A Perfect Winter Saturday

I'm through complaining about the snow. All my complaining never hastens the melting anyway. So, when I awakened to another half-foot yesterday, I bundled up in my mukluks and headed to the Metroparks with the dog for some fresh air and Vitamin D-packed sunshine. (I try to get outside for 20 minutes every time the sun makes an appearance in cloudy Cleveland...Vitamin D is SO important and lifts your spirits. Read more here: http://www.webmd.com/diet/vitamin-d-deficiency)

Happy and a little bit tired from the hike, I dug out some old records from the 1970's and set out to make Beef Wellington. I had Saturday evening guests coming and I wanted to make something really special. Armed with a copy of Julia Child's "Mastering French Cooking Vol II", a whole host of variations on the Beef Wellington theme I found on the internet, and a day's wages worth of beef tenderloin from Heinen's (I LOVE that Heinen's http://www.heinens.com/ is totally committed to using only certified hormone-free purveyors), I got down to brass tacks.

Early Blondie was cranking at full volume in the background, flour was flying as puff pastry was rolled out, the aroma of seared beef, shallots, and mushrooms filled the air, and as I looked out the kitchen window at the big pines frosted with snow, I couldn't imagine a better way to spend a 15-degree winter day.

AND...all's well that end's well. Our friends brought their two dogs to romp with ours, as well a bottle of a fantastic dry red wine (http://www.treasurehunterwines.com/about.htm) that tasted like it was custom-vinted just for our meal. With four dogs in the house and Beef Wellington on the menu, we DID have to scold off some beggars in the dining room, but it was a small price to pay for a perfect ending to a perfect winter Saturday.