Weekly Scoop - Volume 3, issue 2, 2010

In the coming weeks, we will be saying a fond farewell to Simply Elegant’s long time Catering Manager, Michelle MacNair, and welcoming Marc d. Wicks to the position. We’ll have more about Michelle in next week’s edition, but we thought we’d take this opportunity to introduce you briefly to the newest member of the Simply Elegant team.
Marc understands events from every perspective. He has worked in management and event planning at such prestigious companies as Red Tree Catering and Bravo Bistro and Catering where he honed an intimate understanding of cuisine, customer service and menu planning.
His eclectic background has spanned marketing, advertising, event creation, production and promotion. Consequently, he is quickly and easily able to create and assess menus, budgets, and the exact catering components that will make each client’s event or occasion a success.
Under the umbrella of his own company, Sugar Entertainment, Wicks has developed and managed a variety of Calgary musicians and entertainers, fostering relationships between artists and venue owners. A musician in his own right, Marc is particularly fond of composing and playing electronic music, occasionally for a live audience.
He is an Albertan by birth and an avid sportsman who loves surfing, snowboarding and hockey (he is a goaltender). He is partial to single malt scotch, Guiness — and Calgary, his home for the last twelve years.
Welcome aboard, Marc! We’re glad you’re here.

There will always be circumstances beyond our control. The one we love may disappoint us from time to time. Or someone at work may tear down what we have worked so hard to build. Or a child may struggle in ways we feel so profoundly and yet cannot fully comprehend.
In a world filled with such complexities, there is something satisfying and healing about creating something artistic, particularly something you will share with others, in the food you prepare.
With the hope that its preparation brings you the kind of peace that comes from making something truly beautiful from that which is ordinary, here is Simply Elegant’s Deconstructed Strawberry Cheesecake.
Simply Elegant’s Deconstructed Strawberry Cheesecake
Serves 8
Ingredients
8 large strawberries
1 cup marscapone cheese
1/4 cup granulated sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/8 cup unsalted butter
pinch cinnamon
1/8 cup brown sugar
Piping Bag and star tip
Method
For Cheese cake
Cream marscapone cheese, granulated sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy.
Set aside.
For Streusel
With your hands or pastry blender, blend flour, unsalted butter, brown sugar and cinnamon.
Bake in oven on a silicone line baking sheet at 350 degrees F for about 15 to 20 minute or until
browned.
Cool to room temperature.
Assembly
Wash strawberries.
Slice a little off one side so it sits level.
On an angle, remove a little off opposite side.
Place a little of crumbled streusel on strawberry.
Fill cream cheese into piping bag.
Pipe a rosette on top of streusel.
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