Nona: I missed you at the annual quilt club summer party? Are you sick? Everyone's saying you got the COVID thing. Say it ain’t so! I sat across from you at Senior Cards, and I hear they stick something up your nose to give you the test.

Clem in Colburn Clem: No, Clem, Nona's feeling just fine. I plum forgot about the afternoon bash. I put my crock pot of chilli on the counter and had it simmering away, then I sat down to do one of those darn crossword puzzles. Next thing I knew it was naptime.

Nona is maybe suffering from a little bit of 'halfheimers.' It's better than Alzheimers, but I still forget a few things as I get older! It's not like I'm leaving home without putting my hair up or anything like that, and I've never missed my every-otherweek beauty parlor appointment. I don't really need to get my hair done that often, but I don't want to miss out on all the town gossip that comes from there. I have a deal with Connie with the Curlers that she comes and turns off the dryer after about five minutes and she lets me just lie there and listen to all the chattering that goes on in the beauty parlor for an extra 15 minutes. I sneak her a dozen of my famous snickerdoodles once a month. I consider it paying for intelligence. It's kind of like the CIA does. I like to track the activities of the various operatives working undercover on the streets of Lublin. I’m not ashamed of the fact that I have to take extraordinary measures to get this information.

I'm sure the town is already buzzing with juicy news about why I wasn't there Sunday afternoon. I was wondering why Nosy Nate drove past my trailer three times last night, obviously trying to look in and see if a fella was sitting in my Lazy Boy. No such luck. It was just me, sitting in my old rocker trying to crack this crossword. And it was such an easy one too. We're born and raised on polka music here in town. The radio station slogan is 'All Polkas, All Da Time Fer Cripes Sake!' The high school marching band plays only polkas, and their rendition of the Star Spangled Banner brings tears to my eyes every time. And here I was on a Sunday evening, when I was supposed to be at a party, trying to crack this one. Six letters. Fourth one is a 'L.' It was so darn easy. The clue was the 'The Real Capital of Taylor County.' I just couldn't put my finger on it, though.

It should have been completely obvious that it was Lublin!

Summer Lasagna Ingredients

1 pound Beef, ground, regular raw ½ cup Onions, raw ½ cup Peppers, sweet, green, raw; green bell pepper ¼ cup Carrots, raw 2 cloves Garlic, raw 1 (15 ounce) can Tomato products, canned, sauce ½ teaspoon Spices, oregano, ground ½ teaspoon dried basil leaves 1 pinch Salt, table 5 medium Zucchini, raw 1 cup Cheese, cottage, creamed, large or small curd 1 Egg, whole, raw, fresh ¾ cup Cheese, mozzarella, part skim milk ¼ cup Cheese, parmesan, grated

the population disappears into the woods of the Great Lublin National Forest. Every 6.2 seconds you hear a gun shot, and the folks head into town for three reasons: to register their kill, for more beer and because the Packers are on TV.

So, to get an accurate population count around here, they have to count at around Christmas.

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a medium baking dish.

In a skillet over medium heat, cook the ground beef until evenly brown. Drain juices. Mix the onion, green bell pepper, carrots, garlic, and tomato sauce into the skillet. Season with oregano, basil, salt, and pepper. Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce heat to low, and simmer 10 minutes, until vegetables are tender.

In the bottom of the prepared baking dish, layer 1/2 the zucchini strips. In a bowl, beat together the cottage cheese and egg, and spread over the zucchini. Scoop 1/2 the beef mixture over the cottage cheese and egg mixture, and sprinkle with 1/2 the mozzarella