The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Vegan Lasagna
Thoughts on using seasons to establish tone, musings on a horror classic, and a recipe for bomb-ass lasagna
[CW: mentions of horror movie tropes]
Happy Saturday, boils and ghouls!
I write on Friday night. A breeze coming in through the window. Earlier, I went for a short, easy jog in the sunshine. I ran with purpose: there was homemade vegan lasagna heating up at home.
The Pattern app tells me a new moon is nearly upon us.
I trim my bangs. I shave. I assess the clipping of fingers and toes.
How strange to be human and so forever… sprouting.
I watch The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The original. It’s not what I thought. Well, it is and it isn’t. What happened next in horror—in slashers, in particular—had me expecting gratuitous gore. Oh, don’t get me wrong, it’s still gruesome. Meat hooks and foreboding on a hot red day. A horror-mask bonebath of burlap sack decay.
But a lot happens off camera that today would be on.
I text my friend who loves this movie.
“Nooo, don’t go into the tooth house, noooo.”
He replies.
“Lol never go into the tooth house.”
Horror unnerves me, but I watch anyway.
(I just locked the door.)
I watch anyway, because I want to train myself to breathe through anything.
I just have to remember it’s not real.
Still…
(When a voice calls at the window “I’m here,” I jump.)
These are very Friday night musings for a Saturday newsletter!
But you feel it, right? The seasons of night approaching? I saw a flyer for a haunted boat tour the other day and I felt a little shiver of excitement. The hint of October is making me think different stories. Making me dream different dreams.
Many of the scenes in the book I’m working on have had a late summer feel to them, but I’m about to shift into fall for a few key sections, and I am feeling lots of things about that. If the summer was about me planting the seeds for the strange occurrences about to go down, then autumn is me really letting the veil between the known and the unknown drop away.
And so, I thought I’d share some questions you might consider when it comes to using weather and environment to establish mood:
If you’re working on a piece, what time of year is it set?
How might the temperature shift the tone?
How do artists you admire use weather to achieve a mood?
How much does the natural world play a role in your work?
How do your characters feel in their environments? In their settings? In their skins?
I know some people don’t watch scary movies. Some friends with trauma avoid them altogether, and I think it’s always wise to assess your state of mind before consuming any art that’s “mood-altering.”
And so, I don’t expect all of you to want to watch a movie about a chainsaw-wielding cannibal. Believe me, I get it. If I could look away entirely, I probably would.
If I could be a different kind of girl… instead of a horror chick in a band TV shirt cozied up in the woods dreaming about gnarly demons I’ll find a way to slay…
Eh. I take it back.
I like me just fine.
So let me tell you what I brought back from my journey to the old Texas slaughterhouse. Strip out all the ghoulishness of Chainsaw Massacre, and this is a stunningly-shot movie that made me think deeply about the brutality of factory farming. (Okay, to be honest, I think deeply about the brutality of factory farming a lot. I’m tons of fun at parties!)
It made me grateful that I have four homemade vegan lasagnas in the fridge. I shared the recipe below but I wrote it in the way my Italian grandma used to write her recipes—in other words, you’ll have to make your own calls about the quantities.
What? Do you think I’m going to give you exact measurements? I’m not your mother!
You can make a bunch of them at once and have dinner for a week—that way, you have time to work on your passion projects when you get home from a long day at work.
Happy Saturday!
xoxoxo
Sarah
Day before:
You’re gonna make a gravy in a big pot with some Beyond Italian sausages and Pomi organic tomatoes (they come in glass bottles or cartons rather than cans).
Slow sauté onions and garlic on low heat for a while, then add tomatoes, tomato paste, and spices, let simmer covered for an hour or more, stirring occasionally.
Buy the lasagna noodles that don’t require pre-boiling.
Day of:
Make a béchamel with Oatly oat milk and olive oil in a saucepan. I use this recipe as a basis and season with nutmeg and Italian seasoning, salt and pepper to taste.
In a large frying pan, sauté onions and paprika on medium-low. After onions are nice and soft, add Beyond beef, salt and pepper.
Start layering with your gravy, then noodles, then gravy, béchamel, and vegan cheese of your choice. (I love Miyoko’s mozzarella, Violife feta, and Daiya shreds.)
Repeat noodle-gravy-béchamel-cheese layering til you’re outta stuff!
Bake at 400 for 30-40 minutes but keep an eye on it for the top getting brown. Put some foil on it when it comes out.
Enjoy! Invite some new friends over, and let grandpa be the one to serve.