August 26, 2026 Breakfast - Pain au Chocolate Lunch - Leftover Enchiladas and chips Dinner - Ichiban

August 26, 2026 Breakfast - Pain au Chocolate Lunch - Leftover Enchiladas and chips Dinner - Ichiban

Today was great in many ways. 

First at 1:30, after I finished eating the other half of my enchiladas and beans from yesterday’s lunch at Mary and Tito’s, I drove to Bosque Bakery and bought a loaf of South Valley Sourdough that contains 30% whole wheat.

Then I drove to Walgreen’s and bought a birthday card and two bars of Ghirardelli dark chocolate with sea salt for Suzette for her birthday.

When I finished meditation at 4:00 Suzette was eating the chocolate so I guess she liked her gift.

I napped until 5:00 and then at 6:00 we drove 40 minutes to Ichiban at the corner of Coors and Alameda for dinner. I ordered Chirashi that was amazing because it contained three slices of blue fin tuna. Suzette’s Pompeii Roll was even more amazing. It was a plate filled with a layer of California roll nigiri topped with a large quantity of battered and deep fried crawfish piled on top. We did not get served until 7:00 and we had to leave at 7:20 to make Max Gomez’ concert at the Old San Ysidro Church, so we boxed and iced most of our dinner. So we will have a great Japanese dinner tomorrow night.

The concert was great and the venue amazing. My seat was at the end of the row next to the Adobe wall and when I leaned against the thick freshly plastered wall I felt the vibrations of the music through the building’s structure that I last felt during an organ recital I attended at the Nideros Cathedral in Trondheim, Norway in 1970, the farthest north Gothic cathedral built in the 11th century that I momentarily thought might shake to pieces.

Suzette and I also rode around the neighborhood in the morning and Shahin found some more expenses and lowered my taxes a bit.

So far more than an average day. 

And Nvidia announced good earnings after the market closed and as of 11:30 p.m. its stock is up almost $10 in the after market.

Bon Appetit

August 25, 2026 Breakfast - Savory Danish. Lunch - Mary and Tito’s Snack - Hotel Parq Central Dinner - Ex Novo

August 25, 2026 Breakfast - Savory Danish. Lunch - Mary and Tito’s   Snack - Hotel Parq Central Dinner - Ex Novo

Today was Suzette’s Birthday. She left before I awakened at 7:40 and came home around 3:30.

I heated and ate one of the savory Danish that Monica and Aaron brought on Sunday and then rode around the neighborhood. I accumulated over 3700 steps today. 

I moved money and had an hour conference call with opposing counsel in my probate case and then researched the law for 1 1/2 hours and drafted a status report in an appeal.

Henry came at 12:30 and we went to lunch at Mary and Tito’s.

Henry ordered Chicharrones and Huevos Rancheros. I ordered beef  enchiladas.

Neither of us could finish our meal and I took two boxes home.

When I returned at 2:30 I wrote out several options for the probate case and at 4:15 lay down until 5:00 when we drove to Parq Hotel Central for a drink.  Willy joined us and we ordered a small bowl of each of guacamole and roasted olives.

Then at 6:30 we decided to go to Ex Novo at the corner of 7th and Central for dinner.

It was crowded and there was a trio playing live music. Suzette ordered sautéed Pork Belly with steamed Broccolini and farro cooked with mushrooms. I was very impressed with the creativity and execution of her dish that we shared. Willy ordered the Angus double meat burger with Incredibly crisp fried potatoes. I bought two glasses of Willamette Reserve Pinot Noir. It was a lovely al fresco dinner outside on the covered patio, although a bit warm. It reached 99 degrees today, so Fall has definitely not arrived yet. Willy said that this is expected to be a cooler summer than any in the future.

I was impressed with the quality of the food  and will return to Ex Novo.

We went home and talked to Luke briefly until 8:00 when a re-run of Finding Your Roots came on PBS.

Suzette went to bed at 9:00 and I followed at 10:00 after watching Tadej ride away from the rest of the field in Stage 4 of the Vuelta adding 2 minutes and 40 seconds to his lead, while I was drinking a cup of chai with a scoop of collagen and eating a few bites of the birthday cake Suzette’s employees gave her at a surprise party today at the Center.

Bon Appetit

August 24, 2026 Breakfast - Bagel with Jarlsberg and cream cheese Lunch - Salad with cheese toasts. Dinner - Salmon in garlic cream sauce with chard over rice

August 24, 2026 Breakfast - Bagel with Jarlsberg and cream cheese Lunch - Salad with cheese toasts. Dinner - Salmon in garlic cream sauce with chard over rice

We had one of my favorite dinners today, poached salmon in a garlic cream sauce with chard over rice.

I woke up at 7:30 as the market opened with the NASDAQ down. I was busy all day and did not look at it except to see that Nvidia ended down $6.24 and AMD ended down $16.50.

At 8:00 I toasted a bagel, spread it with cream cheese and cherry preserves and garnished it with slices of Jarlsberg cheese and heated the slices for 22 seconds in the microwave to melt the cheeses a little.

I drank a cup of chai with collagen with it.

Then I rode around the neighborhood a little farther than before.

When I returned I thawed two pieces of salmon for dinner and spent the rest of the morning moving mine to pay my capital call and taxes and bills. 

I finished my desk work around 12:30 and made a lovely salad with 1/2 head of artisanal lettuce, 1/2 of a tomato diced, 1/3 of a cucumber  peeled, seeded, and diced, some red onion, and about ten Kalamata olives. I made a simple balsamic, olive oil, garlic, and lemon thyme dressing. I also toasted three slices of baguette and spread  them with the last of the brie and some goat cheese.

I drank water.

Then I returned to my desk and prepared a Notice of completion of briefing for my eater case and called the court clerk to clarify my Friday filing and then the notice filing and wrote a letter to my clients.

They started a Status Report in my appeal but got tired when Suzette came home at 4:00 and lay down and rested until 5:00 when I cooked a cup of rice.

Suzette wanted to poach the salmon, so I asked her to make a garlic cream sauce with a Bechamel instead of using only cream and she agreed. Poached fish in a garlic cream sauce is one of my favorite dishes, especially the way Suzette makes the sauce with fish fume, cream and white wine.

I minced a shallot and two cloves of garlic and Suzette sautéed them with dried lemon thyme and butter and then added the fish, water and white wine to make poaching medium. 

When the fish was poached she mixed flour with some of the poaching medium and then added some of the flour and poaching medium mixture until the poaching medium thickened into a cream sauce. As the cream sauce continued to thicken she added 2 T. of cream and a dash of white wine.

While Suzette cooked the fish dish I destemmed and chopped the last three cups of mixed chards Suzette brought from the Center’s garden and we added it to the sauce and cooked it in the sauce for several more minutes with chunks of poached salmon to make a lovel medley of fish and greens in a garlic cream sauce.

We opened the bottle of bottle of 2023 Chemin de Mazou Pouilly Fume white wine that I had chilled in the fridge. I think it was a birthday gift because I do not remember buying it, especially since it is a $21 to $22 bottle. It was fabulous and made the dinner even more special in a very French way. It was fruity and had an exuberance of flavor that I rarely taste in Sauvignon Blancs.

Here are some tasting notes for 

Appellation: Pouilly Fumé

Region: Loire Valley

Grape Variety: 100% Sauvignon Blanc

Soil Type: Clayey-siliceous

Winemaking: Mechanical harvesting, pneumatic pressing, vinification in temperature-controlled stainless steel vats at 15-16°C.

Tasting Notes: Pale gold color with ripe yellow fruit notes, citrus, white flowers, and exotic fruits. Rich and complex palate with a fresh mineral note.

Food Pairing: Seafood, stuffed tomatoes, fish in sauce, crotin de Chavignol cheese.

It was perfect with our fish in sauce meal.

After dinner Willy left and we watched the Antique Roadshow.

Suzette mentioned that there was one strawberry eclair left and we decided to eat it with the last of the amazing Reif Estate 2021 Vidal Icewine. I guess I had a citrus overtone feeling leftover from the Pouilly Fume.

We loved our dessert course with the elegant dessert wine.

I also ate some chocolate ice cream with rum for an extra dessert.

We both went to sleep during the second hour of Roadshow, and went to bed at 9:00.

I love fish in garlic cream sauce and find it especially interesting because it is the easiest sauce to make if you cook it long enough to cook the flour because you use the cooking medium as the base and simply add flour to make paste and then dissolve that into the medium.

This is similar to Julia’s Scallops Provencal dish in which you sauté scallops dusted with flow and then add wine and fish stock to emulsify the cooked flour into a sauce. Both are recipes that utilize shortcuts to a cream sauce.

Willy came by around 7:15 and heated up the rest of the dish and drank about 1/2 glass of wine, so he was able to enjoy this special dinner also.

We are into our last week before we leave for France and are not buying any more food, but that just means we are mining our frozen food for ingredients as we need them, not that we are cooking less elegant meals.

Bon Appetit 

August 23, 2026 Breakfast - Pain au Chocolate Brunch - Bacon, mushroom, chard, and Swiss Gruyere cheese omelet with Croissants Dinner - Butter Chicken Ratatouille Saag with Pita

August 23, 2026 Breakfast - Pain au Chocolate Brunch - Bacon, mushroom, chard, and Swiss Gruyere cheese omelet with Croissants  Dinner - Butter Chicken Ratatouille Saag with Pita

Today was a restful day for me.

I awakened at 4:30 and finished the book discussion notes and grades for Sense and Sensibility and then slept from 6:00 until 8:30.

Then I watched the news and the highlights of the first 2 stages of the Vuelta de Espana and ate a pain au chocolate with a cup of chai with collagen.

I then began the prep of brunch. Monica returned from Romania and we invited her and Aaron for brunch at 11:30.

I minced four shallots, a. pimiento pepper from our garden, about two cups of portobello mushrooms and three fresh shiitake mushrooms.

I also chopped five slices of thick cut bacon into 1/4 inch strips that I fried into lardettes.

At 10:30 Suzette returned from Los Lunas with a bag of freshly picked chard. She sliced the leaves from the stems for a handful and I chopped the pile of leaves into bite sized pieces.

Suzette had cleaned two window air conditioners at the Center, so she showered and dressed and then set the table.

Aaron and Monica came at 11:30 with croissants, strawberry eclairs, and Danish pastries from Whole Foods.

We served coffee to them and I grated 1 1/2 cups of Swiss Gruyere cheese. 

Suzette and Monica took over kitchen duties and heated the croissants in the oven and cooked the shallots and pepper in butter and olive oil and then added the mushrooms, chard, and bacon, and finally four whisked eggs. Then they sprinkled grated Gruyere over the surface and covered the skillet and let the omelet cook without turning it.

Suzette cut a bunch of red grapes into small bundles and cut the omelet into 4 quarters and placed a quarter on each plate with a bundle of grapes and a toasted croissant.

I fetched the bottles of cherry preserves and the homemade quince, peach, and fig compote and poured glasses of Archer Summit Vireton Pinot Gris for Suzette and Monica. Aaron and I drank water.

We enjoyed the meal and talked of travel.

After thre meal we served cordial glasses of Canadian Rief Vidal Blanc Icewine for dessert.

I then lay down and watched Barcelona destroy Eche in a La Liga match and Suzette worked at her desk.

At 5:00 Willy called and we set 6:00 as the time to come for dinner.

I then boned and diced the meat from the three chicken thighs Suzette cooked last Thursday, We decided to cook the chicken in the leftover Ratatouille with spinach for an easy one pot dinner, which turned out to be the perfect menu idea because when Willy came he brought a bottle of Butter Masala. I thinly sliced a zucchini and we added that and 4 T. of Butter Masala paste to the ratatouille and cooked it for 30 minutes and then added the bunch of spinach I had chopped into bite sized pieces. The end result was a very pleasant tasting butter chicken combined with a mixed vegetable saag.

We did not have naan, so we sliced and toasted pita halves. The warm pita were really delicious with the richly flavored chicken and vegetable stew.

We drank glasses of the Vireton Pinot Gris that was really pleasant with the rich Indian stew because it had a fruity slightly sweet flavor.

After dinner we looked in the box of pastries Aaron and Monica brought and found the three small strawberry eclairs. Suzette cut each of them into thirds and we ate them for dessert.

I drank another cup of chai with collagen with dessert. Willy brewed a cup of Kushmi herbal tea and Suzette drank a sip of cognac.

Willy described his 7 hour ordeal to fix the ball joints on his car and he decided to call Jody to make the final adjustments.

Willy also reported that Luke was loving his job and was thrilled because he had his own office, which made us all exceedingly happy.

Willy left at 8:30 and we put the leftover chicken saag into a container in the fridge and went to bed at 9:30.

Bon Appetit