January 7, 2024 Lunch - Roast Beef, Mashed Potatoes and Mushroom Brown Sauce Dinner - Pita Sandwiches with Lamb Kabobs, tzatziki, feta, cabbage, and tomatoes

January 7, 2024 Lunch - Roast Beef, Mashed Potatoes and Mushroom Brown Sauce  Dinner - Pita Sandwiches with Lamb Kabobs, tzatziki, feta, cabbage, and tomatoes 

I awakened at 7:30 in time to watch the market open. It went up and then dived and ended up down for the worst day in over a year with my portfolio down over 3.5%.

I ate three meals today Starting with a bowl of granola with milk, yogurt k and blueberries for breakfast.

Then at 1:00 I heated the leftover portion of roast beef, mashed potatoes, and mushroom brown sauce and cranberry sauce from the standing rib roast we cooked for the family the day after Christmas. It was fabulous with a glass of Malbec.

I had an interesting experience today. A Letters of Administration was rejected for a client because it was over one year old. I researched the law and found that Letters automatically terminate after one year, so my client and I went to the County Probate Court Office in the new County Building at 415 Silver ten blocks from the house. When we showed the clerk the problem she immediately certified copies of the Letters with today’s date, which should be good for another year.

Then at 2:30 I drove to Bill’s office for a meeting with Pete about a water rights issue.

When I returned at 4:30 Suzette was cooking the red rice with pecans and cranraisins on the stove with added chicken broth. I tasted the rice and it was soft and delicious, so we turned the heat off and let it steam.

Then I drank a vermouth and made tzatziki with a peeled, seeded, and diced cucumber, a thin slice of red onion minced, two cloves of garlic minced, lemon zest and juice, a T. of olive oil, 2 tsp. of dried mint ground, and 1 1/2 cup of yogurt., while Suzette made kebabs by mixing 1 lb. of ground lamb, 1 egg, and 1 1/2 cup of the red rice.

She fried the kebabs in coconut oil and I sliced a tomato, and heated halves of pita and Suzette shredded a few leaves of Napa cabbage and we filled 1/2 pitas with feta, kebab, tomato, cabbage, and tzatziki. 

We drank the rest of the Malbec and then opened a bottle of Kirkland Côtes du Rhône red. After dinner we watched Finding Your Roots and ate a piece of chocolate and sipped red wine, but I fell asleep and we went to bed at 8:00.

Bon Appetit

January 6, 2025 Breakfast - Lax on bagel and chocolate croissant with a latte macchiato, Dinner - Roast Duck with Steamed Broccoli and red rice

January 6, 2025 Breakfast - Lax on bagel and chocolate croissant with a latte macchiato,  Dinner - Roast Duck with Steamed Broccoli and red rice

Today was wonderful. I got up and Suzette cut my hair then I got dressed in a coat and tie to go to court and toasted a large slice of bagel and spread cream cheese on it and garnished it with slices of red onion and lax and capers.

I then made a latte macchiato and heated the chocolate croissant in the microwave for 25 seconds.

I thought this might be a bit much for breakfast but it turned out to be perfect because I did not get a chance to eat lunch.

I had a 2 1/2 hour hearing from 10:00 by zoom.  

Then at 1:30 I watched Nottingham Forest beat the Wolverhampton Wanderers 2 to 0 and at 3:00 I worked on a water case and at 4:00 a client came by and we worked on their case for about 45 minutes.

Suzette came home at 4:15 and at 5:00 we discussed dinner and decided to cook a duck half and reconstitute the red rice that needed an additional 20 or 30 minutes of cooking. I added dehydrated chicken stock and water and we cooked it. I also cut the flowerets off 1/2 head of broccoli and steamed it. 

Suzette microwaved the duck to thaw it which dried it out a bit and then roasted the pre-cooked duck for 15 minutes at 375 degrees. It was crispy and a bit dry but with a greasy meat like duck that could be a legitimate option.

Suzette found the cranberry sauce and plated the duck on a pile of red rice with steamed broccoli flowerets and the cranberry sauce on the side.

I fetched a bottle of 2015 Côtes du Rhône in the basement that was bad, so I opened a Kirkland 2020 Malbec that was great with the meal..

After dinner I ate a few spoonfuls of Lebanese yogurt with brandied strawberries and then a glass of limoncello with Suzette and finally three squares of milk chocolate.

We went to bed at 9:00 after watching two episodes of Antique Roadshow and the Buenos Aires episode of Who is Feeding Phil to get the name of several restaurants.

I did not get much exercise strapped to my desk today and the TV, but had a monster day in the market with a 1.7% gain thanks to gains of $25.50 in Meta, $4.96 in Nvidia, and ARM up $6.33.

Suzette thawed the ground lamb meat I bought last Friday, so we will soon be eating lamb kebab sandwiches.

Bon Appetit

January 5, 2024 Lunch - Crab Cakes with tomato and cucumber salad and tartare sauce Dinner - PPI Pork and Sauerkraut and Mashed Potatoes

January 5, 2024 Lunch - Crab Cakes with tomato and cucumber salad and tartare sauce  Dinner - PPI Pork and Sauerkraut and Mashed Potatoes 

We were both working today at our desks so we only got together at Lunch for a collectively cooked meal.

I ate granola with yogurt and milk, and blueberries for breakfast.

Then i watched Fareed and then Man City tie Man Union 2 to 2 in a spirited fixture in icy cold rain.

At 12:30 we gathered in the kitchen for lunch prep.

Suzette rolled saltine crackers into bread crumbs and added Mayo, an egg, and about 1/2 lb. of crab to make 8 crab cake balls that she fried in coconut oil for a clean crab flavor.

I diced a tomato and a small cucumber to which Suzette added a few drops of Spanish padron chili flavored artisan vinegar and I added a few drops of Spanish olive oil.

Suzette made a tartare sauce with lemon juice, horseradish, and Mayo and I adjusted the seasoning by adding an additional squirt of lemon juice and teaspoon of horseradish to hide the processed Mayo flavor and develop a more uniform flavor.

Suzette spooned the salad onto a leaf of romaine lettuce and added four crab balls to each and a green onion and we garnished the crab balls with tartare sauce.

For this elegant lunch we chose to drink a 2020 Herman Weimar dry rose that was fabulously dry and yet fruity that complemented the rich crab cakes and tartare sauce perfectly.

After lunch we worked a bit longer. At 4:00 I quit work and walked to the Country club and back that allowed me to reach a total of 3500 steps for the day.

At 6:30 we decided to heat the PPI Pork and Sauerkraut from New Year’s Day and Suzette served it on a bed of spinach leaves and a pile of PPI mashed  potatoes for a quick and easy dinner.

Suzette drank a Negra Modelo with dinner and I drank the last glass of Dry rose.

We watched some HGTV house hunters and NFL football and I drank a cup of green tea with a snickerdoodle cookie  Suzette and Lexi made at Thanksgiving but TV did not arrest our desire to rest after a day of work so we went to bed at 9:30.

I woke up at 11:30 to read the November/December issue of Edible New Mexico and wrote this blog.

Bon Appetit

 

January 4, 2024 Brunch - PPI Crab Soufflé. Dinner - Roast Beef with Mashed Potatoes in Mushroom Sauce and Steamed Green Beans

January 4, 2024 Brunch - PPI Crab Soufflé.  Dinner - Roast Beef with Mashed Potatoes in Mushroom Sauce and Steamed Green Beans

I know I say this often, but today was the best day of leftovers in a long, long time.

We only ate two meals today. The first was around 9:30 or 10:00.

Suzette heated the leftover crab soufflé on a bed of spinach leaves for brunch that we ate with a glass of orange juice.

Then Suzette went on errands and I watched Arsenal tie Brighton to hold onto 2nd place and Leicester lose and seems headed to relegation.

I toasted a slice of baguette and spread peanut butter and honey on it and ate it with a cup of green tea.

Then when Suzette returned we split a chocolate Woopie Pie, so we nibbled.

Suzette returned around 11:30 and at noon we drove to the Bosque and walked to the river and to the two lakes, which was slightly further than before and helped accumulate approximately 4500 steps. 

We then drove to Old Town around 1:45 to meet Nestor but he was not at the restaurant, so we drove home.

At 4:00 we made dinner. I sliced three mushrooms and then the remaining roast beef from the Christmas Standing Rib Roast into three 1/2 inch thick slices plus a few smaller thin slices for sandwiches while Suzette sautéed the mushrooms and then made a mushroom cream sauce from a roux and beef bouillon and a little milk and the mushrooms.  Suzette also made sour cream mashed potatoes and we snapped green beans and she steamed the green beans.

I opened the 2016 Olarra Gran Reserva Rioja we bought at Costco two weeks ago.

We thought it was too smooth in a manner we associate with being over produced. It was so smooth that it had lost all its character.

This was an even better meal than at Christmas in my opinion. Suzette covered the meat with mushroom sauce and heated it for just a minute, so the meat retained its pink color and was incredibly tender. With the mushroom cream sauce and mashed potatoes, the bites of meat literally melted in my mouth.

After dinner I toasted two mote slices of baguette and spread butter on mine and we both spread Affinois cheese on them and drank another glass of the Rioja with them.

Around 5:30 I went to sleep for about 45 minutes on Suzette’s new crystal heating mat that was lovely.

We watched the Bengals beat the Steelers during which we had a long conversation with Willy and then watched Death in Paradise, after which Suzette went to bed and I watched Sherlock Holmes and blogged.

Even though we only ate two meals, I snacked a lot and feel very full.

Bon Appetit