Homemade Lasagna

It's a little hard to see the layers, but they're there.

I am not Italian, but I cook a lot of Italian food.

I grew up on Long Island, where we had a very large Italian community. We also had a large Jewish community which also influenced my taste in foods, and growing up in a German household we had plenty of German foods.

But I have to say my favourite of all three is Italian.

Mum's Baked Ham

Before being sliced for Easter dinner

I didn't care for ham growing up. It was always either the fancy spiral ham for a special occasion, or the canned ham you opened with a key.

Then I got married and had my mother in law's ham.

Lemon Ginger Chicken

I wanted something light for tonight's dinner, and as I was getting a late start, I also needed something fast.

Homemade Hamburger Helper

I know, I know, it sounds icky. But it actually tastes good, and it's much better for you than the box version. And even better, it doesn't take long to make and it contains stuff I have in my pantry.

Honey Mustard Tarragon Chicken

This is a recipe from Jean Pare, a Canadian staple on the cookbook front with her "Company's Coming" series of cookbooks. I have been making it for years, sharing it on various other websites.

She uses a lot of condiments and canned soups in her recipes, things that many people have in their cupboard. I'm not a huge fan of that, but she has some really good recipes which are great in a pinch. This is one of them.

Lemon-Garlic Chicken Thighs

Recently, I came across a whole three ring binder of Cooking Light Magazine recipes I had clipped from 2000 to 2007. I had given up clipping the newer ones, instead I collected all the Cooking Light Annual Recipe books from 1999 to 2011. It seemed more tidy that way.

Baked Pasta, AKA Baked Ziti

I was going to make Eggplant Parmesan this week, but when I discovered how much three medium sized eggplants were going to cost, I decided maybe that could wait.

I already had the mozzarella cheese, and with ricotta being (slightly) less expensive than the eggplant, I decided to make a Baked Ziti.

Jamaican Jerk Pork Buns

I am sincerely and deeply grateful that I am able to have enough food to have leftovers when so many do not have enough to eat. But I have to admit I hate trying to figure out what to do with them.

"Japanese" Style Chicken

I have no idea why these would be considered "Japanese" style as opposed to any other Asian style of cooking. What makes something particularly Japanese or Chinese or Italian?