Beef Wellington

So for Christmas (this is a great way to start a spring blog post), my Dad and I attempted Gordon Ramsay's Beef Wellington. Why post now? I said I would. Also, this would be delish at Easter.
Ramsay's Christmas dinner special is captivating. The dish seems complicated because there are a lot of steps. I suppose it is sort of complex, but not hard if you take one step at a time and keep your head about you in the face of pastry. You don't even have to make the pastry, just roll it.

Prior to pastry here's how it's laid out.

Undone

Inside you have your braised beef, which is then covered in mustard. Around that is the mushroom-spice mixture. The mushrooms are spread out over a blanket of prosciutto.

 

Tucked In

This is all prepared on a sheet of plastic wrap so it can be tightly wrapped and left to rest.

Piggy in a Blanket

After it's rested, remove the plastic. Roll out the pastry and wrap it up. Watch the Gordon Ramsay video 10 times to master his technique for scoring the top. Give up. Score it however and put it in the oven.
Meanwhile you can open presents. I mean, hunt for eggs.

Good Idea

 The most challenging part would be knowing when it was done. This wasn't my job so I have no helpful advice.

Pretty in Pink

I'm not sure if you can tell but it tastes really good. We served it with Indian style brussel sprouts, which are pictured here in all their neon glory.

If you add enough ingredients you can't even tell they're brussel sprouts!

Happy Easter Everyone!

Head-bored

After years of living in my rented apartment like a squatter, I've finally decided to hang some things on the walls. Previously the only reason I hung pictures on the wall was because they didn't fit in the closet. It is not that we don't like where we live, or think that we will be leaving shortly. I have never decorated it because it's not the sort of place you would want to decorate.
One day, probably a  Friday, I decided to Make an Effort. I wanted a headboard, I wanted a project and I didn't want it to cost a lot.
We went to the home reusable store and bought some ceiling tiles. Not just any ceiling tiles. These were from Jasper block, a 100 year old building. A piece of local history!

Covered

I had to get the paint off and enlisted unsuspecting relatives to make the job easier. I used a gel paint remover and a plastic spatula.

Naked

The colour underneath is beautiful. I would love to hang these against a red wall. Unfortunately my walls are white. I spray painted the tiles copper. The original plan was to wipe them with a dark brown, over top of the copper to give them more depth. Then I just wanted them up and was too impatient to follow through.

Oooh

Links
http://www.homereusables.com/dev/

Tea Party

In the last year my friend and I have had a growing fascination with tea parties. A great love of tea and miniature foods can only lead down one path. We began this fascination with High Tea at the Hotel MacDonald in the spring. We then sampled similar delights at the Rutherford House before deciding we really must host our own high tea.
For our guests we busted out three kinds of tea- David's Tea Black and Gold, a rose tea from Fouchon, and a Chinese green tea from Teavana.
We started with scones served with clotted cream and our homemade jam. This was our biggest mistakes. The scones were the most memorable part of the tea for our guests. We opened with the fireworks. In fairness, how could we have possible predicted that simple scones would steal the show. I can't find the recipe online but it was from Donna Hay and had about 3 ingredient. Dead simple.
Next up was sandwiches complete with cut crusts when necessary

Salmon and Avocado on the Left, Egg Salad on the Right

Ham and Cheese

After consuming this many carbs no one feels dainty. That's how you now it's time to bring on the desserts.

Tower Graciously Brought by a Friend

Yep that's brownies, cookies, tarts, and cakes. The creme brulee is not pictured. We can't take credit for the cakes though, those came with the stand.

Ready for their Close Up

The shortbread cookies deserve honourable mention. Flavoured with a lavender tea, they were melt in your mouth perfect.
A fantastic day to go without a proper supper.