I’ve made Eggplant Parmesan about three times this summer, and I’m going to make it again this week.

Come and make it with me! It’ll be fun. It’ll taste good too.

This time, I’m going to take it slow, one or two steps at a time (a day), so I can take pictures, write some notes, and fit in all the other great life things I also want to do at the same time, like reading, eating, hanging out, taking a community school guitar class (Tuesdays starting tomorrow!), riding, running, and sleeping and relaxing.

Here’s my plan: bread crumbs today on Monday (done!), eggplant slices tomorrow, tomato sauce Wednesday, and then awesome Eggplant Parmesan for dinner Thursday.

Let’s see how I (and you) do!

Part 1: Bread crumbs

For me, making bread crumbs starts with a trip to the Whole Earth Center to get a quality loaf of bread. Today I went for whole wheat.

The next step is to toast the bread. I recommend the oven for this step.

I did about 15 minutes at 250 degrees, which produces (using my oven) toast that on the outside is crisp and that on the inside ranges from similarly crisp to a tiny bit soft. The pieces towards the outside of the oven-rack nearer the flames are the ones that get crisper. These are also the ones that have a tendency to darken and/or burn, particularly possibly the first few times you try it before figuring out your preferred crispness, timing, and color.

The next and final step is to get out the big knife and chop! chop! chop! chop! chop! chop! chop! until you have lots of bread crumbs.

Actually, that’s what I used to do. And then I realized I could use the Cuisinart.

If I were saving them for another time, I’d put the bread crumbs in the freezer. As they’re destined for an eggplant date tomorrow, though, it’s in the fridge they go.

And that’s it for the bread crumbs and part 1. Pretty easy, right? Up for tomorrow is the eggplant – sliced, breaded, and lightly fried.