recipe 1: lasagna, part one.

Working away from home has taken me from my favourite household chore, cooking. To some, it truly is a task which they despise of or fear. I suppose my fondness of preparing food began at a young age, often watching chefs on television with my parents. We always had fun when the power was out in the winter and we were forced to cook on the wood stove. I was lucky to be raised by two good cooks. In my teenage years I spent much of my time working in various restaurants in the Comox Valley, including two years at the Kingfisher Inn. It was at the Kingfisher where I learned most of the cooking skills that I use today. For those without restuarant experience in can understand how cooking can be intimidating, and I would strongly recommend any young person to take a job in a kitchen. If you can survive working in a commercial kitchen, you will excel in any field that you chose. The experience gave me a great respect for those that prepare our meals. It is fast paced, hot, dirty work and it doesn't pay well. All this being said, most of my favourite meals are those prepared at home. Even with the skill and knowledge to prepare some pretty uptown dishes, I always find myself resorting to the foods that not only nourish your body, but also warm your heart. On a blustery west coast day nothing makes me feel better than the aroma of cheese, garlic and tomatoes permeating the farthest reaches of the house. The bubbling layers releasing a preview of the strata of flavour held beneath its golden crust. There are many variations of this wonderful dish, the one that is most often prepared in my kitchen is of the meat sauce family. This is not my mothers recipe, to be honest I rarely follow any recipe, using my imagination and ingredients on hand as a rule. I usually start off by frying one sliced yellow onion in a mix of olive oil and butter until golden. Once the onion is cooked, I remove it from the pan and brown the meat. To the meat is added half a bulb of garlic, crushed, freshly cracked black pepper, one small shredded carrot, one chopped celery stick, with the leaves preferably, oregano, thyme and basil, all dried, one large can of crushed tomatoes, one small can of tomato paste, re add the onions, a bay leaf and add a good half teaspoon of anchovy paste. Let all this bubble away on low to medium heat while you prep the cheese filling. For the cheese filling I use one large container of cottage cheese, half a cup of fresh parmesean, one package of frozen spinach, half a cup of fresh basil, thinly sliced, one sauted chalotte