Every moment of the year

This is dedicated to some good friends of mine who are always there for me. Like Tats and her husband who are the most fantastic dogsitters ever. They never say no. And Thatdog is madly in love with them. As soon as we pull into the drive he pulls to get out of the car, opens their gate with his nose and begins whining at the door. It's enough to make a person feel neglected.

Last time Tats watched Thatdog she invited us over for a barbeque when we came to pick him up. Watch our dog AND feed us? You couldn't ask for better friends. The only problem is, anyone who knows me knows I can't go anywhere empty handed. Since we had just returned from The Actress's wedding, I decided to give a recipe she had given me a whirl (see more good friends!). The only problem is, The Actress is not a cook. The Actress and her husband (holy crap, husband!) marveled at the fact we own a garlic press. So the recipe the Actress gave me, it had no amounts. PEOPLE if you're going to give someone a recipe could you do them a kindness and include important info like time, temperature, pan size, and amount of ingredients? I must have guestimated all right though, because the Mexican Lasagna went over really well, and Tats was overjoyed to have dinner already made for the next night.

In addition to the lasagna, I also decided to try out some Williams Sonoma Sprinkles Cupcake Mix. Seeing as how Tats is frequently the guinea pig for my baking experiments, I thought this would be the perfect thing to bring. I was skeptical of the mix, because I hadn't heard the greatest things about it, and having actually had Sprinkles I knew what I was comparing it to. Add to that the fact that until two weeks ago Thatboy's favorite cupcake in the world was Sprinkle's Red Velvet and I knew this mix had a lot to live up to. It lived up to all the hype. Thatboy declared this was even better than Sprinkles. When I gave him the bowl to lick (he gets all the hard jobs in this house) he made sure to tell me not to be stingy with the frosting. And it's true, this is the best cream cheese frosting recipe I've ever made (unlike the cake itself, the mix comes with a recipe for the frosting). I plan on using it exclusively from now on.

The Actress' Mexican Lasagna - my notes in parathenses

• pkg corn tortillas (I used 12)
• ground turkey (I used about 3/4 lb)
• pkg taco seasoning
• taco sauce
• can of corn
• can of black beans
• package of cheddar cheese (I used the Shredded Mexican cheese blend)

1. (Preheat oven to 375, cook ground turkey in large skillet over medium heat and mix with taco seasonings )
2. (Mix seasoned turkey with corn and black beans)
3. In a lasagna dish, layer corn tortillas all covering the body (I used 6 tortillas)
4. Then layer (half) cooked turkey mixed with corn and blackbeans
5. Layer (half) the cheese.
6. Then another layer of tortillas (I used the remaining 6)
7. Cover tortillas lightly with taco sauce (I used about 1/2 a cup) then start process over. (turkey/beans/corn/cheese)
8. Place in oven for 30 minutes, until cheese is melted.

Serves 8.
Each serving has:

Calories		391.1
Total Fat		17.6 g
Total Carbohydrate		34.2 g
Protein		25.2 g