June 1, 2026 Breakfast - Pain au Chocolate Lunch - Enchiladas at Tiny Grocer Dinner - Baked Lemon Tarragon Chicken Thighs with Blanched Snow Peas and Fava Beans and Butternut squash Mashed Potatoes

 

June 1, 2026 Breakfast - Pain au Chocolate Lunch - Enchiladas at Tiny Grocer Dinner - Baked Lemon Tarragon Chicken Thighs with Blanched Snow Peas and Fava Beans and Butternut squash Mashed Potatoes

I woke up at 4:00 and went back to sleep at 5:30 and slept until 7:15. Just in time to watch the market open down.

I then helped Suzette pick peas in the garden. This has been a great year for peas. We have been eating them for days with lots yet to come.

I spent the morning at my desk working on family finances, doctor appointments, and reading the recent Settlement in the Texas v. New Mexico U.S. Supreme Court case.

Then at 11:30 after Nvidia started to move up, I called Willy to see if he wanted to go to lunch. He walked over and we drove to Old Town to eat at the Tiny Grocer that Willy highly recommended. We both ordered enchiladas with beef and red chili. Although a bit expensive at $18.00 the enchiladas were gourmet quality with fresh local ingredients and a thick picante, clumpy red chili sauce that tasted liked had been cooked forever and the enchiladas had been baked in an oven to order, which are my favorite way for them to be prepared. 

We could only eat 1/2 of the large portion, so we each took a box home for a later meal.

I drove Willy back to work and then went home and read some more of the settlement until 1:45 when I watched the market close and after market coverage ubtil 2:30 when I checked my portfolio. Today’s market was choppy with lots of stocks dropping precipitously, but several going up a lot, like ARM and Nvidia going up $13.22. Thanks to the three strong gainers, my portfolio increased by 1% to a new high as did all the averages.

At 3:15 I walked around the block, which allowed me to accumulate over 3700 steps today.

Soon after I returned and lay down, Suzette arrived. I rested while she cleaned the kitchen, although I cleaned a skillet and two pots.

We then shucked peas for dinner and a future pea soup and extra for future meals. We also shucked the rest of the faca beans.

We decided to bake the chicken thighs I bought several days ago and season them with slices of lemon and sprigs of tarragon from our garden slid under their skin. We decided to serve them with a mixture of mashed potato and butternut squash and blanched fava beans with some of the snow peas.

Willy came over to join us for dinner around 7:00 as everything was finishing cooking.

I opened a bottle of 2022 La Granja Viura and Verdejo blend that is one of my favorites with baked chicken and poured glasses for each of us.  Suzette plated our plates with peas, mashed butternut squash potatoes and a chicken thighs I bought and we took them to the table under the gazebo in the garden.

At 7:15 it was starting to cool, so dinner was pleasant. We went back in at 8:00 and began watching Texas Tech women’s baseball team play Alabama in the semi-finals of the Women’s College World Series. Texas Tech won and will play Texas for the championship on Wednesday.

During the game we sipped cognacs and I ate two squares of Belgium milk chocolate.

Another excellent day of interesting food.

Bon Appetit.

When the game ended at 9:30 we went to bed

May 31, 2026 Breakfast - Egg Sandwich. Lunch - Pea Soup. Dinner - Scallops Provençal with Yu Choy, and German Pot Pie Egg Noodles

May 31, 2026 Breakfast - Egg Sandwich.  Lunch - Pea Soup. Dinner - Scallops Provençal with Yu Choy, and German Pot Pie Egg Noodles 

I woke up at 6:30 and could not go back to sleep, so watched the news.

Around 9:00, after Suzette did her water aerobics, we made breakfast.

I wanted to use the light French whole wheat bread we bought at thecFarjers’ Market yesterday, so we decided to simply make an egg sandwich.

I toasted three slices of bread and spread Mayo on them.

Suzette went to the garden and picked some lettuce and I sliced a Roma tomato and slices of Iberico cheese.

Then Suzette fried two eggs into pancakes and we lay egg, tomato,and lettuce on each slice of toast.

I added thin slices of red onion to my two open faced sandwiches.

After breakfast at around 10:00 we rode our bikes around a circuit within the neighborhood.

When we returned we pitted the three baskets of apricots Suzette has picked from our tree (about six lb.s).

I then chopped two onions into thin slices and minced the two pieces of ginger roots we have,  Here is the recipe Suzette used to make about 8 lb. of apricot chutney.  

Suzette then made a lovely cream of pea soup with dill weed for lunch with peas from our garden I minced a cup of shallots for the soup. We ate it with glasses of Kirkland Pinot Grigio and slices of buttered Baguette. This was arguably the best dish of the day.

After another hour of cooking the chutney, Suzette filled 17 jars with chutney she came to the bedroom and lay down to rest and I went to the TV room to watch Texas’ women’s softball team beat Nebraska.

We had trouble deciding what to cook for dinner. We decided to not eat the leftover Chinese stir fry with BBQ pork because it may have upset Suzette’s stomach.

Instead we thawed 12 scallops and Suzette made Julia Child’s recipe for Scallops Provençal and boiled a handful of German pot pie egg noodles.

I chopped the green leaves off the remaining five or six clusters of Yu Choy and went to the garden and picked a head of garlic and some sprigs of parsley and lemon thyme.

I then minced 1/6 of an onion, the parsley and thyme and two cloves of garlic and cut the Yu Choy leaves into bite -sized pieces and cut each scallop hirizontally.

Suzette then tossed the scallops in flour and anit of salt and sautéed them and then added the other ingredients and sautéed them and finally added some white wine to make a light sauce.

Then she drained the noodles and tossed some of them with the scallops.

We ate outside by the pond  and drank the last of the Pinot Grigio with ice cubes to chill it.

After dinner we watched an exciting women’s softball game between Texas Tech and UCLA that went two extra innings before Texas Tech won 8 to 7.

At 9:00 we went to bed.

I blogged and then read some of Being Ram Das, the autobiography Luke gave me for Christmas.

Bon Appetit

May 30, 2026 Breakfast - Pain au Chocolate. Brunch - Scrambled Eggs and Almond Croissant. Dinner - Laurent’s Birthday Party at Vara

May 30, 2026 Breakfast - Pain au Chocolate. Brunch - Scrambled Eggs and Almond Croissant. Dinner - Laurent’s Birthday Party at Vara

This was a very special  day for food and wine because we were invited to celebrate Laurent Gruet’s 61st birthday at Vara.

I thought it would be a large gathering but it was relatively small, fewer than fifty people. Fabulous bottles of wine were opened, mostly recent bubbly ones made by Laurent for Vara, including a New Mexico sparkling wine that scored 98 points at the San Francisco International Wine Competition.

VARAxLG Blanc de Blancs: Awarded Double Gold at the 2025 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition. Crafted in the classical Méthode Champenoise style in collaboration with winemaker Laurent Gruet. [1, 2, 3]

New Mexico Sparkling Brut 2023: Earned a Double Gold medal and an impressive 98 points at the San Francisco International Wine Competition. [1, 2]

When we arrived Laurent poured us a glass of his newly released sparkling Rose that was impressive.

The other two high points in wine were a magnum of Vara 2023 extended triage and a jeroboam of the Gruet and Fils champagne produced by Laurent’s champagne making family in France .

                                                                     Laurant

The food was lavish and quite interesting. The best dish was a lobster and shrimp in cream sauce roll. Close behind it were the mini taco filled with chicken salad and garnished with edible flowers and a pear tart, but there was a long table heaping full of excellent cheeses, charcuterie, and fruits.

I enjoyed talking to PJ who is a realtor by day and a sommelier at night, who was pouring the Gruet Jeroboam.

I also spoke at some length to Roger, one of the owners, who explained in detain how they created Vara’s late harvest Albariño that uses a process for processing the clusters of grapes in straw to allow them to produce greater sweetness and then fortifying the wine produced. It does  not use a late harvested grape. It is an amazing wine. I bought two bottles.

We arrived at Vara at 4:30 and left around 7:45 as the sun was setting. A truly memorable day. We were thrilled to be included.

I woke up a bit after 8:00 this morning and ate a Pain au chocolate with a chai.

Then at 9:30 Suzette and I rode the six blocks to the Farmers’ Market where Suzette bought a loaf of pain au campagne, two almond croissants, a regular croissant, and a baguette from the Le Quiche baker, who by the way also attended Laurent’s birthday party with his wife.

We then pedaled around the neighborhood and returned home a bit after 10:00.

Willy was already at home watching the EUFA Championship match between Paris St. Germain and Arsenal that had just won the PL championship last week.

During the match that lasted the 90 minutes of regular time and 30 minutes of extended overtime, Willy made scrambled eggs with sautéed onion and Diced red bell,pepper that he and I ate with an almond croissant. Suzette joined us and ate the regular croissant. We all drank latte macchiatos

Finally around 1:00 Gabriel missed the final penalty kick after 120; minutes of play and PSG won in a rather disappointing ending for PL fans such as ourselves.

I then napped and Suzette and Willy visited two open houses in the neighborhood.

When they returned around 3:00 Willy left and soon thereafter we left for Laurant’s party at Vara with the baguette we had bought wrapped in a c tie dyed cloth bag Suzette made.

When we returned home around 8:30 we watched the last half of Bill Maher and then Suzette wentto bed. I stayed up to watch Mexico beat Australia in a World Cup friendly.

The World Cip competition will start in two weeks so there will be lots more soccer to watch this summer.

Bon Appetit

May 29, 2026 Breakfast - Lax on bagels. Lunch - East Ocean with Ned ans Greg . Dinner - Oysters, Watermelon and Feta Arugula Salad, Garlic Toast, and Fresh Strawberries on pound cake with ice cream and whipped cream

May 29, 2026 Breakfast - Lax on bagels. Lunch - East Ocean with Ned ans Greg . Dinner - Oysters, Watermelon and Feta Arugula Salad, Garlic Toast, and Fresh Strawberries on pound cake with ice cream and whipped cream

I slept until 8:15 and toasted two bagel halves and spread them with cream cheese and garnished them with slices of red onion and Gravad Lax.

Then i edited a pleading until 11:00 when I drove to East Ocean to have lunch with Ned and Greg. They are both well traveled and have spent many years teaching and managing programs, as well as being serious foodies.

They let me suggest my favorite dishes and we all agreed on 1/2 roast duck and Chinese Broccoli with fried tofu and snow peas with rice and a bowl of hot and sour soup.

I loved everything. I had not tried the hot and sour soup at East Ocean before and I liked it, especially with a little extra rice vinegar that Ned brought in a bottle. I suspect carrying your own rice vinegar to make sure the hot and sour soup has the vinegary bite you prefer marks you as a gourmet.

After we split a bowl of soup, thick with tofu, wood ear, and bamboo shoots we were served two platters, one piled high with half of a duck with crisp skin and succulent tender meat and the other piled high with stir fried Chinese Broccoli sliced obliquely so the thick stalks were thin slices and squares of fried tofu and snow peas. There was a nice contrast between the crisp skin and succulent duck meat in a light black tea sauce and the firm stalks of broccoli with its collapsed tender green leaves.

We ate and talked and drank oolong tea for over two hours.

When I attired home at 2:20 I checked the market and it was down. My portfolio decreased by .6%.

I spent an hour at my desk making calls, including one to Whole Foods to order three dozen Misty Point oysters on the half shell on beds of ice and then at 3:30 rested for an hour.

At 4:45 we drove to Whole Foods and picked up the oysters and drove to Debbie’s for dinner and the sunset. Her house is situated with a perfect view of the Sandias from her back porch where Suzette and I sipped Chateau St. Michelle Sauvignon Blanc and Debbie sipped Usher’s on ice as we caught up on our activities of the last few months.

After the sun set we went inside for dinner.

Debbie served artichoke dip on bread for an appetizer, while she assembled a lovely watermelon,feral cheese, and arugula salad with a sweet dressing and toasted slices of garlic bread in the oven. We then ate oysters with Pace Salsa that was very delicious and Debbie heated three oysters Rockefeller in the oven and served each of us one.

 The simple, light dinner of oysters, arugula salad, and garlic toast was accentuated by an elaborate dessert of a slice of pound cake garnished with fresh strawberry chunks drizzled with honey,ma ginger ice cream, and whipped cream.

We left around 9:00 after a very pleasant, relaxing evening.

This was an exceptionally full multicultural gourmet food day. The kind I love.

Bon Appetit