Kristina's Beef Wellington

As the holidays are approaching, I thought I’d share one of my favorite dishes. It is fairly time-consuming (but not hard) to make, so as a result, I usually limit it to special occasions. This is a real crowd pleaser, sure to induce praise around the table and envy over your mad cooking skills. This dish is also fabulous with garlic mashed potatoes.

Prep: about 1 hour, 15 min
Cooking time: about 1 hour
Baking time: 25 minutes
Serves: 6 (warning: people will want seconds!)

Ingredients:
3 ¼ pounds of beef tenderloin (you may have to tie a few strips together)
½ cup olive oil
1 carrot, finely chopped
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 leek, finely chopped
½ cup of sherry or Madeira
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
3 cups beef stock
3 tablespoons sweet, unsalted butter
2 shallots, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
10 shitake or button mushrooms, finely chopped
1 small can diced black olives
3 sheets packaged puff pastry (found in frozen isle at grocery store) thawed
A dozen thin slices of prosciutto
1 egg, well beaten
A few tablespoons-worth of butter

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Step 1) the Gravy Sauce:
1. Finely chop the carrot, onion, leek, and shallots (or use food processer – I don’t have one).
2. Heat a tablespoon or two of butter in skillet and add all the chopped veggies, sautéing until slightly browned.
3. Stir in the Sherry and Worcestershire sauce, scraping any of the sticky chunks from the bottom of the skillet, and simmer for about 10 minutes until reduced to a syrupy sauce.
4. Stir in the beef stock. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and leave simmering for an hour or so while you’re preparing the actual beef wellington.

Step 2) the Meat:
5. Season the beef well with seasonings of choice. (I like to use a mixture of finely chopped basil, garlic salt, fresh pepper, paprika, fennel, thyme, oregano, and a very light dash of cinnamon. I put a dash or two of each into a small bowl and then stir them together.)
6. In a large pan, heat the olive oil on high. Once thoroughly heated, add the beef and quickly brown all sides. Be careful not to overcook; we’re mainly just browning to lock the meat juices in. Transfer to a baking dish and cook in oven for about 5 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside to completely cool.

Step 3) Prepare the Pastry:
7. On a sheet of baking (or wax) paper, unfold the sheets of pastry puff and pinch together until measuring out a rectangle about 16” x 24” – lightly roll flat, transfer the whole thing (paper included) to a baking sheet. Layer pastry with another piece of baking paper, and chill in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes.

Step 4) Encasement Mixture:
8. In a small saucepan, melt a tablespoon or two and gently cook the shallots for a few minutes until softened but not browned. Add the garlic, mushrooms, and olives; cook gently until the mixture is barely moist, and then set aside.

9. Check the gravy sauce, and stir. Run a metal strainer through the mixture; collect about half of the finely chopped pieces. Add these pieces to the mushroom mixture, and lightly stir together. Let the gravy sauce continue to simmer. If it’s thickening too quickly, you can add some Madeira or even a little bit of red wine if needed.

Step 5) Putting it all together:
10. Take the pastry out of the fridge and transfer to the work surface. To prevent excess pastry overlap, cut away each corner, while leaving room in the center portion for the beef; basically, once cut, the pastry will kind of look like a large cross. Save all the pastry trimmings for later use in this recipe.

11. Lay the prosciutto slices all over the pastry and thinly spread half of the mushroom mixture on top of that. If you tied the beef for the browning, carefully untie (so it stays together) and place in the center of the pastry. Spread the remaining mushroom mixture on the beef, and bring the flaps of prosciutto over the beef.

12. Brush the pastry edges with some of the beaten egg and fold them over each other to completely encase the beef.

13. Turn onto a lightly buttered baking sheet, seam-side down. Remember those pastry trimmings? Cut them into strips and crisscross a lattice pattern over the top. Brush with the rest of the beaten egg, and pierce a small slit in the center at the top for a nice finishing look.

14. Place in the oven for 5 minutes to set, then lower the heat for 400 degrees F and bake for 20 minutes or until the pastry is a nice golden brown. Turn off the oven and open the door to cool while preparing the finishing touches on the gravy.

15. Give the sauce one last stir, and strain it into a gravy boat. Throw away the remaining chunks that were strained out. Remove the Beef Wellington and slice. Serve at once with the gravy. Enjoy!

Gritty City Gift Fair

Well, I'm nearing the end of day one at the Gritty City Art Festival here in Tacoma...

I've just about made enough to cover my booth costs! Woooo. This goes on all day tomorrow, from 1 to 8pm - 3 floors of live music, cocktails, unique items you won't find anywhere else; what more could a person ask for?

Just about everything that I've seen here is hip, handmade, local, and environmentally "green". If you're in the area and looking for something to do tomorrow (maybe a little shopping, hint hint) PLEASE! Feel free to stop on by! And say hi! Cause, you know, I'm here. :-) Alllll eeeevening.

Perfect Gluten-free Pumpkin Loaf

(makes TWO mouth-watering 9x5" loafs)

I make this quick and easy loaf for my boyfriend's son, who has Fructose Malabsorption which means he can't have anything with HFCS and wheat. This is one of his all-time favorite breads. It's a great fall and winter anytime snack, and has a wonderfully consistent, moist texture. You'd never know it's gluten-free.

While most "fructmals" know, brown sugar has a bit of fructose naturally, so I add dextrose sugar which can be found at almost any health-food store. You can also substitute the brown sugar by adding pure maple syrup (about 1/2 ratio) if desired. Dextrose is not a good full-on substitute as it has different baking characteristics than regular white and brown sugars.

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups white rice flour
1/2 cup authentic -does not contain wheat- corn flour (corn starch)
2 tsp backing soda
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp xanthan gum (I use Bob's Red Mill brand)
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp cloves
1 tsp nutmeg
1 cup butter (yes, 2 full sticks), softened
1/4 cup spiced rum
1/4 fructose-free eggnog
2 cups brown sugar
1 cup dextrose
4 large eggs
1 can pure pumpkin puree (NOT pumpkin pie filling!!!)
1 tsp vanilla extract

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2) In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugars together. Add eggs, pumpkin pie puree, rum, eggnog, and vanilla - mix until well blended.

3) In separate bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients.

4) Gently fold flour mixture into pumpkin mixture until just blended - DO NOT OVER MIX!

5) Pour 1/2 of mixture into a lightly greased 9"x5" loaf pan.

6) Bake for about 1 hr or until the top is nicely golden. Check doneness with toothpick. A little moist is ok as it will continue to cook until transfered to cooling rack, but if it's still super doughy, and the top is browned, place some foil on top and bake a few minutes longer.

7) Leave to cool in pan for about 10 minutes, then transfer to a rack to cool completely.

As tempting as it is to do otherwise, I highly recommend waiting until the bread has completely cooled before cutting into it. That way all the moist goodness does not escape. If you simply cannot wait (warning: this bread smells sooo good; it ranks right up there with banana bread), make sure you wrap the loaf completely with baking (or wax) paper.

3 days

...Till my birthday, in case you're wondering. WHEW!! I just finished formatting a bunch of ACEO PRINTS and certificates for the Grit City Art Fair at the end of the month! Man, now I'm tired. I'll leave the printing for tomorrow. I'm gonna go get some beauty sleep. :-)

Check out this website if you don't know what an ACEO PRINT is: www.art-card.org. Don't feel bad. I didn't know what the heck they were either until last week. I hear about 'em all the time though, so I figured it was worth looking in to. You know, find out what all the rage is about. Now I'm with the program. And you can be too. Yeah two thousand ten! Alright!!!

HOT NEWS

I was resigned for no reason. I went back to square one (the first printer I went to, like I said I would) - and worked with Jeff, their color guy. He ended up referring a different printing company up in Seattle, called "The Color Group". They're not cheap, but ARE comparable to the printer I was originally gonna use. And they do large-format drum scanning, which is nice (and cheaper then using a photographer to get digital files made).

I went up there this past week, got proofs made, checked them out yesterday and they looked GREAT!!! So I ordered 5 prints up front and they should be done this coming Monday. Again, not cheap, but a girl has to do what a girl has to do for now. So YAY, I've finally got a great printer to work with.

Other hot news: I signed up for the Artist Fair in Tacoma on Black Friday, which we all know is only the BUSIEST shopping day of the whole year!! The day after Thanksgiving. I will have a booth there, so if anyone wants to buy prints directly and meet me, I'll be there. :-)

The address is as follows: Speakeasy Arts Cooperative, 746 Broadway, Tacoma, WA. Which is located on Antique Row in downtown Tacoma. There is also a second entrance on St. Helen's for foot traffic. Hope to see ya there!!

Answered Prayers

Thanks to Mel, Ben, and Molly for the recommendation - because of you guys, I got in touch with a totally awesome (and local) printing company that specializes in fine art reproductions. I didn't know about them because they don't advertise, so thank you! Artist's best kept secret: R4. They currently have my files and are in the process of creating proofs. They have large-format scanning abilities too, so I don't have to spend extra money going to a photographer. :-D Hooray!!!

Oh October

Are you here already? Dang...

Here are some pictures of my progress on the third siren in the series so far. This particular one is being done in acrylics. Again, it's NOT DONE, so keep the criticism to a minimum please - I'm not satisfied with it either at this point, but hopefully that will change. It's all about the journey, after all. I'm growing... please be gentle.

Art for Sale!

Hello all!

I currently have some art on display and for sale at the Boudoir Bed & Bath up in Anacortes, WA for your viewing/buying pleasure. I am taking orders or consignments as well.

Full-sized giclées are not at the store, unfortunately, because I've been having issues with my current printer. The machine they normally use for fine art items such as mine BROKE, and they do not plan on replacing it any time soon. We tried to see if their other printer would work, but the quality is just not there. I will be in the market over the weekend for a new company that can create the giclées to my standards. After all, why would I want to give my collector's less than the best, right? Luckily, I know a LOT of other artists in the area and have already been given some awesome recommendations to go take a look at. :-) Stay tuned, my friends! I should have an update by next week.

CD Artwork for Nate Palin - aka - "The Bottom Line" is finished and in production!!! Yay :-D

For more info on this, go to: www.bottomlinelive.com

Moving On & Moving Up

The past few weeks since my last blog have been CRAZY BUSY!!! So we DID sell our house, and we DID end up having to pay. Oh well. Since then, we've been moving what belongings we've decided to keep [for the time being] into a dinky little apartment.

There is no room. I need these paintings OUT of here!

Good news? Started two new different paintings. Can't wait to show them to y'all!

I got a promotion at work too, which is pretty cool. I feel somewhat important now. :-)

Cheers!

Monday, BAD DAY! Oh well.

So I don't know which news I received today is worse...

The fact that:
1) I have a disgruntled ex-employee trying to make my life miserable. She has a personal vendetta against me, but fortunately is dumber than she is scandalous, and she WILL be getting into some MAJOR trouble.

2) Nobody in the office (including me) could get paid today or buy any needed office supplies BECAUSE of this disgruntled employee, who caused all of our work accounts to freeze.

3) My paycheck from last week was returned, and now my account is overdrawn. Cool!

4) The appraisal came back from Thursday's walk-through.. and it's $5,000 below the purchase price (in other words, we HAD/HAVE a buyer, and it came in below even though 7 months ago it appraised for $22k HIGHER than the purchase price, & we've sunk over $30k in the house just since August). Someone was offering to BUY it! Why ruin a good thing and make it lower than what they were offering?! What an ass. We are NOT writing a check to close the sale!

5) Because of the appraisal, this also means is that the apartment we've had on hold with a friend will not be available any longer - he had to know by this morning if we were gonna be able to take it since he already had 3 other prospective-tenants. He wasn't gonna charge us deposit or last-month's like most places because he has known and done work with my boyfriend for so many years. So, basically, we're screwed out of the apartment too. Anywhere else is gonna charge up the butt.

6) Someone HACKED into one of my email accounts, and emailed all of my contacts a load of junk mail. Joy.

So I've heard bad things come in 3's... Since I got a double dose, does this mean something grand will be coming my way soon?! Please oh please say that it's so! Fuh shizzle. Today sucked.

I need a drink. Margarita anyone? I've got about 11 bucks to my name, if you're game.

On the bright side, at least I'm generally healthy, not pregnant, not homeless, and have friends, right? And I got some mad skillz too. That's always a plus.

Art for Sale!

I'm so frustrated!!! Last night I got into a big fight with Steve. His argument?..

"I see you farting around with all this art crap - it's wasting an exorbitant amount of your time - and yet you have YET to make a dime off of any of it. When are you going to GET REAL and stop this art nonsense!? It's not making you any money!! I have never met a person who struggles as much as you do - it's not like making money is hard, anyone can do it. Except you. Put the dream away, Kristina. It's just a dream. You have more important things to think about."

Now, I understand where he's coming from -oh "Mr. I-make-5-figures-per-month-plumbing"- but I don't know how to change the circumstances to prove that what I do has any value! I'm told MAKE MORE ART by teachers and artists, but I get YELLED at every time I DO because I haven't even sold any of the ones I've already made!!! ...And he gets REALLY mad when I run out of materials and I have to buy more. I took art class, yes, and granted, I learned some cool applications I hadn't thought of before, but what they didn't teach me was how to SELL ART. I don't **want** to stop creating art! I wish I could do it all day, every day!! I wish people **liked** my art enough that they wanted to buy it, so I'd have proof that I ***COULD*** do it all day, every day and actually survive!!!

Do I need to stand outside, and shout to the mountains in order for anyone to hear me?!?!

What can I do? Seriously. This is quite the pickle. I'm pretty torn up about this.

Lost and Found

Yesterday evening I retrieved my very first chalk pastel painting from the TAFA studio so I could present it to my mother for her birthday. Mind you, I haven't actually *seen* this painting in over two years. Upon having it matted, I realized -someone- I don't know who, CUT around the edges of the Canson paper... most likely so it would fit into the previous frame it was put in during my absence from the academy. As it doesn't disrupt the actual pastel itself, I suppose it doesn't matter, but I was a bit angry about discovering this anyhow. I mean, I DID pay for the paper and positioned the still-life exactly where I wanted it. I LIKED the excess of smokey gray background! Oh well.

At any rate, Rachel, the awesome framing manager at Michaels hooked me up with a great mat to fit around my own frame, which I promptly assembled before leaving for my mom's 53rd birthday-party dinner. She cried when I presented it to her, lol..

She will be giving it back briefly sometime this week so I can take it to my photographer's studio and get a digital copy made, after which, I will be returning it to her for safe keeping.

The pastel, if you're wondering, was/is a still life of the Horse of Turino. I forgot how amazingly brilliant it is for being a plain white statue. My lighting layer really shows through brilliantly in just the right spots. My mother loves horses, so there you go.

I hope everyone is having a fabulous weekend!

Etsy-bitsy shop-o-rama!!

Last night I hit my goal for the week of creating an online shop with items for sale! I know, I know, it's not much to look at *right now*... but I've got big plans, and at least it's something! Far better than nothing, for sure!!! If I waited and waited around until I was completely ready all the time, nothing would ever get done because most of the time, I have no idea where to start. So the word "progress" has earned an important spot on my motivating to-do vocabulary.

My motivating four P's: Progress + Produce + Promote = Profit

That's right! Sure it's elementary, and I'm sure someone out there is thinking to themselves "Oh Lord, this girl needs help. What a dummy!" But It's short and easy for me to remember day to day. Whatever works, eh? Progress.

This past weekend I FINALLY went and got digital copies made of my sirens!!! It's about time, eh? Boy that was expensive. The thing is, I've been nit-picking and changing parts of both girls for the past two years or so, and it wasn't until just last week that I was actually satisfied. The hours put into them, if I were to condense the time, would probably be about 3 months from start to finish on each. Alas, there are times I just can't bear the thought of even picking up a brush.

I need to Photoshop off my blue tape marks [that held the Canson paper to the board, 'cause I'm lame and don't have a real artist's easel w/ a clip.] and few stray hairs/lint I noticed, but that shouldn't take too long and then they'll be ready for print. Now I can finally get my originals framed and under protective glass! Hooray!!! Having them vulnerably propped in my dining room this whole time has made me super jumpy anytime someone gets near them.

The next immediate goal on the list is to set up an online shop somewhere. Anywhere. Purely for the exposure. Does anyone have any suggestions? So far I've looked into the following selling sites:
Ebay, Amazon, Boscov's, Etsy, AllPosters, and Art.com[s] so if you've used any of these, let me know how you liked it/didn't like it. Likewise, if you've got a great site you'd like to rave about, by all means.. TELL ME ABOUT IT! My brain is a sponge and I'm trying to soak up as much advice as I can. I'll even throw in a favor if you need persuading... I don't know, cookies or something. ;-)

Commodore's Ball:Preperation

So I found out last week that Steve signed us up to go to the Tacoma Yacht Club's Commodore's Ball! Hooray, a ball!! There will be fancy dresses & suits, dancing, drinks, and of course lots of yummy food. Today, after work, Steve and I decided to go on a shopping trip. Now, normally I am not one who enjoys shopping. But today was different. Why, you ask? Well, you see, Steve does not own a suit... He does not even *relish* owning a suit. So obviously, I was up for the entertainment that meant tagging along.

Before leaving, he went upstairs to shower (he owns a plumbing business. Trust me, you would have wanted him to shower too), groaning all the while. He got out & did his hair... glanced at me, and groaned some more. Then he groaned as we walked out to the car. Groaned again as he started the ignition. Mumbled "I hate suits" as he pulled into the road. Groaned a few more times in between stop lights and glancing my way. I had a huge grin on my face the whole time.

"Stop grinning at me. Grrr...."

We got to the store, and were immediately overwhelmed by all the choices. This of course was the perfect opportunity for the ultimate of groans. A nice old man with a crooked back came up from behind us and asked if we needed any assistance. By the way Steve opened his mouth, I could tell he was going to say no and brave this sea of suits alone, so I blurted out "YEAH! There are so many; we could sure use your advice! Where do we begin?" to which he genuinely smiled and immediately wrapped his measuring ribbon around Steve's waist. Poor Steve didn't have a chance. So he just helplessly went with it, arms raised. His face was priceless. This was what I came here for. That look.

The little old man lead us around to various options & accessories, and finally after much deliberation over color, stripes or no stripes, and ties vs. bows vs. nothing at all, (All of this involved some sardonic comment about how he hates my lavender dress, how purple is stupid & I am gay -gay is Steve-speak for anything he doesn't like, which ironically does not involve gay people at all. We have quite a few gay friends who love him despite his crude and somewhat limited vocabulary- Oh yeah, and once again -HE HATES SUITS- and balls are dumb. So are cumber-buns, and why does he have to wear it? This shirt is too thin.)... oh yes, where was I? So finally we all 3 decided on a lovely neutral black and white number that should last him for years to come, provided he doesn't gain any more weight or get drunk and tear the damn thing. The the price was over half-off the normal retail price. Way to go Steve!!!

"Suits are stupid." He mumbled as we approached the checkout. The guy at the register asked if the suit was for our wedding. We both laughed [yeah right], and told him it was for the Commodore's Ball. He assured us he would be one of the sharpest dressed fellas there. Good to know. Upon heading to the car, Steve made yet another comment about why on earth would I ever buy a dumb purple dress, and why can't I wear my little black strapless number. I explained that THAT dress is a cocktail dress, meant to be worn for things like theaters & musicals, classy nights on the town, and well.. cocktails! Not formal-affair balls. "You need a ball-gown length dress for those, dear."
"But the old women don't wear floor length gowns."
"Yes, but they compensate with lots and lots of sequins, helmet hair, and nurse shoes. They're old; they're allowed."
"But I really LIKE your black dress..."
"I know, dear."
"Does it have to be purple?"
"Lavender."
"Whatever.. gay bright purple.. can't you wear something else?"

We'll see. I guess if he can go all through that trouble just to look uncomfortably spiffy for lil ole me at an old fart's boat ball, I suppose I can look for something that ain't purple. If I have to. I guess.