October 29, 2026 Breakfast - Granola with yogurt, milk, and raspberries Lunch - Monroe’s with Book Club. Dinner - Crab Souffle, Salad, and Bean Soup

October 29, 2026 Breakfast - Granola with yogurt, milk, and raspberries Lunch - Monroe’s with Book Club. Dinner - Crab Souffle, Salad, and Bean Soup

I woke up around 6:00 and ate breakfast and worked at my desk until 10:30 when I got ready for book club. I ate granola with yogurt, milk,band fresh raspberries again, as some of them are beginning to show signs of mold.

I picked up Peter at 11:10 and drove us to Monroe’s for lunch with the book club. Several people ordered a bowl f green chili. I ordered the breakfast of two eggs over easy, two enchiladas filled with carne adovado and cooked squash and lettuce and tomato with extra onions.

The prices have gone up and my dish was $12.95 and is now $15,95 plus $1.00 for the carne adovado.

We then drove to Charlie’s house for our discussion. Susan had bought a bottle of Precision Cabernet Sauvignon but no white so I drove home and fetched a bottle of Llegado de Farro, a blend of 80% Verdejo and 20% Godella from Castillo and Leon.

We discussed The Persian by McCloskey until around 3:00 and then drove Peter home.

When I returned home at 3:30 I rested until 5:00, when Suzette and I started cooking dinner. We had invited our old friends Wayne and Elaine and Nancy and Cliff for dinner.

The menu we selected was crab soufflé and a chopped salad of Napa Cabbage, tomatoes, and cucumbers.

Nancy brought a white bean soup and Fruit tartlets from Whole Foods. Elaine brought a tossed green salad that we combined with the cabbage salad for which I made a tarragon vinegar, mustard, and Chateau Ott olive oil dressing. So we had a complete menu of soup, crab soufflé, salad, and dessert.

We followed the Julia Child recipe for Fish soufflé as we usually do and Suzette cooked it in the steamer oven and it turned out perfectly.

Here is the recipe.

It is a little complicated but with both of us prepping, it went rather smoothly.

I minced Swiss cheese and buttered and dusted the souffle dish with cheese.  I minced a shallot that Suzette cooked in white wine. Suzette whipped the egg whites and separated the yolks and started the Bechamel sauce by cooking flour in butter and heating a cup of milk. I took over at the stove to add the milk to make the Bechamel sauce and then off the heat whisked in the egg yolks and cooked the shallot.

We then combined the cooked minced shallot with the Bechamel and stirred in the crab meat.

Then then we folded the fluffy whipped egg whites into the combined ingredients and Suzette poured it into the dish and set the steamer oven to the setting for soufflé, as Wayne and Elaine arrived around 6:20.

Nancy and Cliff arrived around 6:45. Suzette set the dining room table with the Rosenthal China with its black on white soup bowls and heated Nancy’s bean soup and we ate a first course of soup and I toasted slices of Bosque Bakery Rustic baguette and South Valley Sourdough to go with the soup and salad.

Then Suzette served the souffle and the combined salad with more bread.

I opened the chilled bottle of Red Newt Dry Riesling that arrived this week and after we drank it Suzette fetched a bottle of French Vielles Vignes Sauvignon Blanc from the garage and we filled glasses with it.

I was amazed that the souffle was sufficient to serve seconds and thirds.

After we finished the soufflé Nancy and Suzette served the fruit tartlets on dessert plates.

Suzette’s organization of China and the table was flawless and the combined efforts of everyone made for an elegant meal.

                                           Here are the plates left after dinner

We talked in the living room a bit and around 8:30 Wayne and Elaine left. Then at 9:30 Cliff and Nancy left and we went to bed.

It was a lovely day of food and social interaction that tired me but made me feel better, if those two are compatible.

Bon Appetit