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Today is a classic lasagna recipe with just a small tweak or two that made the best lasagna I've ever made. The recipe comes from the 1953 edition of Better Homes & Gardens New Cook Book. I found the recipe over at Chez Bonne Femme, who recommended it highly.


A delicious lasagna with a rich sauce and creamy filling that is great served with garlic bread and a green salad on the side.



Notes:

~I used cottage cheese since I had that on hand and I think the filling turned out wonderful.

~I used a 28 oz. can of San Marzano peeled tomatoes in place of the 2 cans of diced tomatoes. Look for a brand that says "Product of Italy." The brand I got is Cento from Walmart. Chop up the tomatoes into small pieces and add all of the sauce from the can to the recipe. I would highly recommend this substitution as I feel it improved the flavor of the sauce tremendously.

~I had planned on using traditional noodles that are cooked first but no-boil noodles are what came back from the grocery store. I used them and they turned out fine. The recipe calls for two layers of noodles which was only half of the box of noodles. I was a bit worried about this, but I thought the end result was the perfect ratio of noodles to filling, as I don't like lasagna with an over abundance of noodles.

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A few weeks ago I spotted a recipe for Cucumber Salad that I knew I had to make. We have made cucumber salad a few times on the blog already and we love them all.


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Simple and delicious. Serve with fresh whipped cream or ice cream.


Ours was just a bit under baked (okay, a lot under baked). We had a timer malfunction. Really delicious even so. Many thanks to erinnish for the recipe. Enjoy!


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For my Mardi Gras party I was looking for a dark purple punch that would compliment the traditional mardi gras colors of purple, yellow and green. I came across a video recipe for Grape & Ginger Ale Punch by Sister Felicia. I loved the story she told of her grandmother making this punch and I recommend you watch the video as well.


I call this delicious drink "chunky" punch as it contains crushed pineapple and cherries, which give you a bit of something to chew on as you drink this.


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We had a small celebration for Mardi Gras this year. The kids, grandma and I made a king cake which I think turned out delicious. Along with the king cake we made a pretty dark purple punch.

I got a mix from King Arthur Flour this year. For as much as I mention KAF you'd think I was being paid to promote the, but I am not. Onto the King Cake Mix. Right now they have the price listed at $12.99 but a few weeks ago when I bought it, it was a whopping $19.99. Not exactly cheap when you add in $8 shipping.


As you can see there is a thick almond filling running through the cake which I happen to love. The quality of the sprinkles was outstanding. They have such a deep, vibrant color.

I probably could have baked it for another 5 minutes but as I have mentioned, my oven is a bakers worst nightmare. It runs hot, it's uneven and to boot we are at a very high altitude. So I try my best and cross my fingers when it comes to baked goods.


The kids helped decorate the cake. Even though we had some mistakes with the glaze, I thought it turned out very pretty. All in all it was a tasty cake mix. I don't know that I'd fork over $30 next year just to make it, but I like to try things out from KAF at least once.

Of the other mixes I've tried, the Yuletide Cheer Scone Mix (their holiday scone mix) was outstanding, along with Cranberry & Orange Muffin Mix and a Butternut Squash & Apple Bountiful Soup Mix.




I realized this week that I need to pick up a much smaller punch bowl for our little parties. Hopefully I'll be able to pick up something soon.


This delicious grape punch recipe will be coming soon! I hope you had a great Mardi Gras!

Happy Mardi Gras! Today I have an indulgent and rich Cafe au Lait Pie, recipe courtesy of King Arthur Flour. While I didn't nail the technique 100% in my layering, it was still delicious. I think my mistake might have been not letting the chocolate filling cool long enough. Lesson learned!



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These pretty little cupcakes are perfect for Mardi Gras. Made from scratch and to die for good. A lemon cupcake is tipped with lemon cream cheese frosting then sprinkled in green, purple and yellow.


There are a lot of cupcake recipes out there that produce just ho-hum results, but these are incredible!


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