We mixed shitake, brown, cremini, portobello, oyster and button mushrooms for this. Tossed in some broth and let it simmer for 40mins before cusinarting it. This was topped with whip cream mixed with some porcini dust and served with a savoury chive and parsley shortbread cookie I made.

Ah, what better course on a snowy Saturday night in Toronto than onion soup. The twist on this version is the “canadiana” part. Made with sweet onions and with plenty of maple syrup, this soup provides you an interesting (and delicious) take on your notion of French onion soup since it is sweet. Finished under the broiler with baguette and 6-year-old Canadian white cheddar. More please! The pairing of Blanche de Chambly with this (a beer rather than wine) was perfect.

More tastes of the sea. Course five was a crab ravioli made a little asian with the inclusion of soy sauce, lemon juice, water chestnuts, celery and brussel sprouts in the filling. Topped with a perfectly executed beurre blanc sauce that G so skillfully produced, this was another outstanding course for the evening.

The main course was individually prepared itty-bitty beef wellingtons served with mini roasted carrots and mini cauliflowers which I steamed. Finished with an au jus just before serving, we tried our first ever Tunisian (yes Tunisian) wine with this course. The wellington was perfect and the wine okay; it had a good start but couldn’t hold its finish with the meat.

I should note we opted to move straight to the champagne with this course rather than the port, which worked just fine. Champagne anytime, champagne all the time works for me. The cheese were marvellous. The D’Affinois was unctuous and luscious and simply wonderful. The d’Auvergne is a lovely blue cheese that is more creamy and less crumbly than what you traditionally think of in a blue (benedictine bleu, for example) and the cheddar…. well, 12-year-old cheddar should be classified as a food of the gods!

Boy, this was also a lot of work. These are all honey based ‘delights’. With thanks to G for rescuing the creme brulee and frappe. I had made the brulee twice (with no success) and the frappe once with no success. The secret is in tempering the the egg yolks before integration and ignoring the recipe and going with your gut. These worked perfectly.

The honey frappe is made with a milk/egg yolk/honey mixture and turned into an ice cream. Just before serving you then blend the ice cream with a sweat mead or wine (I use Gewurztraminer) to create the frappe.

The nougatine (middle) is a frozen dessert, served straight from the freezer to the plate. It is made by creating a nougatine first that is frozen and then topped with a honey mousse.

The creme brulee (right) is the classic version.

We served these with edible flowers and Veuve Clicquot’s new semidry Champagne.

We finished with Soma’s truffles (which I cheated on and bought). Two dark chocolates: one filled with 8-year-old basalmic vinegar; the other with olive oil.