October 30, 2022 Brunch - sliced Gravad Lax, capers, and red onion on Bagels spread with cream cheese. Dinner - Stir Fried Chicken, rice, and Vegetables

October 30, 2022 Brunch - sliced Gravad Lax, capers, and red onion on Bagels spread with cream cheese. Dinner - Stir Fried Chicken, rice, and Vegetables

When I awakened at 7:30 Suzette had already gone out to the hot tub to do her aerobics.  I made a cup of chai and watched the news programs and Willy came over at 9:30 for brunch to watch West Ham v. Man Union.

At 10:00 I removed and cleaned the Gravad lax from the remaining curing nog medium of 2/3 cup of salt and 1/2 cup sugar with a tsp. of ground Cumin with fresh Fennel fronds layered n each side of the skin out sides and between the facing belly sides facing each other.

Suzette and Willy wanted to try the freshly cured Gravad Lax so we toasted five slices of onion bagel and smeared them with cream cheese from a fresh package, and garnished each bagel with slices of red onion and gravad lax and capers.

Willy made a fresh brewing of Earl Grey tea with milk for him and me and  Suzette made her usual Sunday Bloody Mary.

After Willy left I watched the Cowboys beat the Bears handily, 49 to 29.

Then Suzette made squash bread using her zucchini bread recipe.  

When she finished her bake at 3:30 we walked to the park where the Neighborhood Fall Festival was being held but there were very few people there, so we walked home.  I maintained a good pace by put felt some pain as we neared our house.  I judge we covered 1/2 mile and I felt some strength returning to my leg muscles along with the pain.

At 5:30 Suzette fetched the red onion, a zucchini, ginger, garlic, the bok Choy, four mushrooms, the remaining baked chicken leg quarter, and the remaining 6 or 7 stalks of asparagus. I sliced all the ingredients and Suzette stir fried them in the wok with some PPI rice and a seasoning/thickening sauce consisting of hoisin sauce, soy, mirin, and dehydrated chicken broth mixed with hot water and cornstarch to make a delicious sauce for the dish.

After adding the seasoning sauce the liquid in the stir fried ingredients began to thicken and Suzette ladled the dish into bowls and we ate to warm healthy meal with chop stickers.

Some food items have increased in cost, but not most of the ingredients in our dinner.  The zucchini and onion were $.50/lb. and the chicken was $.89/lb.  I bought five leg quarters for $3.40 and we made three meals with them.

We drank water with the meal but afterward I made another cup of Earl Grey tea.

We watched 60 Minutes, Stanley Tucci Discovering Italy and finally, The Magpie Mysteries on PBS.

Suzette went to bed at 9:00 and I followed at 10:00 after reading more of the Shelters of Stone and then blogged this blog until 11:30.

Bon Appetit 

October 29, 2022 Brunch - scrambled Egg with Beef Sticks, Poblano chili, potato, and red onion and cheese burrito with avocado. Dinner - PPI Chicken Curry with Rice

October 29, 2022 Brunch - scrambled Egg with Beef Sticks, Poblano chili, potato, and red onion and cheese burrito with avocado. Dinner - PPI Chicken Curry with Rice

I awakened at 5:45 to watch Leicester against Man City. Leicester played well but lost 1 to 0, which I guess is a sort of victory against the best team in The PL.

My real interest was the TCU v. Wast Virginia game at 10:00.  We made brunch while I watched it.  Suzette made one of our favorite weekend dishes. Burritos.

Today the meat was sliced beef sticks with Poblano chili, diced baked potato, red onion and cheese garnished with avocado. We toast the flour tortillas on the gas stove top so they are soft and toasted, delicious.

We drank Clamato flavored with lime juice.

While Suzette cooked I flipped the Gravad lax.

I then watched the rest of the game.  TCU won its 8th game of the year and played really well. It has now defeated 4 top 25 ranked teams and is ranked 7 in the nation.  Amazing.

After the game we drove to the Bosque and walked to the two lakes.  We saw lots of ducks and a cormorant.

We then drove to Lowe’s, where Suzette shopped while I read Shelters of Stone.

When we returned home I freshened up the caviar dip Nancy gave us with sour cream, caviar, lemon juice, and Worcestershire Sauce and we ate it on crackers.  I drank Carayon rose and Suzette drank scotch.

We then dressed and drove to Popejoy for the Olga Kern Piano Competition finals. There were three contestants who were each amazing.

We both liked the second contestant, an American, who played Brahms Piano Concerto No. 1.

We returned home around 8:45 and Suzette mixed rice with PPI chicken curry and heated it in the microwave. I refreshed the raita with 1/2 of a peeled, seeded, and diced cucumber and plain yogurt.

We added mango chutney and mixed pickle for extra flavor.

I drank chai and Suzette drank French Sauvignon Blanc.

We watched the last two innings of the second game of the World Series that the Astros won to tie the series at 1 game each.

We went to bed at 10:30.

Bon Appetit 

October 28, 2022 Lunch - Fried Penne, hamburger, bok Choy, sliced mushroom, red onion, and eggs. Dinner - PPI Roasted Chicken, squash soufflé, and cucumber, onion, and tomato salad

 October 28, 2022 Lunch - Fried Penne, hamburger, bok Choy, sliced mushroom, red onion, and eggs. Dinner - PPI Roasted Chicken, squash soufflé, and cucumber, onion, and tomato salad

Today was a three meal day which gave me enough energy to walk a couple of blocks.

I ate my usual granola, milk, yogurt, and blueberries at 9:00 for breakfast.

Then at 10:30 I made gravad lax with the two salmon filets I bought at Smith’s, some fennel greens from the garden plus 2/3 cup of sugar and 3/4 cup of salt and 1/2 T. of crushed cumiseed

Then at 12:00 I was very hungry so I sliced the 1/2 PPI hamburger, 3 oz. of diced red onion, two mushrooms sliced, a stalk of bok Choy sliced, and two eggs.  The result was superb.  After lunch I walked two or three blocks on Park Ave. and when I returned home dragged the fallen limb from the cottonwood to the trash area, which made me feel rather handy.

I met with clients from 2:00 to 3:00 and then checked my portfolio.  Finally, I had a good day.  The Dow was up over 800 points and Apple went up $11.00 per share.  I am out of the danger zone but still not near the comfort zone.

Fears of inflation and recession seem to be ebbing.

I watched the news and read until 6:00.

Suzette suggested heating to PPI Baked chicken quarters and making a squash soufflé. I love soufflés and had never eaten a squash soufflé, so how could I raise an objection to that suggestion.  After Suzette started the soufflé cooking in our steaming oven, she requested that I prep a tomato, cucumber and red onion salad.  So, I chopped two small tomatoes from our garden, 3 oz. of red onion, and peeled, seeded and diced 1/2 cucumber.

We enjoyed dinner.  After dinner we watched game one of the World Series and cheered for the Phillies, who won in the 10th inning at around 10:15,mat which time we went to bed.

Leicester plays the early PL match against Man City and No. 7 TCU plays at 10:00, so a full morning.

Bon Appetit

October 27, 2022 Lunch - Greenhouse Bistro. Dinner - PPI Roasted Pork Ragu with pasta. drove to the Center for Ageless Living at 11:00 and arrived at 12:00. Josh the chef greeted me and I soon realized he was both chef and waiter. Suzette soon arrived and I ordered the blue plate special that Josh recommended, roasted boneless beef rib smothered in a rich BBQ sauce made with brown sugar and molasses, and vinegar. The dish also included a delicious red cabbage coleslaw and bread and butter pickles and a small salad that I requested. The meat had been slow roasted and fell apart at the touch of a fork and I loved the coleslaw. Suzette ordered a chicken salad salad flavored with dill. After lunch we went into the common room in building 3 where Vida Pharmacy was giving flu and Covid boosters. We got one of each. My left arm hurt a little but I was happy to have had a really good meal and gotten vaccinated. Josh used to spend summers on his grand parents’ cattle ranch in West Texas, so he has absorbed Texas cooking into his DNA. I then drove back home and watched the high tech collapse and then read Shelters of Stone, the fourth book in the six volume series in theEarth’s Children saga by Auel. At 5:00 Suzette came home. I was still reading and asked her if she needed help with dinner. She said, “No, I ma just heating up the PPI pork ragu and boil the wide pasta.” I fetched the Raghu and went back tipi my book. At 6:30 Suzette called me to dinner. She had added water to the ragu when she heated it and that made it more saucy and flavorful to me. She had bought a bottle of 2020 Red wine from Total Wine for $10.00 that was a blend

October 27, 2022 Lunch - Greenhouse Bistro. Dinner - PPI Roasted Pork Ragu with pasta

I drove to the Center for Ageless Living at 11:00 and arrived at 12:00.

Josh the chef greeted me and I soon realized he was both chef and waiter.

Suzette soon arrived and I ordered the blue plate special that Josh recommended, roasted boneless beef rib smothered in a rich BBQ sauce made with brown sugar and molasses, and vinegar.  The dish also included a delicious red cabbage coleslaw and bread and butter pickles and a small salad that I requested.  The meat had been slow roasted and fell apart at the touch of a fork and I loved the coleslaw.

Suzette ordered a chicken salad salad flavored with dill.

After lunch we went into the common room in building 3 where Vida Pharmacy was giving flu and Covid boosters. We got one of each. My left arm hurt a little but I was happy to have had a really good meal and gotten vaccinated.

Josh used to spend summers on his grand parents’ cattle ranch in West Texas, so he has absorbed Texas cooking into his DNA.

I then drove back home and watched the high tech collapse and then read Shelters of Stone, the fourth book in the six volume series in theEarth’s Children saga by Auel.

At 5:00 Suzette came home.  I was still reading and asked her if she needed help with dinner.  She said, “No, I am just heating up the PPI pork ragu and boiling the wide pasta.”

I fetched the Raghu and went back tipi my book.

At 6:30 Suzette called me to dinner.  She had added water to the ragu when she heated it and that made it more saucy and flavorful to me.

She had bought a bottle of 2020 Red wine from Total Wine for $10.00 that was a blend of Grenache and Tempranillo that was delicious, Vecchio cantina.

After dinner we sipped the rest of the wine and watched a fabulous French film titled Delicious about one of the first restaurants in France that opened  in 1789, just before the French Revolution.

It is hard to beat a good meal and a good movie sipping a good wine.

Let’s hear it for Umbria.  

Bon Appetit 

October 26, 2022 Lunch - BLT Sandwich. Dinner - Baked Chicken and Potatoes with Steamed Asparagus

October 26, 2022 Lunch - BLT Sandwich. Dinner - Baked Chicken and Potatoes with Steamed Asparagus 

Today I ate granola with milk and yogurt and raspberries for breakfast.

Suzette said she wanted a BLT Sandwich for lunch so I thawed out a package of bacon.

Then I drove to my 11:15 podiatry appointment. I am happy to state that my feet are happy.

I then drove to Smith’s and shopped. I bought shallots, a bok Choy, two salmon filets for Gravad lax, chewy chocolate chip cookies, milk, vanilla ice cream, and two cheeses.  One was the French Arum that is a blue cheese and the other is a smoked Gouda with cumin seeds.  The arum was on sale for $1.99 but I paid the full price of $19.99/lb. for the cumin Gouda and on top of that the cheese lady told me the Gouda was a special item that would not continued to be stocked. A tough fact to swallow but I will enjoy my cheese while I can.

I drove home around 1:30 and zsuzette made us BLT sandwiches.

I drank Crayon rose with my sandwich.

I then watched the market close and then lay down to read and rest until 5:00 when I meditated.

Before meditation we decided to bake the five chicken leg quarters bought at El Super for $.89/lb.  I asked Suzette to lay the chicken on rosemary and bake cubed potatoes with the chicken to absorb the chicken fat flavor.

When I finished meditation suzette steamed about 10 asparagus  and served them with the chicken.

I drank French Crayon rose and Suzette drank the last glass of Vara Viura with dinner.

We enjoyed this comfort food dinner immensely.

After dinner we drank a glass of our homemade limoncello for dessert.

We enjoyed watching a PBS documentary of Winter in Canada’s wild North.

We went to bed by 9:15.

Bon Appetit

October 25, 2022 Lunch - Potstickers and Seaweed Salad. Dinner - baked Norwegian Mackerel with Rice and Garden Greens

October 25, 2022 Lunch - Potstickers and Seaweed Salad. Dinner - baked Norwegian Mackerel with Rice and Garden Greens

Another 2 meal day.  In the morning I finished reading Stayin’ On by Paul Scott.

At 2:00 I sautéed 9 Chicken and veggie Ling Ling potstickers in peanut oil with a dash of sesame oil.

I made a dipping sauce of garlic chili paste and soy sauce and ate them with a bowl of seaweed salad and a cup of green tea.

I drafted a motion in a case after lunch and finally rested from 4:00 to 5:00 when Suzette arrived.

At 5:30 we walked around the block and then started dinner.

Suzette picked a basket full of greens from the garden and I started a cup of rice. Then Suzette took over the cooking of the Mackerel and I de-stemmed the greens and cut them into bite sized pieces.

Suzette steamed the greens in the rice for its last ten minutes of cooking.

Suzette squeezed lemon on the mackerel and baked the two filets on a greased cookie sheet.

We opened a bottle of Vara Spanish Viura white wine that went perfectly with the baked fish.

We watched Finding your Roots and then La Brea.  

Suzette served Two slices of pumpkin bread garnished with a scoop of vanilla ice cream for dessert.

The dinner was as good as any dish we have made lately in its simplicity and pure flavors of fresh baked fish on a bed of fresh steamed greens on a pile of rice.  A perfect dish, not unlike the famous three star Michelin restaurant in Lyon that serves sautéed salmon with a sorrel sauce. Fresh ingredients cooked superbly.

Bon Appetit 

October 24, 2022 Lunch - chicken Curry with Penne Pasta. Dinner - Grilled Rib Steak, baked potato and steamed Broccoli and Cauliflower with cheese sauce

October 24, 2022 Lunch - chicken Curry with Penne Pasta. Dinner - Grilled Rib Steak, baked potato and steamed Broccoli and Cauliflower with cheese sauce 

I ate granola, yogurt, milk, and raspberries for breakfast around 10:00.

Then at 2:00 I ate PPI penne pasta with chicken curry, raita, and sweet lime pickle.

Suzette came home around 4:00 and we went to the garden and harvested a bag of oregano and then Suzette harvested some thyme.

Sage and rosemary tend to winter over so we left them.

I thawed a rib steak at lunch.  At 4:30 Suzette baked the acorn squash Cliff and Nancy gave us along with several sweet potatoes and Yukon gold potatoes.

Suzette agreed with my menu suggestion of grilled steak and baked potato.  Suzette added to the menu, steamed cauliflower and broccoli with a cheese sauce.  We made the cauliflower with cheese sauce last week and liked it, so we made it again this evening.  Suzette made a cream (béchamel) sauce and I cubed 1/4 cup of an English cheddar cheese that we stirred into the cream sauce to make a cheese (mornay) sauce.

We drank the last two glasses of the Bordeaux red Appellation Controlee Blaye.

Before dinner Suzette made pumpkin bread and baked it in the oven to conserve energy.

We watched the Antiques Roadshow and later Suzette whipped some whipped cream and put a dollop of whipped cream on a slice of warm pumpkin bread for dessert.  Besides the normal seasonings Suzette added a tsp. of ground red Chile to the batter that gave the the bread a slightly picante aftertaste.

We went to bed at 9:00 after the Roadshow and The Bears pummeled the Patriots in Monday night football.

Bon Appetit

October 23, 2022 Lunch - La Cocina at El Super Market. Dinner - Roasted Pork Ragu on Penne Pasta and steamed asparagus

October 23, 2022 Lunch - La Cocina at El Super Market. Dinner - Roasted Pork Ragu on Penne Pasta and steamed asparagus 

I woke up at 9:00 and missed Leicester winning its match 4 to 0.

But just like learning after the fact last night that TCU had beaten Kansas State, I was thrilled.

I drank a cup of hot chocolate as I watched Newcastle beat Tottenham to  draw within one point in fifth place to Tottenham’s fourth place.

After the match at noon we drove to El Super for lunch and then to shop.

Suzette ordered three tacos, two of beef and one of pork.  I ordered the chili Relleno plate with a freshly cooked Relleno, double beans, and no rice with two grilled flour tortillas.  We split a coke. The food was terrific for a Mexican dinner 

After we ate we bought two cucumbers, a bunch of radishes,two ears of corn, red onions, asparagus, four gala apples, six chicken hind quarters, yogurt, limes, lemons, two Pasilla chilis, and zucchini.

We did not want to wait in the meat line so we drove to Southwest Distributing. I waited in the car and Suzette bought a 15 and 1/2 lb. Pork shoulder, sesame oil, apple vinegar, and Chinese Cooking wine.

We then drove home and I cubed 1/2 of the pork shoulder and Suzette gathered rosemary, sage, and oregano in the garden and cut up lemons and roasted the cubed pork with the herbs, 2 or 3 quartered lemons and 1/2 cup of apple vinegar covered with aluminum foil in a 350 degree oven for two hours.  

I napped from 3:30 until 5:30.

Suzette shredded the roast pork in the Cuisinart and made a spaghetti sauce with diced tomatoes, onion, garlic, 1 cup of red wine, and tomato paste.  She then combined several cups of the ground roasted pork with the spaghetti sauce to replicate the recipe from Discovering Italy.

She also cut the bottom of the stems of about 12 asparagus.

Suzette then boiled 1/2 lb. of penne pasta.

I grated a cup of Pecorino-Romano cheese to garnish the asparagus and pasta.

Mike arrived at 6:30 with a bottle of Italian Ripassso wine.  I served him the last glass of the Sagnol Rose and when the pasta was cooked Suzette served bowls filled with penne covered with the pork spaghetti sauce.

After dinner we watched the latest episode of Discovering Italy on the region of Puglia and then watched the Astros sweep the Yankees in four games in their post-season playoff to win the American League championship and advance to the World Series.

Mike and I ate ice cream with raspberries in cream drizzled with rum for the 7th inning stretch.

When the game ended at 10:00 we said goodnight to Mike and went to bed.

Bon Appetit

 

October 22, 2022 Brunch - sautéed stuffed delicata squash with fried eggs. Snacks - sandwiches and pop corn. Dinner - caviar dip, beef Stroganoff with egg noodles and salad

The highlight of the day was the cream cheese, sour cream, onion soup mix, and lemon, lumpfish caviar dip Nancy served as an appetizer with shot glasses of Russian vodka.

Here is a recipe I found for one without the onion soup mix.

https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/caviar-dip-recipe-1940308

The other interesting dish today was Suzette’s brunch of fried eggs with sautéed stuffed delicata squash.  Suzette diced the remaining 1/2 PPI stuffed delicata squash and then fried eggs and served them together.

Willy came over and ate a plate of it also and then helped Suzette cover the pond.

Willy and I watched the Man U. V. Chelsea PL matched.

When it ended Willy left and we drove to Costco to replenish some items, including turmeric, Tylenol, baguettes, cream, eggs, and tortillas. We also bought four more bottles of the $6.99 Chateau   Appellation Controlee Blaye.

We then drove to Vara to pick up our allotment that included a new bottling of Tempranillo, a bottle of Grenache rose,   We exchanged our bottle of Malavisa white for a bottle of their rum and rye blend that we really like.

We drove home by way of 2nd St. And stopped at Pastian’s and bought a loaf of whole wheat bread and four Halloween decorated cup cakes.

We then drove home around 3:30.  I made two sandwiches of toasted baguette spread with basil Mayo and garnished with slices of red onion, Jarlsberg cheese, and the last two slices of salami on one and the last slice of prosciutto on the other.  I thought I was in a Stanley Tucci episode of “Discovering Italy”.  

Suzette watched home remodeling shows and ate a bag of pop corn, while I napped until 5:00 when Suzette awakened me to get ready for the symphony.

We dressed and attended the symphony’s performance of Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 2, Romeo and Juliet and his 1812 Overture. The audience participated during the Overture by clapping and bursting paper bags of air when the burst of the bass drum occurred toward the end of the overture.

After the concert we drove to Nancy and Cliff’s house for dinner.

We were greeted by the caviar dip and vodka for appetizers and we were instantly in heaven.

Nancy’s beef stroganoff with egg noodles was excellent and the fresh salad with cherry tomatoes and avocado chunks she served with it was lovely.

After dinner she served a strawberry Romanoff dessert and halves of our dry cup cakes that were greatly improved by moistening them with amaretto.

We drank the bottle of Gruner Vetliner we brought with dinner and left the bottle of Bordeaux.

We did not get home until 10:45, so a lovely evening of music and food.

Bon Appetit

October 21, 2022 Brunch - jam, cheese, and salami sandwiches Snack - PPI Beef and Barley Soup. Dinner - PPI Chicken Curry with rice

Another day of no cooking.  At 10:30 I ate 2 jam, cheese, and salami sandwiches on toasted and buttered slices of baguette. It is hard to believe this was the most creative dish of the day, but it was.

At 5:00 I ate several spoonfuls of the PPI Beef and Barley Soup.

And for dinner we ate bowls of PPI Chicken Curry with rice.

I had a great day in the market with both tech and oil up.  I just need ten more of them.

The other big news was the issuance of a subpoena by the Jan. 6 Committee to Trump.  It describes 10 factual issues that are going to drive Trump crazy that essentially accuse him of inciting an insurrection to stop the peaceful transfer of power.

It will be interesting to see what Trump does, because the Committee is definitely baiting him into a fight.

The other things we did were to capture the Pork and pasta recipe on the Tucci Discovering Italy segment on Umbria and watch the Phillies beat San Diego in game three of their post-season series to go up 2 games to 1.

Bon Appetit

October 20, 2022 Lunch - Leftover Duck Soup. Dinner - Baked Delicata Squash stuffed with mushrooms, Pasilla chili, sausage, and shallot with a baked apple and steamed Broccoli with a cheese sauce

October 20, 2022 Lunch - Leftover Duck Soup. Dinner - Baked Delicata Squash stuffed with mushrooms, Pasilla chili, sausage, and shallot with a baked apple and steamed Broccoli with a cheese sauce

I awakened at 7:30 and watched the news until 8:00. We then called Luke and wished him a happy birthday.  Suzette sent him an assortment of bread and pastry from his favorite bakery in Woodstock and I sent him $100.00.

Suzette left at 9:00 for work and I worked at my desk until 9:00 when I received a call from a location scout named Neem.  I got dressed and at 10:30 made a small breakfast of a toasted whole wheat dinner roll spread with peanut butter and honey and a cup of Earl Grey tea.

Neem arrived at 11:00 and spent an hour photographing the property inside and front and back.  I was happy we had painted the house and replaced the dining room windows.

At 2:00 I checked the market which was down for the day but up over the last two days.  If it stays up tomorrow it will be the first up week in quite a while. I then ate the last of the leftover duck soup from yesterday’s lunch at 2000 Vietnam.

I then watched TV and napped until 4:15 when I watched Ari Melber until 5:00.

Then Suzette and I took a walk around the short circle.

When we returned at 6:00 we prepared dinner.  The menu was stuffed baked delicata squash with steamed broccoli and a PPI baked apple all of which were garnished with the PPI cheese sauce we made last night.

I chopped 1/3 Pasilla chili, 1/2 shallot, and two large mushrooms for the stuffing to which Suzette added Jimmie Dean sausage and sautéed the four ingredients and then stuffed the two seeded halves of the delicata squash.

Suzette fetched a bottle of Sagnol rose (Trader Joe’s $7.99) from the garage and we ate a lovely light dinner.

After dinner at 7:00 we watched the local PBS production of The Artists of Taos that started in 1898 with Blumenschein and Phillips and went through the 30’s.

Suzette wanted to make an Italian meal for the Bistro for November and so we watched the Stanley Tucci Umbria Discovering Italy episode where they make a spaghetti sauce with green olives and combined with ground boar roasted with herbs and and a wide pasta. 

Suzette made whipped cream and served the last of the chocolate pudding I made last Saturday topped with whipped cream and fresh raspberries.

At 9:00 we watched the last 30 minutes of Midsomer Mystery and went to bed at 9:30.

Bon Appetit