Would you like to graciously accept accolades for a fabulous meal that is incredibly extravagant looking, great tasting, and mostly doable in advance?  If so, you need to make individual Beef Wellingtons.   Beef Wellington is tenderloin of beef topped with pate and duxelles (a paste made of mushrooms, shallots, and herbs), and wrapped in puff pastry.  There are several reasons that this does not work for me: The tenderloin is a notoriously uneven cut of meat.  It's also expensive.  I don't like pate.  My kids don't like mushrooms.  When you cut it, the pastry usually gets messed up, and there goes the presentation.

Aside from that?  Love it!

Here's how to make this do-able.  First, go to the butcher and get 4 slices of beef tenderloin that are 1.5" thick. They should weigh about 4 oz each.  Alternatively, get fillet mignon in the same configuration.   You want the pieces to be similar so they will cook evenly. 

Clear out a shelf in your 'fridge that will hold a baking sheet.  There will be several chilling steps.

Heat up a heavy skillet with a light coating of oil.  Season the beef on both sides with salt and pepper.  Sear the beef on both sides just until it takes some nice color.  Put the beef on a cooling rack on a cookie sheet and stash it in the 'fridge.

I do not like pate, and many of my guests did not like mushrooms, so I decided to substitute caramelized onions; thrifty AND tasty.  Take 1 large onion (they cook down to nothing, trust me here) and cut off the stem end.  Now cut it pole to pole.  Peel back the paper but leave it on for a handle.  Thinly slice both halves of the onion and put them in the skillet (yep, right where the beef just was!) with a pat of butter and about 2 tablespoons of olive oil.  Add a pinch of salt and pepper, and, if you like it, some thyme.  Cook and stir over medium high heat until all the onions are well coated.  Drop the heat to medium low, cover, and let them cook for 20 minutes or so, stirring occasionally.  When they are done, chop 1 tablespoon of parsley and stir it in.  Scrape this onto a plate and put it in the 'fridge.

You can make your own puff pastry!  You can do a lot of things.  Do those.  Buy the puff pastry.  Take one sheet out of the package and let it thaw on a cutting board (or something flat) on the counter for about 30 minutes.  Don't play with it and break it.  Once the pastry is pliable but still cool, flour your counter top and roll the pastry into a square.  Since I cannot see your beef, I cannot tell you how large it should be.  Mine was 13" square (coincidentally the same length as my knife), and it was just right.   Now, cut it into 4 squares, but do not move them.  Put the caramelized onion in the middle of each square about the same footprint as the beef.  Use as much or as little as you like.  Now place the beef on top of that.  Why is everything cold?  Because you don't want to melt the butter in the pastry.  Now, bring two sides together and pinch the edges together very tightly, then bring over the other two edges and do the same.  The pastry will stretch, but aim for stretching the ends, and not from the top and sides.  Pat down everything nicely.  Wash and dry your cookie sheet, and line it with parchment paper (foil in a pinch).  Put the beef packages folded side down on the sheet.  Stash them in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.  This is where it tends to go wrong.  You cannot rush this.  Everything needs to be cold.  The butter in the puff pastry needs to be solid, and the beef needs to be cold so that it does not overcook (it's a tender piece and cooks quickly).  You can take this time to make your side dishes, clean your kitchen, set the table, or decant the wine).

Preheat your oven to 400 for at least 10 minutes.  We want the oven to be hot, not just the air inside.  Beat an egg and brush it over the tops of the packets.  This will make them beautifully golden brown.  Be gentle on the sides, as excess will cause the pastry to stick to the paper (this is bad).  Get your meat thermometer and put it in the side of one of the packets and get as close to center as you can. Pop the whole tray into the oven and cook until the beef is 135-140, (you can shoot for lower if your guests like, but this is usually fine for most people) and the pastry is golden.  It should take 15-20 minutes, tops.  Sometimes the juices leak from not perfectly sealed pastry.  Do not sweat this.

Plate your packets of perfection, and accept the compliments of your companions!

Some notes about my side dishes:  I did the carrots the night before, and warmed them in the microwave.  I also made the casserole the night before and stashed it in a big zip top bag, let it come to room temperature in the morning, added the bread crumbs, and cooked it right before the beef was to go in so that my oven was perfectly heated for a reason. The casserole just sat on top of the oven while the beef cooked and it was plenty hot at serving time. The potatoes were cooked that morning and I made them a bit moister than usual (broth) and kept them warm in the crockpot (the crock part is pretty enough to set on a coaster for dinner).

I love Halloween, but this year I'm switching it up a bit.  Why bother making a fabulous dinner when everyone is dying to get out the door?  This year the frightfully freakish feast will be presented on Devil's Night.

Not everyone appreciates gruesome.  And when I step back and think about it, I really don't want to spend time making a dinner and then have the kids cringe by giving things unappetizing names.  This year I'm going to go more crazy than creepy.

The table setting is probably what anchors the theme.  I bought black sheets as chair covers, so I can use a few to cover the table.  Using a box with something heavy in it for stability (never use tape to secure the box to your good dining room table...oops!) under the cloth adds dimension.  I have a bunch of Halloween themed confetti (purchased last year at 90% off) to sprinkle around.  Add in a few containers filled with candy corn and tea lights, and it's looking good festive.  Have you bought a bunch of tiny pumpkins that you really have no use for?  I did!  I'm going to draw faces on them, and then put them in front of napkins folded like neckties.  Not sure there's a place for the silverware in all this, so I'll just put it in with the food...

The entree, beef and macaroni will be served in highball glasses, broccoli in the double old fashioned, and breadsticks in juice glasses.  Salad will be served on a platter instead of the usual salad bowl, which is kind of nice because the toppings stay evenly distributed.  But, I have these clown picks from the cake decorating aisle that will make a semi-creepy addition (kids are too young to have read It).  The boys do not appreciate having their milk colored (can't blame them), so I'm going to make chocolate milk, but, serve it from a well washed out wine bottle (decorated, of course).  The one tiny concession to ooze will be lava cakes.  These are really simple to make - no need to buy the scary box mix.

What are you doing for Halloween???

At this moment, the head count for Easter Brunch at our house is 16. A smaller than usual crowd... Everyone brings something, and coordinating that is half the battle. Here's what we have so far (if there's a recipe link I'm making it):

• Pork Roasted with Gravy - the secret to great pork is to marinate it, and never cook it above 145, because pork today is so lean that it dries out quickly.  Yes the USDA says 160, but, well, I don't eat shoes.
• Potato Pierogi - I'll have to make about 100, so I'm recruiting help!
• Fruit Salad
• Danish (Cherry, Blueberry, and Poppyseed) - traditional in my husband's family and a closely guarded recipe.
• Surprise Vegetable - a burgeoning cook in the family promises something healthy and tasty!
• Peach Mimosa - because face it, with 16 people coming I WILL need a drink
• Various appetizers, deviled eggs, and whatever else people bring.

The real trick for the day is the timing.  The boys of course want the annual egg hunt.  Now that they are 10 & 12 it's not just colored eggs hidden around the house.  It is starting to resemble something from the da Vinci Code.  I think we pared it down to 43 clues.  Then there's church, and then the family descends.  Busy, but a good time.

Happy Easter!  Happy Spring!