Got on the train at 6:15 to get to work by quarter to.

Turned on the lights, poured myself a cup of coffee and started:

Breakfast for 35

Frittata w/ fresh scallion, basil and parsley
bacon
Yogurt w/grated apple, raw whole oats and honey
bowl of beautiful berries
fresh orange juice

At 9 am I took out the beef for Lunch for 41

Browned the beef with a few pieces of bacon and onion and then cleared the pans with a whole bottle of chianti. Let it simmer in the oven with stock while I sauteed onion, carrots and a bundle of leek, bay leaf, fresh thyme, parsley and celery tops. Took out the big onion and slid in the tiny chopped stuff. Recovered. Cut up butter flour and sugar, pressed it in the pans for shortbread and simmered eggs, fresh lemon juice and sugar. Baked it in the other oven.
Braised the string beans. Sauteed the fennel. Roasted the shallots and tossed them all together.
Roasted potatoes on the rack under the beef stew.
Rubbed 2 whole salmon, each filleted into 2 halves with La Macchia, drizzled with sea salt and set them to rest on halved plum tomatoes, whole scallions and lemon halves.
Made a sauce w/ more scallions, strips of lemon zest and parsley and La Macchia
Simmered rice w/it’s own bundle of leek, thyme, celery top and bay leaf
Washed and cut the romaine and ripped in fresh herbs; set up huge bowl dressed w/ La Macchia, olive oil, lemon and salt; set up a huge bowl back up
Made a relish tray of raw carrot slivers, celery, radish, cornichon, nicoise olives, picholine olives and cherry tomatoes
Made a single plate w/ice berg and grated cheddar, olive oil and balsamic on the side
Plattered everything up.

Washed all the dishes and got on the train going uptown to make:

Dinner for 37.

Jonathan met me outside with all the stuff I made the night before:
hand rolled lasagna noodles layered in paper, meat sauce, grated parm
spinach sformata
marinated chicken breasts on the bone
cannellini
chocolate souffle cakes
along with all the raw ingredients for the rest of it.

Made the white sauce and heated the meat sauce. Layered it up for the lasagnas and stuck them in the oven. Roasted red peppers, sauteed mushrooms and made a quick red sauce for a vegetarian version.
Seared off lardon for the passed hors d’s.
Seared shrimp with whole garlic cloves parsley and sprigs of thyme for passed hors d.’s
Cut up the sformata for passed hors d.’s and dipped the bottoms in parm.
Heated up the cannellini and fried garlic with lemon and garlic to toss through.
Braised the string beans and sauteed onion for them. Finished them with toasted pignoli and golden raisins.
Heated the chicken, pulled it off the bone and sliced on the diagonal. Plattered with the pan juices.
Sent the hors d.’s out when the guests arrived.
Plattered everything else while the guest speaker did his thing. Voice like velvet. (Tom Brokaw.)
Whipped the cream.
Made second bowl of beautiful berries.

Took off my apron and hailed a cab to pick up Ferdinand.