Every other week, Gwen Baker of Red Lion begins the whole process again.
The retired human resources manager heads out to supermarkets and a BJ’s Wholesale Club in search of the best prices for tomatoes, meats, cheeses and lasagna noodles before hunkering down in her kitchen.
It’s there where it takes her six hours to prepare two or more pans of lasagna layered with homemade tomato sauce, ground beef, ground turkey and Italian sausage along with a trio of cheeses: mozzarella, ricotta and Parmesan.
But forkfuls of this classic Italian comfort food won’t end up in the her dinner table, even though the mouth-watering smell of fresh baked lasagna fills her home twice a month.
Instead, she will wrap them up and drive to the Delaware homes of a strangers in need and deliver them the loaded-down pans, all just to spread some ‘lasagna love.’
In the two years since hearing about the Lasagna Love program from her daughter Brandie, Baker has made about 120 lasagnas expecting nothing in return, pairing them with Delawareans dealing with hardships, through a international non-profit launched at the start of the pandemic by a California mother of three.