I receive Tiger Woods’ periodic newsletter by e-mail. I know it’s weird. Especially since I don’t play golf.

But he’s a cool dude and I admire his athletic ability, his dedication and perfectionism and how he has used his celebrity.

He’s just a good guy. And he does some really great things for causes he believes in.

I’m not trying to get all sappy on you. Just check out this little excerpt from his latest newsletter and tell me — as a steak lover — you don’t love him, too.

We held our fourth annual Block Party and raised about $700,000 for our Learning Center. I want to thank Fred Couples and Chris Riley for helping me with the morning clinic at Pelican Hill. Freddie also helped out with our live auction and is one of the nicest guys you will ever meet.

I also want to thank world-renowned chef Mario Batali for preparing a three-course gourmet meal – yes, I ate two steaks – and special thanks to Seal for putting on a great concert. Just seeing him perform again was absolutely incredible. He’s a nice guy, too. 

Yeah, famous people were there, blah, blah. And Tiger Woods eats two steaks in one sitting. In public.

And then writes about it.

Ya gotta admire a man who can put away the beef. Maybe that’s his secret to success? Couldn’t hurt.

Tiger, you had me at “hello.” YOU HAD ME AT HELLO.

Photo courtesy of TigerWoods.com.

Are lots of people descending on your house next week? Need a meal you can prepare ahead of time this holiday?

Try this yummy roast we just prepared at my parents’ house. It’s tender and hearty and who doesn’t love a good roast?

This one is a great Southern Living recipe. They always get it right.

The secret to this roast’s tenderness is the double layer of aluminum foil. So don’t skip that part!

Enjoy!

Beginner’s Roast

Prep: 5 min.; Bake: 3 hrs., 30 min. The secret to this juicy, fall-apart tender roast is in the baking. Before placing the lid on top of the Dutch oven, cover it with a double layer of aluminum foil. An eye-of-round roast has far less fat than a chuck roast, but when tightly covered and slowly baked with moist heat, is every bit as delicious. This easy recipe is also a terrific make-ahead dish. After baking, cool roast completely, and remove from Dutch oven, reserving gravy. Cut roast into 1/4-inch-thick slices, and arrange in a 13- x 9-inch baking dish. Pour gravy over sliced roast; cover and refrigerate up to 3 days. Reheat in a 325° oven for 30 minutes or until thoroughly heated.

Yield
Makes 6 to 8 servings

Ingredients
1 (3- to 4-pound) eye-of-round roast
1 large sweet onion, sliced
1 (10 3/4-ounce) can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup water
1 (1.12-ounce) package brown gravy mix
1 garlic clove, minced

Preparation
Place roast in a lightly greased Dutch oven, and top with sliced onion. Stir together soup and next 3 ingredients; pour over roast.

Bake, tightly covered, at 325° for 3 hours and 30 minutes or until tender.

Note: For testing purposes only, we used Knorr Classic Brown Gravy Mix.

–Karrie Fayard, Mobile, Alabama, Southern Living, JANUARY 2006

Recipe courtesy of Southern Living.

The scene:  it’s just a run-of-the-mill Tuesday night here.

The kids are coloring, throwing the football in the house and fighting. They’ve already eaten since they’re on the 5:30 pm chicken-nuggets-every-night track.

But my husband will be home soon and the adults crave more than dino-shaped poultry can provide.

What to do?

I decided it was time to pull from the freezer the Beef Wellington I had ordered for just such an occasion. It’s heat & serve, but it smelled and tasted like I made it from scratch.

First, I opened up the box of Beef Wellington. They’re individually vacuum-sealed bundles of heaven . . .

Then, I unwrapped them and followed the instructions in the Gourmet Guide that came with the package. I sprayed a stainless steel rack with cooking spray and arranged the pastries on the rack on top of a cooking sheet. That’s so they won’t bake up soggy on the bottom. It’s a very important step.

Don’t they look like the perfect bakery-fresh pastries?

Then, I put them in a 400-degree oven for about 40 minutes according to the instructions. At about minute 6 I started smelling something really wonderful — probably the duxelle.

This is what they looked like after baking to my liking . . .

Oh, yeah. Crispy pastry goodness filled with filet mignon and a mushroom duxelle that is exquisite!

Can you see the amazing mushroom and herb mixture that surrounds the filet? Oh, mixed with the flaky goodness of the pastry and the juiciness of the beef, it is unbelievable.

Now, you can keep yours in the oven for a bit longer if you like a little less pink — or keep it in for less time if you like more pink. You decide.

But I know that this was just right for a wintry weekday evening where a can of soup was looking like it was going to make an appearance.

And this was just as easy! Serve with your favorite vegetable or a wild rice. Yum!

Hooray for heat & serve! Here’s where I ordered mine. Now I’m all out. I need to stock up again ’cause it looks like it’s going to be a long winter.

And this will definitely take the chill off.