I heard last night that Apple had a good quarter and saw that it was trading up $3.80 in after hours trading, so I was excited to wake up to see if folks were buying it. By 8.00 it was up about $8.00, which is huge for my portfolio. As the day progressed it stayed above $8.00 until at the end of the session when it ended up $7.40. I decided at 8:30 to make a favorite omelet of onions, mushrooms, pork roast, spinach and cheese. I used Brie cheese that turns into a creamy liquid that gave the omelet a creamy texture in places. I toasted a piece of rye bread and spread Heidi’s raspberry ginger preserves on it.
I picked up Billy and Elaine at 11:00 and drove them to Birdland to talk to Jay. After about an hour visit we drove home and picked up Suzette and drove to Central Diner. Billy ordered Posole and Elaine ordered green chili stew, neither of which was very good. Suzette and I split fish and chips with cole slaw and sweet potato fries.
We then drove to the National Hispanic Cultural Center and saw the exhibits in the Art Museum. I liked the collages by Cynthia Cook and an artist whose last name is Kemm. I got in free at the NHCC because it was the first Wednesday of the month.
Then we drove to Albertson’s at Coors and Central to buy some specials. I receive weekly special brochures from four or five grocery chains every Tuesday for the Specials starting on Wednesday. Sprouts has a double special day on Wednesdays on which it features the specials from the prior week and the subsequent week. El Super features produce specials on Wednesday and other specials on Saturday and Sunday. I usually try to go shopping on a Wednesday at Sprouts and or El Super. But the brochure from Albertson’s this week was of particular interest because it had a special on Bone in ribeye steaks for $4.97/lb. Albertson’s sells USDA Choice meat, so it offers better meat at better prices than most other stores usually, but usually at $6.97 or $5.99/lb. Only once or twice a year will it offer ribeyes for $4.97/lb. Billy and Elaine were game to go because we had been talking about a menu for Saturday evening’s meal in Taos and they liked the idea of grilled steak. When we arrived at Albertson’s we first went to the produce department because 3 avocados for $1.00 had been featured. When we saw that the avocados were medium sized and ripe, we selected 6 for guacamole. We then found fresh cilantro on sale for $.50 a bunch, which is a good price at Albertson’s, which tends to mark up its produce.
We then went to the meat department, grabbing a bag of Tostitos corn chips and a gallon of milk on the way. When we got to the Butcher’s Block one of the attendants told us the butcher was on break and would return, so we went to the ice cream section that usually has specials because Albertson’s offers three or four major brands of ice cream and one or two of them are on special pricing usually. Today there were two featured for $2.99 for 1.5 quarts. Suzette and I agreed on a carton of Dryer’s chocolate Almond fudge.
We then returned to the meat department where I recognized the butcher returning from break because he had helped me before. I told him that we wanted an entire slab of ribeye steaks and could he show us a couple. While he disappeared into the back, we considered the thickness guide on the top of the counter. Billy wanted 1 ½ inch thick steaks and I wanted 1 ¼. We settled on 1 3/8 inch thick, which yielded fourteen beautifully thick steaks out of a little over fifteen lb. slab of steaks for a little more than $98.00. We had also discussed the pork tapa recipe for dinner and decided to look for pork tenderloins. Elaine or Billy found some reduced for quick sale with an expiration date of February 2, 2017 for $2.99. We bought two two packs for about 7.86 each. Elaine also bought some Cold Eze, since she is suffering from a mild cold. When we wheeled to the checkout counter we got another surprise. We were confronted by a sign that said, “seniors receive a 10% discount on the first Wednesday of the month”. I asked the checker, if that discount was on today, since today was February 1, and he said, “Yes.” So the specials all became 10% cheaper and my $134.00 ticket became $120.00.
We were all startled and thrilled. Billy was kind enough to contribute $50.00 to the cause. We loaded our five containers of steaks and bags of groceries and drove home down the long dramatic hill on Route 66 from Coors to the river, where we turned at Tingley beach and drove by the duck pond. I had driven this route from Westland home hundreds of times when I worked at its office at 409 Coors, but today in the warm winter sunshine the scene of the valley and city laid out with snow on the Sandias seemed particularly lovely and special, perhaps because I was sharing Billy and Elaine’s fresh impression of the majestic view.
We rested when we got home. I checked my gain in the market, which turned out to be the second best of the year and pushed my portfolio to a new all time high. So I was thrilled.
At 5:00 I turned on the Business news and Elaine and I worked together to make guacamole from the six avocados, which she halved, pitted, and scooped the fruit from their skins, while I finely chopped 1/3 of an onion, three cloves of garlic and added to the avocados. I then halved and squeezed the juice of three lines into the bowl and shook about 1/2 T. of Cholula hot sauce into the guacamole and finally adde about a tsp. of salt to bring out the flavors. We sat and nibbled guacamole with corn chips for a few minutes and then started dinner. Elaine and Suzette made scalloped potatoes with he last five or six potatoes, milk, cream, butter and cheese. When he baking dish was put into the oven. We turned our attention to the roasted pork tapa. Elaine thinly sliced two onion while I thinly sliced two Granny Smith apples and fetched the large copper clad sauté pan. Suzette fetched the other copper clad pan because we were essentially doubling the recipe to feed 7 people. I the opened a two pack of pork tenders and butchered 14 pieces of tenderloin and bagged the remaining small end of the smaller pork tender. Charlie and a Susan arrived with dessert, an apple frangipane tart from Whole Foods with a pint of Tahitian Vanilla gelato and sinner after Willy arrived. Billy opened the lovely bottle of 2008 La Rioja Alta gran Reserva Cosecha, ranked 96 points by Parker. We poured small tastes of the wine and I was able to detect that same nectar of the gods sweetness I had detected in the Londer 2009 Ferrington Ranch Anderson Valley Pinot Noir that I experienced at our Boeuf Bourguignon dinner with Ricardo and Cynthia on Jan. 21. Am I finally getting the ability to taste great wine? Am I irretrievably ruined for bad wine? This weekend at the Winter wine festival perhaps we shall see.
I went to the garden and picked a handful of still green sprigs of fresh oregano and washed them.
After sautéing the apples and then the onions in butter and Spanish olive oil, Suzette laid oregano sprigs on them and then laid the lightly seeded pork entrecôte on the oregano and roasted them in a 250 degree oven for about twenty minutes. Then she added 1/3 cup of chicken stock made from dehydrated Knorr dried stock and a dash or two of Armagnac and a stir to mix the ingredients and we were ready to eat.
While the pork was roasting Elaine had cut green beans in half and Suzette had blanched them in boiling water and toasted slivered almonds in a pan with a little butter and then added and tossed the green beans with the toasted almond slivers.
Charlie, Billy and I retired to the living room to talk and sip the wine while Suzette and Elaine orchestrated the final prep.
Suzette put the tapa on a large ceramic charger, the green beans in a serving dish and the potatoes on a trivet on the dining room table that had been set with our new anodized stainless steel silverware and prior year’s winter wine festival wine glasses and called us to the table.
The table seated 7 easily. I poured small pours of wine for each person and we enjoyed a lovely dinner. I introduced the meal by saying that the menu was suggested by Charlie last Sunday when he commented on how much he liked the pork with apples and onions dish and the wine was provided by Billy and Elaine when they gave me the beautiful bottle of 2008 La Rioja Alta for my 70th birthday last July.
I loved the meal, especially the fresh oregano cooked into the dish and the green beans tossed with the toasted almond slivers. The green beans were especially wonderful because they were tender and yet firm from not being over blanched and so they shared the same crunchiness as the toasted almonds.
After our entrée a Suzette asked if anyone wanted to drink a cup of chocolate with dessert and we all said, “Yes.”, so she read the ingredients in the two bags of chocolate drink from Kakawa Chocolate House in Santa Fe and we all agreed on the citrus one with orange and cinnamon. So Susan and I plated the Apple Frangipane tart while Suzette heated the chocolate drink with milk in a sauce pan. Susan then fetched the gelato and we returned to the dining room table and ate apple tart with vanilla gelato and small glasses of chocolate topped with a dab of whipped cream for those who wanted it.
At 9:30ish we said goodnight after a lovely evening and a lovely day.
Bon Appetit
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