October 31, 2024 Lunch - Pho Lin Dinner - Baked Norwegian Mackerel with Vegetable Fried Rice

October 31, 2024 Lunch - Pho Lin Dinner - Baked Norwegian Mackerel with Vegetable Fried Rice

I worked until 9:30 and then toasted two slices of baguette instead of a bagel and spread them with cream cheese and garnished with a thin slice of red onion, slices of gravad lax, and capers with a cup of tea.

At 11:15 I drove to Pho Lin at 9100 Central where I met Robert for lunch.

Robert is a vegetarian and ordered fried rice with vegetables and deep fried tofu. I ordered pho with raw meat and the waiter said, “We have a special today of pho with 8 oz. of raw rib eye steak.”

I said, “Great.” It was delicious. The usual rice noodles in pho with a side of mung bean sprouts, basil and cilantro.

We discussed a current case for an hour and then I drove to Talin where I bought two Norwegian mackerel that the fishmonger filleted for me, sugar snap peas, white beech mushrooms, mung bean sprouts, Oriental basil, rice noodles, baby bok Choy, a Chinese Eggplant, and a can of Spanish pimientos.

I then drove home. Suzette had arrived and was watching TV.  I Checked the market and had the worst day ever down 2.7%, but I consider that a reaction that an indication that a reaction of the smart money to the possibility of a Trump victory.

I Filled in a form to open a bank account and then went to the bank to have my signature notarized. When I returned home I had a telephone conference and then helped Suzette set up the candy for Halloween and Suzette set a skeleton in a chair by our front door dressed in her mother’s wedding dress.

I walked around the block to view the Halloween decorations. Our neighbor across the street won the prize this year with a yard filled with air filled attractions..

Around 6:00 small children started coming to our door and the question  

we asked older kids this year was “Who are the Democratic and Republican candidates for President this year? Most people answered the question after a couple of hints, but I was amazed how many had difficulty. 

The thing I noticed most was the joyous positivity of those when they answered correctly and we said, “correct. Take two candies.”

By 8:00 it became noticeably colder and kids stopped coming, so we started cooking dinner. When I went to the kitchen Suzette had already put the four mackerel filets and had chopped zucchini, destemmed sugar snap peas, and chopped a sweet pepper and put them in atthe wok to cook. I stirred the vegetables and added some cooked rice and a dash of mirin.

I opened and poured glasses of Kirtland Pinot Grigio, the best under $5.00 wine I have tasted.  

We love baked mackerel because it tastes like fish and the vegetable fried rice was delicious also.

After dinner I watched the Jets v. Texans NFL game that the Jets won quarterbacked by Aaron Rogers.

Suzette slept in a big chair in front of the fireplace until 9:00 and then went to bed.

I stayed up to watch the news and blog with a glass of cognac and later chocolate ice cream.

I finally went to bed around midnight,p.

Bon Appetit

October 30, 2024 Breakfast - Chocolate Croissant and Latte Machiatta Lunch - Cold cut Sandwiches at Book Club Dinner - Lamb Kebab Pita Pocket Sandwiches

October 30, 2024 Breakfast - Chocolate Croissant and Latte Machiatta Lunch - Cold cut Sandwiches at Book Club  Dinner - Lamb Kebab Pita Pocket Sandwiches 

I started the day working on the leases for both Central and Romero properties and paying property taxes on oil and gas royalties we own.

I offered the Central location to our new neighbors and told The old prospective tenant that their ability to rent would end on November 4. I then took 3 1/2 bottles  of wine to book club at Charlie and Susan’s house.

I poured tastes of Martin Codax Albariño for five members and Pinot Noir for Keith and others.  The Monterrey County Imagery Pinot Noir was very nice.  Here are its tasting notes:

This Pinot Noir includes a dose of Petite Verdot and Zinfandel in the mix, yielding a red that leads with floral notes of fresh and dried roses and violets followed by forest floor, red and black cherry, plum and sweet tobacco. The palate offers smooth, fine-grained tannins and an aura of smokiness. — Stacy Briscoe

 When 5at ran out I opened the Olarra Gran Reserva Rioja.

Charlie and Susan had set the buffet with slices of ham, American cheese, provolone, and thinly cut roast beef, plus guacamole, salsa, potato and corn chips, sliced onions and dill pickles, and three kinds of sliced bread.  There were eight of us.

After lunch we moved into the living room and discussed Never Let Me Go by Ishiguro. The big theme underlying the book is the examination of cloned persons raised to become organ donors and whether they are human. The book does not address the basic moral or social issues, so I was disappointed.

Then at 3:00 I returned home. I ate a peanut butter and cherry preserves sandwich and lay down. Suzette arrived around 4:00 and I napped from 4:30 until 5:30. Suzette ate the Salvadoran pupusa and tamale plate Nestor made for me yesterday at Gobble This, so neither of us were hungry until later in the evening. We toured the garden and saw the progress that had been made today by the new gardener.

We started watching game five of the World Series at 6:00. The Yankees built a 5 run lead but faltered while Suzette was working at her desk and I was meditating between 7:00 and 8:00.

At 8:30 I got hungry and made lamb kebabs. I mixed minced onion, Aleppo chile, Z’ Attar and an egg with 1/2 lb. of fresh ground lamb and rolled round tubes and salted and peppered them and sautéed them in olive oil. I then toasted pita bread halves and fetched the tabouli and labni and we stuffed the pita pockets and drank the Olarra Gran Reserva Rioja for dinner.  The wine with the lamb was very tasty.

I made and ate two halves.

Suzette went to bed when the Dodgers won the World Series 7 to 6.

I made a cup of tea and ate two chocolate chocolate chip cookies and blogged this entry after 10:00.

Dinner was wonderful and the ground lamb was only $4.99/lb. at Alqud’s.

Bon Appetit

October 29, 2024 Breakfast - a Swordfish Poke, Spinach, and red onion Egg Sandwich. Lunch - PPI Egg Sandwich with PPI sautéed beans and zucchini Dinner - PPI Chicken Mole with Creamed Baked Delicata Squash and Rice

October 29, 2024 Breakfast - a Swordfish Poke, Spinach, and red onion Egg Sandwich. Lunch - PPI Egg Sandwich with PPI sautéed beans and zucchini Dinner - PPI Chicken Mole with Creamed Baked Delicata Squash and Rice

Breakfast was made to use up the Swordfish Poke and create a large enough meal to get me through the dental procedure this morning where 1/2 of the gums are deadened and there is a deep cleaning to get rid of bacteria trapped below the gum line. So, I sautéed about 2 oz. of red onion and added the remaining 1/2 lb. of PPI Swordfish Poke and a handful of baby spinach leaves and finally stirred in two eggs.i toasted two sliced of dark sandwich bread and spread Mayo on them and made two open faced sandwiches and drank a cup of tea, but only ate one.

I drove to my 9:00 dental appointment that ended at 10:00. After the appointment I stopped at Alqud’s  Middle Eastern Grocery and bought 2 1/2 lb. of ground lamb.  Then I drove to Costco and filled the car and drove home.

                        Alqud’s kitchen is in the former bank safety deposit vault

When I returned home I prepared a lease for Nestor to rent the upstairs apartment and at 2:30 checked the market and amazingly my portfolio continued to go up a little more.

I heated and ate the other Egg sandwich plus the PPI sautéed beans and zucchini for lunch. 

At 3:00 I drove to the Gobble This Restaurant at 308 San Felipe in Old Town that Nestor owns and gave him two copies of the lease and he prepared a Salvadoran tamale plate for me with a strawberry aqua fresca and a Salvadoran chorizo stuffed pupusa to go.

                                                  The half eaten tamales

I drove back to the apartment and Nestor, his mom, and his employee, Will walked over to inspect it.  They liked it and I think they will rent it.

I returned home at 4:30 and watched some of the Beat and napped until 5:30.  

We had decided to eat the rest of the chicken mole with the baked delicata squash and rice. So at 6:00 I made rice. 

When we turned to MSNBC Kamala was giving her big speech from the Ellipse after the speech around 6:15 Suzette creamed 1/2 of the previously baked squash with cream and cheddar cheese and heated it in the microwave and heated the PPI Chicken Mole in its casserole on the stove. I de-stemmed a handful of baby spinach leaves and when the rice was cooked Suzette plated a pile of rice and a pile of creamed delicata squash and lay a chicken mole thigh and mole sauce on the piles. I went to the garage and fetched two cans of Modelo Especially Pilsner and filled small glasses with beer. 

                                         The final result

This dinner was the most delicious mole I have eaten in a very long time enhanced by the rice and amazing creamed delicata squash.

The dinner was easy to fix and only took 30 minutes because most of the prep and cooking had been done previously. Suzette had baked the delicata with the chicken mole.  Suzette had braised four chicken thighs while I emulsified 1/2 of a container of prepared mole from Mexico in chicken stock for the sauce and we had placed the braised chicken in a casserole and covered them with mole sauce and baked them in the oven. So we had two chicken thighs cooked in mole sauce and the baked delicata to start with, so to complete dinner we only needed to cook rice, cream and heat the delicata squash and re-heat the chicken mole.

Dinner was the epitome of a PPI dinner, quick, easy, and delicious by relying on previously prepared ingredients.

After dinner we watched Finding your Roots and more news coverage of Kamala’s speech and the Yankees win game four of the World Series 11 to 4.

We then went to bed and I blogged this entry.

Bon Appetit

October 28, 2024 Breakfast - Chocolate Croissant. Lunch - Chili Relleno plate at El Super. Dinner - Swordfish Poke with Tabouli and Pita Pocket

October 28, 2024 Breakfast - Chocolate Croissant. Lunch - Chili Relleno plate at El Super. Dinner - Swordfish Poke with Tabouli and Pita Pocket

I woke up at 7:20. I watched the market open up. The Dow stayed up, closing up 273 points, but the NASDAQ began to slide later in the day and closed up only 48 points and Nvidia closed down $1.02. Even with Nvidia under performing, my portfolio increased .04%.

I ate a chocolate croissant with a cup of chai and at 10:30 drove to the apartment and put up “For Rent” signs. Within 2 minutes after I put up the second sign, Nestor, who owns, Gobble This, a restaurant in Old Town featuring Salvadorian food. He said his employee needs a place to stay, but Nestor will rent it because his parents can stay there when they are in town.

Suddenly a dull day turned very positive.  I then drove to El Super to shop but I was hungry, so I ate a chili Relleno plate with double beans that were very viscous today and washed it down with a Mexican Coke.  

After lunch I felt leaden but had regained my muscularity and shopped without further difficulty. I bought small amounts of most things, including, lemons, limes, a Pasilla chili, brown onions, two small avocados, Roma tomatoes, three bunches of parsley, three bunches of green onions, a cucumber, a bunch of cilantro, a red cabbage, a head of romaine lettuce, and a half gallon of fresh squeezed orange juice. I now had the ingredients to make tabouli and roasted duck with red cabbage.

I drove home and put up the groceries and then called the insurance Company about a big increase in the premium and Nestor about the apartment lease.

At 3:00 suzette arrived and I walked to the bank and made a deposit.

When I returned I watched the last 1/2 of the Beat and then made tabouli.

I chopped two bunches of parsley and green onions and two tomatoes and diced a cucumber and went to the garden and picked a bunch of mint and chopped it and soaked a cup of No. 1 Bulgur wheat in a bowl of hot water to soften it.

I the added the Bulgar to the other ingredients and added about 1/3 cup of good Spanish olive oil and juice of two lemons and a tsp. of salt l we both tasted the tabouli and liked it.

Dinner - Suzette ate several pieces of the grilled swordfish poke on a pile of tabouli. I toasted and filled two pita pockets with tabouli, swordfish poke, labni, and feta cheese. Suzette poured out the last of the plum wine we bought at a fruit wine winery north of Detroit on our trip to Michigan in the early summer. Both the poke pita sandwiches were excellent together.

 

We watched the Antiques Roadshow and little bit of Monday Night Football and game three f the World Series But both became lopsided, so we went to bed.

Not a terribly exciting day unless you consider the delicious tabouli I made and magically renting the apartment immediately, although I did walk over 4000 steps.

Bon Appetit