Happy Easter Happy Spring!

Nancy Cerny here from CVC Catering Group.

Maine’s Finest Catering in your Home, Office, Club, Yacht, Outdoors
or even an Auditorium – any place you wish! We provide Indulgences you’ve only dreamed of for Weddings, Dinners, Business Parties, Special Events, Holidays, Anniversaries, and Lobster Bakes the Old Fashioned Way Barbecues and more. We cater to every one of your individual needs. Providing You with the Cutting Edge in Creative Cuisine.

I don’t know if you agree with me, but I think winter has finally lost it’s charm. We still have tons of snow on the ground and they are saying we will get another storm this week. Ug!

So, I am ready for spring. I thought I would share with you one of my favorite spring recipes! It is still comforting for our continued cold weather but very elegant and springy. Please let me know what you think!

Spring Salmon Savory Strudel
Serves 4 People

Ingredients:

1 Puff Pastry Sheet
1 ½ Cups of Mashed Potatoes mixed with Ranch Powder Dressing
Mix 1 Cup of Béchamel Sauce
1 ½ Pounds of Poached Salmon
6 Cheese Slices of your choice. (I use American.)
Egg Wash (egg mixed with scant amount of water)

Make Béchamel Sauce:
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
6 tablespoons white unbleached flour
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons parsley, chopped
2 tablespoons chives
3 tablespoons lemon juice

Melt butter in medium sized pan on low heat, stirring as it does. Don’t let it burn. Add in flour, stirring constantly, until fully dissolved and smooth. When it bubbles, remove from heat and add in the heavy cream, stirring constantly. Return to medium heat and stir in the lemon juice, parsley, garlic. Stir until it’s smooth and slightly bubbles. It will thicken.

Poach Salmon:

Prepare a Court Bouillon. Is an essential ingredient when poaching Salmon and other Seafood. This is basically a light vegetable stock. You could use a simple fish stock as well.m The Court Bouillon needs to cook on its own for about 30 minutes before putting the salmon in, to allow the flavors to develop. Don’t throw the bouillon away after cooking the Salmon, it makes a great base for a fish soup or you can reduce it down and freeze it to use another day.

10floz white wine
40floz water
3floz white wine vinegar
1 chopped onion
2 chopped carrots
2 sticks chopped celery
2 bay leaves
2 teasp sea salt
12 black peppercorns

Put all the ingredients in a pot and bring to a boil. Simmer for 30 – 40 minutes and leave to cool before using. Put the salmon in a shallow pan with Court Boullion SIMMERING- DO NOT BOIL, and poach gently until the fish has changed color and is opaque (around 20 to 30 minutes) Assemble Strudel:Place a line of the mashed potatoes down the middle of the puff pastry. Pour about ½ cup of béchamel sauce over the mashed potatoes. Place separated salmon pieces across all of the mashed potatoes. Then place cheese slices across the salmon. Overlap Puff pastry sheet sides and ends an turn over seam side down on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Brush egg wash over puff pastry top and sides and bake in 375 degree oven for approximately 20 minutes until puffy and brown. Serve immediately with additional béchamel sauce over. By the way, I am doing three cooking demonstrations at the womens expo the first week end of April. Check out the link and come see me!
http://www.womenslife.net/portland/portland.html Happy Spring!
 

Super Duper Open House

 

• One week since my open house (I know I’m slow to post, right) and I’m still over the moon about my party. I’m so tickled that you came out in droves! Past brides, new friends, my business buddies. I’m so very humbled. We were wall to wall people all night. I’m speechless. I thought you guys were going to start parking on the lawn—a sign of a good party.
• Pre-event I received wonderful emails from lots of good folk who just couldn’t make it. I thought that’s ok, I’ll just drink and eat by myself in the corner. SIGH. But before I knew it, the office was stacked and happy! Eating, drinking, laughing. Great mood, good times. We almost had people hanging from the rafters. I thought for sure, we’d have 10 people come… but man, you came and stayed. SO great! Best time for me! I’m gushing!
• Thanks for those that signed my wonder woman poster. Tehe.
• What kept people there? My friend and colleague Nancy Cerny of CVC Catering group put together a fantastic menu. Each dish was unique and special. She’s not a dial-it-in-with-the-ol’-cheese plate kind of gal. She went so over the top. Everything was served on vintage china. So fabulous. I knew she was good but um… I was beyond impressed. Nancy worked my crowd and kept guests entertained and hydrated with her supreme selection of wines. Oh those peppers, loved the peppers. (Yum. Mommy likes wine too.) I’ll never through an non-catered party again. Seriously, CVC makes it too easy. It was awesome. 
• And thanks to Gail at Dodge the Florist for making a beautiful e that smelled unbelievable.  Today I walked into the office and it’s still like smelling heaven. I told Gail was that I was thinking ‘white’ and not l. How’s that for vague? But look how lovely.
• I got lovely emails regarding the food and flowers. I really  trust these two vendors. These women are artist. Just turn them loose and they’ll create an event better than you could ever imagine. I’ve seen it all, obviously. I go to a lot of events. Even  I was impressed. Thanks again. Can not say enough.
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• Thanks too to all my BNI family who are great that out for me. Wonderful support system for me. I love you guys!
• Thanks to Emilie for the champaign and to Averyl, my newest gal pal who I recently picked up at the hamburger stand down the street, for the pug cards. I love them!
• But now back to me… Maggie, 1, my baby girl, was there in her super sweet Asian-style peach and green outfit. She was a bit tired but work the crowd like a champ. She is the best baby. Don’t argue this point with me. Thanks Brian, love, I owe you some rock climbing!
• The crowds lingered past 8pm. 
• Myself and two buds closed shop at 11:30pm. OMG! I will not mention names. But we were rockstars!
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• Should I make this an annual party? Any thoughts or your impressions of the shin dig? Post your comments.

 

Circle of LIfe

I recently received a commission to create a special gift for my client’s wife featuring the birthstones of their two children and two grandchildren. Rather than make the typical mother’s or grandma’s piece of jewelry, I created a Circle of Life pendant. The birthstones are diamond for April, emerald for May, rose zircon for October and garnet for January. I wanted the stones large enough so that they can easily be seen. I suspended the stones on a series of handmade wires. I surrounded them with brilliant, full-cut diamonds and hung the pendant on a chain hidden behind the diamonds, so as not to disrupt the flow of the piece. My client’s wife’s reaction when she contacted me after receiving her gift: It is EXACTLY what I wanted but more so. It’s stunning! I love it!

I love it, too. ___Gerard

York Wedding Show

Mary Jane Elliott and Tricia Peightal had a great day in York, ME on February 17th meeting many brides-to-be and also some parents who are planning destination weddings for their out of state children.  Mary Jane and Tricia really enjoyed meeting the potential brides and their families…and also sharing with them the many services we provide that help make sure special day is everything the new bride and groom desire.  

Marissa Ruffini was one of the visitors to the www.maineweddingday.com booth who submitted her name for the drawing for a beautiful, ceramic figurine of a bride and groom…and she was the winner!  Thanks to Marissa and everone else who attended the show and took the time to chat with us about their special day.

Maine Lobster – Do you know . . .

Maine is the lobster capital of the world. Here, we have the sweetest, juiciest and finest lobsters anywhere. Mainers are proud of this fact and take lobster fishing very seriously. The most recent figures published indicate that in 2006 there were over 72 million pounds of lobster caught off the Maine coast, valued at over 297 million dollars.

Even though Maine lobsters are consumed by millions of people all over the world, little is know about our Homarus americanus (American lobster.) Let me share a few little-know lobster facts that you can ponder the next time you dig into these succulent crustaceans.

Lobsters love the colder waters you find around the Maine coast. They molt 2-3 times a year while juvenile, but only once a year when fully mature (about 4 to 7 years old.) In the first two weeks after molting, lobsters are very vulnerable because their new shells are so soft they can’t move very fast, or defend themselves. Their natural predator is the codfish. There are others, too─haddock flounder and other lobsters.

Lobsters are not the scavengers everyone makes them out to be. They eat live food, consisting of fish, mollusks, other crustaceans, worms and some plant life. However, I have seen them hanging out in some of the bars in the Old Port in Portland.

Lobsters can live for more than 100 years. They can get big, too. The largest lobster weighed in at over 44 lbs. They come in a variety of colors, including red, blue, green purple and yellow.

Lobsters have a brain the size of a grasshopper’s. They have two different size claws; a crusher and a pincher. Lobster’s teeth are in their stomach.

Here’s one other lobster fact that you should be aware of: I make the best gold lobster in the country. It’s 18k yellow gold with movable claws that hold two beautiful diamonds (different size claws. Remember crusher and pincher?) There are ten different pieces that must be assembled to create this lobster and it takes me three weeks to complete the job. The detail is exquisite and I sell this lobster to the lobster fisherman in Maine, it’s that good, and they’re very particular when it comes to lobsters!

Log onto www.porte4.com to see my lobster, and other sea and nautical jewelry that I create. Thanks – Gerard

MaineWeddingDay.com

Thanks Tricia and Mary Jane of MaineWeddingDay.com for taking our group’s information to the York Bridal Show Sunday. The booth was a great success overall. MaineWeddingDay.com is Maine’s trusted link to wedding professionals. I am on the roster as their photographer. It’s a fun group of experts in the area that can help you with almost every wedding need. Thanks again ladies for showing our work to more 2008 brides! Beth 🙂 

Ratatouille!!

How can a little rat be so endearing? And his picture has FIVE nominees! Dare I say that this  is as exciting as the presidential race of 2008?I did not get the memo (the tickets that is) to the Oscars. SO I guess I will have to have an Oscar party.I am tempted, however, to have a beach party to pretend that I am in a tropical paradise and away from another storm coming to Maine tonight. I could remove the furniture from my living room lay down a tarp and bring in sand and palm trees and pools of water. I could play videos of Hawaii and have waves music in the background. We could shovel all of the snow…about  10 inches off the deck and barbecue hamburgers and hot dogs. I could require eberyone to come in their bathing suits! Tempting!But I have to honor ratatouille. After all we are both chefs! We work in hot kitchens with lots going on and we LOVE it! 

Platinum Vs White Gold; Why is My White Gold Ring Turning Yellow?

Hello, my name is Gerard, and I’m the jewelry professional, here, on Maine Wedding Day. I’ve been in the business over 40 years, designing and creating all types of jewelry, including fab wedding bands and exciting engagement rings. I hope you’ll take a look at my designs at www.porte4.com.

Now let’s talk jewelry.

Many women complain that their white gold jewelry is turning yellow. They don’t understand why this is happening and they’re confused.

Greater York Bridal Show: Sunday Feb. 17th

Hey Brides and Grooms, This Sunday our very own Mary Jane and Trisha will be hosting our http://www.MaineWeddingday.com booth at the Greater York wedding expo. Stop by and register for a great give away!

To learn more about the show.

Beth to have fun, fearless fiesta

Blush Imagery to have fun, fearless fiesta

You’re invited to celebrate with Blush Imagery. Come on over for food, fun & friends!

Blush’s Open House
196 Gray Road Falmouth, ME 04105
Thursday, Feb. 21, 2008
4:30pm to 7:30 pm
207.899.5585

Get directions.