“No one who cooks, cooks alone. Even at her most solitary, a cook in the kitchen is surrounded by generations of cooks past, the advice and menus of cooks present, the wisdom of cookbook writers.” Laurie Colwin

In a matter of a month, my life has completely done a 180. As you all know I had to undergo surgery, where I was bedridden for a few weeks. I couldn't cook, clean, work or walk. After three weeks of recovering I finally was able to walk again. Within those three weeks, I began re-evaluating my life. I began working on my business plan to finally follow my dream and passion. I am slowly working on starting my brand in the floral design industry, Miss Adelia's flowers, I have begun making floral arrangements for family, friends and am looking to get into farmers markets and plan on catering small weddings, bridal showers, events and get together's. As I began focusing on that, my main source of income was taken. The company who I thought I would see a future with filed for bankruptcy and in turn I was let go. I guess at the end of the day you could say everything happens for a reason. I am slowly regrouping as I am working n my recovery physically and emotionally and now financially as well.

My life is now focused on my health, possible going back to school and working on two possible three small businesses's.
(Miss Adelia's Flowers and Kiwi Print and Design and possible another catering type business) Although my life is busy, I always will make time for cooking. It's a passion, a fine art that can turn any day around for me so I hope you continue to enjoy reading and trying out this recipes for yourself. With that being said, it was perfect timing for a get-together dinner made by me while my parents were in town.....

Below is a meal that you can serve on any occasion, it will fill a room of people with happy bellies. Enjoy!  

Begin your evening with two small appetizers;

Appetizer #1

Baguette

Dipping Sauce 

A fresh made baguette with a side of dipping sauce

*Sauce of choice- International Classics, Vinaigrette Bread Dipping Sauce

Appetizer #2

Shrimp Cocktail

1/2 -1lb of uncooked deveined shrimp

Garlic Salt

Pepper

Clean fresh shrimp by rising under water. Heat a skillet on the stove with a tablespoon of olive oil. Once hot, add the shrimp. Once the shrimp turns a little pink, add the garlic salt and pepper for taste.Cook on a low heat for 15-20 minutes. 

Grab a plate, cover the plate with lettuce leaves and add sliced lemons on the side. Add the shrimp and place in the fridge for about 20 minutes or until cool. Serve with Cocktail sauce (Suggestion, you can make your own sauce, recipe below)

How to make your own cocktail sauce

1/2 cup of ketchup

2 tablespoons horseradish

Worcestershire sauce

1 lemon

Tabasco Sauce, for taste

In a small bowl combine ketchup, horseradish, a dash of Worcestershire, a squirt of lemon and a dash of Tabasco sauce. Chill and serve.

Always have fresh lemon water and a nice bottle of wine to serve and enjoy with the appetizers.

Now onto dinner

Dish # 1

Caprese Salad

3 vine-ripe tomaties. 1/4 inch thick, sliced

1lb fresh mozzarella, 1/4 inch thick, sliced

20-30 fresh basil leaves (buy about 1 bunch of basil) 
Extra Virgin olive oil, to drizzle

Salt and Pepper

Begin by layering a slice of tomato then mozzarella then basil, alternate on a large platter (I used a circular platter) Once you have a full circle and a few layers, add extra virgin olive oil and season with sale and pepper to taste.

Main Course Dish # 2  (While prepping the whole meal, I suggest Frank Sinatra stationon padora with a glass of Merlot)

Lasagna Rolls

10 Lasagna noodles, cooked al dente (This recipe usually makes about 8 rolls, cook 10 just in case one breaks in the pot) 

3/4lb of ground beef meat

1/3 green bell pepper

1/3 onions (yellow)

1 15oz. container of low fat ricotta cheese

1 egg

2 cups of Mozzarella cheese, shredded and divided

3/4 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded and divided

1/4 tsp Kosher salt

1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper

Sauce- (Thanks Wendy for the tip)

1 can of diced tomatoes

1 can of tomato sauce

fresh garlic

basil

oregano

dash of sugar

First, cook the lasagna pastas. You can follow directions on box, if you make your own lasagna, follow your usual instructions. I usually grab a large cooking pot, add 3-4 cups of water, bring to a boil. Add a sprinkle of salt and then slowly add a few lasagna strips at a time. Cook for 8-10 minutes stirring the noodles every few minutes.

*How to know when noodles are done; test the noodles by removing a lasagna noodle before the cooking time ends and bite into it. The whitish area in the center of uncooked pasta should fade when the pasta is done.

Next onto the sauce. Chop 2 garlic cloves and basil. Mix the can of diced tomatoes with tomato sauce into a medium sized pot. Turn on low heat, add the chopped garlic and basil, oregano, salt/pepper and a dash of sugar. Cook on a low heat for 15-20 minutes, if sauce begins boiling you can remove from heat.

For the paste; grab a medium sized bowl; add the ricotta cheese and the egg. Next add the mozzarella, Parmesan and salt. Mix until everything has turned into a thick white paste. Cover and put in fridge until needed.

Now, onto the meat. First chop onions and bell peppers. Grab a medium pan, add 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil (not too much as the ground beef fat will add enough oils) Once pan is hot, add ground beef, allow to cook up to 1 minute while moving the meat around. Now add the onions and bell pepper along with some salt and pepper. Once brown, take away from heat and set to the side.

The finale prepping step is the creation.Preheat over to 450 degrees. Next grab a oven pan, spray with non-stick cooking spray and set aside. Use a large flat area or cutting board. Lay out each lasagna strip. Grab the paste, add a thin layer of the paste to each strip, next comes a thin layer of the ground beef and a small thinner layer of the sauce. Begin rolling towards you, slowly and delicately. Once you have one roll, place onto the rectangular oven pan. Continue the rolling for each lasagna strip, slowly adding another roll to the pan. Once all rolls are added add some more sauce on top of each roll with additional mozzarella and Parmesan shredded cheese.

Place in the oven for 25-30 minutes until a golden color is on top. Allow to cool before serving.

Bon Appetit!