May 10, 2026 Breakfast - Lax and Bagels. Lunch - Almond Croissant Dinner - French Onion Soup

May 10, 2026 Breakfast - Lax and Bagels.  Lunch - Almond Croissant Dinner - French Onion Soup

I ate a lot of snacks but no meal today.

I started with a bowl of granola, milk, yogurt, and strawberries as I watched Newcastle tie Nottingham Forest and Fareed Zacharia.

Then Willy came over and we watched Arsenal beat West Ham.to push West Ham toward relegation and keep Arsenal at the top of the PL and we made Lax and bagels.

The girls went on a garden tour at 11:00.

I worked at my desk a bit and around 1:00 turned on La Liga El Classico, the annual match between Barcelona and Real Madrid to determine the winner of the Spanish Liga. This year Barcelona won.

When Billy arrived around 2:30 I finished eating the almond croissant we bought at the Farmers’ Market yesterday.

we joined Suzette and Elaine on the Downtown garden tour and went to five homes. The last one was owned by a young couple and had a Barbero print. They seemed nice so I invited them to see my art collection.

When we then returned home I made a beef stock with some of the leftover steak and the bones from last night’s dinner plus carrots,, celery, and a little onion.

Then Billy showered and I napped until 5:30 when I sliced three onions into thin slices and sautéed them. I followed the Julia Child recipe and Caramelized the onions in olive oil and butter plus salt and sugar until they took on a golden brown color. I then added 3 1/2 T. of flour and sautéed the onions another 3 minutes to cook the flour. Then I added 2/3 cup of dry Marsala and about 2 1/2 quarts of the hot beef stock and 1 T. of Better Than Bouillon beef stock with some pieces of steak and simmered the soup until we finished watching an episode of Eva Longoria Discovering France.

Willy joined us at around 7:30.

I opened a bottle of 2012 Chateau du Retout Haut Medoc that I had chilled slightly since the evening was warm and we opened some windows and the doors.

I sliced Manchego and toasted slices of bread and suzette fetched and Suzette filled brown ceramic soup bowls with soup, croutons and cheese and melted the cheese in the oven. I put the cheese biscuits Susan brought us last night to eat with the soup. We all liked the soup. 

After dinner we moved into the living room to talk and hang the 1969 Shleeter I bought at last week’s Santa Fe Art Auction. It looks even better than I remembered it and is an interesting addition to the collection now that I have two Shleeters.

Willy left around 9:30 and we soon all went to bed.

I sipped a cognac and ate a Danish Lemon cream cookie and blogged in bed until 11:45 when I went to ned.

Bon Appetit

May 9, 2026 Breakfast - Pastries at Santa Fe Farmers’ Market Lunch at Amy’s. Dinner - Grilled Rib Steak, Roasted Yukon Gold Potatoes, Sautéed Mushroom Medley, and sautéed Leeks, Fennel, and red onions

May 9, 2026 Breakfast - Pastries at Santa Fe Farmers’ Market  Lunch at Amy’s. Dinner - Grilled Rib Steak, Roasted Yukon Gold Potatoes, Sautéed Mushroom Medley, and sautéed Leeks, Fennel, and red onions

We got up and at 8:00 Billy, Elaine, Suzette and I drove to the Farmers’ Market. There was not a lot of produce but there were lots of plants for sale.  We bought three red peppers we were assured woul taste like a pimiento.

Suzette and I then went through the bakery line. We bought a regular croissant for Suzette, an almond croissant for me and then when I saw a Boston creme filled donut, donut. Suzette took a coffee and I took a bottle of fresh squeezed orange juice.

We sat at a table and soon Billy and Elaine joined us.  Billy bought a baguette of campagne (whole wheat and White flour mixed) bread and did not eat his sweet roll. Elaine ate a fruit Danish.

We then split up again. Suzette and I went around the inside of the market  and bought some beautiful orahge oyster and shiitake mushrooms. 

Then Suzette went to the craft building where she bought another dress made from rice sack fabric. We also bought an award winning ricotta goat cheese.Billy and Elaine bought a lovely bunch of leeks and then visited the craft booths along the railroad tracks north of the water tower and Billy bought a poem from a poet sitting at a typewriter next to the train tracks. I sat near the water tower and listened to a marimba band. 

We all met at 9:45 and drove to Stephen’s Consignment for the big semi-annual sale. Billy and Elaine bought a Sandsein wood block of trees on the Missouri and I bought a Clinton Adam’s early Tamarind print.

Then we drove to Amy’s for lunch at 11:30.  It was wonderful for the three generations of our small extended faintly to gather, Amy, Elaine, and Rebecca, me, Billy, Willy, and Mickey and of course the third generation, J.P.

Amy had her usual wonderful buffet of asparagus and egg baked flourless quiche, toasted buttered biscuits, and fresh fruit with all the condiments from red chili to Marguerite’s apricot preserves. I covered one 1/2 biscuit with the preserves and the other with vanilla flavored honey.

Wee poured a bottle of Gruet Sparkling rose and then a Gruet Brut plus iced tea.

The day was cool in the shade and quite warm and sunny in the sunlight. I took on a bit of color as I sat on the patio talking mainly to Mickey about his funds and the direction of Finance and other service providers, such as Earn, as they adopt AI.  For example, soon, if not now exchange rate charges will disappear as most cross border payments will be made by crypto stable coin accounts instantaneously.

Earn has created a system to gather hydrocarbon transmission data in verified block chain envelopes and report it to a buyer instantly. What used to take weeks of manual tracking is now is available instantly in an AI programmable, auditable envelope.

After lunch Amy served a lovely pink vanilla cake with a raspberry coulis filler for dessert.

Around 2:00 we all left except for Willy who stayed to help Amy clean up. Rebecca and Mickey went to their wedding and we parents drove back to Albuquerque.

Dinner - We invited Charlie and Susan to dinner at 7:30, so when we arrived at 3:30 we took three rib steaks out of the freezer to thaw in water and then I rested and Billy started prepping his fennel, red onion, and leek sauté. He harvested a large bundle of fennel from our garden plus a red onion and the bunch of leeks he bought in Santa Fe and then sautéed them.

At 4:30 I returned and cleaned, dried, and wrapped the two filets of Gravad lax that had cured in the fridge in our 1 1/2 day absence.

At 5:30 I returned to the kitchen and diced four or five Yukon Gold potatoes that Suzette then tossed in olive oil and roasted in the oven.

I then sliced portobello, orange oyster, shiitake, lobster mushrooms and a handful of fresh wood ear plus two garlic from the garden and Suzette and I sautéed them as she grilled the three steaks and steamed snow peas and sugar snap peas.

Willy arrived at 7:00 and Charlie and Susan arrived at 7:30.

I poured glasses of dark heavy Puna Malbec and when Suzette brought in the steaks, I sliced them into 1/2 inch thick pieces. Suzette plated the potatoes and peas and then each served themselves steak, mushrooms and fennel and leeks.

We ate under the gazebo until several felt mosquitoes.

We then moved inside and served vanilla I’ve cream with the strawberry/rhubarb coulis and I poured cordial glasses of Vara Late Harvest Albariño.

Charlie, Susan and Willy left at 10:00 and after a quick cleaning, we went to bed.

Bon Appetit

May 8, 2026 Breakfast - Granola. Lunch - Santa cafe. Dinner - Oysters, chicken Salad and cheese from Whole Foods

 May 8, 2026 Breakfast - Granola.  May 8, 2026 Breakfast - Granola. Lunch - Santa cafe. Dinner - Oysters, chicken Salad and cheese from Whole Foods - Santa cafe. Dinner - Oysters, chicken Salad and cheese from Whole Foods

Billy and Elaine spent the night. When we woke up I ate a bowl of granola with fresh strawberries and blueberries. We then packed up and left a few minutes after 10:00 and drove to Santa Cafe in Santa Fe. 

At 11:30 Rebecca, Mickey, Shawna, and J.P. arrived. We sat in the sunlight outside the restaurant for a few minutes until the wait staff was organized and then took our usual corner table for nine.

Soon Amy joined us and Willy called to say he was on the way from work.

We ordered two appetizers of Fried Calamari and a bottle of AIX rose and chatted for about 45 minutes until Willy arrived.

Five of us ordered chicken enchiladas, the enchiladas served served with an excellent green tinted rice due to the pureed cilantro that had been added to it. The rice was the surprise of the meal besides the chicken in the enchiladas that was stewed chicken in herbs and spices, Ropa Vieja in Mexican Cuisine, that was like pulled pork, soft, tender and infused with flavor. I ordered the lobster salad  and shared it with Suzette who ordered the squash and corn soup.  Willy ordered the burger and Shawna ordered the lobster roll.

The lobster salad had three or four small claws that had clearly been frozen and a pile of gourmet lettuce, the soup was uninteresting and bland. I realized that there was no signature chef in the kitchen but some very capable Mexican cooks, who, when given the chance, could replicate favorite Mexican family recipes. I made the mistake of thinking French Cuisine when all the creative energy in the kitchen was coming from Mexican Cuisine because the cooks were mostly

Mexicans.

After lunch we drove to Santa Fe Auction and picked up the two paintings Suzette bought and the Howard Shleeter painting I bought.

We then drove El Rey and checked in and napped until to 6:00 when Suzette, Elaine, Billy and I drove to Owings Gallery and walked to the La Fonda on the southeast corner of the Plaza and went up to the roof bar called the Bell Tower for drinks. Suzette and Elaine ordered a special Gin and tonic with juniper berries. I drank a coke and Billy drank water.

We sat and enjoyed the lively weather until sunset at 7:56. Willy joined us at 7:30 and drank a glass of red wine.

During our time at the Bell Tower Suzette and I came up with an idea for dinner, $1.00 oysters on the half shell at Whole Foods and other items of each person’s choice. Suzette fetched the 36 oysters and cocktail sauce. We then went to the extensive food court area and bought a loaf of sliced sourdough bread, a small container of chicken salad. Willy took a hot meal of grilled salmon, broccoli and rice. Elaine and Billy chose three cheeses, a thyme Havarti, an aged Gouda, and a wedge of Manchego plus a box of Carr’s wheat biscuits. We then drove back to El Rey and re-assembled in the cactus garden room for dinner. We opened a bottle of Le Rose rose from Provence we brought from home and ate regally until around 9:30.

We then joined three young ladies at the fire pit for a few minutes and then we four oldsters went to bed and Willy joined the wedding party for Rebecca’s friend in the bar.

Bon Appetit

May 6, 2026 Breakfast - Sausage, fried eggs and potatoes. Lunch - Baked Chicken, rice, and stir fried Chinese Broccoli. Dinner - Chirashi

May 6, 2026 Breakfast - Sausage, fried eggs and potatoes. Lunch - Baked Chicken, rice, and stir fried Chinese Broccoli. Dinner - Chirashi 

What a full and fabulous day. There were four high points: three great meals, I timely filed my Reply in the LRGA, I bought a new painting at Auction, and I had my best day in the market in my life.

I slept until 8:00 which got me rested enough to push through all the activities of the day.

I fried two eggs, a patty of Jimmie Dean Sausage, and some of the leftover roasted potatoes from last night’s dinner. I also toasted two slices of country bread that I buttered and spread with cherry preserves.

Then I started working on my Reply until 12:30 when I reheated a baked chicken thigh leftover from last night’s dinner, some rice, and the last of the stir fried Chinese

broccoli from our Friday dinner at East Ocean. It was really a delicious meal.

I then worked until 2:30 when I check the Markets results and was thrilled that I had had the best day ever with my portfolio increasing almost 3.9%.

I recalled that the other EUFA final was being telivised so I watched Bayern Munich play Paris St. Germain to a 1 to 1 tie with PSG advancing to the final against Arsenal on point differential.

I then bid on several paintings being offered in the Santa Fe Art Auction and was able to buy an interesting 1969 Howard Shleeter painting and let three more go to higher bids.

I then finished my reply around 4:30 and sent the reply to Alex to do a final review.

At 4:30 Suzette came home in back pain. 

We watched a bit of news and then I diced the sashimi fish left from Henry and my chirashi bowls at Crazy Fish yesterday. We heated rice bowls of the leftover sushi rice and I made myself a cup of green tea,  suzette drank a glass of Pine Ridge Chinen Blanc/Viognier blend.

Henry hardly ate any of his chirashi, so we had a lovely dinner.

Then I returned to my reply and filed it around 9:30 to complete a jam packed day of good food and lots of activity.

Bon Appetit