June 20, 2025 Lunch - Harvest Restaurant at Indian Pueblo Center. Dinner - Neighborhood Cocktail Party

June 20, 2025  Lunch - Harvest Restaurant at Indian Pueblo Center. Dinner - Neighborhood Cocktail Party 

Another essentially non-working day with lots of activity. I guess my long weekend started on Juneteenth.

I ate a bowl of granola with blueberries, milk, and Plain LaLa yogurt around 8:30  

Then I helped Suzette who already was working in the garden. I worke pillows by the  for an hour, cleaning, killing ants, carrying tables and the new fan from Suzette’s car to the back yard. She cleaned weeds out of beds and trimmed the fennel to allow seating on the banquets next to the raised beds.

Then at 11:00 we drove to and pushed a cart around Lowe’s so Suzette could pick up sprinkler parts and lamp washers that took almost an hour due to phone calls from work.  I finally sat down and read Kandinsky Concerning the Spiritual in Art while she perused lighting parts and talked.

I was beginning to weaken so we decided to go a block north on 12th to the Harvest Restaurant in the Indian Pueblo Center. A large welcoming nicely appointed dining room

Harvest menu is somewhat creative menu that is definitely connected to Indian culinary traditions. I ordered blue corn enchiladas stuffed with soft corn and cheese.  a I chose red chili and ground beef and extra chopped onion. The enchiladas were served on a platter with Calabacitas with corn kernels, and diced zucchini, and yellow squash and a pile of pinto beans and a lettuce, tomato and red onion garnish.

Suzette ordered a Buffalo burger that was a regular cheeseburger with a good sized ground Buffalo burger and a bowl of salad. Both dishes were $16.00 each.

We loved each of our dishes. I forced myself to finish my platter of food to try to build strength and it worked.

We next drove to the solid waste recycling center and dumped five cases of empty wine and whiskey bottles, old newspapers, and cardboard.

At 1:45 we returned home and I watched the market close. It was odd market activity today. The tech socks like Nvidia, Arm, Meta, Amazon, Marvell, and Salesforce were down, but Apple was up over $4.00 and AT&T and Exxon were up which held the portfolio loss to a minimum.

I then rested and finished Diva, which for me is a perfect book. I love everything about it. The enchantment with music, the action in the environs of central Paris I have spent time in, the smarter good bad guys outsmarting the evil hardened criminals, and how good and love triumph in the end.

At 5:00 I went to the kitchen and arranged dolmas and figs on the large Chinese enameled steel tray and chilled a bottle of 2015 Casa Rodena 1629 that is a red blend.

Then we watched TV until 6:30 and took the wine and tray to the neighborhood party at Alicia Feil’s house.

We talked mainly to Doug and Chrystal and a bit to Janis. The food was good for a change. The best dish was Yasmin’s warm chicken dish with a bit of spiciness. The most fun dish were the corn dogs. I ate 1 1/2 corn dogs, some chicken, and a lovely light chocolate cake with a Hershey drizzle through the middle. There is a neighbor who I forget the name of who is a professional baker who always brings amazing baked desserts.

We drank a glass of the 1629. But when Doug and  Crystal brought a bottle of Chèvreny Pinot Noir that I had never tasted, I tried it and liked its elegant smoothness very much.

We returned home at 8:30 and I made the Clafoutis dessert for tomorrow and from 9:00 to 11:00 watched an American Masters Documentary on the life and music of Janis Ian. She is one of the few singer songwriters who have been blessed with the songwriting muse her entire life

We went to bed at 11:00 and I stayed up to blog, while Suzette slept.

Bon Appetit

June 19, 2025 Breakfast - Chocolate Croissant. Snack -Bean Stew Lunch - Sashimi and Sushi Rice Dinner - Chicken Mole, Refried Beans, and Salad

June 19, 2025 Breakfast - Chocolate Croissant. Snack -Bean Stew  Lunch - Sashimi and Sushi Rice  Dinner - Chicken Mole, Refried Beans, and Salad

I relaxed today. I finished transcribing the Book Club discussion notes and grades and then read Diva during the day, I flipped the Gravad Lax at 9:30, pitted cherries and doused them with Grand Marnier and brandy after dinner, and walked around the block with Suzette at 7:45 a.m.

I ate a chocolate croissant with a cup of tea at 7:30.

Then at 10:30 I ate the small container of brands and tomatoes Suzette brought home from the Bistro.

In the morning I read much of Diva.

At 12:00 I made sushi Rice by adding 2 T. of sugar, a T. of Mirin, and 2 1/2 T. of rice vinegar to my usual seaweed and dehydrated dashi additions for 1 cup of rice cooked in 2 cups of boiling water..

I then cut up the leftover tails and bellies of the salmon filets, the 5 oz. Aji  tuna steak, and three sea scallops and peeled, seeded, and sliced 1/3 cucumber. I fetched pickled ginger and daikon and mixed soy and wasabi in a dipping bowl.

I waited for Suzette and then I started eating and after her call we ate lunch together.

I went to Bill Turner’s from 2:15 to 4:15 to review a file and talk to Bill.

When I returned I made a gin and tonic and read Diva until 7:00 when we set up umbrellas to block the sun from the seating area by the fennel.

Then I watched U.S. play Saudi’s Arabia in soccer while Suzette made chicken mole using a bag of chocolate mole sauce and the baked leg quarters plus she opened a can of refried black beans and sautéed them and we then made a salad with lettuce from out garden, a diced tomato, slices of cucumber, and a sliced radish.

After we ate a little after 8:00 we watched an old episode of Midsommer Murders while I pitted 2 lb.s of bing cherries.

At 9:30 Suzettecwent to bed and I tried to watch Foyle’s War except I fell asleep in the chair.

I went to bed at11:30 to blog this entry.

Bon Appetit

June 18, 2025 Breakfast - Bagel and Gravad Lax Lunch - Salami Salad Dinner - Potato Salad and Brat Salad

June 18, 2025 Breakfast - Bagel and Gravad Lax  Lunch - Salami Salad Dinner - Potato Salad and Brat Salad

I had a restful day today. I did almost no legal work. Instead I read Diva and typed Book Club Discussion notes from the last meeting.

St 7:30 I toasted a bagel and spread it with cream cheese and garnished it with slices of red onion, Gravad lax, and capers.

The old Gravad lax is going bad, so after dinner we prepared a new batch of Gravad lax.

The market was going up nicely until someone asked Fed Director Jerome Powell if he was predicting higher inflation in the near term. When he said yes the air went out of the rally and the Dow went negative and the NASDAQ lost most of its positive momentum. I had a small .4% gain.

At 12:00 I picked a bag of lettuce from the garden and made a salad with sliced cucumber, a diced tomato, and several slices of red onion. Imade a simple dressing of Spanish Sherry vinegar, olive oil, German deli mustard, and garlic and tarragon from our garden.

I also toasted two slices of French baguette and melted slices of Jarlsberg cheese on them.

After lunch at 1:30 I drove to my dermatology appointment and after the appointment I drove to Walmart and bought a bottle of herring in wine sauce.

Then I drove home and refrigerated the 12 pack of Carlsberg 16 oz. Cans that I had left in the car.

 I rested from 2:30 to 3:45 and then at 4:00 watched the news.

Suzette went to her physical therapy appointment at 5::00 and returned at 6:30.

We decided to slice and heat the remaining two brats from Sunday brunch with the remaining potato salad and serve it on a bed of lettuce from our garden.

The salad was lovely.

We watched Walking With Dinosaurs from 7:00 until 9:00, although Suzette went to bed at 8:30.

I went to bed at 9:30 after eating two slices of fruit cake.

It was a pleasant relaxing day that allowed my muscles to recover.

Bon Appetit

June 17, 2025 Breakfast - Granola, blueberries, mango yogurt, and milk. Lunch - Leftover Bin Cha Gio. Dinner - Re-Re-Constructed Pad Thai and Baby Bok Choy and red onion.

June 17, 2025 Breakfast - Granola, blueberries, mango yogurt, and milk. Lunch - Leftover Bin Cha Gio. Dinner - Re-Re-Constructed Pad Thai and Baby Bok Choy and red onion. 

Another day of noodles. I ate Granola with fresh milk, blueberries, and mango yogurt for breakfast and then at 8:00 walked to the Country Club and back, 2300 steps.

Then at 11:00 I ate the leftover Bun Cha Gio cold that were awful because the fish sauce collapses the noodle and they turn to mush. I will not do that again.

Then at Noon I drove to Smith’s and bought 2 Salmon filets to make Gravad lax, an Aji tuna steak, 3/4 lb. of sea scallops, a can of Nestle La Lecheria condensed milk, cream cheese, and 6 Lender’s bagels. I looked fondly at two thick cut T-bone steaks but passed because they were $10.00 per lb.

When I returned home I worked on my taxes for a while and at 4:00 listened to Ari Melber. Then at 5:30 I joined Suzette in the TV room and she switched from HGTV to the news until 6:00 when we turned back to HGTV to watch two new episodes of Castle Impossible.

During the show I separated the heavy white part of each leaf of a bag of 7 or 8 baby bok Choy clusters and diced 1/4 red onion, a piece of ginger, and six or 7 small garlic cloves.

I also made a seasoning sauce with Chinese Cooking wine, a dash of sesame oil, a dash of rice vinegar,  1 1/2 T. of sugar, 1 tsp. of salt, chicken stock, hot water, and a fair amount of hoisin sauce.

I then heated 2 T. of peanut oil in the wok and added the garlic, ginger, diced red onion, and white sections of the bok choy and stir fried them for a few minutes.

I then added the green baby bok Choy leaves, about 2 oz. of brown beech mushrooms and two handfuls of mung bean sprouts and cooked them for a couple of minutes.

Finally I added the leftover Pad Thai and 2/3 of the seasoning sauce and cooked them until the mixture began to bubble and boil.

While the Pad Thai was heating I shelled and chopped 1/3 cup of roasted peanuts and sliced three green onions into thin ringlets and plucked and chopped the leaves from several stalks of cilantro and cut a lime in half for garnish.

Then we ate and watched Florida beat Edmonton for a fourth game to clinch the Stanley Cup by beating Edmonton for the second year in a row.

At 9:00 we watched a bit of 11th Hour news and when Suzette went to sleep I watched a Nova episode of the largest sea going dinosaur, Ichthyosaurus, the largest predator in the ocean in the early Jurassic Era 200 million years ago that could crush or cut anything it caught in its six foot long snout with its 32,000 lb. of jaw strength.

I was fascinated by the modeling and reconstruction technology available to modern paleontologists. 

At 10:00 I watched a news summary by Bloomberg and went to bed to blog this entry around 10:30.

In the morning I reviewed its financial condition and sent a letter to Shareholder Relations at The Capital Small Finance Bank in India asking for assistance dematerializing my shares.

Also the market was down today but not as deeply as on Friday.

Tomorrow Sashimi with rice for lunch for a change from noodles.

Bon Appetit