This winter in Canada was easy, really easy. I only recall being blinded by snow once or twice and we didn’t have to endure weeks of bitterly cold temperatures that make it hurt to breath. But still, the coming of spring is a celebration in Ontario. To leave the house without a heavy coat, boots, mittens, a hat and scarf (or two in my case) is a terrific feeling of freedom.  With spring, comes gardening and Mother’s Day. Below, I am proud to share with you the beautiful cards from my kids.

My AWESOME home-made cards and flowers!

This is ME!

Usually on Mother’s Day I force my family to get into the gardening spirit and we turn over flower beds and incorporate compost and tidy up the edges.  I have to admit, it’s the boring part of gardening, like taping and prepping before you paint a room. This year, we are in a rental while we fix up our permanent house. Wait, fixing up isn’t really correct – we tore our house down and are building a brand new one! But that is an entire series of posts that I don’t have time for today.  Being renters, we’ll cut the grass but are free from the necessity to garden in a meaningful way.  This meant we we lucky enough to have time to go for a walk, head out to the bakery, play some baseball and visit with my mother-in-law and her husband.  I wanted to make something tasty (and easy) for lunch so we BBQ’d salmon, made a green salad, and this super simple, kinda fancy asparagus, mushroom and cheese tart!  Honestly this was too fast, give it a try!

As usual, these pictures are done on the fly…just before serving! Sorry, I have no time for styling when I have a hungry family to feed. 🙂

Asparagus, Mushroom, Cheese Tart

Ingredients

• Store bought puff pastry (It comes with two sheets)
• 6-8 spears fresh asparagus per pastry sheet
• 3-4 mushrooms per pastry sheet (I used white, smallish mushrooms but you can likely use whatever you like/have)
• About 1/2 cup grated old cheddar cheese  per pastry sheet

Instructions

Let the pastry defrost for about an hour or two on the counter or overnight in the fridge.  Roll it out on a baking sheet; just leave it on the parchment paper it comes in.  Fold the pastry edges, about 1 cm all around.

Wash and dry (with a paper towel) your asparagus and mushrooms. Break off the tough ends of the asparagus and finely slice your mushrooms. I removed the mushroom stems too but this is your choice.

Lay the asparagus down on the sheet.  Sprinkle in the mushrooms to cover the empty spots and then sprinkle with cheese. Repeat on the other pastry sheet if you want more.

(Now most chefs will brush an egg mixture on the edges but I didn’t bother!)

Bake in a preheated oven at 375 degrees for about 15 minutes until lightly golden. Slice and serve!  Seriously…how easy is that?!