January 4, 2024 Brunch - PPI Crab Soufflé. Dinner - Roast Beef with Mashed Potatoes in Mushroom Sauce and Steamed Green Beans

January 4, 2024 Brunch - PPI Crab Soufflé.  Dinner - Roast Beef with Mashed Potatoes in Mushroom Sauce and Steamed Green Beans

I know I say this often, but today was the best day of leftovers in a long, long time.

We only ate two meals today. The first was around 9:30 or 10:00.

Suzette heated the leftover crab soufflé on a bed of spinach leaves for brunch that we ate with a glass of orange juice.

Then Suzette went on errands and I watched Arsenal tie Brighton to hold onto 2nd place and Leicester lose and seems headed to relegation.

I toasted a slice of baguette and spread peanut butter and honey on it and ate it with a cup of green tea.

Then when Suzette returned we split a chocolate Woopie Pie, so we nibbled.

Suzette returned around 11:30 and at noon we drove to the Bosque and walked to the river and to the two lakes, which was slightly further than before and helped accumulate approximately 4500 steps. 

We then drove to Old Town around 1:45 to meet Nestor but he was not at the restaurant, so we drove home.

At 4:00 we made dinner. I sliced three mushrooms and then the remaining roast beef from the Christmas Standing Rib Roast into three 1/2 inch thick slices plus a few smaller thin slices for sandwiches while Suzette sautéed the mushrooms and then made a mushroom cream sauce from a roux and beef bouillon and a little milk and the mushrooms.  Suzette also made sour cream mashed potatoes and we snapped green beans and she steamed the green beans.

I opened the 2016 Olarra Gran Reserva Rioja we bought at Costco two weeks ago.

We thought it was too smooth in a manner we associate with being over produced. It was so smooth that it had lost all its character.

This was an even better meal than at Christmas in my opinion. Suzette covered the meat with mushroom sauce and heated it for just a minute, so the meat retained its pink color and was incredibly tender. With the mushroom cream sauce and mashed potatoes, the bites of meat literally melted in my mouth.

After dinner I toasted two mote slices of baguette and spread butter on mine and we both spread Affinois cheese on them and drank another glass of the Rioja with them.

Around 5:30 I went to sleep for about 45 minutes on Suzette’s new crystal heating mat that was lovely.

We watched the Bengals beat the Steelers during which we had a long conversation with Willy and then watched Death in Paradise, after which Suzette went to bed and I watched Sherlock Holmes and blogged.

Even though we only ate two meals, I snacked a lot and feel very full.

Bon Appetit