little left to prepare for tomorrow

I've made my mashed potatoes, and the peas/carrots mixture is ready to be boiled tomorrow morning. The taters will be reheated at the last minute as well.

Tonight, I need to make and bake my apple/pineapple pie, and I've decided to sous vide the steaks tonight as well. I'll sear the steaks tomorrow. By sous vide-ing everything tonight, I can get to sleep on time and not have to wake up too early tomorrow. 

I also need to prep two more sauces for the steak: a pan sauce with mushrooms and pancetta, and a butter-garlic sauce. Both of these ought to be easy enough to prepare. I think I've discovered a hack for the pan sauce so that I'm not overly obsessing about technique: just think of the pan sauce as a reduction of a boeuf-bourguignon sauce, and maybe add a little sugar to it (optional). 

I already made a chimichurri; it turned out awesome, and by using the food processor instead of a blender, I ended up with a better texture for the herbs: everything's a bit earthier and chunkier after 30 seconds of blitzing. I don't think I'll ever go back to the blender.

So tonight's prep is simple: roll out the already-made pie dough, put in the filling, and bake. Make two more steak sauces. Sous vide the steaks for a bit more than 2.5 hours. Thursday morning, right before I head out, cook the peas and carrots, reheat the potatoes, and sear the steaks. The pie will cool overnight, and I'll serve it room temp at the luncheon. Oh, yeah: and I'm also bringing toll-house cookies to the party.

It would be nice for people to just start eating the moment I lay everything out, but my invitees might want to microwave their food all the same. I looked up microwaving sous-vide steaks, and the verdict is that it's possible to reheat steaks that way, but you might lose some juiciness and savoriness given that the steaks come out of the sous vide perfectly cooked. Personally, I plan to eat my steak right at the moment I take it out to serve. No 'waving.

If I remember, I'll try to take some pics of the food, either as it's undergoing final prep or when I'm serving the meal. Wish me luck!