Cooking ...

Hello there! Many "Thanks" for your comments on my previous posting.

Just to keep you in the loop, as it were, I did sign up for the Beginners Photography Course at our local Adult Learning Centre. The first session was on Thursday - a two hour slot. There are only eight of us in the class - so it is pretty small.

We didn't really learn much, except that most of us want to learn to deviate away from the automatic settings and learn how to use manual.

We were told not to be blinded by science when buying a camera and that the amount of mega pixels was nothing to do with the quality of the image that you take despite certain chain stores telling prospective customers that this is the case! We were shown three images taken with 10, 11 and 12 mega pixels. The one with the 10 mega pixel was the best - although it was taken with a camera costing £15,000!

Apparently, the important thing is the quality of the sensor not the mega pixel.

Next week we are going to be taken out and about to take photos and learn where we are going wrong or what we might be doing right! The above image of Ruby I took on the manual setting earlier today!

I can't see much difference in this photo than ones I would normally take - but hey, I've only been to one lecture!

This evening KP asked if she could help with the cooking. I was making vegetarian lasagne - a recipe that I had recently seen in a new magazine called "Land Love". It is packed full of all the things that I love - articles about the countryside, gardens, wildlife, homes, crafts and travel. If you haven't seen it yet - take a look when you're next at the newsagents as it really is good value for money - it costs £3.85 but is a bi-monthly publication.

Sheer concentration as we top the lasagne off with some mature cheese.

The finished product! Although it was tasty - we all came to the conclusion that we prefer meat in our lasagne but for those of you that may be interested the recipe is as follows:

2 tablespoons olive oil
180g pack spinach leaves
2 cloves garlic, chopped
250g pack mushrooms, sliced
400g tin of chopped tomatoes
200ml tub creme fraiche
Half teaspoon grated nutmeg
300g pack fresh lasagne sheets
100g mature cheddar
salt and pepper

1.  Preheat the oven to 200 degrees / Gas Mark 6. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a frying pan, add half of the garlic and spinach leaves and stir for 1 to 2 minutes until the leaves have wilted. Remove from the heat and set aside.
2. Add remaining oil to the pan, add mushrooms and cook for 6 - 8 minutes. Stir in remaining garlic and sizzle for 30 seconds. Stir in the tomatoes, bring to the boil and simmer for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and season to taste.
3. Season the creme fraiche with the nutmeg, salt and pepper and mix well. Lightly oil an ovenproof dish.
4. Place layer of lasagne on the base. Top with half the mushroom mix, then more lasagne. Spoon over a third of the creme fraiche and scatter over half the spinach and a third of the cheese. Repeat these layers once more. Place a final layer of lasagne on top, spread over the remaining creme fraiche and cheese.
5. Place on baking tray, then bake for 25 - 30 minutes.

                                                                              

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Until next time,

June.

P.S. The lasagne shots were taken using the automatic settings - old habits die hard!