The Dinner that Wasn't

I had the perfect dinner planned for Wednesday. No, really. I even have the pictures to prove it. But, alas, the weather did not appreciate all of my hard work and ruined my dinner plans.

First I prepped the Turkey Cordon Bleu by pounding the turkey cutlets before dressing them with whole grain Dijon mustard and honey, Provolone cheese (Mozzarella for the daughter), and brown sugar thin-sliced deli ham. Each cutlet was then wrapped tightly before being floured, dipped in egg and then coated in bread crumbs. These went into the refrigerator to await their time in the fire.

Just as I went into the kitchen to begin dinner preparations, the first wave of the storm hit. At this point the temperatures were in the mid 50's and the rain was coming down hard. Wind gusts up to 43 mph were reported in the area.

But let's turn our attention to the food.

Then I got to work on a special treat. One of the perks of being so involved with the Scottish Rite in Indianapolis is being able to attend scrumptious dinners furnished by Thomas Caterers of Distinction ™. Invariably the food is divine and truly inspired. I also can tell you that they are very helpful in working with those of us with specific food allergies.

One of their signature dishes is a Carrot Soufflé. My daughter loves this dish and luckily for us, Thomas Caterers of Distinction has kindly provided this recipe on their web site. While at my regular grocery store yesterday, I made sure to purchase the ingredients for this dish. This afternoon, just as the storm hit, I got to work.

Here I have a 1 pound package of carrots, 1 stick of butter, 3 large eggs, 1/2 cup sugar, 3 tablespoons flour, kosher salt, 1 teaspoon baking powder and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract.

The carrots were peeled, cleaned and chopped.



They then went into salted, boiling water to cook until well done.

Meanwhile, the eggs, vanilla, flour, sugar, salt and baking powder were put into a blender...

Along with the melted butter.

These were all blended.

Once the carrots were cooked till tender, they were drained before being added to the blender.

This was all then pureed until smooth.

The mixture was then poured into a greased baking dish.

I put this into the refrigerator until it was time to bake the souffle.

The Turkey Cordon Bleu are ready to cook.

And that's when the trouble started....

The second part of the storm hit and the power immediately went out. My husband later reported that a pole was snapped in half, thus cutting off our electricity, cable TV and Internet.

The dining room sconces were lit.

Oh, that's what they look like.

And the sconces on the other side of the room are lit.

That's better.

My husband still managed to read the newspaper despite all this.

The electric finally turned back on at 8:45, only four hours after it first went out. We decided that it was best to just have the dear daughter stop on her way home from a test on campus at McAlister's Deli and get some sandwiches for dinner.

I guess my special dinner will wait for tomorrow.

Dear Midnight is a true Shrike. He really doesn't like Sandra Lee. Good kitty.