Chapter 50

The explanation didn’t take long. I spent the rest of the day in the kitchen cooking. I made the Tyler Ultimate first, so I had an idea of the time required, and then I made the version I had learned. I would put them both in a head to head taste test. For both I used identical cuts of meat, but that was where the similarities ended.

Once they were in the oven cooking, I got to work making several batches of puff pastry. It would need to stay in the freezer so I could use them tomorrow. Adam was a huge help able to monitor the temperature, chill the sheet of marble I was rolling out on, and warn me when it was time to refrigerate, or continue rolling. I did a full 4/3/4/3 folding to create the standard puff pastry out of a block of butter and dough.

I did four batches of puff, so I could test them, and then use the best one on Monday. Dad invited Joan over, and she helped me determine that the recipe I had learned, with fresh wild mushrooms, real french stone ground dijon mustard, and Parma ham was the winner. I agreed, even with both using store bought pastry, the decorating technique I had learned made it look better.

Aunt Joan was happy to take the leftovers of both Wellingtons, but said she couldn’t eat it two nights in a row. I’d only be making one the next night anyway.

Sunday was relatively normal, I did a morning run, then had breakfast and mowed. Dad was up and about doing something in the basement. As I moved from the front yard to the back, Mr Tallman was standing there.

“I see your fruit trees started growing again.”

“I fed them some stuff from miracle grow, I think it worked pretty well.”

“It’ll be a year or two before you get fruit.”

“We’ve decided that this is going to be our permanent family home for the next few generations of Atwoods, so there’s time to let things grow as they should.”

“That’s the way to treat the land, husband it for future generations, not pillage it for immediate use.”

“My father and I are staunch Conservationist Republicans,” I told him in reply.

“Good, the future needs looking after,” he agreed.

“Do you have dinner plans tonight? I’m making something special, and it’s bigger than my Dad and I can eat on our own.”

His eyes sparkled, “What are you making?”

“Among other things, a Beef Wellington.”

“Haven’t had that in years, what time should I come over, and can I bring anything?”

“About six, and we would be happy with just the company,” I told him.

“I’ll see you at six then,” he said, and shuffled himself back home.

The smile on his face made me feel happy as I pushed the mower around the back yard. After I cleaned up, Dad came up from the basement with a grin.

“What’s got you so pleased?” I asked him.

“I’ll tell you at lunch, I’m starved. Give me a minute to wash my hands, and then let’s go. My truck is full of stuff, so you’re driving.”

I grabbed my keys, and headed out to the Prius, pulling it around by the front door. Dad came out, and jumped in, and I headed into town to the restaurant.

“Where are we going?” Dad asked.

“There’s a cafe by the park that I want to try. It’s considered the fancy place in town.”

“Rose something right?”

“Rose and Brambles. It sounds pretentious, but hopefully it’ll be good.”

The building was beautiful, climbing roses covered the exterior of what looked to be a converted house at the edge of the city park. The local park was the central point of the town, but instead of being circled by a road for easy access, it was circled by a collection of city administration buildings, a few homes, and a dozen businesses. Access was either thru these buildings, or via a parking lot that ran along the north side of the large square park.

We parked out front, and I noticed the care that had gone into making it ADA accessible, while keeping the charm of the original mid 1800’s farmhouse look. The white paint was fresh, and the signage discreet but clear, even from down the street.

We stopped at the sign that said, ‘Please wait to be seated’ for just a moment before a young guy came up, “Welcome to Rose and Bramble, we hope you enjoy your R & B experience. Would you like a table in the dining room, or on the porch?”

Dad and I smiled at his sincerity, he was probably only about 10 years old. Dad responded, “I think that we would enjoy the porch.”

He grabbed two menus, and led us down a hallway that opened first onto a large dining room with about fifteen tables, and a dozen booths, and six groups of diners. Just past that, we stepped out onto a long porch with a tall railing overlooking the park and pond. The nine tables had two other couples already eating.

We settled into the table he stopped at, and then took the offered menu’s. “Today’s special is the Beef Wellington, it’s very good. Your server will be by in a minute to get your drink orders.”

Dad gave me a look. “It was her request, I didn’t realize it was such a popular dish around here.”

He didn’t say anything, just smiled.