Comfort Food

What the heck?

It was in the high 80's last week here in the Twin Cities. My plants began to sprout their little heads through the dirt (the peonies are a different story- they're HUGE!). The girls came inside with a sunburn. The yard got raked and the deck stained.

Yesterday, it was cold. It rained. And rained. But it was such a welcome rain and we are in need of so much more of it. You can already see the difference in the yard as it started to green during the day. This week will be a week of temps in the 50's to 60's. You know, temps in the 50's a few weeks ago would have been considered down right balmy!

When it is cold and rainy, I love to cook comfort foods. Here is one of my stand by recipes for those kind of days (and I did make this last night).

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Baked Ziti

1 pound dry ziti (or similar noodle)

1 onion, chopped

1 pound lean ground beef

2 jars/cans (26 ounces each) spaghetti sauce

6 ounces provolone cheese, sliced

1 1/2 cups sour cream

6 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded

2 tbsp grated parmesan cheese

* Preheat oven to 350. Grease 9x13 inch baking dish (the deeper the better).

* Boil pasta according to package to al dente. Drain.

* In large skillet, brown onion and beef over medium heat. Add spaghetti sauce and simmer for 15 minutes.

*To assemble, layer as follows: half of ziti, all of provolone cheese, all of sour cream, half of meat sauce, remaining ziti, mozzarella cheese and remaining sauce mix. Top with grated parmesan.

*Cover and bake for 30 minutes or until cheeses are melted. Let stand 15 minutes before serving.

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Yum! Alot of times, I will split this into two 8x8 pans and freeze one (don't bake it before). When frozen, I pop it in the oven at 400 degrees for about 45 minutes or until heated through. Make some garlic bread and salad and it is a wonderful, cheesy feast!

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Now, some comfort food for the soul. Our church is doing a wonderful series on marriage now call "Truly. Madly. Deeply. Stuck." They post the Sunday message on their website by the following Wednesday each week. Really, check it out if you have some time. You can do just the audio, a video or podcast. Click "Eagle Brook Church" over there on my sidebar, then choose "Messages Online" on the right hand side of the homepage. Or, CLICK HERE and see if the link to the page works.

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Do you see that ticker on the top of my page for the Abby and Maddy's birthday? Their third birthday is fast approaching! My babies- the little bundles that I could hold at the same time with no problem, the ones that drowned in newborn diapers when they came home- are now little girls.

It goes WAY too fast.