By Samantha Hill
Mitchell James has served as one of Gadsden’s finest for over 20 years. Most of that has been as my father’s police partner, but to us, he’s always been more than a colleague, he’s family. My first memory of Mitch is wrapped in the scent of syrup and the sound of laughter. It was Christmas morning, and my dad invited him over to join us as we opened presents. We gathered around the living room, passing pancake-on-a-stick like heirlooms. That quirky breakfast became our family’s Christmas tradition, and Mitch remained a fixture in our lives. It was the start of a bond that would be seasoned with food and stories for decades.
When I got the chance to interview Mitch for this article, I asked him a simple question: What does food mean to you? His answer led us down a path paved with memory, love, and the quiet strength of a woman named Aunt May.
“She was short, sweet, and had a heart of gold,” Mitch said, voice soft with remembrance. “But she was tough, tough enough to raise three kids on her own and turn them into a police officer, a nurse practitioner, and a medical laboratory technician.”
Aunt May wasn’t just a cook. She was a caretaker, a disciplinarian, and a magician in the kitchen. Mitch recalled a day from his childhood when he had dental work done. Aunt May, ever thoughtful, crafted a meal that was gentle yet comforting: oven-warmed hot dogs, toasted buns, smothered in cheese and chili. It wasn’t gourmet, but it was love on a plate.
“You could tell she put her heart into it,” he said. That meal didn’t just feed him; it helped heal him.
When I asked Mitch what one meal he’d choose to have again, he didn’t hesitate. It was Aunt May’s Thanksgiving dressing. He described how she would spend the entire day before Thanksgiving cooking, filling the house with the fragrant promise of celebration. The air would be thick with the scent of sage, onions, and roasted goodness; a smell that said, you are home. It was her way of loving her babies, through food, through time, through care.
We talked about how recipes are more than instructions. They’re stories. Even if you follow them to the letter, they’ll never taste quite the same without that pinch of love, that dash of memory, that spoonful of soul. Food, Mitch reminded me, is memory, it’s legacy, it’s the quiet way we say I love you without words.
So, I asked him: If you could share one recipe with the world, what would it be? Without missing a beat, he chose his lasagna.
“It’s the dish I make when I want people to know I love them,” he said. “It’s hearty, comforting, and layered with everything I’ve learned about cooking and care.”
Mitch’s Lasagna Recipe
Prep Time 25 minutes/ Cook Time 1 hour/ Resting Time 20 minutes
10 large servings (who wants a “normal sized” portion?)
Ingredients:
1 box of no-boil lasagna noodles
1.5 pounds of ground beef (you can substitute one half pound of Italian sausage to taste, and only use one pound of ground beef)
2 teaspoons minced garlic
2 teaspoons onion powder
2.5 jars (24 ounces) of “Newman’s Own Sockarooni” sauce
5 cups of mozzarella cheese
10 ounces ricotta cheese
10 ounces cottage cheese
2 large eggs
1 cup parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon of parsley
½ teaspoon of parsley
½ teaspoon of salt
.5 teaspoon of ground pepper
.5 teaspoon of paprika
12 lasagna noodles
¼ cup of water
To prepare, preheat the oven to 350F and spray a 9×13 casserole dish with cooking spray.
- In a large skillet over medium heat, brown the meat(s) along with the onion powder and one teaspoon of the minced garlic. Drain all the fat from the meat; add the remaining minced garlic and spaghetti sauce. Simmer on low for 10 minutes.
- In a large bowl, mix the ricotta, cottage cheese, 2 cups of mozzarella cheese, eggs, ½ cup of grated parmesan, dried parsley, salt, paprika, and black pepper. Mix well. • To assemble, spread ¾ of sauce on the bottom of the baking pan. Cover the bottom with 3 no-boil lasagna noodles. Top with 1/3 of the cheese mixture and ¼ of the sauce.
- Repeat layers (noodles, cheese, sauce, noodles, cheese, sauce)
- Top with 3 noodles, remaining sauce, the remaining mozzarella, and parmesan cheese. If your sauce is on the thicker side, you can add about ½ cup water around the edge of the pan. If your sauce is runnier, you won’t need as much water.
- Spray a sheet of aluminum foil with cooking spray. Cover the baking dish with the foil (sprayed side down). This prevents the cheese from sticking. Bake in the preheated oven for 50 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 10 minutes until the top is golden and bubbly.
• Let the lasagna sit for 20 minutes before cutting and serving.
