October 20, 2026 Breakfast - Two men an Island. Lunch - Pork, Manchego, and onion Quesadilla. Dinner - Scallops Provencal with rice

October 20, 2026 Breakfast - Two men an Island. Lunch - Pork, Manchego, and onion Quesadilla. Dinner - Scallops Provencal with rice

A day of convalescence and good food.

I woke up in time to see the market open. It looked positive at the open and the Dow closed up over 500 points but my tech heavy portfolio suffered another losing day with a drop of .46%.

I butterflied a piece of Bosque baguette and toasted it in a skillet with butter and a slice of red onion. When I flipped the buttered side  and the onion slice I added butter to the skillet and toasted the other side for a couple of minutes and then added two eggs and then flipped the second side again to cook the eggs briefly. I drank a cup of tea and toasted a thin slice of baguette that I buttered and spread strawberry jam on it.

I worked on the motion but lacked clarity so I rested until 1:00 when I made a quesadilla by toasting a flour tortilla then laying slices of roasted pork, red onions and Manchego cheese on a second flour tortilla. I then toasted the combined two halves on each side to golden brown, which melted the cheese between the two tortillas.

I drank a glass of Clamato with juice of 1/2 lime-as I watched PSG beat Barcelona in EUFA competition.  

After the match I drove to Bosque Bakery to buy bread but it was closed.

I returned home and took two Tylenol and rested for an hour.

When Suzette came home we had cocktails and then tried to set up the new HP printer. There was a problem and called HP and after Suzette yelled at them for a while she was told a large number of printers were sent to the wrong customers and HP was trying to straighten out the accounts for each printer and it would take several more days.

At 5:15 Luke called and we wished him a happy birthday.

I had not thawed steaks, so I requested Scallops Provençale for dinner. We used the recipe in Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking vol. 1.

Here is the recipe.

Suzette fetched a bottle of Albariño from the garage fridge to use in the recipe and drink with dinner and fetched French thyme, sorrel, and a bay leaf from our garden. I made rice seasoned with dashi and seaweed.

It was a lovely dinner.

We then watched Finding up your Roots with John McCain, Julie Ann Moore, and Patricia Arquette, all of whom had long family histories of military service. The big surprise was that one of John McCain s ancestors fought with George Washington and that George Washington was John McCain’s cousin.

Suzette made us each an ice cream sandwich with vanilla ice cream on 1/2 each of the last chocolate chocolate chip cookie for dessert.

Suzette went to bed to read after the show, but I stayed up to watch Dallas Stars beat Boston in overtime.

I finished this blog entry and went to bed at 10:20.

Bon Appetit

October 19, 2026 Breakfast - Granola. Lunch - Chicken Noodle Soup with Wontons. Dinner - Lamb and Pork Cassoulet

October 19, 2026 Breakfast - Granola. Lunch - Chicken Noodle Soup with Wontons. Dinner - Lamb and Pork Cassoulet 

I got up and blogged at 3:00 a.m. and went back to sleep at 4:30 and slept until 7:45.

I ate Granola with milk, a diced plum, and yogurt at 8:00 and then showered and dressed and rested until 11:30 when I edited the first four pages of the motion to lift stay.

Then at 1:00 I added a cup of water, a stalk of celery diced, a bundle of Rice vermicelli, some roasted pork, two wontons, and two mushrooms sliced thinly, and a heaping T. red miso to the leftover chicken noodle soup and heated it for lunch and watched a thrilling PL match between Coventry and Tottenham in which Maddison scored a brilliant goal to help Tottenham win 2 to 1.

At the end of the match around 2:30 I called Suzette. She was on her way home and picked me up and we went to vote.

Then when we returned she had a snack of roast pork with Mayo, while I checked my portfolio that gained .7% today.

We watched news and Antiques Roadshow starting at 4:00.

Suzette decided to make cassoulet for dinner, so I diced the meat from the three leftover lamb chops and one large boneless pork rib while Suzette diced a piece of Sourdough bread into crouton sized pieces. She then mixed the two diced meats into the cooked beans, squash, and corn she cooked a few days ago and then garnished the top of the casserole with the bread cubes and drizzled olive oil over the bread crumbs and baked the cassoulet in the oven at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

Suzette said she is in a French Cuisine cooking mood theses days after our trip to France. Cassoulet is a traditional dish of Provence.

I opened a bottle of Kendall Jackson Vintner’s Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon and poured glasses and we ate around 6:00.

Willy came by later to help Suzette load rugs and other items into her Highlander and ate some cassoulet also.

After 6:00 we watched Tampa Bay win the American League pennant and San Francisco beat Washington in Monday Bight Football along with the Antiques Roadshow after 7:00.

After MNF and Tampa Bay won, we went to bed around 9:00, Suzette to sleep and I to blog.

Bon Appetit 

October 18, 2026 Breakfast. - BLT Sandwich, Snacks - Tomato Sandwiches. Manchego and Membrillo Dinner - Lamb Cesar Salad

October 18, 2026 Breakfast. - BLT Sandwich, Snacks - Tomato Sandwiches. Manchego and Membrillo   Dinner - Lamb Cesar Salad

I spent a lazy day recovering from our day in Santa Fe, mostly watching soccer and football and eating lightly.

I stated at 7:00 a.m. watching PL soccer. At 8:00 I fried six slices of bacon and Willy came over at 8:30 and Suzette toasted slices of Bosque Bakery South Valley Sourdough bread and sliced the two lovely ripe tomatoes she bought at the Los Lunas Farmer’s Market on Tuesday and an avocado and Willy went to the garden and gathered a handful of fresh basil leaves and we each constructed a BLT sandwich and Suzette added a spoonful of her wonderful bread and butter pickles to each plate.

After brunch we set up the new HP printer but there was some difficulty with identifying my account that prevented completion that will take HP several days to sort out.

Then Willy left and Suzette drove to Stephen’s in Santa Fe to pick up the gates she bought yesterday and two large ceramic pots she bought today.

The most fun moment of soccer of the day was when Gomez kicked a goal from the center line in BHA’s 2 v. 0 victory over Sunderland.

At noon I made two tomato sandwiches with the remaining slices of tomato on two slices of toasted South Valley Sourdough spread with Mayo and garnished basil leaves. It was heavenly and probably the last ripe tomatoes of the year.

Then I planted garlic cloves in one of the raised beds and enjoyed being in the sun for about 1/2 hour.

Then I watched Real Madrid beat Sevilla. Real Madrid has amassed the best roster of players I have ever seen on a soccer team. There is a world class player at almost every position.

When Suzette returned around 3:00 she was hungry, so I opened a bottle of 2021 Luis Gurpegui Rioja Tempranillo rated 94 points, bought at Costco and cut cubes of Manchego cheese and membrillo paste for Suzette and toasted four slices of the Bosque Bakery baguette that Diane and Jim gave us with the lovely casserole of Jambalaya on Friday evening and spread butter on them and garnished them with slices of Manchego.

We sipped Rioja and nibbled cheese and membrillo as we watched the L.A. Chargers lose their fifth straight game of the season and the Chiefs win their fifth straight win of the season.

Dinner - Then at 5:30 we decided to use the three leftover grilled lamb chops to make a lamb Cesar Salad. I diced a piece of Costco baguette that Suzette doused them with olive oil and baked into croutons and I de-boned and cubed the meat from the three leftover lamb chops. Then Suzette assembled some of the cherry tomatoes she bought Tuesday, sliced some cucumber, the green leaf lettuce from the fridge, and fetched the anchovies, 5 cloves of garlic, two eggs, olive oil, and lemon wedges. I chopped about 1/3 cup of anchovies and the garlic and mashed them with about 1/2 cup of good olive oil and added juice of 1/2 lemon and the two eggs to make the dressing that we whisked in the large teak salad bowl. Then Suzette grated about 1/2 cup of fresh Parmesan cheese (Costco) and diced an avocado and tossed all the ingredients in the salad bowl with the dressing and then filled pasta bowls with salad.

We watched Miss Fisher at 6:00 as we ate salad and sipped Rioja Tempranillo.

After dinner we watched Maigret on Masterpiece Theater at 8:00 and went to bed at 9:00.

Bon Appetit

October 17, 2026 Breakfast - Granola, Yogurt, Plum, and milk. Lunch - La Playa, Santa Fe. Dinner - Beans, corn and roasted Pork

October 17, 2026 Breakfast - Granola, Yogurt, Plum, and milk. Lunch - La Playa, Santa Fe. Dinner - Beans, corn and roasted Pork

I ate a lot of food today, walked a lot and saw a lot of art. We drove to Santa Fe with Aaron and Monica at 8:30.

I woke up at 6:30 and drank a cup of hot chocolate with rum as I watched Chelsea beat Everton. 

Then at 7:30 I ate Granola, Yogurt, Plum, and milk. I then dressed and at 8:15 ate a pain au chocolate with a latte macchiato.

When we arrived at Santa Fe we drove to Restore It, and then to Stephen’s Consignment for its semi-annual sale.  Suzette bought two gates at Stephen’s and Monica bought a heshi necklace.

Then we drove to Kitchen Angel and finally at 12:30 to Mariscos La Playa on Cordova Rd.  We went crazy ordering food Aaron ordered a ceviche tostada and a fried red snapper. Monica ordered a fish and shrimp soup and a fried red snapper. Suzette ordered a fried trout and a beer and I ordered a large bowl of Caldo Come Back to Life" seafood combo with shrimp, octopus, scallops, clams, crab legs and calamari, since I am trying to come back to life.

Suzette did not like her trout, probably because she does not like the restaurant, but all the rest of us loved our food and the restaurant.

The red snappers must have been 2 1/2 lb. and the soup bowls were immense.

We loved lunch.

After lunch we drove to Turner Carroll Gallery on Canyon Rd. and I saw my reframed Christo displayed for $120,000, which made me happy.

We walked down Canyon Rd. to Zaplin/Lambert Gallery. Richard was on vacation in Italy, but I talked to Jeff for a few minutes while Aaron, Suzette, and Monica walked further down Canyon Rd.

By the time I walked back to the vehicle behind Turner/Carroll Gallery, I had walked 3653 steps, an amazing amount of walking, given I have been out of the hospital for only 9 days. 

Aaron and Monica drove us back home and we started watching a series of college football upsets. Auburn beat No. 1 Georgia. Then Tennessee beat No. 6 Alabama, Florida beat No. 7 Texas, and finally No. 8 BYU beat No. 2 Notre Dame.

The only top 5 team to win today was No. 3 Miami.

We also watched TCU beat Baylor, that really felt good.

Suzette cooked the boneless pork ribs in the oven for four hours and added fresh corn and squash to the beans and we ate the bean stew with roasted pork for dinner.

Before dinner I ate the leftover garlic eggplant with pork from last night’s dinner.

We watched Have I got News for you, Father Brown and Death in Paradise and went to bed at 10:00.

I blogged while Suzette slept and went to bed at 11:00.

Being active has made me feel like I am recovering my muscle strength. 

Bon Appetit