm full of fennel seeds and a palm full of parsley flakes.

- Coat bottom of large Pyrex dish with sauce.

- Start layering!!....layer of noodles, layer of mozzarella (I usually do 3 slices of soft mozzarella across each noodle), layer of ricotta, layer of sauce, repeat until you fill the dish.  End with noodles, topped with sauce to keep them from curling. 

- Bake Lasagna for 1 hour.

- When Lasagna has about 15 minutes left....

        - Put a loaf of french bread in the oven for 7 minutes

        - Cook link sausage cut up into pieces, and add to a small jar of sauce.

- When Lasagna is done, cut into squares and dish onto plates.  Top with extra sauce/sausage.  Serve with crusty bread.

I FORGOT TO TAKE A PICTURE! :( 

Super Bowl Sunday we went to the Caskey's house for homemade, authentic Louisiana Gumbo (AND to watch football!!).  It was delish!  My contribution:  Peanut Butter Cookies

My mom has always used the original Joy of Cooking recipe.  They're hands-down the best pb cookies I've ever had....

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper, or use a Silpat (my preferred method).
Whisk together:
  1 1⁄2 cups all-purpose flour
  1⁄2 teaspoon baking soda
Beat in a large bowl until well blended:
  1⁄3 cup (5 1⁄3 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened
  1⁄2 cup sugar
  1⁄2 cup packed brown sugar
Beat in:
  1 large egg
  1 cup peanut butter (smooth or chunky)
  1⁄2 teaspoon vanilla
Stir in the flour mixture until blended. Shape into 1"-2" balls.
Roll the balls in sugar.
Arrange about 2 inches apart on the cookie sheets. Press flat with a fork two times (criss-cross). Bake, about 10 to 12 minutes. Let stand briefly, then remove to a rack to cool. They're best when cooked shorter rather than longer.  Don't let them brown too much!

Happy Sunday and Happy Valentine's Day!