Eating with Bob and Suzette: March 2022

Wednesday, March 30, 2022

March 30, 2022 Lunch - PPI Corned Beef, sauerkraut, potatoes, and carrots. Dinner - Roast Chicken and Spinach, green bean, asparagus, and shallot Couscous

We awakened at 7:15 after 7 hours f sleep. I worked at my desk until 10:30 when I ate a bowl of granola, milk, blueberries, and yogurt.

I then finished my brief by 12:30 and sent it to Sally for final review.

At 1:30 I watched the market close and heated the PPI Corned Beef, sauerkraut, potatoes, and carrots. Not a particularly delicious dish because it was a bit dried out but very filling. The market went down today and I lost a little more than half of what I gained yesterday. My oil stock, PXD, hit an all time high today of $257.00 that helped dampen the blow of the high tech sell-off.

I then filed the brief and it was accepted.

The coolest thing that happened today was the order granted by the Court of appeals regarding the two exhibits I am trying to add to the record. The Court granted an abeyance on its decision until its final disposition of the case to see If it will grant my motion to add the exhibit.

At 4:00 I showered and dressed and at 4:40 walked to the bank and withdrew some money for the trip.

When I returned home I was tired and rested and watched the news.

Suzette arrived a few minutes after I returned with a tarragon and lemon stuffed roasted chicken from the bistro. I decided to use as many of the vegetables we had left to add tip-off couscous. I minced a shallot, diced five asparagus, diced the last 1/4 red bell pepper, and snapped the few good green beans we had left.

I then sautéed the vegetables in 3 T. of butter until they were slightly cooked. Then I added 12 oz. of couscous and tossed it in the buttery mixture. Then I added 18 oz. of boiling water and cooked the mixture about three or four minutes. Then I turned down the heat and cooked the mixture for another four or five minutes. Then I turned the heat off and added a handful of spinach.reheated the chicken in the microwave for about 5 minutes.

While the chicken was heating I went to the garage and fetched a bottle of Italian Pinot Grigio and opened it. I think I bought it for $7.99 at Trader Joe’s. We ate some more of the PPI mango salsa with dinner.

After dinner I made a cup of tea and opened the new package of sandwich cookies similar to Oreo’s and ate four.

After Suzette finished working she came in and sipped a cognac and we watched another bloody episode of the Last Kingdom.

I think I have figured out the plot, so it was exciting tip-off see the first step in my proposed plot appear in tonight’s episode.

We started packing at 9:20 and went to bed at 10:00.

Bon Appetit

March 29, 2022 Lunch - vichyssoise Dinner - Duck Tacos with Cole Slaw and Mango Salsa

We had another busy morning. I woke up at 7:30 and made an hot dog, potato, shallot, and Manchego cheese omelet cooked in duck fat rather than butter. I did not notice a big difference in flavor from the use of duck fat. The inspiration to use two hot dogs in the omelet was our trip to the resort on San Blas Island in Panama. They served hot dogs as sausage in our breakfast of sausage and eggs.

I toasted three small slices of baguette and buttered them and spread orange marmalade on them and made a cup of tea.

We left at 9:00 to hang artwork at Willy’s apartment. Suzette has fixed several problems like fixing broken patio tiles, the mirror, and the shelving in the closet.

I oiled the new butcher block on the patio, unrolled the indoor/outdoor carpet, and we hung three pictures and left by 10:45

I worked on the brief this morning until 1:30 and then ate the last two bowls of Vichyssoise.

Suzette had suggested eating the last two duck breasts in duck tacos.p, so I decided to buy the ingredients for mango salsa and tacos.

After lunch I checked my portfolio and was amazed that it was up another day. My portfolio rose another 1.8% to regain 62.83% of the loss from its high two months ago.

Around 3:15 I drove to El Super and bought green onions, a still warm stack of corn tortillas, 2 lb. of lemons, three ataulfo mangoes, three onions, three avocados, cookies, cilantro, and a Pasilla Chile.

I then dumped the bottles at the recycling center and then drove to Costco to pick up prescriptions and bought a bottle of scotch for Suzette and some suntan lotion.

I returned home a few minutes before 6:00.

Willy was returning from his trip to Mexico at 7:30 and we wanted to welcome him back by serving him dinner at his recently remodeled apartment.

I made the mango salsa by dicing 1/2 of a small onion, two avocados, the three mangoes, a tomato, the juice of 1 lemon, and 1/4 cup of cilantro.

Suxette made cole slaw with carrot, the Napa cabbage, onion, and Mayo and shredded the duck breasts.

I grabbed a bottle of Malbec and drove Suzette to Willy’s, so she could prepare dinner, and then drove to the airport and picked up Willy.

We returned to Willy’s apartment and after Suzette showed Willy the changes, which he liked, Suzette served us dinner.

We left at around 8:45.

We were both tired and went to bed as soon as we returned home.

There were two new food facts I explored today. The first was the use of duck fat instead of butter to cook the omelet for breakfast and used lemon instead of lime in the mango salsa. Neither made much difference. In the case of the duck fat p, I was surprised how little flavor it added. In the case of the mango salsa I was surprised how little difference the use of lemon juice made, which was a good thing because it indicated that lemon was a good substitute for lime.

The Malbec was more balanced and had a bit more fruity flavor than others I have tasted. Perhaps that is the reason it merited 92 points.

Bon Appetit

March 28, 2022 Lunch - 2000 Vietnam. Dinner - Leftovers

We are working hard these days. Suzette especially is trying to run her business and clean and repair Willy’s apartment. What a worker.

I ate a bowl of granola with milk and blueberries for breakfast at 9:30 so I would have energy to do yoga at 11:00.

Remarkably we seem to be getting things done.

I finished my brief in the water appeal today.

I also went to yoga at 11:00 and then picked up a No. 30 at 2000 Vietnam afterwards. No. 30 is Bun Cha Gio with grilled marinated pork slices or a layer of mung bean sprouts and chopped lettuce and thin cucumber spears on the bottom, than a layer of warm boiled rice vermicelli and on top 2 fried egg rolls quartered and a pile of marinated grilled pork served with fish sauce. Today I asked for more cilantro and an extra fish sauce.

I ate lunch at my desk as did the final edit on the brief, which I finished at 4:00.

I then drove to the bank and made a deposit. When I returned a few minutes before 5:00 Suzette had arrived and was hungry.

We discussed dinner and decided on combining all the leftovers, including stroganoff, the pork tapa, asparagus couscous, and chicken.

I opened a bottle of California Cherry Blossom Pinot Noir because I thought dinner wasn’t be very good and I was quite surprised. It looked terrible but it tasted quite pleasant.

After dinner we watched news and the Antique Roadshow and Suzette went to bed a bit after 9: and I followed at 10:00.

Bon Appetit

Monday, March 28, 2022

March 27, 2022 Breakfast - Oatmeal. Lunch - Dumpling Soup. Dinner - Roast Duck Confit with Asparagus Couscous

I had gone to bed after 1:00 a.m. and slept until 7:15 a.m.

Suzette has been in a whirlwind of activity. Yesterday she met her repair man at Willy’s apartment and repaired the wooden tiles on his patio. She even got on her knees and spread sealant on the wooden tiles.

Today Suzette met Loyda at Willy’s to do a deep cleaning.

Last Thursday she met with Joe, the plumber to repair Willy’s shower.

Apparently the origin plumber failed to install gaskets around the shower stall and that ruined the steam unit, which we will now fix.

Today after she worked at Willy’s with Loyda she drove to Los Lunas and worked in her office before coming home and working in the garden.

I left my desk at 6:30 to help her tie a rope to the peach tree trunk to bring the trunk into verticality.

While I watched the news in the morning I made oatmeal with brown sugar, raisins, and slivered almonds.

At 1:00 I added five chicken dumplings to the PPI dumpling soup and heated it.

It was wonderful, sort of like a minestrone without the beans with the slices of meatball and penne in a tomato broth.

I added more cases to the brief but it is still within the length limit.

I hope to finish it today.

We had thawed the box of duck confit and at 7:00 Suzette put the partially thawed duck halves with their own sauce into the oven to roast in a Pyrex baking dish.

I made asparagus couscous. I minced a shallot and diced six or seven stalks of asparagus. I then sautéed the shallot and diced asparagus in 2 T. of butter. After a few minutes I added a cup of couscous and 1 3/4 cups of boiling water and turned down the heat and we covered the pot so the couscous could cook and steam.

After 20 minutes of roasting the duck at 400 degrees Suzette took the duck out of the oven and we served it with couscous. The duck was still cold in the center so Suzette cooked the duck a few more minutes in the microwave.

I suggested a Cotes Du Rhone red and Suzette found the bottle of 2020 Presidente Cotes Du Rhone that had won a gold at Orange. It was a little different than many other Rhône’s. It was a blend of the four main grapes, Grenache, Syrah, Cinsault, and Carignan. It was much more jammy than the usual. We liked it a lot although we agreed it could use several years of cellaring.

After dinner I ate a few squares of chocolate with a cup of tea and a sip of Calvados. We watched another episode of The Last Kingdom and then we went to bed by 10:00.

Bon Appetit

March 26, 2022 Breakfast - Potato, bacon, Green onion, parsley, and cheese Omelet with Toast. Lunch - Hot Dog at Costco. Dinner - Vichyssoises with toast and Humboldt Fog Cheese

I worked on the brief most of the day. At least from 9:00 until 1:30 and 10:00 until 12:40 a.m. on Sunday and got a complete draft.

Suzette spent the morning at Willy’s fixing the decking on his patio and then went to Los Lunas.

She had a 9:30 appointment with her worker so as she gathered decking and other things she needed I made a Potato, bacon, Green onion, parsley, and cheese Omelet. First, I fried three slices of bacon. Then I sliced a potato into quarter rounds and fried the slices h the bacon fat.

Then I chopped a few sprigs of parsley and a green onion and whisked those two ingredients with four eggs and added about 1/2 tsp. of black truffle salt and a dash of white pepper.

I sliced seven or eight slices of Manchego cheese. Then I melted two T. of butter in a non stick skillet and lay the golden brown potato slices in the bottom of the skillet. Then I poured the egg mixture on top and sprinkled the crumbled fried bacon on top of the eggs and finally the cheese slices that covered the entire surface of the egg mixture. Suzette soon arrived to my call and took over and flipped one side of the omelet onto the other side, while I made a cup of tea and toasted a slice of bread and buttered the toast and spread plum ham on the toast.

Suzette served the two fluffy omelet halves on separate plates and we watched the bombing of Lviv fuel depot in real time.

By 9:00 Suzette left for Willy’s and I started editing my brief.

When Suzette returned at 1:30 she was hungry, so I dressed and we drove to Costco to shop for a few essentials, including two baguettes, a wheel of brie, a wheel of Humboldt Fog, a container of spinach, a bag of asparagus plus an area rug for Willy”s patio.

As Suzette paid I ordered two hot dogs and two drinks and Suzette and I sat and ate a late lunch in the dining area.

We then drove across the street to Home Depot. I sat in the car reading news articles while Suzette shopped for plants and bought a cutting board for Willy’s outdoor cooking area on his patio.

When the helpers loaded those items we drove home.

It was almost 5:00 when we returned home so I peeled and sliced thinly four small russet potatoes and slices the white portion of three leeks.

The resulting ingredients equal approximately 1/2 of the recipe amount of potato and leeks but the sliced amounts of each were in the same relationship to each other as the recipe called for.

I put the slices into a large enameled casserole and covered the leeks and potato with water and added about 1/2 T. of dehydrated chicken stock.

I then partially covered the casserole with the lid and set the timer for 40 minutes and then went to take a shower while Suzette watched the casserole.

After 40 minutes I was still in shower when Suzette came to I check what to do next.

She knew what to do, check to see if the ingredients were cooked , then emulsify the soup with the hand held blender, and then added heavy cream.

When I arrived in the kitchen I opened the bottle of 2012 Wellington Roussanne. It had started to turn to sherry but was still drinkable with a few cubes of ice to dilute the bitterness.

I chopped some parsley and we garnished bowls of Vichyssoise and enjoyed the soup with toasted rounds of baguette spread with Humboldt Fog.

Suzette’s idea to water the stems we trimmed from the fruit trees turned out beautifully. We will enjoy them for a week on our dining table.

Bon Appetit

Friday, March 25, 2022

March 25, 2022 Lunch - Pho Dumpling Soup Dinner - Oysters and Grilled Asparagus

Another strange and wonderful day of food and activity.

I worked from 1:30 a.m. to 3:30 and then watched news until 5:00 and then slept until 8:00 and worked until 2:30 when I finally was able to file four pleadings in a case of forcible entry and unlawful detainer and ejectment, one of those ancient common law causes of action still on the books that tests the right of possession to real property between two claimants.

I then checked the market and was thrilled that the market had recovered toward the close and my portfolio was only down .25% after its huge gain yesterday of 2%.

I wanted a bowl of soup without having to cook dry noodles a long time. So, I put three frozen pre-cooked pho wheat dumplings and eight frozen pre-cooked chicken dumplings rice flour wrapper dumplings in a pot with about 1 1/2 quarts of water plus dehydrated chicken stock, 1/2 T. of red miso, a sliced mushroom, a minced shallot, the rest of the baked penne with meatballs, and six Napa cabbage leaves diced. I simmered the pot for about fifteen minutes to make sure everything cooked and then added a green onion sliced thinly and ladled a bowl full and added some hoisin sauce to add a bit more flavor and sweetness.

I ate 1 1/2 bowls ate around 3:00 which is when Suzette called and said she was on her way to Whole Food for oysters. We have made Friday dinners a ritual of eating raw oysters occasionally because Whole Foods sells shucked raw oysters pack in containers on a bed of ice for $1.00 each on Fridays.

I reminded Suzette to get a lemon so we could make cocktail sauce and then I dozed and read until she arrived with six containers of oysters containing 46 oysters instead of 36. We felt blessed.

We are running out of many items as we try to use up all of the perishables before we leave for Mexico next Friday, buy I bought four lb.s of the biggest freshest asparagus I have seen in a year or two last week at Smith’s. Suzette fetched a bunch and I snapped the tough ends off and Suzette tossed them in a freezer bag with a seasoned salt and some of the really good olive oil Willy gave us for Christmas. We decided to eat in the back yard so we moved the table into the shade and I fetched a tube of saltine crackers and a chilled bottle of the Vara Grenache Rose we recently bought and made a cocktail sauce while Suzette grilled the asparagus and set the table and carried the oysters out to the table.

As soon as the asparagus wrapped in aluminum foil were grilled we poured glasses of rose and each took three containers of oysters. It soon became apparent that instead of 18 oysters each we each has 23. Alas, we ate them all, dipping them in cocktail sauce and eating them on saltine crackers, occasionally eating a warm asparagus with our fingers between sips of rose.

We agreed that this was a very relaxing and healthy dinner as we sat in the warm early evening sun at 5:30.

After dinner we watched the news until 6:15 and then Season 3, Episode 1 of The Last Kingdom, which was unusually bloody even by the series bloody standard, although probably historically accurate with scenes like the Danes burning and killing of priests in an effort to find out where the church silver was kept.

At 8:00 we watched Washington Week and then some more news until 9:30 when Suzette went to bed.

I made a cup of tea and ate a cookie and stayed up until 11:00 blogging.

This was the first day in a long time that I wore pajamas all day as I went from bed to working at my desk and back again several times.

Bon Appetit

Wednesday, March 23, 2022

March 23, 2022 Brunch - Poached Eggs and Corned Beef Hash. Dinner - Pork Stroganoff with Egg Noodles

I woke up at 9:30 and did not start working until 11:30 after Suzette made a lovely Poached Eggs with Corned Beef Hash with finely diced Pasilla Chile, red bell pepper, and roasted potatoes plus diced corned beef. It was a lovely and delicious meal.

I worked until 4:00 on the brief and then made a cup of tea and two open faced sandwiches, one of salami and cheese and the other peanut butter and honey.

Suzette came home while I was eating and said we needed to prune the fruit trees. So we went out and pruned and then we planted more sugar snap pea in the raised bed we put up the steel frames.

We had discussed making stroganoff. Suzette was hungry so she started on that while I finished working.

When I went to the kitchen she had already sliced the ball pepper, onion, and about 3/4 lb. of mushrooms. All I had to do was to slice two boneless pork sirloin steaks. Suzette then sautéed all the ingredients and boiled the egg noodles until tender.

She then added 1/4 cup of white wine, 1/4 cup of diced tomatoes, and about 1/2 cup of sour cream to make a sauce.

The sauce was a bit thin and the pork was a bit tough but I loved the dish anyway with a minced Italian parsley garnish.

What was really good was the wine. I had chilled a bottle of Alsatian Alberti Pinot Blanc which proved to be incredibly drinkable with a perfect balance between tannins and fruit. I bought it at z total Wine at a 25% or 30% discount not long ago.

After dinner we watched another episode of The Last Kingdom and Suzette went to bed at 9:30 and I stayed up to blog and read.

Bon Appetit

Tuesday, March 22, 2022

March 22, 2022 Lunch - 2000 Vietnam. Dinner - PPI Baked Penne with meatball

It finally became clear to me today that Suzette takes a bi-polar view of wine. There are only two categories, good and undrinkable.

There is also an easy way to tell which category a wine fits. If Suzette keeps drinking until the bottle is finished the wine is good. If she refuses another glass, it is undrinkable.

Suzette’s categorization reminds me of my old fried Ed Louden who started Bacchus Distributing. Ed used to say, “Life is too short to drink bad wine.” Of course that was easy for Ed to say because Bacchus distributed labels like Drouhin.

Today I ate a bowl of blueberries and yogurt for breakfast.

I went with Willy to 2000 Vietnam for Linch. Willy ordered his favorite, No. 30, Bun Cha Gio with grilled pork, and I ordered my new favorite, No. 68, Duck Leg soup with rice noodles.

Willy’s flight to Houston this morning was canceled due to tornado warnings in Houston, which appear to have been well founded. There was a tornado in Houston today.

I was full from the big bowl of noodles and duck, so I was not hungry until around 8:30 when I heated some of the baked Penne with meatball and opened a bottle of 2018 Villa Alberti Valpolicella Superiore. I don’t know how I got it but it was a really lovely dry red wine. Suzette’s comment confirmed that. She said, “It’s good.”

We watched the senate confirmation hearing for Judge Jackson and then another episode of The Last Kingdom. I guess its underlying theme is if you are not able to defend yourself from all, you will be crushed.

I wonder if the Ukrainians ever think it was a bad idea to give up their nukes.

I wonder if the American administration thinks it was a bad idea for Ukraine to have given up their nukes.

We know what the Russians think because they would not be acting the way they are now if Ukraine still had its nukes.

Unfortunately, this appears to be a lesson to all world leaders that the only way to assure survival is to develop nukes.

Bon Appetit

March 21, 2022 Lunch - sautéed Potstickers and seaweed salad. Dinner - Old Town Pizzeria

March 21, 2022 Lunch - sautéed Potstickers and seaweed salad. Dinner -

Old Town Pizzeria

I spent most of the day editing the brief. I did not eat breakfast again.

By 11:30 I was hungry, so I sautéed 9 potstickers in peanut oil. I made a dipping sauce of soy, sesame oil, and a bit of garlic chili sauce and put a dollop of seaweed salad on the plate.

Aaron called and came by with the check for Railway Land and I gave him a potsticker.

I thawed 2 pork steaks for Weiner schnitzel.

At 4:00 I walked to the bank and deposited the check and made the two transfers.

When I returned I worked until Suzette came home at 6:00.

She had gone uptown the doctor and gotten her second shingles shot and her arm hurt and she was tired so she suggested that we order pasta from Old Town Pizzeria, which is located near the house at the corner of Rio Grande and Central.

She brought up their menu on her phone and we decided on Vera cella with artichokes in a pesto sauce and baked Penne with meatballs.

When Suzette called at 6:50 we were told that the restaurant closes at 7:00.

Suzette negotiated with the owner for a minute and he agreed to prepare a take out order for us.

We ordered those for the total cost of $22.60 and I drove and picked up the order. When I arrived at the restaurant a few minutes after 7:00 there were still customers eating, so I did not apologize too much and the owner did not seem upset at all.

I guess we both realized that our order was not meant for anyone else and represented another sale.

In a minute the order came out from the kitchen.

The pastas were generous portions packed 9 inch round aluminum dishes covered with a plastic top and very warm.

When I returned home Suzette had set the table and opened and poured glasses of Aquino Riserva Chianti ($5.99 at Trader Joe’s).

Suzette spooned piles o& each pasta onto a plate and we ate as much as we wished and barely ate 1/3 of the pastas so we will be able to get two more meals from the pastas.

After the meal we still had glasses of wine left as we poured out the bottle so I toasted two slices of Sage baguette and spread butter on them and slices of brie cheese for a cheese course.

I then drank a sip of grappa with two of the new chocolate coated graham wafers covered with peanut butter. The cookies are nice but not a new winner.

We watched two episodes of Anyiwue Roadshow and then Suzette went to bed at 9:00

I returned to my brief and finished my first draft of the brief at 10:00 and went to bed.

Bon Appetit

Sunday, March 20, 2022

March 20, 2022 Brunch - Corned Beef Hash with a poached egg and toast

Dinner - Roasted Chicken Thighs with Catalonian Spinach and Napa Cabbage and Refried black beans with garbanzo beans

I woke up at 7:01 which was the time I set my internal alarm clock. I watched the news shows and Leicester win its match today to take it to 10th place.

I then worked on the brief for a while.

At around 10:00 Suzette made breakfast by making corned beef hash for herself and steak hash for me. I finely diced 1 1/2 baked potatoes and 1/2 of a yellow onion, while Suzette diced some pasilla chili and some pimiento.

She sautéed the ingredients in separate skillets and boiled water in a sauce pan with a bit of vinegar in it and poached four eggs that she put on top of thehash for a lovely and tasty brunch.

Later I helped Suzette set up frames for the beans and peas and we planted peas until the sprinkler came on, so I returned to trimming rose bushes.

I then rested until dinner. Willy had called and said he would join us for dinner and he wanted Bobby Flay style baked chicken, which means rubbing the chicken with pimiento, fennel, and several other herbs. I suggested baking the chicken thighs in the steamer, which Suzette did. Baking in the steamer oven eliminates the use of fat and drains the chicken of fat rather fat accumulating in the skillet or baking dish when using the Bobby Flay method.

Suzette knew Willy liked the Catalonian Spinach dish of Spinach sautéed with pinon nuts, apple, and raisins so she came up with an interesting menu of steamer chicken, Catalonian spinach and Napa cabbage, and refried black beans with garbanzo beans. Suzette seasoned the beans with Hoya Santo, avocado leaves and oregano to give it a more traditional Oaxacan flavor.

I had chilled a bottle of De Ponte Melon de Bourgogne so I poured that for dinner. Everyone enjoyed the wine’s fruity and yet somewhat mineral flavor.

After dinner we watched another episode of The Last Kingdom during which Willy left.

Then we watched a new contemporary series on PBS, A Time To Die, andvSuzette went to bed and I watched TCU lose to Arizona in the 2nd round of the NCAA Basketball tournament.

I went to bed at 10:45 to blog and read.

Bon Appetit