All right, so you’re at home with the oven preheated and you’re looking to make lasagna for your family. You have one hour before the wife gets home from work (it’s your night to cook), and suddenly you’re hit by a memory – The memory of your last lasagna.
That’s right. Last month, you were attempting to make the #1 lasagna when something happened that was unexpected. With the family around the table, you clutched your lasagna pan with a hot glove and a knife in the other. Your lips pressed firmly in concentration you drove the knife into your lasagna and carved a piece for your wife. However, when you manoeuvred your spatula and dug out that delectable piece, it became unbalanced and sopped off the spatula. It all came crumbling down. Your wife frowns as the lasagna piece laid upside-down on the dining room table. It was at this time that you’ve realized you’ve mistakenly made the #2 lasagna. Your children openly weep.
You snap from your daydream with a start. In fervor, you rush to the fridge in search for the missing ingredient to strengthen your lasagna. However, you already plan to use a denser cheese composition, AND you plan to reinforce your lasagna with long strips of eggplant that run consistently throughout the bottom layer as a sort of foundation.
As you frantically search through the vegetables crisper and through the sauces against the fridge door, you hear the oven chime its familiar jingle to inform you that it’s ready to bake. You swing around, and look at the clock – there’s no time. With a heavy heart, you move towards your half-prepared lasagna to finish its final steps before baking.
The dark memories of your #2 lasagna still haunt you, almost taunting. The sound of that single piece hitting the dining room table reverberates and echoes in your mind. You open the oven door and gingerly slide your lasagna onto the top shelf. Close the door behind you, you swear you can hear your lasagna laughing at you. Mocking you. As if to say, “You better not put down a white table cloth this evening.”
You didn’t know this while you spent the rest of the hour regrettably watching the lasagna bake, but if you had only made it thinner than it would have been stronger and less susceptible to flopping around. For tonight, it’s too late. Maybe next time you’ll make a more solid lasagna.
