It Feels Like Family

Its 6:30 in the morning on a Sunday. No one is out of bed but my husband and me. Its not Thanksgiving for another five days, yet this moment has the feel of "Holiday". There's a feast in the making!

I'll explain: My parents, asleep in the guest room upstairs, are nearing the end of their two week visit from Ohio. This afternoon, my sister who lives about twenty minutes away, will come over with her husband and two daughters. Our own son is asleep on the couch in the family room. As soon as I can start making noise in the kitchen, I'll bake a chocolate layer cake to put on lavish display on the cake stand that my dear mate bought for me yesterday. One dish of lasagna is in the refrigerator and the other will be pulled together while the cake is baking. We're having a cold snap outside, but the house will be blessed by the warm oven nearly all day.

Of the assembling group of nine, one has a some dietary needs so there can be no hidden seeds or nuts; three are vegetarians (including the cook so you can guess that the menu will not include meat); one is at the beginning of her teens and is reputed to be a bit of a discriminating eater; several are dedicated athletes and will be hungry by supper. I just plain like to eat.

The main dishes will be two lasagnas: One will be red with a sauce milled free of tomato seeds to velvety-smooth. Added in are onions, garlic, herbs and the deep red flavor that comes from the addition of a nice bit of the organic red wine that one of my nieces brought from her "neighborhood winery" in Missoula, Montana. The other will be white with a bechamel that I'll make some time this morning. Both will have fillings of fresh ricotta and mozarella. There's lovely fresh basil chopped into the ricotta in the red pan. The white dish's ricotta filling will hold pieces of sauteed Chanterelles gathered by Kurt last week and a sprinkling of nutmeg. Good golly. Is it time to eat yet?

Dessert will be the chocolate cake from the recipe that Hershey has on the back of their can of unsweetened cocoa. Their "Perfect" chocolate cake really is. Its one of the easiest cakes that I make and it does wonderfully in layers, sheet, or cupcakes. I have recently decided that I am going to return the layer cake to the spotlight which has so recently been hogged by the cupcake. I like cupcakes, but there is a beautiful formality to a filled and iced layer cake that makes cupcakes look like little girls playing dress up. For us, for this gathering of family, dessert will be perched like a queen on her pedestal.

Some time this early evening, people will pick up plates and fill them. Some will sit at tables and other will balance on laps. Food will be eaten. The piano will be played. Pictures will be taken. Laughter will happen. Except for a few missing members of the family, the menu and the day should be satisfying and complete.