Ina-You're-My-Hero-And-Happy-Birthday-Casey-Lasagna

Yesterday was a happy day! Casey came home from camp, it was his birthday, and a culinary miracle happened right here in my kitchen...thanks to Jesus and Ina, the Barefoot Contessa. I believe it to be a miracle, because 1. I'm not a very good cook and 2. I never cook anything unhealthy enough to be that good anyways ;).

I got a very late start on dinner, which was disappointing because Braelyn had to go to bed before it was ready (she had her own dinner, of course). But we couldn't let her miss out on cake and candles, so we did that first.

(Yes, that's a sad, store-bought birthday cake, and also sad, that's not 30 candles.)

After we got Braelyn to bed, my heavenly Ina Lasagna was ready. The up-side to the late dinner was that it was very quiet and romantic. I didn't have to get up from the table once! It was really the first time Casey and I were able to sit and talk in over a week, maybe two. Very nice!
Ok...so let's talk about this lasagna...SoooOOOooo delicious!!!

I wanted Casey's birthday dinner to be really special, so I thought I'd try something a little fancier than normal. After browsing the Net, I decided on Barefoot Contessa's lasagna recipe, which you can find here. I watch Barefoot Contessa every once in a while, and her food always looks amazing but I've never tried anything before this (except for her cookie mix that you can buy at the store...FABULOUS!).

Now, folks...this ain't no CookingLight lasagna! This recipe is gonna do some damage to your diet, but IT IS worth it! It did call for turkey sausage, which might bring it from like 5000 calories to 4000, but our HEB didn't have any, so I used regular mild sausage. 5000 it is! And, I just picked up a package of mozzarella, but when I started cooking I realized that she uses fresh mozz. So, I bet that makes it even better! The star of this recipe however, is the goat cheese. Oh my gosh, it's so good!
Most importantly, I think Casey really enjoyed it...which is saying something because he's a pretty tough critic. I have to say...I was a proud little wifey. ;)

Finally, a little warning...I know I've already done a number of posts about Braelyn/Casey birthday celebrations...um...more are coming. I know, it's crazy. We've celebrated together, but not with any family or friends yet, and so when that happens, I'm sure I will feel compelled to post more pictures and whatnot, so...yeah...more birthday blogging to come.