We have painted the red cross on our door. I have the plague too*. Sad. I woke up this morning with it sitting on my chest and all my muscles and joints and my head and other things too, sitting there mocking me. I crawled down the stairs, took my pills and settled in to watch movies [Ferris Bueller's Day Off and These Girls]. I’ve eaten some Cream of Wheat and now I’m sitting up for a while. There are plans to try a walk this afternoon.

* May not be the plague.

The lasagne turned out beautifully! I’m delighted with it and because it was so tall [eight layers!] I got eight portions out of it. Six are going in the freezer today. The cheese is so perfect. The sauce was delicious. I should note though, that I used Quorn mince and Linda McCartney Vegetarian Sausages, no actual meat. I didn’t bake it quite long enough, but Weasel and I were hungry and we’re not picky so we ate it slightly cool. Delicious even then. I am going to make it again for my birthday next month. Also, I used real parmesan as I cannot buy the stuff in a can here [to my knowledge anyway]. Oh, and I didn’t have quite enough cottage cheese, so I topped with up with sour cream. Yummy.

I’m going to have a party of some sort. I haven’t decided for sure which sort, I’m torn between simple dinner party or a slumber party. I even have a vague idea of who I want to invite! I wasn’t sure of the protocol of having a co-ed slumber party for one’s 28th birthday? Plus, it may baffle the British. When I asked Horatio about it he said he wouldn’t call it a slumber party, but the type of party would be acceptable. I am thinking on it.

Strangely, the plague doesn’t feel that different than a bad WG day, physically speaking. Mentally speaking though, my head feels all floaty and confused.

Weasel has the plague*. She and I went on a walk [fresh air and all that]. I’ve been coughing since December 2007. She’s been coughing for about three days. We sounded like the walking dead. This made me giggle. Which made Weasel giggle. Which made both of us cough more. You can see the cycle. Hilariously painful.

* May not be the plague.

So I was reading my WG list, and someone mentioned that one of my drugs [azathioprine] causes lower back pain. It is such a relief knowing my pain is not a new feature of me, but a side-effect. I read my drug leaflets very carefully, so I was surprised I didn’t know this was a side-effect. I checked my leaflet again and it says instead, ‘joint and muscle pain’, which is a feature of WG anyway. It explains my left hip [joint] and my back [muscle]. The joys of being ill!

I’ve been lusting over The Pioneer Woman’s Best Ever Lasagne for almost two years. For age I was simply too ill to do it. Today things finally aligned and I made it! I suspect that my 9″x13″ pan is smaller than everyone else’s. I barely managed to fit the eight layers in, I’ve had to set the pan on a baking sheet to catch any spillage in the oven. I’ll bake it for dinner this evening then freeze the rest. I’m using the wonderful tomato sauce my Dad recommended to me. I’d link to the original, but we’ve altered it heavily… why don’t I just post it here then! Good god, I can do that!

Base Tomato Sauce

1 large onion, chopped
1 bulb roast garlic†
3 roast bell peppers (any colour)†
15-20 sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
2 (28 ounce/400g) cans chopped tomatoes
2 (12 ounce) can tomato paste OR 1/2 tube tomato puree
1 box (500g) passata
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon white sugar
3 bay leaves
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried parsley flakes
1 teaspoon dried ground cloves
1 teaspoon dried sage
1 teaspoon dried marjoram
1 teaspoon dried thyme

Place onion, garlic, peppers and sun-dried tomatoes in large pot. There should be enough olive oil from the peppers and tomatoes to sauté the onion, if there isn’t add a little more.

When the onions are translucent add the remaining ingredients in order.

Simmer on a low heat for 30 minutes to 1 hour. It freezes well.

† I roasted my garlic and peppers together. To roast garlic: cut off top of bulb to expose all cloves. Place on aluminium foil and pour a little olive oil on top of bulb. Wrap bulb in foil and place on baking tray/roasting dish. For peppers: clean and cut into whatever size you’d like (I did quarters). Place in bowl with 2 parts olive oil to 1 part balsamic vinegar. I did three peppers with 4 tbps oil and 2 tbsp vinegar. I cover the bowl with plastic wrap and shake, you can put a lid on or whatever you like. Put on tray/dish with garlic and place in very hot oven (gas mark 9 or 475F) for 20 minutes, stir/turn peppers and move garlic, then check every 10 minutes until they look how you want.

This is an excellent tomato sauce, it can been tweaked to go with whatever dish you’re making. I used it initially for spaghetti with Quorn Swedish Meatballs [made in the slow cooker for five hours, sweet jesus it was good!]. I obviously used it for lasagne today, I’m excited to try it with Spinach & Ricotta cannelloni.

I could talk about food forever. Love love love.

I finally installed Sims 2 on my new computer and I’ve been playing the Dreamer family. I’ve bitten the bullet and bought Pets and Seasons off of eBay [both for only £15!!]. I’m excited for them to arrive so I can have a doggy and see winter. The only one I’m missing after that is Bon Voyage [not to mention all the object packs]. I need a new distraction, I conquered Zuma. I kicked ass, broke a million! My life has become very small.