October 26, 2026 Breakfast - Two men on Islands. Lunch - Leftover Eggplant Parmesan and Spaghetti. Dinner - Crab Cakes with deep Fried Tofu, Mixed Stir Fried Vegetables and rice.

October 26, 2026 Breakfast - Two men on Islands. Lunch - Leftover Eggplant Parmesan and Spaghetti. Dinner - Crab Cakes with deep Fried Tofu, Mixed Stir Fried Vegetables and rice.

I woke up at 7:36. Suzette was already doing aerobics in the hot tub, as she does most mornings.

I was feeling poorly,so I made two Men on a raft and drank a cup of chai.

                 This was the best Man on an Island I have made in a long time 

Then I paid some taxes and my home insurance for next year.

Then I paid big event of the day was setting up my new HP printer that took three hours on the line with customer support.

Finally, I had a printer after ten days without one because HP sent me the printer for a different account. It took HP 8 or 9 days to straighten out the error.

By the time the printer was running and I completed the taxes and insurance, it was 12:30 and I was hungry.  

Lunch - I re-heated the leftover eggplant Parmesan and Spaghetti and sipped a glass of the open 2023 Kirkland Chianti Classico we drank with dinner last night.

I then watched the market close. With the filing by Anthropic of its S-1 to go public, the high tech sector turned positive and my portfolio increased by .75%. 

At 2:30 I drove to the post office and sent my passport for renewal to Philadelphia.

When I returned home at 3:15 I was tired and rested until 4:00 when I watched Ari and then more news with Suzette. 

Dinner - We had decided to cook crab cakes, which is one of Suzette’s favorite meals, much loved by all the members of her family in Pennsylvania and heated the leftover Deep Fried Tofu and Mixed Stir fried vegetables from my lunch several days ago at East Ocean.

Suzette makes her crab cakes with crushed saltine crackers, crab meat  and egg. They have a very crabby flavor. We divided the crab meat in half and she made five crab cakes tonight. We will make a crab soufflé in a couple of days.

While Suzette was making the crab cakes, tartare sauce, and a seasoning sauce of Mirin and hoisin sauce for the vegetables, I shredded the left over pork ribs that we will use to make either pork enchiladas or pork tacos tomorrow evening.

I fetched a chilled bottle of Kirkland Pinot Grigio from the garage and when the crab cakes were cooked and the vegetables and rice re- heated we each plated a crab cakes and several spoonfuls of vegetables and rice.

I opened and poured glasses of Pinot Grigio and we ate a lovely dinner.

After dinner Willy called as he was coming back to his car from a hike up e Sandias to watch the sunset and a family of deer.

We watched the Cowboys beat the Eagles and Milwaukee crush the Tampa Bay Rays 10 to 0 to win game three of the World Series, which may end tomorrow night, if Milwaukee wins game four.

Willy left after dinner and we went to bed at 9:30 after the games.

Bon Appetit

October 25, 2026 Breakfast - Almond Croissant. Lunch - Trout Salad. Dinner - Leftover Eggplant Parmesan and Spaghetti

October 25, 2026 Breakfast - Almond Croissant. Lunch - Trout Salad. Dinner - Leftover Eggplant Parmesan and Spaghetti

This was a rest day with an exciting purchase of art, and a perfect day of food.

I slept until 7:30, then I showered and dressed.

At 8:00 I started watching PL soccer and soon after i heated the regular croissant and almond croissant we bought from the Le quiche Bakery booth at the Farmers’ Market yesterday which we ate for breakfast.

Then I rested and watched Leeds v. Sunderland play to a 0 to 0 tie.

At 10:30 Suzette started following the on line Bradford auction of Western art. She had noticed works by artists we like, especially a landscape by Agnes Pelton and two landscapes but Carl Redin, perhaps Albuquerque’s best artist.

Here is the auction house’s description:

Carl Adolph Hjalmer Persson Redin (1892-1944) "Winter In Tijeras Canyon" Oil on Board. Known for his paintings of Southwest landscapes, Carl Redin was born in Sweden, near Stockholm. He came to America in 1913, after having tried to support his impoverished family in Sweden. He had an early interest in art, which he had studied in Stockholm about 1906. In 1916, he moved to New Mexico because he had tuberculosis and needed a drier climate than that of Chicago. For a year, 1929 to 1930, he taught at the University of New Mexico, and also opened a studio in Lubbock, Texas where he was a teacher in a summer session at Texas Technological College. He exhibited at the Museum of Fine Arts in Santa Fe, the Broadmoor Art Academy in Colorado Springs, and the Macbeth Gallery in New York City. Artist: Carl Redin Title: "Winter In Tijeras Canyon" Medium: Oil on Board Signature Type: Hand Signed | Signature Location: Lower Left | Site Measurement: 16" x 20" | Keywords: Southwestern, Western Artwork,

It got very exciting as the time that the auction closed for each piece neared in succeeding one minute intervals with five minute extensions if there were additional bids. The bidding on the Agnes Pelton went first. Suzette bid up to $4,000 but the high bid was about 45 minutes later at the end of multiple extensions at $9,900. There was also a 25% buyer’s premium and shipping costs from Sun City, Arizona.

I loved the Carl Redin “Winter in Tijeras Canyon” landscape and it seemed very inexpensive at $1450 in early bidding. We had been following the on line bids for the three works for several days. I put in several bids until the high bid reached $2000 and I entered the winning bid at $2050. I bought my first Carl Redin painting of Jemez Canyon for $7,500 from Owings Gallery years ago which seems much closer to the retail market value of a good Carl Redin painting. I paid $1800 for a Redin watercolor of the oldest street in Santa Fe that had a paint blemish in it at the Santa Fe auction several years ago, so I am thrilled that I have acquired another good Redin oil painting for around $2700, including premium and shipping. 

Suzette made trout salads around 1:00 with diced tomato, cucumber slices, slices of pickled egg, diced pickled beets, romaine lettuce, and a honey mustard dressing. The flavor of the smoked trout was elegantly subtle and each of the other ingredients’ unique flavors added flavor to each bite.  We drank the last of the Faustino Rivera Uclea Albariño with the salad.

The best game of the day was the Classico between Barcelona and Real Madrid, perhaps the two best soccer clubs in the world at 1:00. Most good teams have 1 or 2 strikers who shoot goals, but Real and Barcelona have five or 6 players who would be world class strikers on any other team. The ball was flying at the net from all directions but all except three shots were stopped. Mbpape scored two for Real to win 2 to 1. 

I watched NFL football after the match ended. Perhaps the most interesting game was Green Bay v. The Detroit Lions. The score was tied and Green Bay missed a field goal near the end which gave the lions the ball back with about one minute. The Lions moved the ball to about the 20 yard line and kicked a field goal to win the game with 1 second on the time clock.

At 5:30 we decided to cook the leftover Eggplant Parmesan and spaghetti dish that was undercook last night for an hour to completely cook the eggplant.

We cooked it while we watched the first episode of Miss Fisher Detective on PBS at 6:00.

I opened a bottle of Kirkland 2023 Chianti Classico and we ate a fabulous Italian dinner.

We then watched episodes of the English series of Professor T., and Maigret, the French police mystery and went to bed at 9:00, after the Seattle Seahawks beat the undefeated Kansas City Chiefs 20 to 3.

Bon Appetit

October 24, 2026 Breakfast - Pain au Chocolate. Lunch - Monte Carlo Steakhouse. Dinner - Dungeness crab claws with tomato, avocado, and radish slices and guacamole and deviled eggs

October 24, 2026 Breakfast - Pain au Chocolate. Lunch - Monte Carlo Steakhouse. Dinner - Dungeness crab claws with tomato, avocado, and radish slices and guacamole and deviled eggs 

We had a pleasant day. I started by watching Coventry v. Ipswich and then at 8:00 we drove to the Farmers’ Market where we bought croissants and a raisin roll.

When we returned home I watched Aston Villa best No. 1 Man City in a real upset.

Then around 11:30 we drove to El Super to buy a few more groceries. We bought green onions, plums, and tomatoes. Then I suggested that we split a green chili cheeseburger at Monte Carlo Steakhouse, which is two blocks from El Super on Central. Monte Carlo is a relic of past dining  in Albuquerque. It is probably the last surviving Greek Steakhouse which that’s dark atmosphere, Naugahyde booths, an open kitchen and next to the kitchen a full bar.

We ordered a green chili cheeseburger with fried onion rings and two Negra Modelos. The hamburger and onion rings was served in a plastic basket covered with a decorated sheet of paper with a pile of dill pickles, a slice of tomato, and a slice of onion on a pile of shredded lettuce. We would have preferred the more traditional leaf of lettuce.

The hamburger and the fried onion onion rings were wonderful, but when we put the pickles, tomato, and onion on the traditional white bread bun it began to disintegrate in our hand, which made it difficult to eat. We split the hamburger which was of sufficient size to share. We were surprised when the bill was delivered that every aspect of the hamburger, such as onion rings, the garnish, and green chili were à la carte, and our simple lunch was $29.11.

I asked for the TV to be turned to the TCU v. West Virginia game on the TV near our booth at the restaurant and that was done.

Even knowing everything is à la carte, we will probably go back for the ambiance.

We returned home and Suzette napped and I dozed in front of TV in our large comfortable rocker with my feet resting on the ottoman and watched a number of upsets among the top 10 college teams, starting with the West Virginia v. TCU game, which TCU lost because it was unable to score on its last drive.

Then Auburn upset No.1 Georgia and LSU beat No. 6 Alabama, then Texas beat No. 7 Ole Miss. 

Other upsets included:

Another wild weekend of college football action around the country is in the books, and we must now wait for the updated AP Top 25 rankings ahead of Week 9.

This week, we saw No. 2 BYU fall to unranked UCF in double-overtime, No. 8 Texas Tech lose to unranked CIncinnati, No. 11 Tennessee lost to unranked South Carolina on a last-second field goal, No. 15 Iowa lose to unranked Minnesota, and No. 16 USC get steamrolled by unranked Wisconsin.

From 2:30 until 5:30 I edited my Motion to the COA while Suzette prepared dinner. We had bought Dungeness crab claws at Costco on Thursday. We usually combine a meal of cold salad with eating and picking the crab claws, then Suzette makes crab broth, and we have a quantity of crab meat available for a crab soufflé and crab cake dinners and sometimes a crab salad. Tonight was no exception. Suzette sliced tomatoes, cucumber, avocado, and radishes and served them on a bed of lettuce. She made an anchovy guacamole and a dozen anchovy and herb flavored deviled eggs. Everything was wonderful and we drank Gruet Pinot Noir champagne with dinner.

It was an especially unusual experience to walk from editing a legal document at my desk to the dining table in the TV room filled with all the wonderful foods and glasses of champagne, because I usually am involved in preparing dinner, but I loved it.

After dinner we watched Texas beat Ole Miss, Bill Maher, and Have I got News for You and Father Brown and the second game of the World Series.

Then after Milwaukee won the game Suzette went to bed.

I stayed up to watch the last upset of the day, when Utah University beat Houston and New Mexico beat North Dakota State. New Mexico finally has a competitive football team.

I went to bed at midnight.

Bon Appetit

 24, 2026 Breakfast - Pain au Chocolate. Lunch - Monte Carlo Steakhouse. Dinner - Dungeness crab claws with tomato, avocado, and radish slices and guacamole and deviled eggs 

We had a pleasant day. I started by watching Coventry v. Ipswich and then at 8:00 we drove to the Farmers’ Market where we bought croissants and a raisin roll.

When we returned home I watched Aston Villa best No. 1 Man City in a real upset.

Then around 11:30 we drove to El Super to buy a few more groceries. We bought green onions, plums, and tomatoes. Then I suggested that we split a green chili cheeseburger at Monte Carlo Steakhouse, which is two blocks from El Super on Central. Monte Carlo is a relic of past dining  in Albuquerque. It is probably the last surviving Greek Steakhouse which that’s dark atmosphere, Naugahyde booths, an open kitchen and next to the kitchen a full bar.

We ordered a green chili cheeseburger with fried onion rings and two Negra Modelos. The hamburger and onion rings was served in a plastic basket covered with a decorated sheet of paper with a pile of dill pickles, a slice of tomato, and a slice of onion on a pile of shredded lettuce. We would have preferred the more traditional leaf of lettuce.

The hamburger and the fried onion onion rings were wonderful, but when we put the pickles, tomato, and onion on the traditional white bread bun it began to disintegrate in our hand, which made it difficult to eat. We split the hamburger which was of sufficient size to share. We were surprised when the bill was delivered that every aspect of the hamburger, such as onion rings, the garnish, and green chili were à la carte, and our simple lunch was $29.11.

I asked for the TV to be turned to the TCU v. West Virginia game on the TV near our booth at the restaurant and that was done.

Even knowing everything is à la carte, we will probably go back for the ambiance.

We returned home and Suzette napped and I dozed in front of TV in our large comfortable rocker with my feet resting on the ottoman and watched a number of upsets among the top 10 college teams, starting with the West Virginia v. TCU game, which TCU lost because it was unable to score on its last drive.

Then Auburn upset No.1 Georgia and LSU beat No. 6 Alabama, then Texas beat No. 7 Ole Miss. 

Other upsets included:

Another wild weekend of college football action around the country is in the books, and we must now wait for the updated AP Top 25 rankings ahead of Week 9.

This week, we saw No. 2 BYU fall to unranked UCF in double-overtime, No. 8 Texas Tech lose to unranked CIncinnati, No. 11 Tennessee lost to unranked South Carolina on a last-second field goal, No. 15 Iowa lose to unranked Minnesota, and No. 16 USC get steamrolled by unranked Wisconsin.

From 2:30 until 5:30 I edited my Motion to the COA while Suzette prepared dinner. We had bought Dungeness crab claws at Costco on Thursday. We usually combine a meal of cold salad with eating and picking the crab claws, then Suzette makes crab broth, and we have a quantity of crab meat available for a crab soufflé and crab cake dinners and sometimes a crab salad. Tonight was no exception. Suzette sliced tomatoes, cucumber, avocado, and radishes and served them on a bed of lettuce. She made an anchovy guacamole and a dozen anchovy and herb flavored deviled eggs. Everything was wonderful and we drank Gruet Pinot Noir champagne with dinner.

It was an especially unusual experience to walk from editing a legal document at my desk to the dining table in the TV room filled with all the wonderful foods and glasses of champagne, because I usually am involved in preparing dinner, but I loved it.

After dinner we watched Texas beat Ole Miss, Bill Maher, and Have I got News for You and Father Brown and the second game of the World Series.

Then after Milwaukee won the game Suzette went to bed.

I stayed up to watch the last upset of the day, when Utah University beat Houston and New Mexico beat North Dakota State. New Mexico finally has a competitive football team.

I went to bed at midnight.

Bon Appetit