Spring Cookies

We had a spring service at church so I made these cookies for the potluck lunch. I got the idea and recipe off this blog. They are so cute, and relatively easy.  I just found it a bit time consuming to make sure the flowers were perfect. They get a pretty awestruck reaction too (apart from the people like my Dad who aren't that keen on eating flowers! ;) ).  

The flowers were fresh from my garden. Of course, they need a quick rinse to make sure they are edible. And they mustn't have had any nasty chemicals etc that might make them poisonous. I used violas (with one or two pansies) as that was what I had. But pansies do work well because they are bigger and take up more of the cookie. 

Leave them out to dry.

Bake shortbread cookies. Any recipe will do, but I like the original from the linked blog above.

Brush the cookies with egg white, then put the flowers on. Top with another layer of egg white and a sprinkle of sugar. 

Bake them again for a few minutes to set the egg white. I only baked them for 2 minutes, as I was worried about the flowers shrivelling too much.

Gently spread the flowers back out with your finger. while they are still hot. 

Let cool, then serve and enjoy the reactions of your guests!

An Autumn Dinner - Vegetable Lasagne

Tonight's dinner was so yummy that I thought I would share it with you.

Vegetable lasagne. 

I wanted to make a large batch as I have company coming over for tea next week (or the week after) so I thought given I was making lasagne tonight anyway, I may as well cook enough for both meals! 

I love lasagne. It is slightly time consuming, but oh-so-tasty. And healthy, if you look past the cheese topping. 

I never actually use a recipe, I just throw in what ever I have lying around in the fridge. (In the vegetable category, that is. Strawberry yogurt may taste a little odd in lasagne!) This was perfect to use up my vegetables from the hot potato bar for the progressive dinner last week. (More on that when i get the photos off my phone.)

I used:

• 2 carrots, grated
• 4 zucchinis, chopped
• A lot of mushrooms. Okay, about 600g chopped (it was pre chopped from last week, I had over a kilo left over from the progressive tea.)
• A handful of cooked beans, finely chopped
• About 150g baby spinach leaves
• 800g crushed canned tomatoes
• 400ml tomato soup
• 1 tub tomato paste
• 1 can casserole mince
• I packet fresh lasagne sheets
• 1 large teaspoon pesto (homemade - first time I've tried that. Yum!)
• Pinch of salt

Plus for the white sauce

• About 200 g butter
• About the same in flour
• About 1L milk
• Pinch of salt
• Small handful of grated cheese

Method:

Cook the vegetables in a saucepan, then add tomato ingredients, casserole mince, pesto and salt for seasoning. 

(You can use meat mince if you prefer. My husband said that it was lacking one thing - meat. Sigh. He can't live without his meat. I, on the other hand, am not a big meat eater and only eat chicken and fish.)

Make the sauce by melting the butter in a saucepan, stirring through the flour until it sticks together in a ball, then slowly adding the milk over heat until it thickens. Then add the cheese and season with salt. 

Assemble the lasagne by alternating layers of tomato mixture and pasta sheets. End with a pasta sheet and top with white sauce and another handful of cheese.

Bake for about 40 minutes at 180 degrees. (200 if your oven is slow like mine.)

This made enough for 7 individual serves in ramekins, plus two medium trays. More than enough. :)

There you have it. Not a groundbreaking recipe, but its very tasty. My sister likes to season hers more with spices, etc, but I'm not a fan of spices and I like the simple classic taste. 

Now I can have leftovers for lunches and freeze the extra for dinner next week! 

You can never go wrong with lasagne. Especially if you serve it with a fresh salad and maybe a some baked potatoes if you want to go all out!

What's your favourite dinner recipie?