November 13, 2026 Breakfast - Granola with a plum. Lunch - Duck Leg soup with Rice Noodles. Dinner - Greenhouse Bistro at Center for Ageless Living

November 13, 2026 Breakfast - Granola with a plum. Lunch - Duck Leg soup with Rice Noodles. Dinner - Greenhouse Bistro at Center for Ageless Living

I awakened at 6:30 and showered and dressed and filled a bowl with granola, milk, yogurt, and a plum diced and worked at my desk. I also sold 51 shares of Apple and bought 25 shares of Micron to get me to 100 shares of Micron.

The market was down dramatically so I did not check my portfolio today. We are in a tech Winter these days but I think the tide will turn in December.

It does not matter because I have paid my taxes and I can simply sell shares and make a donation to reduce my taxable income this year.

At 10:00 I drove to a client to discuss a purchase of assets transaction.

When I finished at 11:00 I drove to Vietnam 2000 and ordered ano. 68, Duck Leg Soup with rice Noodles. I love this soup and at $15.00 it is the cheapest duck dinner in town.  I only ate 1/2 of the soup and took the rest home, where Suzette ate it.

Then at 2:10 we drove to the Center for Ageless Living and at 3:00 I had a wonderful one hour massage that made me feel terrific.

I then joined Suzette in the Greenhouse Bistro for dinner. We were the only ones dining this evening so we spent a long time talking to Constance th server/food service manager and Jason the chef.

It is a new regime and the food is first rate. It is creative, using fresh local ingredients where possible, and of a fine dining caliber. Easily the best restaurant in a Valencia County, now.

My first course was the best wedge salad I have ever eaten. I am used to the old Texas style wedge salad with a quarter of a head of iceberg lettuce smothered with sweet thousand island dressing. But Chef Jason has created a unique rendition with the same wedge of iceberg lettuce but instead with a creamy Gorgonzola cheese dressing surrounded by a puddle of balsamic vinegar and cherry tomato halves and shredded carrot and garnished liberally with crumbled Gorgonzola cheese; a uniquely delicious creation.

The beverages were equally impressive. When we ordered our drinks, I chose a pink lemonade flavored with fresh strawberries that had a delicious strawberry flavor. Suzette ordered a vermouth that was served on the rocks with slices of fresh orange in the Spanish style.

There weekend menu served Thursday through Saturday evenings includes two entree specials besides four salads, four sandwiches, several appetizers and a seasonal soup. I selected the grilled Pork Chop served with a Stella Rosa red wine and jus sauce,a pile of delicious mashed potatoes and thinly sliced grilled Zucchini and yellow squash rounds and garnished with micro parsley. I love Chef Jason’s grilled squashes and the grilled pork chop was tasty also, especially sauced with the elegantly light red wine and au jus sauce.

Suzette ordered the other entree pasta in a creamy flavorful sage sauce garnished with Parmesan cheese and slices of qrilled yellow squash.

We drank glasses of 2023 Domaine Le Clos de Lumieres (L’ eclat) Cotes Du Rhone Rose’, a delightfully complex blend of Cinsault, Grenache, Syrah, and Mourvèdre grapes with our entrees. Our unfinished entrees were boxed for us to take home.

But I had to try a slice of the fresh German Chocolate cake I noticed in the dessert cupboard. The cake was moist and the icing rich with chocolate and shredded coconut, a delicious end to a delicious meal.

A necessary disclosure, Suzette who owns the Center is my life partner, so I am inclined to be less critical of its food, but I also have been a food writer for over fifty years and know good food when I taste it. I wholeheartedly recommend the Greenhouse Bistro for dinner.

Lunch at the Bistro may be an even better value, because it offers a Serve Yourself four course meal with a soup, a salad, an entree, and your selection from several desserts for $15.99 of the same quality and freshness as dinners.  For example, today’s entree offering was Salmon with creamy risotto and roasted potatoes.

The recent reopening of the Greenhouse Bistro with Chef Jason Viviver at the helm sets a new high standard for fine dining in Valencia County that merits diners’ attention.

We drove home, watched a bit of TV and Suzette went to bed, and I stayed up to watch Colorado upset University of Houston.

Bon Appetit

November 12, 2026 Breakfast - Granola with plum Lunch - Sopapillas de Mariscos. Dinner - Pork Stroganoff with chard and parsley and egg noodles

November 12, 2026 Breakfast - Granola with plum  Lunch - Sopapillas de Mariscos. Dinner - Pork Stroganoff with chard and parsley and egg noodles

From 8:00 until 4:45 I attended a seminar on Probate and Trusts.

During it I ate breakfast of granola with milk, yogurt, and a plum cubed. I love plums and they aid elimination, so they are blessed in two respects.

Then at the noon lunch break I heated the leftover Caldo de Vuelve à la Vida from my lunch with Aaron at La Playa. I love this soup, especially with the extra mussels and paella baked rice we added to it.

Suzette came home at 4:30 so for and hour we simply rested in our big chairs.

Dinner - Then I suggested making Pork Stroganoff, since I thought we had all the ingredients. A quick trip to the pantry confirmed that we had a large bag of German egg noodles, so I was correct.

I sliced the last half of a pork tender, 1/2 onion, three cloves of garlic, and six portobello mushrooms.

Then Suzette went to the garden and picked a basket full of parsley and chard and requested that I slice the chard in the chiffonade style. I removed the central stem, rolled the long leaves and cut the rolls in thin strips to create long strips.

Suzette boiled the noodles and sautéed the other ingredients and added sour cream and white wine and chicken broth to make a sauce and then added the noodles and chard and parsley to complete the dish.

We called Willy and he arrived around 7:00 as the sauce in the stroganoff thickened, so Suzette added a bit more broth to loosen the sauce into a creamier consistency and filled three pasta bowls with stroganoff.

I poured out the rest of the Gavi MauroSabeste white and we ate an elegant dinner.

Willy left after dinner and we got into bed and watched Midsomer Murders and then slid into sleep around 10:00.

Bon Appetit 

November 11, 2026 Breakfast - Man on an Island and a pork chop. Lunch - Yama’s Greek Rotisserie, Dinner - Apple, onion, and pork Tapa with broccoli and Cauliflower and sautéed Shishito peppers

November 11, 2026 Breakfast - Man on an Island and a pork chop. Lunch - Yama’s Greek Rotisserie,  Dinner - Apple, onion, and pork Tapa with broccoli and Cauliflower and sautéed Shishito peppers

I slept until 7:10 and then watched the market take off. At the close the NASDAQ was up 400 points and my portfolio rose 2.5%.

At 8:00 I made a man on an Island and sautéed a slice of roasted pork for breakfast.

We had a delightful day. Around 9:00 we drove to Santa Fe, stopping at Restore-it, Stephen’s and finally the Santa Fe Art Auction where Suzette paid for and picked up the Dorothy Brett and Gene Kloss paintings she bought at auction last Saturday.

As I wandered around the auction hall I noticed a portrait of an Indian by Gerald Cassidy I had seen and liked that had not bid on that was unsold. I asked about it and the manager said in her opinion it had had too high and opening reserve of $3000. I asked the manager to see the back of the painting and when I saw that it had once been sold by Fenn Gallery I was convinced it was a real Cassidy and offered to buy it for $2500. The manager called the consignor and they accepted my offer, so with buyer’s commission and sales tax I paid $3326.77 for the painting, which I think was a great price.  

We then drove to Yama’s Greek Rotisserie at 2411 Cerrillos Rd. for lunch. Suzette ordered a Gyros plate with a Greek salad and a side of fried zucchini and I ordered a Spanakopita plate with a Greek salad and a cup of avgolemona (lemon, rice, and chicken) soup. We enjoyed the food and shared each of our dishes with the other.  I love spanakopita with its crisp baked crust of phyllo and a filling of spinach and feta cheese.

After lunch we drove home and arrived in time watch the bidding at Bonham’s in L.A. on an Agnes Pelton pastel that fetched a winning bid of $16,000 and then Suzette won the bid on the next lot, a Virginia True flower.

It was an exciting day of buying art. At 3:00 we lay down to nap, but I was awakened at 3:30 by a call to meditate, which I did until 4:00.

We then watched the news until 6:00 when we cooked dinner.

We decided to use some of the roasted pork sirloin to make one of our favorite tapas by Jose Andres; sautéed apple and onion, baked with pork and garnished with oregano stems and reduced with chicken broth and flambéed with brandy.

In a separate skillet Suzette sautéed a dozen shishito  peppers in olive oil until they wilted and then added them to the pork tapa like patron peppers in Galicia, Spain.

We served the pork tapa with slices of South Valley Sourdough bread from Bosque Bakery and leftover broccoli and cauliflower.

I opened a bottle of 2018 Rivallana Gran Reserva Rioja (Costco) that was smooth as silk and went well with the roasted pork tapa.

After dinner I toasted several more slices of bread and wedges of brie cheese and we had a cheese course.

Later I ate a Swedish dessert with tea and Suzette ate a bowl of chocolate cherry ice cream.

We went to bed at 9:00 after a lovely day.

Bon Appetit 

November 10, 2026 Breakfast - Granola Lunch - Viet Pho with Mike. Dinner - Chicken Cesar Sskad

Another rough day for Nvidia, so I did not check my portfolio but I assume it is down about 14%.

I ate granola with milk, yogurt, and 1/2 plum cubed for breakfast around 7:45.

 

Then I worked at my desk paying property taxes until 11:00 when I called Mike to confirm lunch. We met at East Ocean at 11:20 but it was closed so we drove to Viet Pho on Menaul.

We each ordered bowls of soup. Mike ordered rice noodles with shrimp and imitation crab. I ordered chicken soup with seafood (Shrimp and squid), slices of roasted pork, and wontons. The wontons were ground pork meatballs heavily seasoned with black pepper wrapped in rice paper wrappers. We also split an order of two spring rolls containing roast pork that we dipped in a wonderful peanut sauce.

We talked about mostly tech stuff as Mike is now programming using A-I until 1:30.

I then drove home and watched the market close.

Suzette soon arrived and we napped from 2:30 to 3:30.

Then at 4:00 we rode our bikes around the neighborhood.

When we returned we rested and watched the news and the an episode of Lupin.

Dinner - We decided to make a chicken Cesar salad for dinner. I deboned and cubed the meat from two cooked chicken legs while Suzette made croutons from hamburger buns. She chopped two heads of Romaine lettuce and grated some Parmesan cheese and cut several cherry tomatoes from our garden in half. I then rubbed the inside of the large teak salad bowl with garlic and made a dressing in the bowl with 1/4 cup of fresh lemon juice, about 1 1/2 T. of anchovies chopped finely and 1/3 cup of good Chateau Ott olive oil. I whisked the dressing ingredients until smooth and the added an egg and whisked to mix.

We then added the lettuce, tomatoes, grated Parmesan cheese, croutons, and chicken to the salad bowl and tossed to coat the ingredients with dressing.

Suzette divided the salad into two pasta bowls and I opened the chilled bottle of 2020 Gavi Mauro Sebaste white wine.

The wine was elegant and the Cesar salad was excellent. It was a lovely dinner.

We then watched two more episodes of Lupin and went to bed at 9:00, Suzette to sleep and I to blog.

Bon Appetit