I drank a cup of hot chocolate and coffee for breakfast and watched the business news. The market did the same thing today; up at the open and then down for most of the day and then a small pullback at the close in Appl. It appears to be a pattern. Stock funds and private investors appear to buy on the open, which sends the price up. Then the smart money guys sell, which sends the price down and at the end of the day the smart money guys buy back in at a lower price and do it again the next day. It works until Appl announces earnings. Appl has dropped $6.00 in the last two days, so the smart guys appear to have made $7 to $8.00 per share. If you are trading in 100,000 share blocks that is $700,000 to $800,000.
I met Aaron for lunch at Amerasia. We selected a steamed dumpling stuffed with beef and water chestnut, a steamed dumpling with pork and ginger, a fried dumpling filled with a pork meatball and broth that we shared. Aaron took a bowl of rice with spicy pork and I took my usual bag su steamed bread filled with BBQ pork and red bean paste and a bowl of deep fried tofu in a wood ear and shitake mushroom broth.
Later Aaron brought over a bottle of Bogdan 2016 Demi-sec Sauvignon Blanc that we tasted that won a silver medal at a Paris wine competition. We did not care for it because it had a strong terroir flavor and was a little too sweet for our taste. We went to the cellar and found a 2010 Revendry Sancerre and opened it to compare a good French Sauvignon Blanc to the Bogdan. The 2010 Sancerre had lost most of its youthful fruitiness but still had the character, dryness, and elegant finish of a good Sancerre. We both preferred the Sancerre and decided we needed to try the Bogdan sec Sauvignon Blanc.
At 8:00 in the morning Suzette salted and peppered and braised the 3 lb. of chuck steak I bought at Smith’s for $2.99/lb. on Wednesday while I peeled and diced four or five onions, carrots and potatoes. We put the chuck roast into the crock pot with the three PPI ribs from our rib roast two weekends ago and ½ bottle of red wine and 8 cups of water to fill the crock to just below the level of the ingredients. We cooked the crock pot at a high temperature until it started boiling and then turned the heat setting down to low. At 4:00 I added two bay leaves, 1 T. Of dried marjoram leaves and ½ cup of finely minced fresh parsley.
I had invited Charlie and Susan for dinner at 5:45 and called Willy, who said he would come at 7:00. I steamed about twenty stalks of asparagus at 5:40. When the Palmers arrived I removed the three rib bones and the meat and cartilage fell off them, which was a good sign.
I opened a new bottle of 2015 Next Station Douro red wine from Trader Joe’s which was smoother than the previous Douro at Trader Joe’s and still the same price of $6.99. As you can see from the back label there are three grape varieties in this blend. A very successful blend.
We all enjoyed the dinner. Suzette arrived from work at 6:00 and joined us. Charlie and I took a bit more of the broth which was practically clear and had a delicious clean taste of meat and herbs.
We then left for our book club meeting at 6:30.
The book this month was “A Man Called Ove”, which everyone liked because it described an old Swedish Curmudgeon like our club members. At 71 I am the youngest member of the club.
I have rarely made pot roast before, so Suzette’s assistance was invaluable. I learned a new recipe and even think I improved it by adding herbs and red wine, which pushed it ever so slightly in the direction of Boeuf Bourguignon; a recipe I know well.
Bon Appetit
No comments:
Post a Comment