May 16, 2018 Lunch – Sautéed Smoked Pork Chop and Fried eggs. Dinner – Roasted Root Vegetables, Salad, and Grilled Hamburger

May 16, 2018  Lunch – Sautéed Smoked Pork Chop and Fried eggs. Dinner – Roasted Root Vegetables, Salad, and  Grilled Hamburger

I ate my normal breakfast of granola, milk, yogurt, and blueberries.

Then I rode to Rio Bravo at 7:30
I worked until 12:30 and made a quick lunch by sautéing a Smoked Pork Chop and frying two eggs in the same skillet.  The lunch was delicious.

I checked the food chart I was given yesterday and decided to roast a baking dish full of acceptable vegetables.  I peeled and diced carrots, onions, beets, garlic, and Brussels sprouts.

After a 30 minute nap at 5:50 I drove to meditation.

When I returned at 7:15 the vegetables were roasting in the oven doused with olive oil and covered with aluminum foil.  I called Suzette, who told me that she and Willy were with an architect inspecting the apartment at 524 Romero.

I decided to cut some roses and make a salad to go with the and vegetables.  I cut all the dead heads off the bushes in the back yard and then cut five or six fresh blooms and put them in water.

I then picked a basket of lettuce, which I washed, spun, and put in a bowl.  Suzette and Willy arrived as I was slicing two tomatoes and ½ cucumber.  Suzette suggested an avocado and and a mango, which I added, plus crumbled blue cheese.

I cut three slices of the new raw milk blue cheese I found at Trader Joe’s last week.  It is milder than most and very creamy.

Suzette selected the 2016 Bila-Haut, a Appellation Cotes Du Roussillon Villages Controlee produced by Michel Chapoutier that Mike gave us.  Here are some tasting notes.
Wine Advocate 89-91
"An inky colored effort, the 2016 Côtes du Roussillon Villages Les Vignes de Bila Haut offers a beautiful freshness and purity as well as fabulous notes of jammy blackberries, violets, pepper and hints of leather. Rich, concentrated and tasting like it costs four times the price, drink it over the coming 4-5 years."~J.D.

Winemaker Notes
Deep garnet red in color, this blend of Syrah, Grenache and Carignan offers aromas of black cherry. On the palate, the wine is fleshy and well-structured -- a nice expression of the terroir in the Roussillon area.

I did not ask him what he paid but probably under $15.00.  It is a lovely wine and worth drinking if you have a chance.  It is high in alcohol at around 14.5% and has a mulberry flavor according to Suzette. I’m found it incredibly drinkable.

We enjoyed our dinner and talked a lot about the remodel. I enjoyed my new diet without carbs or dessert.  Of course we had a pretty pleasant transition with a three dish meal with a bit of blue cheese at the end with the last sip of red wine.

Also the market started down at the beginning, but ended up nicely by the end of trading.

Bon App