{"id":1390,"date":"2021-11-22T10:35:10","date_gmt":"2021-11-22T17:35:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/clearasmud.blog\/?p=1390"},"modified":"2021-11-23T08:11:38","modified_gmt":"2021-11-23T15:11:38","slug":"lasagna-legacy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mud.webromancy.com\/?p=1390","title":{"rendered":"Lasagna Legacy"},"content":{"rendered":"
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I\u2019m asked all the time if I can share recipes. The thing is, I\u2019m not a food blogger and there are so many great ones out there, that I don\u2019t feel like there is a need for my recipes \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Occasionally there is a recipe, I feel compelled share. Usually, because it\u2019s food sensitivity compliant, as in GF, dairy free etc.\u2026 or it carries special meaning for me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Enter Tofu Lasagna. I know it doesn\u2019t sound like a recipe you\u2019d run to try out, but it\u2019s yummy, nutritious, and the reason I feel in I want to share it is because of the sentimental value it holds for me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, a little background and context is in order. I thank you for indulging me the space to share a part of my history. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As you may know, I grew up in San Antonio, Texas. My parents established the Chabad Jewish center for Life and Learning over 35 years ago. I loved growing up in Texas and I loved growing up in a home that was dedicated to service and community. One of the challenges though was Jewish schooling. When I turned 13 and needed\/wanted to be in an atmosphere where my peers were like me (in their traditional Jewish values) and where I would be able to grow in my Judaic studies, my parents had to make the hard decision to send me out of town for school.  Side note: now that I\u2019m a parent living in a place with no Jewish schooling, I get to appreciate how hard this was for them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, I left home at the age of 13, heading to Chicago for 8th<\/sup> grade. I did not know any Chicagoans, and I was going into a class that had been together for all of elementary school. I am an introvert, not to be confused with shy\u2026but it is hard for me to be in overwhelming social situations even with people I know, never-mind trying to find my place amongst a bunch of 13-year who\u2019ve known each other for ten years prior\u2026 I am so lucky that my class was awesome, and I made friends quickly.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A few days before Rosh Hashana, a girl in my class, Dena Lubin invited me to her house to study for a test. Of course, I jumped at the opportunity! I look back at that moment and I get emotional when realize that that was the start of not only an amazing friendship, but the Lubin\u2019s becoming my home away from home for the next five years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I remember everything from that first night, what we had for dinner (Yom Tov chicken soup, which remains a joke until today). The conversations we had and we did actually study, and if you know me, then you know that that\u2019s quite the accomplishment. Only Dena could get me to study, we are quite opposite :). She\u2019s studious to my impatience, she\u2019s tall to my shortness, she\u2019s calm to my crazy. You would never imagine us being friends, but it couldn\u2019t be more perfect. How did she get me to study you might ask? bribes, snack-break bribes like a 2-year-old, but hey it worked. Point being, that it\u2019s really hard for me to explain in words how from the second I walked through the front door of their house, I felt at home. That was it, it wasn\u2019t like I gradually became more comfortable and started to spend more time there. It was like I went the first night and I was part of the family. Dr. and Mrs. Lubin just welcomed me, embraced me and honestly, I have no idea why. I could count on them for everything. I don\u2019t know what my experience would\u2019ve been like, living so far away from home at such a young age, without them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n