Ian's 54 !

few pics from Ian's birthday party.

it was real hard to take pics of people in the garden after dark, so there is not as many I would wish so :(

mornings

April mornings can be so nice !!!!!

Strudel

Easy peasy strudl

Wollies puff pastry – cut into 4 rectangles (this recipe is for 2 apple and 2 walnut strudels – you are welcome to adapt the volumes, should you prefer different)

Apple filling

Mix together:

4-5 apples – peeled and grated

2 tbps of honey

3 tbsp of caster sugar

Vanilla extract

1 tsp of cinnamon

Handful of raisins soaked in rum

Handful of roughly chopped walnuts

Walnut filling

Warm up 50ml of milk in pot and add 100g of finely chopped walnuts.

Add 5 tbsp of sugar, vanilla extract and 1 tbsp of apricot jam (or orange)

Mix it and let it cool down.

Roll out one rectangle of puff pastry in flour into the sides (approx 30cm wide).

Add half of either of the apple or walnut mixture into the middle and arrange into something like “cocaine” line in the middle of the puff pastry.

Fold left side and then right side over and you will end up with strudel “sleeve”. Can be secured with tooth picks.

Transfer carefully onto the baking paper.

Repeat and you will end up with 4 “sleeves” of strudel. Two with apple and two with walnut mixture.

Smear the top of strudels with the egg. Bake on 190 until golden brown.

Cut when cooled down and sprinkle with powder sugar.

Five-veg lasagne for 8 people

1-2 aubergine – cut into rings and grilled with olive oil & garlic until brown

400g cut mushrooms – cut & fried in butter until brown

4 red peppers – cut into squares and grilled with olive oil

2 x 440g jar of All Joy Passata sauce from P&P or Checkers – mix 1 jar onion & garlic and 1 jar tomato & basil (spaghetti sauce will do just as well)

6-8 sheets of lasagne

400g frozen spinach or 2xpacks of fresh spinach (blanched, drained & chopped)

2 x 250g ricotta tub

50g grated parmesan

25g roasted pine nuts

Can also be added chopped olives, corn

- Prepare the veg separately and layer them in the baking bowl.

- Empty the passata sauce jars on the vegetable

- Lay the cooked lasagne on top

- Mix the spinach with ricotta, half the parmesan and pinenut. Add salt & pepper and spread on the lasagne sheets

- Sprinkle with the rest of the parmesan

- Cook on 200 C covered for 30min or until it bubbles - let it brown at the end.

Nursery

It took a lot of time, but it's starting to look like a proper nursery.

Only the furniture took several weeks to be delivered and many more weeks to discover.

Would have been easier if there was such thing as Mothercare or Ikea, where you can walk in and buy what your heart desires.

Now we are waiting for the cot dressing and some picture. However the main stuff is in place and if the baby girl arrives we are ready for her :)

Nesting. Checked. :)