September 5, 2025 Lunch at Mr. Pho with Paul and Pradip. Dinner - Reheated Costco rotisserie chicken with broccoli with a Mornay sauce

September 5, 2025 Lunch at Mr. Pho with Paul and Pradip. Dinner - Reheated Costco rotisserie chicken with broccoli with a Mornay sauce 

I woke at 4:30 and finished my pleading by 6:30. I then ate a quick breakfast of a chocolate croissant and a latte macchiato, dressed and worked for a 1/2 hour on the raised beds with Suzette.

I then sent the new pleading to counsel of record and showered and dressed and worked at my desk until 10:00 when I packed a cup of clafoutis for Peter and drove to my dermatology appointment. At 11:00 after the appointment I drove to the Middle Eastern Al Qud’s store where I bought a container of yogurt drink and ground lamb. Then I drove across the street to Mr. Pho to meet Paul and Pradip for lunch.

I actually met them in the Oriental Grocery next door to Mr. Pho and we walked back around 11:30. Each of us ordered a different dish. Pradip ordered pork cooked with noodles, vegetables, and lemongrass. Paul ordered A bun noodle bowl with pork. I ordered a clay pot filled with rice, pork and vegetables. We all loved our dishes and tried tastes of each of the other dishes. We all agreed that Mr. Pho’s food was diverse and delicious. It carries a 4.6 rating that rates it a little better than most other Vietnamese restaurants.

Then at 12:15 we drove to Encompass Rehab Hospital to visit Peter. It was a long walk to his room through the large facility. He was in good spirits and we had a good conversation for about 20 minutes until his physical therapist came to take him to PT.

After our visit I suggested we drive to Costco and take a tour of the wine department.

As we walked through the wine aisles Paul bought 13 bottles of wine and I bought three: a Kirkland New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, ano Kirtland Pinot Grigio, and another Corbieres red blend.

I also showed them some of the food items I buy, including a Cry-o-vac package with two duck halves, chocolate croissants, and a 1/2 kilo wheel of brie cheese.

I then drove home and filed my pleading and checked my portfolio, which was down thanks mainly to a $4.55 drop in Nvidia. The only reasonable explanation is that with the prospect of two highly successful AI chips, brokers and funds are having to have both stocks in their portfolio, which requires sale of Nvidia to generate the cash to buy Broadcom. As Jen Sun said in the webcast there is more than enough demand to support several AI chip makers. For example, Nvidia’s orders are back logged.

With all the walking by the end of the day I walked over 4300 steps.

When I returned home I filed my Motion to Reconsider and then had a long telephone conversation with Bill Turner about water law.

Dinner - At 6:00 we began processing the rotisserie chicken we bought at Costco. Suzette wanted to make chicken stock. So, while she chopped celery, onion, and a carrot and filled the large casserole with water and the vegetables, I removed the two breasts and the leg quarter and wing from the chicken carcass and put the bones into the casserole and Suzette heated the broth pot over low heat to cook the ingredients into a broth.

We decided to steam broccoli and garnish it with a cheese sauce (Sauce Mornay).  Suzette cooked flour and butter to make a roux to which we added milk to make cream sauce and then stirred in small chunks of the Amish cheese we bought at Lake Seneca until it melted into a viscous sauce that she drizzled over flowerets she had steamed.

Then she microwaved a chicken wing and a leg for Suzette and a thigh and a wing for me.

I drank a glass of Kirkland Pinot Grigio and Suzette drank a glass of Finger Lakes Ryan Williams Gruner Vitliner.

The chicken was so tender it fell off the bone and there was lots of it. Suzette said she thought that the chicken was a loss leader because she can not sell such a large roasted chicken at the Bistro for $5.00.

We watched some football and went to bed early.

Bon Appetit

September 4, 2025 Lunch - Steak Salad. Dinner - Sautéed Sea Scallops in Roasted Garlic and Vegetables, Mushrooms and Wood Ear

September 4, 2025 Lunch - Steak Salad. Dinner - Sautéed Sea Scallops in Roasted Garlic and Vegetables, Mushrooms and Wood Ear

I got up ant 4:30 to work on my pleading and went back to bed at 6:00 and slept until 7:30. I watched the market open and then the last hour of Stage 11 of La Vuelta a Espana. 

I ate a bowl of granola with mango yogurt, milk, and champagne grapes for breakfast around 9:00.

Then at 10:30 I went to Bill’s office and delivered a bottle of each of a 2013 and a 2014 Calstar Sangiacomo Pinot Noir to Matt and then had a long conversation with Bill about vested property rights to water under Spanish and Mexican land grants.

At 1:30 I returned home and made a steak salad with romaine lettuce, red onion and cucumber slices, chunks of cheddar cheese, halved cherry tomatoes and two slices of leftover T-bone steak diced.

After lunch I rested and watched the market close up with my portfolio getting above the pain threshold for the first time in two days.

Suzette came home around 5:00 we drove to Costco and bought three red wines, paper towels, eggs, cream, chocolate croissants, garlic, and baby portobello mushrooms. We now have four different mushrooms: portobello, chanterelle, enoki, and shiitake plus fresh wood ear.

Dinner - When we returned home around 7:30 we started preparing dinner. We decided to sauté the fresh Sea Scallops in Roasted Garlic and Vegetables, Mushrooms and Wood Ear

I sliced 2 shiitake and a handful of enoki mushrooms plus six or seven wood ear, plus a head of broccoli into bite sized flowerets. I also minced the leftover leeks and three cloves of garlic around 6:00. 

We wanted a Mediterranean style dinner, so Suzette sautéed the scallops and garlic in olive oil and butter in the wok until the garlic turned light brown. She then removed the scallops and garlic and I minced three more cloves of garlic and Suzette stir fried the broccoli, some leftover sliced red cabbage, the additional garlic, and the leeks with a dash of Sauvignon Blanc wine until they were cooked. Then she added back the scallops and garlic to reheat them.

We re-heated the last 1/2 cup of cooked rice and spooned the scallop mixture over the warm rice.

We drank glasses of Kirkland Sauvignon Blanc with the dinner. I like Kirkland Sauvignon Blanc a lot and since it costs only $4.99 per bottle, it is easy to buy. I think of it as a Costco loss leader like the hot dog and a drink for $1.50. It keeps me coming back for it again and again.

Finally, I tasted a dish tonight with the distinctive flavor of garlic thanks to the sautéed garlic and additional garlic in the cooking oil and the dish.

We watched Philadelphia beat the Cowboys and Suzette served bowls with 1/2 cup of clafoutis.

Then after the game at 9:15 Suzette went to sleep. I stayed up to watch Foyle’s War and actually watched the entire episode until 11:00 without falling asleep.

Bon Appetit

September 3, 2025 Lunch - Leftover Vietnamese Bun Noodles with grilled pork. Dinner - Sashimi with rice, cucumber, avocado, seaweed salad and squid salad

September 3, 2025 Lunch - Leftover Vietnamese Bun Noodles with grilled pork. Dinner - Sashimi with rice, cucumber, avocado, seaweed salad and squid salad

Today I rested most of the day. I awakened at 4:00 and emptied the dish washer and then at 5:00 I made Gravad Lax. I rinsed the salmon fillets and mixed 4/5 cup of salt with 2/3 cup of granulated sugar and 1 tsp. Of freshly ground black pepper. Suzette awakened around 5:30 and spooned the dry mixture inside and outside the two fillets and to cover the bottom, middle, and top of the fillets with fresh dill weed as I placed each fillet in a 6 x 9 Pyrex baking dish. I then covered the fillets with Saran, weighted the fillets with a brick and placed it in the refrigerator to cure.

I then went back to bed and slept from 6:00 to 7:45.

Suzette left at 6:30 for work.

When I awakened I ate a bowl of granola with milk, mango yogurt, and a handful of champagne grapes Luke and Ari brought us.

I watched the market and was pleased that the three day losing streak ended.  The high tech part of the market except for Nvidia was up. Google ended up over $19.00 and luckily for me Apple ended up $8.75 to overcome a slight loss in Nvidia for a .9% gain in my portfolio.

I watched Stage 11 of La Vuelta a Espana until 10:30, which ended very abruptly 3 km. before the finish without a sprint finish into downtown Bilbao, because there were Pro-Palestinian protesters waiting at the finish line to demonstrate against the inclusion of an Israeli bike team in the race even though the Israeli team had no affiliation with the State of Israel.

I worked a bit and ate leftover Vietnamese Bun noodles from yesterday’s lunch at Coda Bakery with a cup of green tea for lunch at 12:30..

I then worked at my desk until 4:30 when Suzette arrived. She was hungry so after watching a bit of news I started making dinner. I cut the leftover salmon, an Aji tuna steak, and three scallops I bought at Smith’s yesterday plus 1/2 cucumber peeled and seeded and 1/2 medium avocado into bite sized pieces and fetched the seaweed salad and squid salad we bought at Talin on Saturday, as well as the bottle of pickled ginger and made a dipping sauce with wasabi and soy sauce. Suzette added mirin to the leftover rice from our Friday night dinner at East Ocean and heated it and Suzette ate the last bit of the Coda Bakery Bun Vietnamese Noodles.

Suzette drank her scotch cocktail and I drank hot green tea. We loved this elaborate dinner that did not cost much compared to what it would cost in a sushi restaurant. And we still have scallops for another meal and Gravad lax.

Now that food and restaurant prices are rising, I am willing to buy high quality ingredients and cook fabulous food at home.

We watched a lovely Nature program on PBS illustrating how different species in the ocean cooperate with each other at 7:00.

At 8:00 Suzette went to bed and I blogged until 9:30.

Bon 

September 1, 2025 Lunch - Leftover Deep Fried Tofu and Mixed Vegetables with Rice. Dinner Grilled T-bone steak with sautéed Mushrooms and Sweet Pepper, sautéed pole beans with shishito peppers, and an ear of corn

 September 1, 2025 Lunch - Leftover Deep Fried Tofu and Mixed Vegetables with Rice.  Dinner Grilled T-bone steak with sautéed Mushrooms and Sweet Pepper, sautéed pole beans with shishito peppers, and an ear of corn

I woke up at 5:00 and hurriedly ate a chocolate croissant with a cup of chai and then drove Ari and Luke to the airport at 6:00 to take a flight to Palm Springs and finally to Ari’s house in Idlewild where Luke will spend several days before flying back to N.Y.

When I returned home I gardened with Suzette, mainly pulling baby elm trees out of the raised bed Suzette intends to make into an herb garden.  We bought several new herbs, such as Citronella, chocolate mint, spinach, a thyme, a Brazilian pepper, and lemon grass. 

I then watched extended coverage of stage 9 of La Vuelta held yesterday and rested until 11:30 when I heated up the leftover Deep Fried Tofu and Mixed Vegetables with Cabbage, leek, and rice for lunch.

After lunch I thawed a T-bone steak for dinner, walked around the block and worked on a pleading until 4:30.

The walk was pleasant because it rained last night and it was 84 degrees with mild humidity which helped me accumulate over 3500 steps.

When I returned I watched Ari until 6:00 and then started watching TCU play North Carolina football. This was hyped as Bill Belicheck’s debut as a college coach after winning a record 6 Super Bowls as coach for the NE Patriots. 

NC scored first and it looked like they were in control of the game but soon TCU scored and kept on scoring. The final score was TCU 48 to NC’s 14. I was a cited about TCU’s win as I was disappointed by Texas’s loss to Ohio State.

We made a fabulous dinner with the fresh produce we had gathered from the farmer’s markets. Suzette boiled three ears of butter and cream corn from Wagner’s Farm in Corrales. I minced a shallot and two yellow sweet peppers and a Criolla sweet pepper and halved about 8 small chanterelles and three large fresh shiitake mushrooms and sautéed shallot, peppers, and mushrooms in butter and olive oil with thyme leaves from our garden and a dash of amontillado sherry. 

Suzette sectioned the purple and white pole beans Luke and Ari brought us from the Gallisteo farmers’ market and sautéed them in good Argentinian olive oil with the seven shishito peppers we picked in our garden this morning.

                  The mushrooms with shallot and creolla and sweet yellow peppers

                 The pole beans sautéed with shishito peppers from the garden

Then Suzette grilled the T-bone on the outdoor propane grill.

I opened a bottle of the 2014 Calstar Sangiacomo Pinot Noir from the case that arrived on Saturday.  It was really magical with its clean plummy flavor and unmistakable earthy taste of the terroir.

After dinner I splurged and ate a Swedish marzipan and chocolate dessert with a cup of chai and a sip of Calvados.

I kept switching channels between the Antique Roadshow and the TCU football game until finally they both ended at 9:00 and we went to bed around 9:30.

I to blog and Suzette to sleep.

Bon Appetit

September 2, 2025 Breakfast - Two Fried Eggs with Sausage patty and red onion rings. Lunch - Vietnamese Rice Vermicelli Noodles with pork, lettuce, cucumber, mung bean sprouts and fish sauce. Dinner - Reheated Cassoulet with steamed Broccoli

September 2, 2025 Breakfast - Two Fried Eggs with Sausage patty and red onion rings. Lunch - Vietnamese Rice Vermicelli Noodles with pork, lettuce, cucumber, mung bean sprouts and fish sauce. Dinner - Reheated Cassoulet with steamed Broccoli

I sautéed a patty of Jimmie Dean Sausage with a slice of red onion and when those were cooked, I fried two eggs and toasted two small slices of baguette and drank a cup of chai for breakfast.

I then walked around the block.  At 10:30 I picked a bag of basil and took it to the new Coda Bakery at the corner of Central and San Pedro where I met Wayne Chew for lunch. Coda is a fast food cafeteria  that serves Vietnamese dishes made with fresh ingredients.

Wayne ordered the multi meat sandwich in a 12 inch fresh baked baguette.

I ordered my usual rice noodles with marinated pork grilled that comes with the bun additions of lettuce, cucumber sticks, mung bean sprouts, pickled carrots and daikon, peanuts, and fish sauce. It was huge and I could only eat 1/3. Similarly, Wayne ate only 1/2 of his sandwich.

After lunch I drove home and typed and sent out the book club discussion and grades. 

I had a new client come over at 4:30 until 6:00 and afterwards Suzette heated the leftover cassoulet and steamed broccoli for a delicious dinner.

I cannot say enough good things about the New Coda Bakery the first Vietnamese cafeteria in Albuquerque.

Bon Appetit