December 2012
Food is one of the greatest gifts we can give to one
another. We literally cannot live
without food. Whether we make a donation
to Philabundance, or surprise a friend with a cake pop when we know they are
having a bad day, food can be the most joyous experience we pass on to another
person.
Because I am passionate about food and cooking, it can be a
very intimate thing for me. No, I don’t exactly feel intimate when I heat up
leftovers and eat them at my desk at work, but in my eyes, food is one of the
best and most personal offerings I can make another person. I am very confident in my cooking skills and
I try to be particularly thoughtful when preparing food for others. This allows me to know that if I am giving
food as a gift, it is something truly genuine.
Being into food and cooking at my age also brings up lots of
discussion, particularly amongst nosey relatives, as to why despite my skills
in the kitchen, I cannot lock down a man. I get it--- the way to a man’s heart
is through his stomach--- but like I said, cooking for someone is very intimate
and I am not going to put out for every stray that comes to the screen door. I mess things up all the time in the kitchen!
I drink too much while I’m cooking! My eyeliner runs! I sweat a little! I
curse! A lot! I digress…
Recently, as a gift to my sister for her birthday, I offered
to provide the food and cook for a dinner party she would host for her friends.
I asked her what she wanted me to make, and she requested Pastitsio, a Greek
lasagna.
The great thing about Pastitsio is that it can be prepared a
day in advance and then cooked the day of.
Although preparation takes several hours, and is fairly messy, it is
worth it for this dish. I made two pans of Pastitsio, a big salad with pears,
goat cheese, and walnuts, and Galaktoboureko for dessert.
Seeing as my sister, C, is a newlywed and in the full throes
of nesting and desiring lots of home goods, there were lots of gift options,
but I felt like doing this was the best gift I could give. C is also much better at picking out small,
unique prezzies than I am, so this figured out to be one big gift I could give
her around the holidays to make up for all the things she had surprised me with
throughout the year.
I used a combination of ground beef and lamb, and also extra
nutmeg and cinnamon. I have actually never used Kasseri cheese in this, because
I can never find it, and most recently used Mozzarella as a substitute. In the
past, I have used Puerto Rican soft cheese, which I though was the best, but I
think any semi-soft cheese, will do. I
used about a cup of whatever semi-soft cheese in the béchamel then Parmesan on
top, like the recipe calls for. I never
cut the fat when I make this ie use whole milk, heavy cream, the works. Finally,
I do this in a lot of recipes, but I like a combination of fresh oregano and
thyme with dried.
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