May 19, 2026 Breakfast - Granola and Fruit Salad. Lunch - Bun Cha Gio Dinner - Leftover Mapo Dofu and Rice

I love Mapo Dofu and I made a lot of it and extra rice, so I was happy to eat again for dinner today. The big event today were the two PL matches, Man City v. Bourmouth and Chelsea v. Tottenham. Man City lost and thereby finished second to Arsenal and Tottenham lost to place within potential relegation if West Ham wins on Sunday.

I ate granola with milk and lots of tropical fruit salad for breakfast.

The market was down most of the day and took a deeper dive toward the close. My portfolio is still at a historic high, but losing ground fast. Tomorrow will be important, when Nvidia announces its quarterly earnings.

At 1:30 Suzette brought home an order of Bun Cha Gio from Coda Bakery. I have really become fond of theT takeout dish because there is a large enough portion to share and because the four hot from the fryer egg rolls are wrapped in a separate paper dish that keeps them really hot.

Suzette also brought home an order of two spring rolls with chicken and ate 1/2 of one. I will try one tomorrow. I drank a Vietnamese iced coffee and Suzette drank a glass of Carlsberg beer.

I drafted six deeds for a probate after the matches and finished around 5:20.

Dinner - After a bit of news I heated PPI rice and Mapo Dofu and hulled about 2 tsp. of Szechuan peppercorns and thinly sliced two green onions to garnish the re-heated food and made a cup of green tea. I ate 2/3 of the bowl of food and Suzette finished it 

We watched a Stanley Tucci episode from the Discovering Italy series on Veneto, the region around Venice up to the Dolomites and went to bed at 9:30.

Bon Appetit

May 18, 2026 Breakfast - Granola with Fruit Salad. Lunch Tacos at Mary and Tito’s Dinner - Leftover Mapo Dofu with Rice

May 18, 2026 Breakfast - Granola with Fruit Salad. Lunch Tacos at Mary and Tito’s Dinner - Leftover Mapo Dofu with Rice

I woke up after 8:00 and watched the TV until 9:00 and then I ate a bowl of granola with milk and tropical fruit salad.

At 12:00 I drove to Mary and Tito’s and ordered my new low-salt dish: beef tacos with refried beans and red chili on the side.

I love this dish and may return on Thursday when it is the daily special for $7.95. Today it was $8.50. All of Mary and Tito’s are similarly inexpensive. I often order blue corn enchiladas with ground beef and a fried egg for $10.50, which I think is the most expensive item on the menu.

I said hello to Gerry Dixon and Steve Scholl, who were eating at the table next to my booth.

When I returned home I watched Arsenal beat Burnley 1 to 0. The result was to be expected since Arsenal is In first place in the English Premier League and Burnley next to last and soon to be relegated from the PL.

In contrast to the quality and excellent prices at Mary and Tito’s, after the soccer match and the celebration by the Arsenal fans at around 3:00 I checked my portfolio and found the NASDAQ was down 134 points and my portfolio lost .95% today, a second day of big loses as Trump fumbles the War gin Iran and the economy.

At 4:00 Suzette arrived, tired from a hard day and stayed. At 4:15 I watched AriI and at 5:00 I walked around the block.

When I returned I cleaned a T. of Szechuan peppercorns by removing their hard pits. The husk is what carries the unique flavor.

I also thinly sliced three green onions for garnish and Suzette heated some Mapo Dofu and rice. We garnished bowls with the peppercorns and green onion and ate a lovely dinner.

I drank green tea and Suzette drank water.

After dinner we watched the Antiques Roadshow, suzette was tired and went to bed at 8:00.

I stayed up to watch two episodes of Stanley Tucci’s  Discovering Italy on Abruzzo and Marche and went to bed at 11:00.

Bon Appetit

May 17, 2026 Breakfast - Granola with Fruit Salad Lunch - Avocado Toast Dinner - Costco Roasted Chicken with Rice and Sorrel and Steamed snow Peas and Sugar snap Peas

May 17, 2026 Breakfast - Granola with Fruit Salad Lunch - Avocado Toast Dinner - Costco Roasted Chicken with Rice and Sorrel and Steamed snow Peas and Sugar snap Peas

I did not sleep well due to the rash around my dialysis catheter site and woke up at 6:00. I watched Leeds beat BHA in added time.

Then I chopped a papaya, a pineapple, three mangos, and three oranges and added the juice of a sweet lime to make my tropical fruit salad.

I ate a bowl of granola with milk, yogurt, and fruit salad as I watched West Ham go into relegation from the PL.

Around noon Willy and Matt came by and we served them a bowl of fruit salad with mango yogurt and then Suzette made avocado toast. Mat then helped me trim the Don Juan rose bush.

Willy and Matt left and we picked up Willy at his house and drove to Costco so willy could buy some stuff he needed.

We also bought staples, including, a toasted chicken, grapes, eggs, blueberries, baguettes, Mayo, and 9 Bottles of wine; two Kirkland Pinot 

Grigio, two Kirkland New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs, a Chateauneuf Du Pape, two Cotes du Provence roses, a Kirkland Malbec, and one other

We drove home and I napped for an hour until 5:20.

Dinner - The snow peas and sugar snap peas we planted this year are at the height of their production, so our dinner menu was easy, roasted chicken, peas and rice. 

Rice - We went to the garden and picked a basket full of peas plus several stalks of garlic chives and thyme.

While I was chopping the garlic chives into thin slices, suzette went back to the garden and picked about ten leaves of sorrel and I processed that by removing the stem in each leaf and chopping the leaves into bite sized pieces.

I then heated three cups of water and added about 2 tsp. dried Japanese seaweed and as the water began to boil Suzette added the chopped garlic chives, sorrel, and thyme. Then I added the seasoned chicken juice from the bottom of the bag of chicken and 1 1/2 cups of rice. We covered the pot and reduced the heat to low and steamed the rice for 30 minutes.

Willy arrived and Suzette fetched a bottle of the Pinot Grigio we had chilled.

Suzette then destemmed the peas and blanched them in butter.

I sectioned the chicken and we put a breast, two thighs, and a drumstick iinto a Pyrex baking dish and heated the chicken in the microwave.

When 5e rice was ready we filled our plates with chicken, peas and rice and drank glasses of Pinot Grigio for a filling delicious dinner.

We talked a bit after dinner and Willy left around 8:30. 

We watched an episode of Eva Longoria discovering Bordeaux and I ate three squares of milk chocolate and Suzette drank another glass of Pinot Grigio and we went to bed shortly after the episode ended around 9:30.

Bon appetit 

May 16, 2026 Brunch - Mushroom, Avocado, and Shallot Omelet Snack - Leftover pasta, mushroom, and Dinner at Nancy and Cliff’s Watermelon, Arugula, and feta salad, Chicken Marbella and rice Pilar

May 16, 2026 Brunch - Mushroom, Avocado, and Shallot Omelet Snack - Leftover pasta, mushroom, and Dinner at Nancy and Cliff’s Watermelon, Arugula, and feta salad, Chicken Marbella and rice Pilar

I woke up around 8:30.

I watched Man City win the FA Championship, which is an all England team competition over Chelsea with a nifty behind the back re-direction by Semenyo of a Haaland pass. The FA Cup determines which English teams compete for the European EUFA championship and it appears that five English teams will compete next year based upon the PL’s high performance this year.

After the FA final at 10:30 I sliced lobster, orange oyster, and portobello mushrooms, two cloves of garlic, and a shallot for an omelet. I added butter and sautéed those ingredients in the remaining peanut  and sesame oil in the skillet I used last night to sauté the pot stickers. After I sautéed the ingredients I had chopped I added four whisked eggs and then garnished one side with avocado slices Suzette prepped. I lay the other side with slices of Manchego cheese.

This was the kind of dense ingredient filled delicious omelets my mother used to make .

When the edges began to turn up and began to brown I flipped one half onto the other and let it cook with the heat turned off while I toasted slices of baguette and brewed a cup of chai.

After we ate brunch I showered and dressed and walked to Park Plaza at 3:00 for an interview with Greg Gould for a project he has started to provide guidance by seniors to young people. I talked for about an hour about all the influences on my life and how they played out to try to explain that if you follow what you like to do and are good at you will develop a revenue source and wealth that will allow you to have a comfortable and healthy retirement. 

After the interview at 4:10 we rested an hour during which I ate the leftover pasta, chicken, and mushroom dish from several nights ago dinner.

Earlier Suzette had eaten slices of the pork loin she roasted several days ago with Mayo.

We then went to a terrific symphony performance by the NM Philharmonic of a Schumann violin concerto and Mahler’s 5th Symphony.

After the symphony we drove to Cliff and Nancy’s house for dinner around 8:30.

Nancy had prepared Chicken Marbella, chicken baked with prunes and green olives, a terrific rice pilaf with sliced almonds, and a lovely light watermelon, arugula, and feta cheese salad. It was a terrific dinner. I loved every dish.

It was served with glasses of King’s Estate Pinot Gris, one of my favorite wines. 

Then for dessert Nancy served a slice of fresh raspberry tart. Then for shell was made with almond flour and was delicious. Then for custard filling was fabulous and the fresh raspberries were lovely. It was one day old so the crust had moistened, which made it even more subtle and infused with flavor. I do not think i have had a better unglazed fresh fruit tart.

At 10:00 we bid them goodnight and went home and went to bed.

Bon Appetit

May 15, 2026 Breakfast - Granola. Lunch - Costco Hot Dog. Dinner - Fried Pot Stickers Salad

May 15, 2026 Breakfast - Granola. Lunch - Costco Hot Dog. Dinner - Fried Pot Stickers Salad

When I woke up at 4:20 I saw Trump fumble through some tough questions on Air Force One on its way back to Washington and realized it would be a devastating day.  With no agreement with China to open the straits of Hormuz and Trump seemingly willing to carry on the war indefinitely, the market acted predictably. Crude went up $3.00 and the Dow fell 537 points and the NASDAQ fell 410 and the 10 year treasury bill went above 4.5% for the first time in years.

I slept from 5:30 to 8:15. When I woke up I watched the news until 9:00 and then ate a bowl of granola at my desk and opened a Rupeeflo account on my phone.

At 1:00 I drove to Costco to pick up a prescription and eat a hot dog for lunch, my first since discharge from the hospital. Suzette was shocked that I had gone off my low sodium diet. I was delighted, although they were out of diced onions.

At 2:15 I drove to Shahin’s and met with him and Sharief to finish the probate.

Then at 4:00 I drove home and rested until asuzette arrived. 

After her cocktail we considered ordering a pizza until we heard that it would cost $30.00.

Suzette decided that I should cook pot stickers and she would make a salad from the fresh lettuce in the garden plus some Napa cabbage, some grated radish, and avocados chunks.

I sautéed a dozen frozen pot stickers in peanut and sesame oil until golden brown and made a soy, mirin, sake and green onion dipping sauce rhat we used as our salad dressing and for dipping the pot stickers.

Suzette went to the garden and picked a basket of lettuce.

The fresh salad made with lettuce from our was delightful and the combination of warm dumplings with the salad made a lovely dinner with a glass of Carlsberg green.

After dinner we lay in bed and watched a lovely Netflix Swedish movie about a Swedish woman who moves to Provence and comes alive to a new more fulfilling life.  It was very life and love affirming. Exactly what we wanted to help relax after a long activity filled week.

Suzette went to bed at 9:30.

I got up and blogged and read at 10:30 with a cup of chai.

Bon Appetit

May 14, 2026. Breakfast - Gravad Lax Omelet with goat cheese, potatoes, Ted onion, and fresh dill. Lunch - Leftover Pasta with Mushrooms and Chicken Dinner - Mapo Dofu with Rice

 May 14, 2026. Breakfast - Gravad Lax Omelet with goat cheese, potatoes, Ted onion, and fresh dill. Lunch - Leftover Pasta with Mushrooms and Chicken Dinner - Mapo Dofu with Rice

I did not sleep well last night, but at 4:30 a.m. got to watch the toasts at the banquet and first meeting of Xi and Trump, which were both craven adulation by Trump of Xi like a supplicant rather than a meeting of equals. I felt like I could have been looking at Trump and Putin. I felt there was something terribly wrong with Trump.

I then rested for an hour or two and then I watched the market open up again. I guess I was worried about the surgery set for 1:00 to remove my dialysis catheter.

At 7:30 I made a good breakfast, a Gravad lax, potato, red onion, and fresh dill omelet with toasted slices of baguette and a cup of tea.

Then at 9:00 I went back to sleep and slept until 10:50, when I got dressed. Suzette came home at 11:20 and we drove to Renal Medicine Associates at 12:00 for the removal of the dialysis catheter. I t was a simple operation but Suzette attending made me much less anxious.

Then at 1:00 Suzette drove us home and heated the leftover Pasta, Mushrooms, and Chicken dish left from last nightl I then checked my portfolio and discovered that it had another monster day thanks to Nvidia closing up $9.91, in part due the the U.S. approving the sale of Nvidia’s TH 200 chips to 10 Chinese companies.

So I had two wonderful bits of news today. The first was the doctor who removed the catheter confirming that starting dialysis probably saved my life and the second was my portfolio reaching another milepost. From April 7 to today it increased an amazing 23%. That is an annualized rate of over 230%. I have been waiting for the bubble to burst, but it has not yet. 

Dinner - We decided to make Mapo Dofu for dinner, so at 6:00 I started.

I cubed a small eggplant and two small Mexican squash. I then minced two small cloves of garlic from our garden and about 1 1/2 T. of ginger root and 1 Vidalia onion. Then I cubed four portobello, a shiitake and two lobster mushrooms and about 3 oz. of fresh wood ear. Then I cubed 2/3 of a pork tenderloin and finally a 14 oz. block of firm tofu.

Willy arrived around 7:00 as I  stir fried the onion, garlic and ginger in the large 18 inch wok and added sequentially the eggplant and squash, the cubed pork with a heaping tsp. of garlic chilli sauce, then 14 oz. of tofu cubed with enough water to cover the ingredients so they would stew. I forgot to add the mushrooms, so after about 30 to 45 minutes I added the sliced mushrooms and wood ear before the tofu so I added the mushrooms and wood ear and stewed the dish another fifteen minutes to cook the mushrooms. While the ingredients stewed I combined I tsp. of soy sauce, with 1 tsp  sesame oil, 1 T. of mirin, 2 T. of sake and 1 1/2 T. of cornstarch and whisked those ingredients to make a seasoning sauce.

I also separated the seeds from the husks of about 1/2 T.of Szechuan peppercorns with Willy’s help and thinly sliced four green onions for the garnish.

When the ingredients had stewed about an hour I added the seasoning sauce to thicken the stew and Suzette re-heated some PPI rice cooked with seaweed and Willy selected, opened and poured glasses of Vara Grenache red wine for him and Suzette. I drank water.

Willy left a little later and we watched an old episode of Midsummer  Murders. Suzette went to bed after it at 9:30 and I stayed up until 11:25 to watch an episode of George Gentley. Coincidentally, in both episodes the killer turned out to be a child.

I the blogged and went to bed.

Bon Appetit