We celebrate Christmas with a big family dinner, this year we were 14 at the table. My family is a very odd mixture that puts the crew on TV's "Modern Family" to shame. Good thing Chuck likes to bake, and that a couple of the guests shouldered the responsibility for fabulous appetizers--Chrissie and Barbara, I'm forever in your debt -- cause I had to cook and freeze as much as I could in spare moments so we could honor the event in a proper way. And we sure did, with 3 tenderloins slow roasted (Thank you, Susie Middleton), crab cakes le Bec Fin, Funeral Potatoes, filet beans and asparagus, mixed mushrooms with Leeks, a Gorgonzola cream sauce, and a shallot, beef stock and red wine reduction sauce. Rounded out the meal with Tiramisu, and a three-layer chocolate cake with French buttercream. Ton of cookies including Susan's rugelach which I had to hide to eat in private. Not shared.
After all was said and eaten I was left with about 7 cups or so of Funeral Potatoes and about 6 cups of Mixed Mushrooms with Leeks. Also most of a whole beef tenderloin and a cup or so of each sauce. A third of the Tiramisu, and half a cake. A mountain of cookies, too. In the following posts, I'll show you some of the things I've done with what was left, and in some cases, I think the remake (Ok, reinvention) is better than the original. Sadly, Chuck dropped the remains of the cake on the way to the basement fridge, so what we could rescue that hadn't touched the floor, was eaten from a plastic tub with spoons on Monday. Good thing I didn't drop it. Oy.
Reinventing is the word I like a lot. It has connotations far beyond reusing leftovers; reinventing can also be starting fresh. Reinventing the wheel can certainly have negative aspects in terms of wasting time, but reinventing the wheel can also take you in a new direction. Every moment is a chance to reinvent. Coming for the ride?
Today is January 1, 2012. A good time to reinvent. Happy New Year!
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