Gettin' Lucky

For Mark's birthday weekend extravaganza, we kicked the weekend off with dinner and some fun with friends on Friday night.  Mark's a pretty low-key guy and doesn't like a fuss made over him so we didn't tell our friends that it was his birthday.  We met for dinner at Foreign Cinema, which is in the Mission in San Francisco.  We sat outside under the heat lamps and ate some delicious food and drank some yummy cocktails.

On Saturday, I took Mark for dinner at 5A5 Steak Lounge for dinner.  We had an amazing dinner with a bottle of excellent wine.

For our birthdays, we decided that we would exchange experiences (i.e., concert tickets, trip, etc.) instead of gifts, which we would save for Christmas.  But, this year, there are no concerts of interest and we just took a 10-day vacation so we decided not to go away.  I didn't want my sweet husband to go empty handed for his birthday so I got him Apple TV.  He opened it and looked and the box and had NO idea what it was.  I explained it to him and he still didn't get it.  We'll see if he keeps it.  LOL.

On Sunday night, I made Mark his favorite Sunday night meal: taco night.  I pulled out all of the fixings: grated cheese, sliced avocado, cilantro, tomatoes, lettuce, sliced jalapeno peppers, etc.  We watched Arthur, which I thought was hysterical.  I love cheesy movies.  I never really had seen Russell Brand in action and he is quite funny and likable.

Well, Monday was Mark's actual birthday.  In spite of celebrating my husband all weekend long, I made him lasagna from scratch (except for the pasta noodles).  I used a recipe that I've made before from Paula Deen.  It is very meat heavy, which my meat eating husband loves!  It is super simple but a little time consuming.  And, I could use a lasagna baking dish to prevent the cheese and sauce from spilling over the sides.  It was a hit, once again!  I served it with a nice side salad with lettuces, cherry tomatoes and Gorgonzola cheese.  You should definitely try this one.

In my mind, Mark's birthday weekend was a hit and we both were lucky to enjoy the wonderful weekend!

Source

Lots O'Meat Lasagna by Paula Deen

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pounds ground chuck
• 1 pound ground Italian sausage
• 1 onion
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 teaspoons ground oregano
• 1 teaspoon ground basil
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes with basil, garlic, and oregano
• 2 (15-ounce) cans tomato sauce
• 1 (6-ounce) can tomato paste
• 1 1/2 cups small curd cottage cheese
• 1 (5-ounce) package grated Parmigianno-Reggiano
• 2 tablespoons freshly chopped parsley leaves
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 9 oven-ready lasagna noodles
• 2 (8-ounce) packages shredded mozzarella

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large saucepan, combine ground chuck, sausage onion and garlic. Cook over medium heat until meat is browned and crumbled; drain.
Return meat to pan and add oregano, basil, salt and pepper. Add tomatoes, tomato sauce and paste. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 30 to 45 minutes.
In a small bowl, combine cottage cheese, Parmesan, parsley, and eggs.
Spoon 1/4 of sauce into bottom of a 13 by 9 by 2-inch baking pan. Place 3 uncooked lasagna noodles on top of sauce. Do not overlap noodles. Spread 1/3 of cottage cheese mixture over noodles, top with 1/4 of sauce and 1/3 mozzarella cheese. Repeat layers, ending with sauce, reserving 1/3 of mozzarella cheese.
Bake 45 minutes. Top with remaining cheese and bake 15 minutes or until hot and bubbly. Let rest 10 minutes before serving.