good times

Recent things that I have thoroughly enjoyed:

1. The first asparagus of the season, which means, of course, that spring has officially arrived!

2. Asado! Our climbing friends Marcus and Seran had a spectacular Asado. Great people. Wine. And fabulous Argentinian grass-fed beef.

3. Speaking of climbing, we’ve been climbing a little more than I can take. In a good way! Casa de Dani. Valle Encantado. Piedras Blancas. And Cerro Ventana. We’ve had incredible weather. And have met some awesome new friends.

4. Homemade lasagna. Nate handcrafted perfect, thin, lasagna noodles. I provided the homemade sauce, local fresh spinach ricotta cheese, and extra layers. We put it all together… and voila! Without exaggeration, the best lasagna we had ever ever ever tasted! See below for the recipe!

Future things that I am looking forward to:

1. My birthday next Saturday.
2. My father visiting shortly thereafter.
3. My new Keeper.
4. Plants. Plants. Plants!
5. Yummy spring produce.
6. Trekking and more climbing.



Spinach Lasagna. Yum.

Noodles: Crack open approximately 2 eggs per decent-sized casserole dish. Beat and add flour until you can knead dough. Continue adding flour and begin to roll out in very thin sheets. Break dough into smaller balls to roll out to ensure manageability and thinness. Cut accordingly for lasagna and hang to dry for 20-30 minutes. Put in boiling water bit by bit with some vegetable oil so that the noodles don’t stick together. Test noodles as you go, and pretty soon you’ll have your very own sore shoulders from rolling and kneading so much to produce some excellent homemade noodles.

Sauce: Fresh tomatoes if available. It’s not yet season here in Bariloche, so I used store bought tomato paste and spiced it up. Plenty of basil, oregano, rosemary, and black pepper.

Ricotta: Homemade or packaged ricotta. Steamed or boiled spinach. Swiss chard works well also. Dash of olive oil. Salt and pepper to taste. Maybe some nutmeg ☺

Others layers: Mozzarella, fresh minced garlic.

Layer until all ingredients are exhausted. Cover with freshly grated parmesan cheese.

Bake. Enjoy.