Lasangawareness

Tom needed to come up with something he could cook to serve to Helen and Jay for a quick meal when they drop by to pick up Peter on the way to Chicago later. (Long story, don't ask.) He suggested lasagna, because it cooks and then sits for a while, thus being ready when they arrive with a bit of a window of opportunity. I flinched, because lasagna does not seem like a summer dish to me, although Tom's version made with Italian sausage is scrumptious. But we went and got the makings anyway.

Turns out that July -- yes, JULY -- is Lasagna Awareness Month. I have no idea who decided this. The Obama administration probably caved to the powerful Lasagna Lobby in DC, instead of going with a right-thinking all-American Hamburger Awareness Month. But I digress.

To help make you more aware of lasagna, here are some questions, no doubt assembled at great cost after extensive research by the said Lasagna Lobby's minions. My comments are in red.

Question 1: When do historians believe the first lasagna noodle appeared?
Middle Ages [When do people notice the first lasanga waistline spread? Again, Middle Age.] One of the most primitive forms of pasta, lasagna was considered a staple during the Middle Ages. [I cannot imagine how this worked. I guess if you press a wet noodle between two pieces of paper, it acts as a glue, thus producing the same effect modern folks get with a metal staple.]

Question 2: T/F: In Italy, you seldom find rippled lasagna noodles.
True. While rippled lasagna noodles are commonly found in America, they are not common in Italy. [Your basic Italian likes the lean and hungry look, and after all, Ripples are potato chips and virtually useless for holding sheets of paper together.]

Question 3: Aside from tomato sauce, what other sauce is frequently added to lasagna?
Aside from tomato sauce, béchamel is frequently added to lasagna. [Béchamel sauce (pronounced /bɛʃəˈmɛl/ in English, [beʃaˈmɛl] in French, [beʃaˈmɛlla] in Italian), also known as white sauce, is a basic sauce that is used as the base for other sauces, such as Mornay sauce, which is Béchamel and cheese. This basic sauce, one of the mother sauces of French cuisine, is usually made by whisking scalded milk gradually into a white flour-butter roux {beurre manié}. The thickness of the final sauce depends on the proportions of milk and flour. Why anyone would do this instead of just opening a can of tomato sauce is beyond me, and I bet it is beyond you, too. I imagine, however, that Béchamel sauce makes a dandy glue for sticking papers together.]

Question 4: Just how big was the largest lasagna ever created?
On May 11, 2008, the largest lasagna ever made was created by Spaghetti Warehouse and weighed 4.4 tons, taking up 2,000 square feet — approximately the size of a house. [I would bet any amount of money they used tomato sauce. Can you imagine whisking all the scalded milk and flour to make a house-sized lasagna? Also, since this was obviously a publicity stunt for Spaghetti Warehouse, why didn't they make it the size of a warehouse? Talk about your missed opportunities!]

Question 5: Which cartoon feline has a famous affinity for lasagna?
Garfield [If you want to know why Garfield hated Mondays, it was because he was still constipated from all the mozzarella he consumed over the weekend. I suspect, however, that his claws could have been used as an effective staple.]

And now I have done my part to make Lasagna Awareness Month all that it is meant to be.
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A follow-up on the day lilies. I'm not posting photos because you can't really tell much from them, but the tall ones are about four feet tall (1.21 m), the short ones may be only a foot or so (30.5 cm) , with others ranging all the way in between. The blooms are mostly yellow on the shorter ones, with the taller ones orange or even purplish.