God Bless America

I had a yay-for-America moment tonight.

I was making a last-minute lasagna, meaning it had to be done by 6p.m. This was when I knew my father-in-law would be coming through the door from work. I also knew he was heading right out again for a meeting, so dinner had to be on the table.

It was nearly 5:30 and I had to get that thing in the oven. I had the sauce ready, the ricotta sitting on the counter with the lid off. Then I remembered the cheese.

Darn, I still had to grate it.

I headed out to the refrigerator in the garage where I'd seen a block of mozzarella. When I slid open the drawer, lo and behold, there on top of the block of mozzarella was pre-shredded Italian cheese. Two packages of the stuff.

I headed back to the kitchen humming "God Bless America."

There's nothing like living in China for eight years to make you grateful for small things like pre-shredded cheese in zip lock packaging.


Side Note: On the ironic side of life, even though I got the lasagna in at 5:30-ish, the whole wheat pasta I'd used took longer to cook than the brand I used in China. So ... well ... the father-in-law had to eat salad and bread and head out to his meeting without lasagna. I guess he'll eat some when he gets home.

Sigh.

Oh well. I tried.