February 19, 2026 Breakfast - Bagel,  Lunch - Vinaigrette Dinner - Sautéed Salmon, green beans, and roasted vegetables

Today besides going to Smith’s to reprovidion, I rested and watched the Olympics today. The big American win came in Women’s hockey when the US women beat Canada to win the gold metal.

I went to Smith’s at 10:30. We needed milk, but after I fetched that I wanted to buy salmon and dill for Gravad lax. I bought almost four pounds so there would be enough for dinner. I also bought a lb. of sea scallops for $12.00 on the way to the butcher shop. I also noticed that the pork sirloin chops looked great and when I got to the front of the store I discovered whole logs of pork sirloin were $2.99/lb. and a second one was free. I found two of similar size.

I noticed that my new favorite bagel, Wonderbread, was a digital special for $1.99 for six, so I bought a package. Medium avocados were on sale for $1.00 each, so I bought three. I also bought a baguette and several shallots, a large bag of green beans for $1.25, and a discounted package of hickory smoked bacon.

I had mentioned lunch to Willy in the morning , so after I shopped I called him and he recommended we eat at Vinaigrette, which is in the same complex on Central where he works.

Willy ordered a kale and avocado salad and I ordered a bowl of gumbo and we ordered a basket of Foccacia.

The kale salad is Willy’s favorite but it is huge and he could only eat half.

I loved the gumbo with lots of shrimp, andouille sausage, okra, and chicken, plus a warm soup was a perfect lunch on a cold snowy day such as today.

After lunch I went home and watched the Olympics and rested.

At 4:00 when Suzette came home we examined the salmon and cut two fillets for a 4 x 6 Pyrex dish, which left about a lb. of fillets for dinner.

I peeled and cubed the last seven potatoes, three carrot, an onion, and the two Brussels sprouts and Suzette tossed them with olive oil and roasted them in the oven.

We snapped the huge quantity of green beans and Suzette blanched them in water in the oven with the vegetables.

We then made a sauce with brown sugar, allegory chili, nd olive oil that we put in about 1/4 of the green beans and steamed them in the steamer oven.

Finally, Suzette sautéed the salmon fillets, while I made a tartare sauce with Mayo, lemon juice, horseradish, and pickle relish.

Will arrived at 7:00 as Suzette was cooking them in the salmon.

We poured the remaining 1/2 bottle of Vara Viura white wine and ate a great dinner.

The green beans tasted almost the same as those we ate last evening at Rustic Restaurant in Hobby Airport in Houston.

After dinner watched Olympics and a new episode of Midsomer Murders.

Bon Appetit

February 17, 2026 Breakfast - Lobster omelet on Toasted Bagel, Snack - Bao Sa in San Pancho. Late Lunch - Ham and cheese and Avocado Sandwich. Dinner - Fresh Spinach Fettuccine with ham and cheese garlic cream sauce

 February 17, 2026 Breakfast - Lobster omelet on Toasted Bagel, Snack - Bao Sa in San Pancho. Late Lunch - Ham and cheese and Avocado Sandwich. Dinner - Fresh Spinach Fettuccine with ham and cheese garlic cream sauce

I overate today, which often happens the day before we leave for a vacation.

I slept until 9:00 and then Suzette made  a wonderful breakfast of a Lobster omelet on Toasted Bagel with blueberries. A super wonderful egg sandwich.

We then drove to San Pancho, the next bay up the coast to their farmer’s market. We parked and walked a long way to get to the market, which helped me accumulate 5500 steps today.

When we arrived at the market we saw lots of interesting things, but since we were leaving tomorrow morning we only bought a lb. of fresh spinach fettuccine for dinner.

There was a juice purveyor from whom we bought a bottle of fresh squeezed orange juice for 95 pesos or $5.40.

Then I saw the dumpling guys and bought a steamed bun filled with Pork BBQ for 100 pesos or $5.83.  I liked it as much as the one I ate Friday at the Sayulita Farmers’ Market. I ate while Suzette shopped.

We then walked back to the car. On the way we passed several shops offering women’s clothing. At one Suzette found a green dress identical to a white one she has and we bought it.

When we arrived at the car we drove back to Sayulita, but instead of going to Bali Ville we turned and drove to Los Muertos beach that is slightly more secluded and less crowded than the main beach at Sayulita. We paid for parking and paid to sit at a table on the beach and bought a Negra Modelo beer for Suzette and a Coke for me and sat and enjoyed the beach for an hour.

We then returned to Villa Bali at 3:30 and read and I ate the ham and cheese and avocado sandwich left from our trip to Cara Coral beach three days ago and we shared a Negra Modelo and the last few corn chips in a bag of chips.

Then I rested until 6:30. Linda had a bad reaction to the lobster we grilled last night and was not hungry and TR was not around so we cooked dinner on our own tonight.

I minced 1/3 onion, four cloves of garlic, three slices of provolone, and our last slice of cooked ham. I also grated 1/2 of the ball of smoked Gouda or Parmesan.  Suzette boiled most of the fettuccine and made a roux and a cream sauce and sautéed the onion and garlic and then made a garlic cream sauce to which she added the ham and most of the cheese to make a thick cheese sauce that she loosened with several T. of pasta water.

                                               The sauce and the fettuccine cooking

                       The fettuccine tossed in the sauce and garnished with grated cheese

                                                   Grated Smoked Gouda Cheese

She then drained the pasta and poured hot water over it to loosen it and then put it back in its pot and mixed in the garlic cream cheese sauce.

We each ate also a bowl of the delicious cheesy fettuccine until we were full, with lots left.

We washed dishes with water heated in the microwave because TR said propane gas deliveries were delayed and packed and then we listened to about six or seven people sing Pancho and Lefty by Townes Van Zandt and then Suzette went sleep and I blogged and read until 10:30.

We decided that now that Mexico is relatively more expensive with the dollar devalued 30% against the peso, that it is just too dirty and the food is not very good to merit living here.

We had two good meals on this trip, the first dinner at D’

Bon Appetit

February 16, 2026 Breakfast - Toasted Bolillo with Pineapple Preserves and smoked Gouda cheese, Lunch - Restaurant Camino, Dinner - Grilled Lobster, Fried Shrimp, cauliflower risotto, and steamed peas and carrots.

February 16, 2026 Breakfast - Toasted Bolillo with Pineapple Preserves and smoked Gouda cheese, Lunch - Restaurant Camino,  Dinner - Grilled Lobster, Fried Shrimp, cauliflower risotto, and steamed peas and carrots.

Today I had an appointment in PV with Doctor Patty, a famous dermatologist among the ex-Pat community at noon.

After I ate a toasted buttered Bolillo spread with pineapple preserves we left Sayulita at 9:30 and drove to Costco, arriving around 10:30. Suzette was shopping for bathing suits to sell at the spa and I was not really looking for anything, but picked up several interesting items. We bought a bottle of Mexican Cetto wine, a 1.75 L. bottle of Bacardi rum for TR and Linda, a bottle of Kahlua to take back to NM, and a bag of pistachios for Linda and TR.

We then went to my new dermatologist exam at noon and after that drove back to the jungle road on the new auto cuota road through the country side around PV and Bucerias for $14.27.

When we arrived at Sayulita around 2:30 we parked near the north beach and walked to the Restaurant Camion and sat at a table in front of a big screen TV that was showing the Olympics.  

Suzette ordered tuna tacos and I ordered a Camion burger with bacon, cheese, peppers, tomato, and a medium rare hamburger and a pile of French Fries.

There was very little tuna in Suzette’s tuna tacos, but my hamburger was a good big one on a toasted bun.

We watched the US women win Gold and Bronze in the mono bobsled and several of the pairs free skating. The Japanese couple was fantastic and should win, but we left before the competition ended.

We tried to park downtown but were unsuccessful so we drove back to Villa Bali and rested until 6:30 when we went to the kitchen. Linda had thawed the lobsters and I cut each of them in half. 

Suzette put tabs of butter inside each tail and I squeezed lime juice on them and we then grilled them in the propane grill. We also melted butter and lime juice in the microwave to make a dipping sauce for the lobster. 

While the lobster cooked Linda heated cauliflower risotto and steamed carrots and peas and fried shrimp dipped in flour, then egg and milk, and finally panko.

We fetched the El Cetto white we bought at Costco and the half bottle of 

Bolla Sauvignon Blanc and we had a great dinner. TR drank beer.

I served everyone a lobster tail and we passed the vegetables.

After dinner I picked about 1 cup of lobster from the claws of the four lobster halves left.

At 9:30 we retired to the casita and drank glasses of Rompope and ate the last bit of creme caramel.

Another interest day in Mexico.

Bon Appetit

 

February 18, 2026 Breakfast - Yogurt and Granola and Palmiers with coffee. Snack - Pistachios Dinner - Rustic at Hobby Airport in Houston

February 18, 2026 Breakfast - Yogurt and Granola and Palmiers with coffee. Snack - Pistachios Dinner - Rustic at Hobby Airport in Houston

We woke up at 7:00 and got dressed and then I heated the palmiers I had bought in the romantic Zone in PV and Suzette made coffee. Then Suzette added the leftover blueberries to the Lala peach yogurt.i added some granola and ate a hearty breakfast.

We talked with TR and Linda until 10:00, when we drove to the airport and returned the rental car.

We waited until 1:30 to fly to Houston Hobby snacking on pistachio nuts and Coke.  We arrived early at 3:20.

After we cleared customs around 4:30 we walked to the Rustic Restaurant, a field to table, Texas Cuisine new addition to the Airport’s dining options.

We were seated so I had a clear view of the bank of three TV sets showing sports news. One of them was showing the quarterfinal men’s hockey match between USA and Sweden. It was the beginning of overtime and each team was skating three plus a goalie.

In about five minutes the US scored the winning goal. It was very exciting. The four teams advancing are the US, Canada, Finland, and Slovakia.

I am thrilled to be back in the US and able to watch more of the Olympics.

Suzette ordered a Modelo Especial and I ordered a Texas dark beer.

We each ordered an appetizer. Suzette ordered boar meatballs served with a chili jelly and I ordered Texas Tamales and Brisket garnished with a chipotle cream sauce. Both dishes were spicy. We liked both dishes. I thought the Texas tamales was an interesting creation even though it was brisket garnished with sauce on a wedge of masa rich corn bread resting on a wedge of corn husk instead of a real tamale.

After dinner around 5:30 we walked to the gate to wait for our flight to Albuquerque at 8:50.

We stopped to buy a Milka milk chocolate bar and Suzette bought a cup of almond flavored vanilla and a scoop of coffee ice cream. Both helped to salve the burning picante taste still in our mouth.

We then waited for our flight home to sleep in our bed for the first time in nine days.

Bon Appetit