June 20, 2026 Snack Brunch - Shrimp, Ricotta, and Avocado Omelet Snack - Herring sandwiches. Dinner - Roasted Root Vegetables and Leftover Beef Short Ribs

June 20, 2026 Snack  Brunch - Shrimp, Ricotta, and Avocado Omelet Snack - Herring sandwiches. Dinner - Roasted Root Vegetables and Leftover Beef Short Ribs

Suzette awakened me at 8:00. I got dressed and ate a pain au chocolate with a collagen latte Machiatta coffee.

Then Suzette and I pulled the garlic plants from the westerly raised bed.

I sliced some onion and Suzette sliced 1 1/2 avocados and whisked four eggs and sautéed the onion in a large skillet and then added the four eggs and about 15 peeled and cooked shrimp plus some goat cheese ricotta. When the egg firmed Suzette garnished the top with avocado slices.

This was the most beautifully decorated omelet I have seen in years and clearly the best meal of the day.

We then drove to El Super to buy brown sugar, carrots, lemons, apple cider vinegar, and ginger to make apricot chutney.

Suzette brought about 40 lb. of apricots from the trees at the Center. After we returned home we pitted about 5 lb. of apricots and i chopped one yellow onion and placed them in a large pot to which Suzette added apple cider vinegar, lemon juice, raisins, and ginger and cooked it for several hours until the apricots began to break up and the liquid reduced and thickened. She then bottled the chutney.

We then pitted another six lb. of apricots and Suzette cooked these with brown sugar in water. When the apricots were cooked, Suzette bagged the apricots that will be used in cobblers at the Center.

Around 3:30 we finished pitting 1/3 of the apricots. I toasted two slices of whole wheat bread and spread them with sour cream and then garnished them with slices of red onion and slices of Vita herring in wine sauce.  I liked the cool herring with a glass of Palantir French Sauvignon Blanc.

I watched World Cup Soccer most of the day but most of the action was predictable, so it was unexciting and I had no favorite to root for. For example, I love Sweden, but it got crushed 5 to 1 by the Netherlands.

I read more of Being Ram Dass about his spiritual awakening in India.

Then around 4:00 I cut two carrots, a turnip, the bag of Brussels sprouts and two beets into cubes and Suzette roasted them in the oven around 5:30.  She decided to not make mashed potatoes.

We reheated the braised short ribs and when Willy came by around 7:30 we had a quiet dinner.

It seems that Luke’s situation has darkened all of our moods as he struggles to make a go of it in LA.

We watched a bit of Bill Maher but that did not relieve the bad feelings we all have.

The dinner was delicious and we drank Smith Haut Lafitte red Bordeaux, but we never got to dessert of cobbler, which is just as well because the root vegetables made me feel really good.

I stayed up until 11:00 to watch Japan crush Tunisia.

Bon Appetit

June 19, 2026 Breakfast - Pain au Chocolate. Lunch with Greg and Ned Dinner with Melissa and Ruth

June 19, 2026 Breakfast - Pain au Chocolate. Lunch with Greg and Ned   Dinner with Melissa and Ruth

Today I ate a pain au chocolates at my desk for breakfast as I finished the paperwork for a transaction and then the notes and grades for The Lover by Duras by noon.

Then Ned and Greg arrived with lunch. Ned had made a potato and ham frittata and brought a sushi roll from Lowe’s.  Greg brought eggplant in garlic sauce and mixed vegetables and rice from East Ocean.

Suzette joined us and we filled our plates and took them out to the gazebo and enjoyed a leisurely lunch.  I then showed them my art collection, which impressed Greg especially because his mother was an artist.

Then we watched the last half of the US 2 to 0 victory over Australia to send the US into the round of 32.

Ned and Greg left after the match and I made Cesar salad dressing with juice of 1 lemon, a can of anchovies diced, about 2/3 cup of good olive oil and an egg whisked into a dressing and grated 1 1/2 cups of fresh Parmesan cheese for the Cesar salad for dinner, while Suzette made cream of green pea soup with peas from our garden and tore two heads of romaine for the Cesar salad and made an apricot cobbler with apricots from our tree she had previously cooked with brown sugar.

I opened the chilled bottle of Trader Joe’s Bandol and poured Suzette and me glasses that we drank while we cooked.

 I then watched Morocco beat Scotland until Melissa and Ruth arrived at 5:30 with a bottle of Bloodhood Rose from Provence from Costco and a bottle of Santa Margharita Pinot Grigio from Italy from Costco. We poured out the Bandol and then the Bloodhood for dinner while Suzette filled covered soup bowls with green pea soup and tossed the cheese, croutons, and dressing with the lettuce and then served cesar salad in chilled pasta bowls.

We carried our salad bowls and wine glasses and Suzette brought the soup bowls to the table under the gazebo where we ate dinner.

Around 6:45 Suzette served parfait glasses filled with apricot cobbler garnished wit crème fraiche.

Then Melissa drove us to the parking garage under Civic Plaza. We walked through a Juneteenth concert in Civic Plaza to the Kiva Auditorium in the Convention Center for a concert by Herbert Alpert and the Tijuana Brass.  We enjoyed all the old music and the video program shown while the music was played from Alpert’s over 60:year career and is still performing at age 91.

Herb is the son of Jewish immigrants from Ukraine and Hungary born in LA..

After the concert Melissa drove us home and Suzette filled a bag with apricots for her.

I watched Paraguay beat Turkey and then went to bed and blogged this entry.

Bon Appetit

 

June 18, 2026 Breakfast - Pain au Chocolate. Lunch - Chili Relleno Burrito. Dinner - Braised Beef Short Ribs with Broccoli and a Tomato Salad

June 18, 2026 Breakfast - Pain au Chocolate. Lunch - Chili Relleno Burrito. Dinner - Braised Beef Short Ribs with Broccoli and a Tomato Salad

Today was great. I slept 7 hours, which is a new post hospital record.

I had a wonderful eye exam. I still have 20/20 vision and no eye disease.

And it was a great day in the market. My portfolio went up 1.875%. Thanks to Trump signing a phony peace deal the NASDAQ went up 400 points.

I ate a pain au chocolate with a latte Machiatta for breakfast.

Then I drafted several documents until 11:30 when I heated the other Chili Relleno burrito from yesterday’s lunch at El Super.

Then after watching the first half of the Canada v. Bosnia match, I drove to Eye Associates for my appointment with Dr. Fillmore. He found my eyes were clear of the infection and they were in good shape.

I then drove to Euro Zone where I bought a can of snails, a black currant jam, a loaf of dense flat German rye bread, and a chorizo loop. The proprietor gave my a box of marzipan candy. 

I then returned home at 4:15 and watched the news until Suzette arrived. I wanted to cook the beef short ribs.  Suzette soon found a recipe:

4.99 from 2802 votes

Braised Short Ribs

Tender cooked ribs in a delicious, rich sauce, served over creamy mashed potatoes. All cooked in just one pot!

Prep Time

20

minutes

 mins

Cook Time

2

hours

 hrs 40

minutes

 mins

Total Time

3

hours

 hrs

Course: Main CourseCuisine: American Servings: 4Calories: 347kcal Author: Lauren Allen Cost: 18

Recipe Link

Equipment

• 
  
  
• Dutch Oven

Ingredients

• 3 Tablespoons olive oil
• 1 yellow onion , diced
• 3 carrots , chopped
• 8 whole beef short ribs , bone-in
• salt and pepper , to taste
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup dry red wine (such as Cote du Rhone or Pinot Noir)
• 2 1/2 cups low-sodium beef broth
• 2 Tablespoons tomato paste
• 2 sprigs fresh thyme
• 2 sprigs fresh rosemary

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• In a large dutch oven or oven safe pot with a lid, heat one tablespoon of oil over medium high heat. Add onion and carrots and cook for a few minutes, stirring constantly. Remove veggies to a plate.
  
• Season the ribs with salt and pepper and coat on all sides with flour. Add 2 more tablespoons of oil to the pot and turn heat to high. Add ribs and brown on all sides, about 45 seconds per side. Remove to a plate.
  
• 
  
  
• Add the wine to deglaze the pan. Scrape the bottom of the pan to release any browned bites of flavor. Bring to a boil and cook 2 minutes.
  
• Add beef broth, salt and freshly ground black pepper. Stir in tomato paste. Taste broth and add additional seasonings, if needed.
  
• Add ribs, veggies, and (whole) sprigs of thyme and rosemary to the pot.
  
• Cover with the lid and place into the oven. Cook at 350 degrees for 2 hours, then reduce heat to 325 degrees and cook for an additional 30 to 45 minutes. Ribs should be very tender, nearly falling off the bone.
  
• Remove the pan from oven and allow rest for 20 minutes, with the lid on, before serving. Skim off any fat that has risen to the top of the liquid, before serving.
  
• Serve ribs over mashed potatoes with a spoonful of gravy from the pot.
  
• Store leftover short ribs in a sealed container in the refrigerator for 3-4 days depending on the freshness of your ingredients
  

I chopped an onion and three carrots into lengths and fetched three sprigs each of thyme and Rosemary and Suzette floured and braised the short ribs while I chopped some mushrooms and she made the bullion and red wine cooking medium and added tomato paste and cooked the ingredients in the oven for two hours.

She steamed a head of broccoli and I sliced two Roma tomatoes and made a dressing of juice if 1/2 lemon, 2/3 cup of mayonnaise, and 1/3 minced shallot. I placed the tomato slices on a leaf of romaine lettuce and drizzled them with the dressing.

Then I opened a bottle of 2020 Le Petit Smith Haut Lafitte Bordeaux and Suzette plated each plate with a short rib and broccoli.

It was a great meal and there are enough leftovers for a dinner with Willy Saturday evening when Suzette will make mashed potatoes and maybe an apricot cobbler.

Bon Appetit

 

June 17, 2026 Breakfast - Chili Relleno Burrito at El Super. Lunch - Herring and Tomato and Cucumber Sandwiches Dinner - Shrimp Salad

June 17, 2026 Breakfast - Chili Relleno Burrito at El Super. Lunch - Herring and Tomato and Cucumber Sandwiches  Dinner - Shrimp Salad

I woke up at 8:00 and watched the market a bit and then showered and dressed and at 9:30 drove to El Super to refill the larder. I bought lots, including red and yellow onions, ginger root, a yellow bell pepper, zucchini, avocados, cilantro, Brussels sprouts, milk, broccoli, corn tortillas, limes, lemons, a butternut squash, leeks, chorizo, beef short ribs, smoked pork chops, brown shrimp, Negra Modelo beer, oranges, papaya, mangoes, a pineapple, Persian cucumbers, cherries, and tomatoes.

In the middle of shopping I purchased and ate a chili Relleno burrito with a Mexican coke. I ordered a chili Relleno with double refried beans with two flour tortillas. I cut the fried chili stuffed with melted white cheese in half lengthwise and laid it on a tortilla and laid beans on the chili and wrapped the half chili and beans in the tortilla 

to make a burrito.

The coolest thing that occurred at El Super was at the meat department there is at least a ten minute wait after one takes a number because there is only one attendant. But that issue is resolved by placing TVs above the meat counter. Today the TVs were tuned to the Portugal v. Congo World Cup match, so I loved watching the match while waiting for my number to be called.

When I returned I put up the groceries and then toasted two slices of whole wheat bread. On one I spread sour cream and garnished it with slices of red onion and pieces of herring in wine sauce and I spread mayonnaise on the other and garnished it with slices of tomato and put strips of cucumber on both. I also ate five cherries, an apricot, and pickled cucumbers and red cabbage while I watched England beat Croatia.

I chopped and added the five Persian cucumbers and a diced shallot to the bottle of pickles.

I meditated from 3:30 to 4:00.

There were two more matches today, one at 5:00 and one at 8:00.

Suzette went to Costco and bought cream, eggs, and romaine lettuce on the way home. When she arrived around 4:15 we decided to make shrimp salad for dinner.

I made my favorite dressing, a combination of minced shallot soaked in juice of 1/2 lemon for several minutes and then adding catsup and mayonnaise.

At 5:30 we boiled and peeled the lb. of shrimp. Suzette diced tomato and peeled about 1/3 of a cucumber and made sticks. She also blanched several snow peas and cut them into strips. We lay the ingredients on leaves of fresh romaine lettuce to make delicious shrimp salads.

I opened a bottle of French Palintir Savignon Blanc bought at Trader Joe’s to drink with the salads.

After dinner we drank another glass of wine and watched soccer.

Suzette went to bed at 8:00 to watch her shows. I went to bed after the match and a wildlife show on the Kimberley area of northwest Australia called Outback at 11:00

Bon Appetit