Celebrating Love and Life!

L'chaim, y'all! We celebrated 35 years of marriage with an Anniversary Eve dinner on Sunday, February 14th – a most appropriate day for lovers ..... and lovers of fine food. Below is the menu; and what follows is a pictorial description of the process, for the true Foodies in this readership. You must forgive the sloppy pictorial placement; I'm still learning.There were some other good shots I couldn't seem to download here, also. If you would like to se the full photo album, let me know and I'll send you a KodakGallery link.
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Beef Wellington Dinner Soulé (Music: "Die Fledermaus, Act I")

Candlelight Cocktail Hour:
Moet & Chandon Champagne Imperial

Primo:
Steamed Artichoke / Aioli Dipping Sauce
Baguette Slices / Acqua Minerale

Secondo: Beef Wellington (Boeuf en Croute)
with Black Truffle Sauce

Wine: Primitivo Zinfandel '2004, Salamandre Vineyards Santa Cruz
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The artichoke was steamed lightly and chilled the previous day. The aioli sauce was made ahead and chilled also (it is simply a mixture of good mayonnaise, minced garlic, and fresh lemon juice to thin to a smooth consistency).


The Beef Wellington recipe we used was an amalgam of Craig Claiborne, Julia Child, Epicurious.com, Tyler Florence, and Gordon Ramsay.
Here are step-by-step photos of the process:

Searing the meat:





Putting it all together:












A Messy Process:

.... but absolutely delicious and well worth the work.

On Being: Journal Musings At 74

February 5, 2010

Today is the eve of my birthday; I should write something in my blog about what it's like to enter my 75th year of life, eh? All those years of living ought to yield some little nuggets of wisdom, one would think. I'll just do a sort of stream-of-consciousness exercise to see where I stand today.

I believe that Time is irrelevant; it takes as long as it takes to learn something, to accomplish a task, reach a goal, become able to cope with situations as they arise. I've learned that I can be so wrong, for so long, about what I believe to be true, and then see the light at last. I've found that it is possible to do a lot of damage to yourself and others and still find the strength to stop, change, and – most unbelievably – be forgiven and still loved. I have experienced that there must be a force (some call it a Guardian Angel) that protects fools who dance along the precipice – else, what has kept my feet from slipping into the abyss? And if Time really is irrelevant, then I think my experience of temporal universe is a thin veil, a beautiful theatre scrim that will one day be raised: and I can't wait to see the full production.
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February 6, 2010

A wise monk has said that gratefulness is the heart of prayer. In that case, my heart is full of prayer on this day marking my entry into my 75th year of life.

I'm supremely grateful for many gifts:
– I still have my five senses fairly intact
– I treasure the memory of every single year of my life
– I love this earth, and especially the plot of ground that has been given to me late in life, this cottage and small garden in the redwoods
– I'm thankful to all who went before me (my parents, aunts and uncles, grandparents – even the ones I've never met, but can see in some of my children)
– I'm especially grateful for the gifts of Faith, Hope, and Love with which I have been blessed.

Yes, I'm grateful for another year of life and love, and for every day that may be left to me to glory in Being. As the good Rabbi Heschel hath said: Just to be is blessing; just to live is holy.