Welcome and Have a good Summer

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Cream the butter and sugar together until pale and moving towards moussiness, then beat in the egg and vanilla. In another bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the butter and eggs, and mix gently but surely. If you think the finished mixture is too sticky to be rolled out, add more flour, but do so sparingly as too much will make the dough tough. Form into a fat disk, wrap in plastic wrap, and let rest in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.

Sprinkle a suitable surface with flour, place disk of dough on it, and sprinkle a little more flour on top of that. Then roll it out to a thickness of about 1/4-inch. Cut into shapes, dipping the cutter into flour as you go, and place the cookies a little apart on 2 parchment or silpat lined baking sheets.

Bake for 8 to 12 minutes; obviously it depends on the shape you're using and whether they are on the upper or lower shelf, though you can swap them around after about 5 minutes. When they're ready expect them to be tinged a pronounced gold around the edges; they'll be softish still in the middle, but set while they cool.

Remove the cookies with a flat, preferably flexible, spatula to a wire rack. When they are fully cooled, you can get on with the icing. Put a couple of tablespoons of not-quite-boiling water into a large bowl, add the sieved confectioners sugar and mix together, adding more water as you need to form a thick paste. Color,as desired. I think pastes are much better than liquid, not just because the range of colors is better but because they don't dilute the icing as they tint. Ice cooled cookies, as desired.

 Lasagna

Lasagna: 12 noodles
Ground beef: 1 lb (500 grams)
Crushed Tomatoes: 1 can (2 cups)
Tomato paste: 6 tbsp
Onion: 1 medium, chopped
Garlic: 1 clove, diced
Bell pepper: 1 small, chopped
Olive oil: 3 tbsp
Ricotta cheese: 1 lb (500 grams)
Parmesan cheese: 0.25-0.5 cup, grated
Mozzarella cheese: 1-1.5 cup, shredded
Fresh Basil: 1 tbsp, chopped (or 1 tsp dried)
Salt
Pepper

Directions:

1. In a saucepan, heat 1 tbsp olive oil. Add the diced garlic and cook for 1 min.

2. Add crushed tomatoes and cook for 10 more min. Season slightly with salt and pepper.

3. In a large skillet, heat 2 tbsp olive oil. Add chopped onion and bell pepper. Saute for 5 min on medium-high heat.

4. Add ground beef and saute until no longer pink.

5. Set 1/4 cup tomato sauce aside and add the rest to the ground beef.

6. Dissolve tomato paste in 1 cup warm water and add to the beef mixture.

7. Add chopped basil to the mixture and let the beef completely cook on medium-high heat (about 30 min). Season with salt and pepper.

8. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).

9. Cook lasagna noodles in boiling water with some salt until al dente. Don't overcook them. Drain and wash them with cold water. Drain again.

10. Spread half of the tomato sauce that you have set aside in the bottom of your baking dish (2 tbsp). Cover with a layer of the lasagna noodles. Make layers of meat sauce, ricotta, mozzarella and parmesan cheese. Repeat the layers. Top with the rest of the tomato sauce (2 tbsp), mozzarella and parmesan cheese.

11. Cover with aluminum foil. Bake for 20 min. Remove the foil and cook for 10 more min or until golden. Let it stand for 10 min before serving.

Zucchini Chocolate Cake Mix or Muffin Mix

This recipe serves as muffins, or a cake, both added with grated zucchini and

chocolate. 

What you need is:                             

½-cup margarine

¼-cup Vegetable oil

1/4-cup sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

½ tsp. cloves

¼ cup chocolate chips

2 Tsp. Salt

2 cups flour

4 tbsp. coco

1/6 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. Soda

½ tsp. cinnamon

2-cup grated zucchini

½ cup (white) milk   

Muffin/cupcake holders, paper, (if making muffins) and muffin trays

Cake pans (if making a cake)         

BAKE AT 350 FOR 30-45 MINUTES, LET COOL ON COOLING RACK,

THEN ENJOY!