Today was a good example of how hard Suzette is driving herself on the kitchen re-model.
We woke at 6:15 and I rode to Montano and back in 50 minutes and Suzette walked for 30 minutes. Then we showered and dressed and drove to Arizona Tile to select the black Soapstone for our kitchen counters. Here is the slab of stone:
Then we drove to Sherwin Williams at 1st and Lomas to order the paint we had selected to paint some of the walls, ceiling, and cabinets.
When we drove home around 10:00, I was hungry and decided to make Huevos Locos. Huevos Locos is the name that Garcia's gives to the Mexican dish that I think they call, Huevos Rancheros or Machaca, when it uses beef jerky or day old roast beef, which is eggs cooked with fresh tomatoes, onions, jalapeños, and the beef. It is one of my favorite breakfast dishes in Mexico. At Garcia's it is made with a choice of roast beef or ham.
Today I filled my wok, which I intended to use to cook with one chopped Roma tomato, about ¼ red onion I had in a bag in the fridge, one portobello mushroom sliced, a dash of mint, and one smoked pork cutlet. I lit the Cajun Cooker and placed the wok on it and sautéed the ingredients with 1 Tbsp. of butter and 1 ½ Tbsp. of olive oil for a minute or two until the ingredients softened and began to take on color. I then added 3 eggs and chopped five or six leaves of Epazote from the garden and stirred the eggs and ingredients until they combined into one mass. I the added about 2 Tbsp. of Mexican lime flavored red sauce (Ranch Market) and cooked the mixture until the eggs were firm enough to form soft mounds and ceased to be runny. I then removed the wok from the cooker and split the eggs between even 2 plates and toasted slices of Fano baguette and fetched the Rose’s Lime Marmalade and called Suzette to breakfast. We ate and then Suzette and I went to work.
We had received an invitation from Cynthia to join her for dinner at her house, which we gladly accepted. The main dish was Pasta alla Puttanesca that she had made the night she invited us, so it was a PPI tonight. Here is the Wikipedia description: Spaghetti alla puttanesca is a tangy, somewhat salty Italian pasta dish invented in the mid-20th century. The ingredients are typical of Southern Italian cuisine: tomatoes, olive oil, olives, capers and garlic. Wikipedia
Here is what Cynthia's rendering of the dish looks like:
I selected a new bottle I bought at Total Wine last week, a 2014 Conte Priola Pinot Grigio Rose and chilled it in the freezer at 5:00. We had to wait for the dry wall crew to arrive before we could leave. They came around 5:30 and after Suzette discussed finish issues with them, we drove to Cynthia’s at 6:00. I poured us glasses of wine and Cynthia laid a table of antipastos on her patio. The antipastos included slices of salami, a wedge of truffled cheese, mixed black, green and kalamata olives, slices of fresh bread and crackers and a lovely plate of Caprese salad.
When Suzette said I was restricted from eating salted meats and olives due to an increase in potassium, Cynthia looked at me and said, “Hummus and vegetable sticks for you next time, buddy!” I thanked her and ate another slice of salami on a slice of bread garnished with a slice of the semi-soft cheese.
After we finished the Rose, which was surprisingly light and delicate and worth buying again, Cynthia went to her kitchen and heated up bowls of spaghetti alla puttanesca and served them with grated Parmesan cheese and a bottle of Alero Tempranillo/Grenache blend Spanish red wine. The puttanesca contained all the ingredients described above plus a seafood medley of shrimps, calamari, octopus, and scallops and chopped fresh tomatoes in the red sauce. I liked it a lot.
After we finished our pasta we sat and talked and then Cynthia fetched two containers of gelato, one of vanilla and the other a pistachio with candied fruits and nuts in it that remained me of Spumoni plus the box of my favorite Belgium almond butter cookies and scooped small scoops of gelato into small ramekins and garnished them with a couple of butter cookies. The pistachio gelato was Cynthia’s favorite and I agreed that it was wonderful.
The Mosquitos were beginning to bite at around 8:15 and I suggested we go sit in the living room. We continued to talk until about 9:00 when everyone began to get tired and we went home.
When we arrived home the dry wall crew was finishing and we inspected their work. They had unified the empty spaces left by the contractors when the installed the ceiling to add the structural support beams and the demolished walls into a unified whole that matched the specs for the finished kitchen walls and ceiling. The kitchen is taking shape. As they finished, the leader of the three man crew said, “We just need to sand now, which I think they will do on Friday, August 21st. Then we will paint next. These guys are amazing workers. They all have day jobs, then at 5:00, when they finish their day job they come to our house, crank up the Mexican music station and sing and work until 9:00. It seems to me that they exemplify the spirit of hard work and the desire to get ahead and build a life for their family that Is at the core of our American cultural ethos.
Bon Appetit
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