July 12, 2026 Breakfast - Pain au Chocolate. Lunch - Croissants, Spanakopita, and Grape Suzette Salad. Dinner - Sautéed Salmon, Squash Casserole, and Fresh cherry tomatoes

July 12, 2026 Breakfast - Pain au Chocolate. Lunch - Croissants, Spanakopita, and Grape Suzette Salad. Dinner - Sautéed Salmon, Squash Casserole, and Fresh cherry tomatoes

I watched Stage 9 of the Tour and ate a Pain au chocolate with a cup of chai with collagen.

Then we rolled up the rug that was laid out flat in the sun

Suzette went next door and asked Devon, our neighbor, to help us move the rug into the dining room after she moved the dining room table and chairs out and we rolled up the old rug and moved it into the living room.

Devon is strong and he and Suzette were able to carry the new rug into the dining room and position it and then moved the dining room table back into the dining room. After he left we carried the dining room chairs back to the dining table.

Then we began to prepare lunch for Debbie.  I sliced a lot of green and red grapes in half. Then Suzette brought me a basket of tarragon from the garden and I pulled the leaves from the stalks.

Then I grated 1 1/2 cups of Parmesan cheese while Suzette infused some olive oil with basil and picked fresh lettuce from the garden.

Suzette’s Grape Suzette salad combines red and green grapes with tarragon and grated Parmesan cheese drizzled with infused olive oil on a bed of lettuce.

We also heated two of the Le Quiche croissants and tree squares of Diane’s homemade Spanakopita in the oven.

I made a cheese platter by placing a round of brie in a round platter and surrounded it with fig and olive crackers and thin slices of baguette toasted and buttered.

When Debbie came Suzette filled pasta bowls with Grape Suzette Salad and small plates with a square of Spanakopita. We each took a toasted croissant half. 

I had chilled a bottle of Kirkland Chablis Premier Cru because that was the only Chardonnay we had and poured glasses of it.

We carried our salads and glasses to the table in the garden and Suzette fetched the croissants and spanakopitas.

We ate a pleasant lunch and were full before we ever got to the cheese or dessert, which was planned to be baklava and tiramisu.

Ruth came by around 12:30 and said hello.

When Debbie and Ruth left around 1:00 I read a pleading and rested and blogged about yesterday’s meals.

Then around 3:30 we watched several more episodes of Five Star Weekend with Jennifer Garner.

Around 5:00 we decided to sauté salmon filets and serve them with the zucchini and yellow squash casserole seasoned with pesto and garnished with grated Gruyere cheese Suzette made yesterday. The fresh squash casserole was lovely, even if the pesto flavor overwhelmedi the dish.

Suzette also sliced about 8 cherry tomatoes. The squashes and tomatoes were all grown in the garden at the Center.

After dinner we watched Ms. Fisher and then rode our bikes to Willy’s so Suzette could water his plants.

We will probably ride over every evening this week to water his plants.

He called later to thank us from San Diego.

Suzette went to bed at 8:00 and I stayed up to watch Grantchester and then went to bed at 9:00 to blog this entry after a pleasant day of food and activity.

I am finding that I am returning to eating less. I wonder if it will continue.

Bon Appetit

July 11, 2026 Snack, Breakfast - Fried Eggs over easy with sautéed potato and steak. Lunch - Vietnamese Chicken soup with Wontons and rice noodles. Dinner - Mediterranean meal brought by Jim and Dian

July 11, 2026 Snack, Breakfast - Fried Eggs over easy with sautéed potato and steak. Lunch - Vietnamese Chicken soup with Wontons and rice noodles.  Dinner - Mediterranean meal brought by Jim and Diane

I ate a Pain au Chocolate with a cup of chai when I woke up and watched a few minutes of Stage 8 of the Tour de France, a flat stage up the Dordogne River east from Bordeaux to Bergerac.

At 8:00 we rode bikes to the Farmers’ Market to buy three Le Quiche croissants 

Then at 8:30 Suzette sautéed Diced baked potatoes with the diced leftover steak. At 9:00 Willy arrived and Suzette fried eggs over easy and served them on a bed of sautéed potato and steak.

When we drove Willy to his airplane fight to LA to see Luke and then tomorrow to travel to San Diego for a one week GIS conference.

We then drove to Smith’s where we bought a tuna steak and two salmon fillets, green and red grapes, cilantro, milk, bagels, and chicken thighs.

Then we drove to Michael’s and selected a mat and frame for the new Japanese woodcut we bought last weekend.

When we returned home I heated the Vietnamese wonton chicken soup broth, added water and chicken broth plus Yu Choy stems, chicken, dumplings, and a bundle of rice vermicelli.  Then when it began to simmer I added the diced green Yu Choy leaves and some cilantro plus the wheat noodles, roasted pork. and leftover wontons from the restaurant’s soup. I sliced two green onions into thin ringlets and tore 1/4 cup of cilantro leaves with which Suzette and I garnished our bowls of soup. 

Then at 3:00 we watched  the World Cup quarter final between Norway and England. Norway found hard but England had a deeper bench and an extra man and won 2 to 1.

At 7:00 Jim and Diane brought lots of Mediterranean food, chicken and lamb kebabs, Greek salad, homemade Spanikopia, pitas, tzatziki, peppers, and baklava.

We ate and watched the Argentina v, Switzerland quarter final that Argentina won 3 to 1. This set up a battle of the favorites for the semi-finals of England v. Argentina and France v. Spain next week.

We served homemade limoncello with baklava for dessert that Diane really liked and Jim drank several beers while Suzette and I drank the Albariño they brought for my 80th.

It was a lot of food and we said goodnight when the match ended at 10:00 when they left three squares of Spanokopita and a triangle of baklava.

We then went to bed after an active day with over 4200 steps and lots of food.

Bon Appetit

July 10, 2026 Breakfast - Pain au Chocolate. Lunch - Chicken BLT Dinner Grilled T-bone, Candied Carrots, Baked Potato, and Sautéed Mushrooms

July 10, 2026 Breakfast - Pain au Chocolate. Lunch - Chicken BLT  Dinner Grilled T-bone, Candied Carrots, Baked Potato, and Sautéed Mushrooms

Another good day of food and in the Market. I love when so many things go well.

Around 7:45 I ate a Pain au chocolate with a latte macchiato with collagen, which is making me feel better.

Then we did a zoom appointment with a sleep disorder doctor.

I did not sleep well last night and so I rested most of the today.

At noon we decided to make chicken BLT sandwiches for lunch. We fried bacon until crisp. Suzette sliced breast meat and two tomatoes she brought home from the garden at the center.

Suzette went to the garden and picked fresh lettuce and sliced four slices of Le Quiche Whole wheat bread. I spread Mayo on the toasted bread and we each made our own sandwiches stacking slices of tomato, chicken, lettuce, and finally bacon. I ate a few Japanese pickled cucumber, scallion, and red cabbage with my sandwiches.  We shared a Bohemia.

Then at 1:00 I watched The World Cup quarterfinal between France and Belgium.

At half time I checked my portfolio and confirmed that it had had a super day, increasing 1.87% to within approximately 2.8% of my all time high.

Then I rested and suffered some diarrhea from the Mexican food I ate yesterday.

I drank a tonic water with lime juice in the afternoon and felt better.

Then around 6:30 I went to the kitchen. Suzette already put potatoes in the oven to roast and had made a baked zucchini and yellow squash casserole with bread crumbs and pine nuts and glazed carrots.

I sliced mushrooms, a shallot, and 1/4 of a Vidalia onion plus the leftover three basil purée Suzette had made for the squash casserole.

While sautéed the mushrooms,Suzette grilled the steak to medium rare and I went to the cellar to find an older bottle of wine. I selected a 2008 Wellington Morehardt Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon that had lost much of its fruit but increased in vibrancy for an hour after we opened it and had a noticeable tannin flavor.

I could eat very little of my dinner even though it was delicious.

After dinner we watched three episodes of the Five Star Weekend series on Peacock and ate some chocolate with the last glass of wine and went to bed at 9:30.

Bon Appetit

July 9, 2026 Breakfast - Bagel and Lax. Lunch - Mary and Tito’s Tacos. Dinner - Spaghetti with Clam Sauce

July 9, 2026 Breakfast - Bagel and Lax. Lunch - Mary and Tito’s Tacos. Dinner - Spaghetti with Clam Sauce

A regular day except we created spaghetti and clam sauce from the leftover clam chowder by thickening it with a Bechamel sauce and adding 1 1/2 cups of Parmesan cheese.

Lunch was interesting, also. After, Podiatry at 12:00 I went to Mary and Tito’s and asked the waitress what the special was. She said tacos. I then remembered it was Thursday, which is the taco special day. I enjoyed the two hand made tacos and even the rice served with the refried beans. And the price of $7.95 is unbeatable.

Which makes me wonder why I treasure these wonderful food values of a few dollars when my portfolio is doing so well. For example, today my portfolio increased by .85%, just 2.2% from its all time high.

Breakfast was the always satisfying Gravad lax on cream cheese smeared toasted bagel slices with slices of red onion as I watched Tadej Porcaga make biking history with one of the most impressive rides in Tour de France history, riding from 5 km. below the summit of Tourmale for 46 km. evaporating a defective of 7 1/2 minutes behind the yellow Jersey and ending up 2:42 minutes in the yellow Jersey and leading the Tour.

And dinner was a classic example of a PPI conversion. Suzette cooked spaghetti and made a Bechamel sauce with flour and butter and milk and then added the PPI clam chowder to thicken the clam chowder into a sauce. I grated 1 1/2 cups of Parmesan cheese that she added to the sauce to give it flavor and a little salty tangy flavor.

We drank the last of the Hermes French Sauvignon Blanc. Its bland flavor complimented the bland flavor of the pasta dish.

Sometimes PPIs simply achieve a result of getting rid of food in a different format.

After dinner we sipped limoncellos and ate lemon tiramisu as we watched Midsomer Mysteries. 

Suzette went to bed at 9:30 and I stayed up until 11:00 to watch George Gently Detective.

Bon Appetit

July 8, 2026 Breakfast - Watermelon, Blueberries, granola, milk, and mango yogurt Lunch - chicken sandwiches Dinner - Scrambled Egg Paella

July 8, 2026 Breakfast - Watermelon, Blueberries, granola, milk, and mango yogurt  Lunch - chicken sandwiches  Dinner - Scrambled Egg  Paella

I loved the food today because it was lots of my favorites.

I worked on a pleading and then watched the finish of Stage 5 of the Tour with breakfast. I added the last of the watermelon from my birthday party to my morning granola.

Then I worked on Rahim’s transaction until 12:30 when I went with Suzette until 2:00.

When we returned home we decided to make chicken sandwiches on the Country whole wheat bread from Le Quiche. We did not have a tomato so after we toasted two slices of bread for each and spread Mayo we garnished with slices of cucumber, instead of tomato, plus fresh lettuce I picked in the garden, and slices of chicken breast.

Suzette went to the garden and found two small yellow cherry tomatoes and we added some of the Japanese pickled cucumber, red cabbage, and leeks to our plates.

We finished by 3:10 when Damian arrived and Rahim soon after. We worked until 4:30.

Then Suzette and I put the new pump into the west side swamp cooler and moved the new rug under the awning over the back patio.

It was wonderful to have cool air again on the west side of the house and even nicer that we could fix the problem by ourselves.

We rested and Willy came by and we talked until 6:30. Then we decided to make Scrambled egg Paella with the rest of the paella. Suzette had gone through the fridge and found the bottle of fancy Sofrito and I suggested we mix some Sofrito with Clamato juice to moisten the dried out paella. We also agreed to add some zucchini and Vidalia onion and use three eggs.

So I diced 1/2 of a medium zucchini, a handful of frozen green peas,  and 1/4 of an onion and we sautéed those in Spanish olive oil until they took on color and softened. We then added the PPI paella and the sofrito and cooked the mixture. Unfortunately it stuck to the pan because the burner heat was too high and probably there was too little olive oil, so we had to scrape the mixture off the bottom of the skillet.  We then added the eggs Suzette had whisked and let the mixture cook until nearly firm.

When Suzette searched the fridge she found a bottle of Kirkland Cotes de Provence rose and we decided to drink that with dinner, since it is the normal pairing with paella by the French.

We enjoyed a quick, easy, and tasty meal and there was enough left for my breakfast tomorrow,

We then watched a Nature program on the Niagara Falls water shed and ate the last of Nancy’s apricot and blueberry tart. We tried to make it through a Nova program on blackberry holes but I went to sleep, so we went to bed at 9;00 after a pleasant day of some of the food we love.

Bon Appetit