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It is past midnight and I am being assaulted by the incredible fragrances of tomatoes, parsley and garlic, waiting for my lasagna to bake. I made the mistake of telling a friend of my mom and I who is visiting with his wife and baby that I need to practice my lasagna skills last night at dinner. Well, to be truthful to the actual chronology of the situation, I made the mistake of bragging about my family lasagna to a friend of mine. I told him that I make a mean lasagna and so he is holding me to a dinner when we get back to Chicago. Anyway, I am a little partial to my mom's lasagna. I consider it to be the best, in fact. So, I was a little stubborn when this visiting friend offered to teach me how to make his lasagna. I shrugged it off, and hoped that he would forget about it the next night. Well, I came home from dinner with friends tonight and it turns out that my wishes were far from granted. He told me to go to the grocery store, buy the ingredients and we would get cooking. Well, an hour and a half, $70 and a six pack of Fat Tire Ale later, we got started. He doesn't have much of a recipe for his sauce, but I put my recipe memory to work--I am a cook by looks, really, not by words. We made a meat sauce and a vegetarian sauce--two lasagnas in the end. It was great. I am at such peace in the kitchen. Friends, conversation, music, smells. I love to cook. For me, lasagna is a food of childhood memories. I remember my mom making it for me on special occasions. My favorite part was getting to eat the noodle scraps--dipping the ends in the homemade sauce that my mom had set to cook all day. So, tonight, I really wasn't complete until the 2 lasagnas were in the oven and I relieved the pot of all the scraps, piled on a bit of sauce and Parmesan cheese and went to my room to taste the masterpiece. The sauce that we made was amazing. Just the right amount of everything. Well, I would have put a bit more garlic, but really, it was fabulous. Although I am willing to keep my mind open, I anticipate that the actual lasagna will pale slightly in comparison with my mom's. I really just like her construction. But this sauce, man.

Oh, time to put on the final touches. Cheese. Cool. Then eat.

Good night.