Endless Snow

We've had so much snow lately--and two snow days--that Harold just sits in the rocker and looks out the window. He knows it's too cold to venture outdoors to play, and he doesn't really care for his boots.


Without his boots, however, his paws freeze up, and he demands to be carried back home. Do you think he's at all spoiled?

Winter Carnival and Hannah

Hannah went to Winter Carnival on the 26th of January.


Unfortunately, she had just finished up finals before the big weekend. Because she's in Student Council, she's also involved in planning, setting up, and breaking down the dance. The weekend as a whole was draining for her; she even began taking afternoon naps.


Luckly, she got a bargain dress, and her hair looked lovely!


How lucky can one be at 15? Final exams even went well!


Here she is with a couple of girlfriends before the dance. Too bad she didn't have any fun!

Eggplant Parmigana

Eggplant Parmigana—Start to Finish

This recipe adapted from Mario Batali’s Eggplant Parmigana in Molto Italiano. As always, read the entire recipe before proceeding!

Servings: Makes enough for 3 to 4 dinner servings (possibly more depending on eggplant size).

Sauce—Step 1:
Ingredients:
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
2 28-ounce cans diced tomatoes
1 large yellow onion, finely chopped
4 to 7 cloves garlic, crushed
2 carrots, peeled and very finely chopped
2 tablespoons dried thyme

Preparation:
Dice onions, peel and crush garlic, and chop carrots in a mini food processor.

Heat the olive oil in a 4-quart pan over medium-high heat. Sauté the onions and garlic for about five minutes. Add the carrots and the thyme. Continue sautéing for another 3 to 4 minutes. Add the tomatoes, and simmer for about an hour. Let the sauce cool for another hour or two.

Put ½ the sauce into the large bowl of a food processor and pulse 3 or 4 times. Repeat this process with the second ½ of the sauce. You will only use about ½ of the sauce for the eggplant parmigana. Use the other ½ within a week (refrigerated), or freeze for later use.

Eggplant Parmigana—Step 2:
Ingredients:
2 medium eggplants
salt and freshly ground black pepper
dried Italian seasoning
1 pound fresh buffalo mozzarella, cut with egg slicer
¼ cup parmigiano reggiano, grated
¾ cup bread crumbs, toasted

Preheat oven to 450°.

Preparation:
Spray a cookie sheet with olive oil. Cut the eggplant into 1/3-inch slices, and arrange slices on cookie sheet. Sprinkle each slice with salt and pepper. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until the tops begin to brown. Remove from oven and reduce oven heat to 350°.







In individual Pyrex baking dishes or in a large baking dish, build eggplant towers. Begin with a layer of sauce, followed by an eggplant slice, followed by more sauce, buffalo mozzarella cheese, and a sprinkle of Italian seasoning. Repeat three or four times, depending on the number of eggplant slices you have and the number of towers you are building. If you make the towers too tall, they will lean, like Piza, and possibly fall down.

On the top layer, sprinkle the parmigiano reggiano and the toasted bread crumbs.