Baldur

I am still working on the dinner menu, but the entree will be:

Filet Mignon en Croute

(easiest elegant recipe in the world actually)

Take a filet mignon and brown it very briefly on each side in a bit of butter.
It should still be quite raw inside, you are only trying to color it up a bit.
Season it with salt and pepper.
Remove the filet to a plate to cool
Roll out a piece of pie dough (Baldur shamelessly uses ready made 'Poppin Fresh' Croissant dough) into an approximately 7 or 8" square
Place the cold filet on the square of dough, top it with a small pat of butter and drizzle any drippings from the browning skillet on it also.
Fold up the corners of the dough to meet on top of the filet and pinch the seems together.
Place the pastry bundle on a nonstick or lightly greased baking sheet.
Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.

Serve with a brown gravy or hollandaise sauce if you are into that.

Baldur

seems -e +a =seams

Normal

Thank you, Baldur. I LOVE stealth elegance!

Dragon

That sounds sooo tasty. Plus I'm a fan of anything that give me an excuse to eat Hollandaise sauce.

Baldur

Heavens what a day!
Baldur needed to visit his parents, a particularly trying thing to do, especially going there with a white beard. I knew it would incite negativity.
Because of this event Baldur needed to treat himself.
Another of my stops was to Michael's crafts to buy wide emerald green ribbon to decorate the lamppost with.
I had wrapped faux evergreen garland around it already, now it has the wide ribbon snaking up it as well, plus a large extravagant bow.
While shopping for ribbon I casually strolled into the bead aisle and purchased $20 of green and amber beadery.
Bad Baldur Bad!

Normal

But now you're done for a while and won't be tempted to stop in again soon. Maybe NOT so bad?

Dragon

What happens when Santa is on the naughty list? hehehe

maddyjean08

Baldur's not so bad. I buy stuff all the time and feel guilty about it later. Especially when I buy useless junk, like a slingshot or a case of bubbles. Wait, those were free...

Baldur

http://www.thinkdraw.com/picture.php?pictureId=73850

Baldur

Oh boy! It's Tuesday and almost time to go out to breakfast at le Spoon Greasee.
It's looking more like it's classic self again.
They had the greasiest, filthiest, nastiest linoleum tile floor when I started my culinary adventures there. It added so much to the atmosphere.
Early this year however they tore it up and laid down a new sparkling clean floor.
I need not have worried, the floor has already gotten the same classic patina back. Looking at it you'd never know it was new.

sheftali52

I wouldn't adopt the five-second rule for dropping anything on the floor at Le Spoon Greasee.

Baldur

I saw something new there today, a middle-aged couple came in for breakfast the gentleman had long blue and white braided strands hanging from the belt loops of his jeans. Each ended in a small tassel and was obviously some sort of Hanukkah thing.
It was new to me however.
Baldur thought to ask him but decided to only exchange simple small pleasantries instead.
Had I inquired I would have felt the need to know why they were both eating breakfast sausages as well.

Baldur

+.

Baldur

We also just returned from buying our very tiny Christmas tree. It is just under 4 feet tall and will go on the sideboard in the living room.
Baldur and Robert tramped through the much all over the tree farm before deciding on this one.
This tree farm has an abundance of trees that are far too large to put in any home, apparently their sales years ago weren't as good as they'd hoped. Now the trees have gone past the small, cute stage.
They do not however mind if one cuts down one of the tall trees and only takes the top. They make wreaths, garlands and kissing balls on site so they use the rest up anyway.

This did however make me question why Baldur does not just grow his own personal supply of Christmas trees. Now I am determined to do so.
By raising my own I can prune them to my own specifications.
I do prefer the Old-world German type of tree form where the branches are trained to grow in neat tiers with some spacing between them.
These are nigh (+7 points) on impossible to find in 21st century North America.
Still in all my little tree at a mere $15 was a good deal and will last into early January.

Baldur

much -h +k =muck

Dragon

Around here you can buy a license to cut your own tree down. I'm not sure of the cost of the license but I understand it's quite inexpensive and allows you to take 2 or 3 trees. I believe you can take trees from anywhere that is Crown Land.

sheftali52

Cool idea to grow one's own Christmas trees. A friend of mine in Ohio bought a farm two years ago and decided he'd grow Christmas trees. One long weekend, he and his wife and daughter planted something on the order of a thousand little saplings (or whatever it is you call little Christmas trees). He figured it would be 7 years before the trees were big enough to sell as full-sized. So in the mean time he has taken on another job to pay the bills, until his dream of selling Christmas trees comes to fruition (+5). He also has thoughts of running a little holiday store while he sells trees. Plans to sell hot chocolate, hot cider, and other such treats to put people in a good mood. Sounds like a plan to me.

Dragon

I think the proper term is seedlings. Sounds like such a nice idea. Do they plant new ones every year to keep the sizes consistent? And would it be the type of place where you go cut the tree yourself or is he planning on cutting them and having a little lot? (I think the cut your own tree idea sounds wonderful, then any that don't get chosen get to go on living)

maddyjean08

No to change the subject, but I don't like hot apple cider at all. I like it cold, but when it's hot... My Grandma gave me some hot apple cider once and as soon as it passed over my lips it stung my tongue. Not out of hotness, but ti felt like my tongue was being lightly pricked with teensy needles. It also made me dizzy because it felt hot and cold at the same time.

Dragon

Hot is the only way I like apple drinks. I really can't get apple juice past my lips but hot apple cider just does the trick for me, especially on a cold blustery day.