Stockholm In September. Free Form Lasgana.


Hej dear readers!

It’s the middle of winter, I’m getting cabin fever (on top of everything else) and there’s only one thing to do to lift my spirits – make plans for a getaway!

You know how there was Dubai in December?  Well…

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The bump and I are heading to Stockholm in September.  I’m nowhere near believing that it will every happen, but apparently, it happens to everyone.  I will wake up one day and feel like myself again.  Sometime in the next few weeks is what I’m told.  So actually going on this holiday will not be as impossible as it sounds from where I am right now.  From a pregnancy point of view, September is probably the best time for me to fly.

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I’ve fully embraced my glittering future (how I took it all for granted when I could reliably feel like my usual self day in and day out) and booked a room with a view at The Radisson Blu Strand Hotel.  It doesn’t have a gym but it does have easy access to Djurgarden (The Royal Game Park) where I can go for walks and take in large lungfuls of Swedish air.

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Needless to say, a trip to Ikea headquarters will have to be on my list of places to visit.  If you’ve been to Stockholm, I’d love to hear about some of your favourite places.

When my head hasn’t been in the clouds dreaming of the holiday, it’s been hard at work in the kitchen challenging preconceived notions of what a lasgana should look like.  Which is a long way of saying that I made Julie Goodwin’s Free Form Mushroom Lasgana for dinner the other night.

The recipe was from the July 2012 issue of The AWW.  I was reading New Idea simultaneously and I wish they’d leave the Duchess of Cambridge alone and stop speculating about what her abdomen may or may not be carrying every time she steps out in public.  I’m sure she and the Duke will be more than happy to share the good news about a baby (or food baby) when the time is right.  It’s such a private issue for most people and whoever you are, it really is your right and yours alone to decide how much you want to share about it, and with whom.

The lasagne was really easy actually.  I sauteed 800g of sliced mushrooms in some oil and melted butter before adding a couple of tablespoons of flour, chicken stock and tomato paste to form the sauce.

The tricky bit was cooking the individual lasagna sheets (pre bought, of course, at Coles).  To keep the separated, I draped the cooked sheets over the edge of a bowl.

I got a bit impatient after cooking enough lasagna sheets to serve everyone for dinner and chopped up the rest of and cooked it like pasta.  I mixed the left over mushrooms in with these extra bits of lasagna sheet to make a few meals to freeze for later.

The lasagna was a big hit.  Even though I only had finely grated parmesan to garnish and not the artistic flakes the recipe suggested.  For a sauce that was 80% mushroom and meat free, it was very robust and filling.

After such a virtuous dinner, we had fruit tarts for dessert.

Freedom is so close I can almost taste it.  Tomorrow is my last day at work before 7 whole days off.  My agenda for the week is to wake up, listen to my body and just do what it tells me to do.  I can’t wait.

In the meantime, soldier on, everyone.  Friday is nearly here.


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