There are things about Hawaii that drive me crazy. First, the bugs. Second, the lack of Italian.

Now, I have seen Mascarpone Cheese at the commissary before and I’m about 50% sure I’m not crazy. When I went back, there was none and the lady had no idea what I was talking about. No clue whatsoever. Which just made me turn to my husband and give him the OMG WTH look. To which he gave me the We don’t live in Italy look. Always the voice of reason, that one.

We went home so the girls could nap and I left to go find the stinkin’ cheese. I LOVE mascarpone. LOVE IT. I also have an unrealistic love of really good Parmigiano Reggiano. Pretty much anything Italiano is more than welcome in my house (except for the wild men…my husband would not appreciate that).

Our first babysitter here in Hawaii (who was from New England, which gave her extra brownie points) had just moved back from Italy and appreciated my homemade pasta.

Anyways, I went on a search for this delicious cheese.

4 stores. 4!! At one I had a tourist tell me that I shouldn’t complain about the lack of cheese and eat some pineapple, to which I wanted to note the pineapple she had in her hand was grown in Chile…not Hawaii, but I shut my mouth and went on my merry way. Living in Hawaii is different from visiting on vacation, unfortunately I’m not on vacation here. So I went to the next store, where they didn’t know what I was talking about.

Finally, I went to Safeway. Went to the specialty cheese island and *gasp* there it was. Mascarpone. Lots and lots of it. I could have cried I was so happy. Happy because I didn’t have to drive anymore (they are filling Hawaii 5-0…so…it’s kind of a pain to drive when some of the freeways are closed). I was only about 20 miles from my house (my car has some electrical issue that only affects the passenger side window and our warranty is about to expire (based on mileage)) so I’m trying to conserve miles so my husband can take it to the dealership.

Right. Mascarpone. You’re probably wondering why I was so desperate to find it.

Coud it be Tiramisu? Nope, but good guess since it’s my favorite (homemade, not store bought). Cheesecake? No. Lasagna? DING DING! Yes.

5 Cheese Lasagna!

This was really great except for the fact that my husband bought ‘no bake’ lasagna noodles. I was going to say something, but he seemed to be really excited about finding them so I didn’t. If you are making this, use boiled noodles or make some pasta sheets and use those. The ‘no-bake’ noodles are just not moist enough.

I love cheese. I love mascarpone and this, was cheesie love. I’m so grateful for Safeway and there enormous stack of cheese.