February 28, 2019 Lunch – Range Café, Bernalillo and Book Club Meeting

February 28, 2019  Lunch – Range Café, Bernalillo and Book Club Meeting

I woke at 7:00 and was immediately Suzette shunted me into the back bedroom for yoga.  It was hard today for some reason which became apparent later in the afternoon.

I rode with Charlie and Ron to the Book Club meeting lunch at the Range in Bernalillo at 11:30.  I tried yo order something simple, black bean soup with bacon and ham. It may have been bad because after we drove to Jack’s house for the meeting I began to shiver and feel bad.

I loved this month’s read, Goodbye to a River by John Graves from Fort Worth about canoeing the Brazos River from Possum Kingdom Dam to near Lake Whitney.  I used to canoe with the Boy Scouts along this same stretch of river and loved its wildness.

After the meeting Jack served a dessert of Texas sheet cake, which I remember being served for lunch in elementary school.

It was a wonderful meeting full of great memories.

After the meeting around 4:25 we drove back home and I put on my pajamas and lay in bed.

I passed on diner but Suzette gave me a Tylenol and later I sucked on a sugar pill to get some nourishment.

We went to bed a little after 9:00.

Bon Appetit

February 27, 2019 Lunch – Padilla’s. Dinner – PPI Pork and Sauerkraut with Mashed Pumpkin and Potatoes

February 27, 2019 Lunch – Padilla’s. Dinner – PPI Pork and Sauerkraut with Mashed Pumpkin and Potatoes

I ate granola, fruit salad, and yogurt for breakfast.

I met with Tom Crow about some future investment ideas at 10:00.

After we finished at 11:30 I drove to Padilla’s and ordered a Chile Relleno plate.  The prices have been raised slightly, about $.35 for the Chile Relleno Plate, so negligibly.

I enjoyed my lunch and ate most of it.  I asked for sopapillas to be served after my meal, so they were super hot. I filled them with a bit of honey/syrup.  Fluffy fried dough with honey.  What could be better?

I receive weekly flyers, usually on Tuesday from the five major local supermarket companies.  Today was the beginning of Smith’s $.88/lb. asparagus special.  I went and bought two bunches for $1.81.

Suzette wanted blueberries and recalled that Sprouts had 6 oz. plastic containers on sale for $1.50 each, so drove to Sprouts and bought three plus a lb. of fresh rock fish, broccoli crowns for $.98/lb., raw almonds for 3.99/ lb., 3 avocados for $1.00, green onions, cilantro, yogurt, vanilla ice cream, and tofu.

I drove home talked to Johal for an hour and then rode three miles.  It was sunshine and 62 degrees at 4:00 when I rode.

I watched the news when I returned riveted on the public testimony by Micheal Cohen and then went to meditate from 6:00 until almost 7:00.

When I returned home Suzette was heating the PPI Pork and Sauerkraut and boiling a large pot of potatoes and pumpkin meat.
After the potatoes and pumpkin were cooked Suzette mashed them with some cream and plated pasta bowls simply with a pile of mash covered with spoonfuls of pork and sauerkraut.

We drank beers with dinner.

After some more news, we went to bed.

Bon Appetit

February 26, 2018 Lunch – East Ocean. Dinner – Spaghetti with Bolognese Spaghetti Sauce with Caesar Salad

February 26, 2018 Lunch – East Ocean. Dinner – Spaghetti with Bolognese Spaghetti Sauce with Caesar Salad

Today the healthy living manifested itself by an absence of any breakfast, a light lunch and a semi-healthy dinner.

  I met Mike Verhagen at East Ocean at 11:30 and we ordered what has become one of my favorite lunches: Deep Fried Tofu with mixed vegetables and Manila clams in Szechwan Sauce and rice. There are two reasons why it is a favorite.  First, both dishes are delicious and the portions bountiful because we order dinner sized portions from the dinner menu.  Second, the prices are good, given the quantities. Both dishes total less than $18.00 before tax and tip.  The clams are the largest serving of clams I have found in Albuquerque for any price.  Also, I love the fried tofu with ten different vegetables; broccoli, snow peas, carrots, onions, bok Choy, baby corn, mushrooms, bamboo shoots, sliced  water chestnuts, and celery.

Here are pictures.

We drank tea with lunch.

After lunch I went home and worked until 4:40.  By 5:30 Suzette had arrived, so we started cooking.  I added tomato sauce  and some Clamato to the Bolognese sauce to turn it into a more liquified sauce. I then walked to the garden and picked a small handful of fresh oregano and chopped and added it to the sauce.

I then made a Caesar Salad.  I diced two heads of romaine from Costco which sells six heads in a plastic container for $3.99 and put in our large teak salad bowl.  I then sliced two types of cheese with a cheese slicer, an Italian Paradise and Pecorino-Romano, both from Costco and AOC designated.

I diced the last portion of a loaf of French baguette from Pastian’s Bakery and threw the pieces in a freezer bag that Suzette seasoned with olive oil, and salt and shuck to coat the bread pieces.  She then laid the bread pieces on a cookie sheet and baked them for ten minutes in the oven, probably at 400 degrees on the oven’s super convection setting to toast them to a golden brown.

I then made a dressing with two eggs, olive oil, and lemon juice.  It broke so I added another egg and it broke again.  If I had mixed the olive oil and lemon juice first and then added the whipped eggs, it may not have broken (i.e. stayed thick and creamy).  I chopped four or five anchovies filets and added them to the dressing.

Mike arrived at 6:30 with a stellar bottle of 2015 Amarone Della Valpolicell, Famiglia Castanegdi. It had a rich licorice aroma to me.  Mike said that good amarone is made by letting the grapes dry to raisins and then processing them into wine which gives the wine its distinctive flavor profile.  Here are the vineyard’s notes on this wine:
Production Area

Municipality of Mezzane di Sotto - Monti Garbi District (Verona)
GRAPES
Corvina and Corvinone 70% - Rondinella 20% - Croatina 5% - Oseleta 5%
FLAVOUR
Well balanced, with fat tannins, soft, warm, savoury, elegant, fine and fresh.
AROMA
Ripe red fruit, spicy aromas of liquorice, black pepper and hints of chocolate
The price at the vineyard is 31.90 euros, which makes the $57.00 Mike paid at Jubilation seem reasonable.  A very special wine, deep and rich flavors without any sweetness, just layer after layer of tannin richness.

Suzette boiled about 2/3 lb. of Italian spaghetti and served dishes of spaghetti covered by Bolognese sauce.

I tossed the salad with the dressing and a Suzette added croutons and we each served ourselves salad and I lay three anchovies on each salad.

Even though Suzette and I had eaten some PPI artichoke before the meal, this was a relatively light
dinner, just salad and spaghetti.

After the meal I opened a bottle of grappa de Brunello I had recently bought at Total Wine for $35.00 and served pieces of dark chocolate with it.

We watched Discovering your Roots after dinner.  This week featured the family histories of Micheal Moore, Laura Linney, and Chloe Sevigny.

The most interesting fact was that Micheal Moore’s first relative arrived in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1630 as a prisoner of war from the Scottish Rebellion against England transported to the U.S. and sold into slavery by the British.  He also had several generations of Quakers who were war resisters in the 1700’s.  His family history seems to explain in part his pugnacious nature.

Mike left at 9:15 when Suzette went to bed and I followed her shortly thereafter.

Bon Appetit

February 24, 2019. Brunch – PPI Vietnamese Miso Noodle Soup Dinner – Steamed Salmon with broccoli, cauliflower, and green pea Couscous.

February 24, 2019. Brunch – PPI Vietnamese Miso Noodle Soup  Dinner – Steamed Salmon with broccoli, cauliflower, and green pea Couscous.

I woke at 6:30 and switched between the soccer match between Man U and Liverpool and news programs until 10:00 when I heated and ate the PPI Vietnamese Miso Noodle Soup.

I watched marathon showings of American Pickers and Fixer Upper with Suzette.

I ate a piece of toasted whole wheat bread smeared with peanut butter and reduced sugar boysenberry preserves we bought at Costco yesterday with a cup of chai at 2:00.

The project for the day was defrosting the freezer in the garage, which took four or five hours to fully defrost because we went at in two waves.  When we finally got everything out of the freezer we found some stuff that had been in it eight years, so we threw some stuff out.

Suzette went shopping between the waves and bought a padded mattress cover. I have been having trouble sleeping because the feather bed has been bunching up in the middle of the bed and pushing against my body in an uncomfortable way.

We made the bed with the new pad and clean sheets.  The bed is a little firmer but there is no bunching.  We shall see if this is the answer in the next few nights.

We decided to steam the 1 ½ lb. salmon filet we bought yesterday at Sprouts in our new steamer oven.  Suzette cut the filet into three equal portions and sliced a lemon into six slices and lay the six lemon slices on the steam tray and then the salmon and steamed them for twenty minutes.  She then finely diced some cauliflower and broccoli in the Cuisinart and then sautéed it in a skillet with green peas in butter and olive oil to make a vegetable Couscous.

I chilled a bottle of Albariño I bought at Trader Joe’s for $7.99 I think.  It was delicious, especially with the very light Mediterranean dinner.

We watched the Oscars.  I really liked the production this year and loved the international and diverse flavor of the nominees and winners as well as the stylishness and elegance of the program.  The LA Symphony played, for the memorial section, for example.  There was no MC and no bad jokes.

Suzette and I ate ice cream a little later.

We went to bed after the Oscars ended and I spoke to Billy.

Bon Appetit

February 23, 2019 Lunch – Bacon and Eggs. Dinner – Pork and Sauerkraut, Mashed Potatoes, and Asparagus

I watched soccer this morning. Amazingly, Burnley beat Tottenham and Crystal Palace beat Liescester.

Willy came over at 10:30 and Suzette cooked us breakfast of cottage fries, eggs and bacon.

When the match ended a bit after 12:30 Suzette and I went shopping.  Suzette went Goodwill looking for a dresser but there was none.  We then went to Donut Mart where I picked up five bagels and some cream cheese and then Sprouts were we bought Artichokes, salmon, and milk.

Finally we went to Costco where we bought lemons, fresh mozzarella cheese, potatoes, a pork loin, Sauerkraut, spinach. Romaine lettuce, heavy cream, and dishwasher capsules.

When we returned home I butchered the pork loin by removing the layer of silver skin and cut 4 chunks for pork and sauerkraut and the rest into steaks that Suzette wrapped in Saran and froze.

We filled the bottom of the large Le Creuset casserole with four chunks of pork and Suzette covered the pork with the 24 oz. of Sauerkraut  and put it into a 400 degree oven for few mMinutes and then turned down the heat to 250 and we lay down to nap.

Suzette awakened me at 4:30.  I showered and shaved and dressed for the symphony.and we drove to Popejoy Hall at 5:20.  The program this evening was exciting there were three compositions , a Georg Eneusu movement, Olga Kern playing Rachmaninoff’s Third Piano Concerto and a world premier of a new symphony by a 25 year old Albuquerque composer who attended Albuquerque Academy, named Colin Martin.

I loved the Eneusu and the Martin Symphony No. 1.  The Martin Symphony was laden with percussive elements, but we both liked the third movement, which did not contain any sharp percussive elements. Unfortunately, the alarm at our house went off just before intermission and we left before Kern’s performance of the Rachmaninoff concerto.

There was nothing amiss at home and the pork and Sauekraut was cooked.  Suzette made mashed potatoes and I snapped and steamed 16 stacks of asparagus.  The asparagus are the best of the year and only about $1.50/lb. this week.  I bought these at El Super on Thursday.

I also fetched two bottles of XX beer we bought at Costco today.

Soon Suzette completed the mashed potatoes and assembled the plates with a pile of mashed potatoes, then spoonfuls of pork and sauerkraut and balanced on top several steamed stalks of asparagus.

I loved dinner.  It is one of my favorite German cuisine recipes for three reasons. It tastes great.  The slightly tangy vinegary flavor that permeates the pork Is wonderful.  Secondly, it is the easiest dish I have ever made.  You cover the fresh pork loin with sauerkraut and bake in the oven at a low heat for four or five hours.  That’s the entire recipe. Finally, it is healthy food. According to Suzette, the fermented sauerkraut is good for you.

I loved dinner.  We watched Death in Paradise and went to bed at 9:00.

As we shop to replenish our larder, we are starting to cook simple meals with ingredients that will create flexible PPIs.   Yesterday, a simple spaghetti sauce with meatballs and mushrooms.  Today, pork and sauerkraut.  The pork can be used in lots of ways.

Bon Appetit

February 21, 2019 Lunch – Powdrell’s BBQ. Dinner – Bobby Flay Chicken with lemon flavored sautéed zucchini

February 21, 2019 Lunch – Powdrell’s BBQ. Dinner – Bobby Flay Chicken with lemon flavored sautéed zucchini

At 1:00 I went to lunch at Powdrell’s BBQ with Roger.  I ate BBQ chicken, collard greens, and beans.  Roger ate a chipped beef sandwich.
Powdrell’s smoked chicken with greens and beans and a corn Johnny cake is my favorite BBQ meal in Albuquerque.

I had a busy day of work but at 5:00 I drove to El Super to refill the larder. I bought mangos, a pineapple, sweet limes, cilantro, parsley, radishes, zucchini, green beans, four chicken quarters, 2 ½ lb. of ground chuck, yogurt, 3 small avocados, and bananas.

I took the groceries home, mentioned Bobby Flay chicken, and then went to meditate at 6:15.

When I returned home Suzette was cooking the chicken.  Bobby Flay Chicken combines two cooking methods, first sautéing the chicken pieces on top of the stove weighted with a skillet filled with water and then baked in the oven.


When I returned home at 7:30 I sliced two zucchini, 2 oz. of red onion, and Suzette sautéed the vegetables in olive oil with some oregano.and a final squeeze of lemon juice.

We found the chicken tough and decided to stew it and use the meat as filling for poblano Chile rellenos.

We were tired and went to bed at 9:00.

Bon Appetit

February 22, 2019 Lunch – Vietnamese Miso Noodle Soup. Dinner – Spaghetti with Mushroom and Meat Spaghetti Sauce

February 22, 2019 Lunch – Vietnamese Miso Noodle Soup. Dinner – Spaghetti with Mushroom and Meat Spaghetti Sauce

 I did not eat anything for breakfast.

At 11:30 I made a Vietnamese miso noodle soup with three kinds of noodles, chicken meat, dehydrated chicken stock, red miso, bok Choy, red onion, chicken mini-dumplings, pho seasoning, and medium tofu.

I seasoned the soup with fresh cilantro, hoisin and shiracha.

I started stewing the tough chicken from last night’s meal with tomato and onion covered with water and later added oregano and avocado leaves for the stuffing for  chile rellenos next week.

At 4:00 I started making the Bolognese sauce.  I clumped the chuck ground meat into small balls and sautéed them.  I then removed the meat and drained off the fat.  I then sautéed two diced onions in olive oil and then added ten cloves of diced garlic, five diced mushrooms, and ¼ orange bell pepper diced.  After those ingredients softened we returned the meatballs.  I then added three diced Roma tomatoes.  Suzette took over at 5:00 and added red wine, chicken stock, and 1 cup of tomato sauce.

I went to the bank at 5:15 and returned at 6:00.

Suzette decided to make spaghetti for dinner.  At 6:30 we ate dinner, a lovely combination of Bolognese and spaghetti.

We ate moose tracks chocolate ice cream with rum for dessert later.

Bon Appetit

February 20, 2019 From Sayulita back to Albuquerque Lunch – Moka Café

February 20, 2019 From Sayulita back to Albuquerque Lunch – Moka Café

We have travel to and from Sayulita down pat.  We got up at 8:00, ate a ruby red grapefruit each, walked the beach, I ate three chicken mole tacos, we packed, gave our leftover food to Alfonso, the security guard, returned our beer bottles to the beer dispensary for a refund, and drove to Puerto Vallarta.

When we arrived at around 11:00 we drove to Marina Plaza.  We finished our banking at Actinver and then walked to Comer Supermarket, where we bought five slices of ham, two bollillos, a liter of Kahlua for $10.00 and a 1/5 of Suazo Commemativo for 238 pesos or $13.00.

We then walked back to the Actinver end of the Plaza to the small Moka Café coffee shop and pasta fabricator.  It serves a Menu del Dia with a salad, an entree, bread, and a flavored water for 69 pesos or a bit under $4.00.  I chose fettuccine with a tomato sauce, with capers and sliced black olives.  Suzette ordered the other entrée, three thin slices of sautéed chicken with a creamy carrot sauce.  We both ordered limeades as our flavored water.  We enjoyed lunch.  The salad was dressed as lightly as I have ever tasted.  There was just a hint of vinegar and oil, very interesting.

After lunch I made our ham and cheese sandwiches for the flight back to the states.  I cut each torta in half, spread mayonnaise on the inside of each and lay a slice of smoked ham and a slice of Swiss cheese on each half.  Suzette then put the two sides together and wrapped  each sandwich in plastic and put them in our carry-on ice chest with the leftover fruit and chips for the flight.

We will fly to LA and the direct to Albuquerque.

When we finished our lunch, we drove the car back to the National Rental Office, paid for the car rental and shuttled to the airport a bit after 3:00 for our 5:40 departure.

We now sit in the waiting area with lots of other older vacationers who probably arrived 2½ hours or earlier for their flight.

Bon Appetit

February 19, 2019 Lunch – Chicken Mole with Rice and mixed Vegetables and Papaya Salsa Fresca. Dinner – Sayulita Café

February 19, 2019 Lunch – Chicken Mole with Rice and mixed Vegetables and Papaya Salsa Fresca. Dinner – Sayulita Café

We ate papaya and raspberries in yogurt for breakfast and I made a shrimp omelet with Swiss cheese.

We are both feeling better today. No more turista, hopefully, but Suzette is not at optimum yet.  She is still having a headache and leg pain, which she blames on the bed.  But she keeps reading Under the Scarlett Sky and liking it, just as TR did.

After Breakfast at around 10:00 we went to the bank and Suzette exchanged another $100 for 1810 pesos.  Then we drove to San Pancho about 10 miles north on the national hwy.  It is the town in the next bay north.  It is different than Sayulita in several respects.  It lacks Sayulita’s flat sloped beach and it’s protected cove that is ideal for swimming and surfing.  The sharply canted beach at San Pancho creates a strong undertow that is not suitable for swimming or surfing.  This has caused San Pancho to lack the intensity of development that Sayulita has experienced and the surging real estate prices. It is still the kind of sleepy Mexican village Sayulita was twenty years ago with dogs sleeping in the street, mostly Mexican hipsters and Americans and Canadians avoiding cold winters as cheaply as possible.  The much greater spirit of community in a San Pancho is more pleasant than the raw commercialism of Sayulita.

We walked to the public market in a park set up for the market with an L shaped covered area for vendors to display their wares, a much nicer set up than Sayulita, which uses a vacant lot.

The food vendors were located under the tile roofed covered area and outside were the craft and souvenir tents with a really good trio playing music at the corner of the L.

We saw many of the same vendors we had seen at the public market days in Sayulita and La Cruz, but there were many others new to us.  A jeweler with lovely stones and fossils.  We first saw a t shirt selling couple with shirts saying “Made Tacos, Not Walls” which we could not resist.  Suzette wanted to give one to Michelle, who is now governor and has publicly criticized Trump’s call for a wall. We bought two for 350 pesos or about $10.00 each.

We then walked around the outdoor stall area and came to a vendor of brightly colored fabric handbags that we were both attracted to.  Suzette said, “I think I can sell those at the spa.” So she dickered with the vendor for a while and finally bought five handbags for 1000 pesos, just over $11.00 each.

Since we had spent most of the newly acquired pesos, and since it was noon and we were getting hungry, we decided to return to our room and make lunch.

On the way into Sayulita we stopped at a tortilleria and bought 1 pound of fresh warm tortillas for 7 pesos and at a small market that was also the dispensary for Modelo beer, two cold bottles of Modelo Especial for 30 pesos plus a 10 peso deposit.

When we arrived home we went into full cooking mode.  I finely diced a carrot, two green onions, and a squash for the mixed vegetables.  Suzette de-stemmed some snow peas and I cut them into square sections for the vegetable medley.  Suzette put the PPI Chicken Mole into a skillet to warm and began sautéing the vegetables for the mixed vegetables and fetched the prepared rice we had bought at Allas Blancas for 40 pesos.

I began making the papaya salsa by finely dicing three oz. of red onion, about ½ lb. of fresh papaya, and ¾ of a small avocado plus a handful of cilantro, into which Suzette squeezed the juice of 1 lime.

When the mixed vegetables had softened, Suzette added the rice and heated the whole affair.  She then opened the chilled beers and as soon as I finished making the papaya salsa, she plated our plates with a pile of rice and mixed vegetables covered with a generous portion of chicken mole and papaya salsa on the side.

We carried the plates of food with the beers and tortillas out to the palapa beside the terrace with the view of The cove and southern headland and ate our best meal of the trip.  We filled tortillas with mole and vegetables and rolled them to make tacos.

After we finished lunch at 1:30 we napped.  I slept until 4:30.  Then I started my new writing project, “Kerouac takes a trip to the Fifth Dimension”.  Suzette finished Under the Scarlet Sky by 6:30. We decided to walk on the beach to watch the sun set at 6:48.

After the sun set around 7:30 we walked to town stopping to walk through the carnival in the ball park that was dominated by games of chance and drink stands and some rides.

When we crossed the bridge and walked two blocks we arrived at Sayulita Café on the left.  There was an open table for two outside on the street so we took it.  We ordered a Caesar Salad for 80 pesos that was twice as good as the one at Marco’s Italian the night before at 120 pesos.  We also split a Chicken Chile Relleno Platter for 130 pesos that was ten times better than the shitty shrimp one at Allas Blancas for 189 pesos.  I felt like we had arrived at food nirvana, good well prepared food at fair prices.  The salad was served with a delicious garlic bread and the relleno with generous servings of retried beans and rice.

A pleasant young couple from San Francisco sat down next to us and we discussed Mexico.  The were interested in buying something affordable.  We suggested the beach at Higenias Blancas.

After dinner we returned to Villa del Palmar.  We wanted to sit on the raised terrace and watch the moon through the palms.  I filled a bowl with ice cream and doused it with a couple liberal splashes of brandy.  Suzette took a straight shot of brandy and we walked to the beach front terrace and sat on a lawn chair.

We spied and slurped and then returned to the room.  I made a cup of camomile tea to wash down the ice cream and we went to bed.

A lovely healthy day of activity and good food for last full day.

Bon Appetit

February 17, 2019 Lunch – Poached Eggs in Fish Soup. Dinner with Linda and T.R

February 17, 2019 Lunch – Poached Eggs in Fish Soup. Dinner with Linda and T.R

We got up around 8:00 .  Both of our stomachs are in bad condition, we ate yogurt and Papaya for breakfast.

We then drove to the Sunday market at the marina at La Cruz located where the main highway and the road to punts Mita meet at the north side of Bucerias.  It was a huge market spreading for miles along the breakwater avenue surrounding the large marina.  We walked through about ½ of it until I became tired, so we skipped the artisans section.  The only think we bought was a cotton guayabera shirt for me for 300 pesos.

After the market we drove back to Sayulita, although we stopped at a jungle fruit stand and bought three one kilo bags of sea salt for 50 pesos (6.6 lb. of salt for $2.70).  When we arrived in Sayulita we bought fresh purified water, more beer, and some sulfa drugs for turista in case the one I have does not cure us and some Tylenol to treat a Suzette’s headache.

When we returned to the room Suzette took another ½ pill and some Tylenol and lay down to rest.

I was feeling much better and decided to venture back into food.  I made a one bowl lunch by breaking two eggs into a bowl and then adding several spoonfuls of fish stew Suzette made last night and some water to thin the soup and provide more liquid in which the eggs could poach.

I ate around 11:00 and as of 12:36, my stomach bacteria have yet to reject lunch.

We rested until 3:30. We showered and dressed and took the raspberries, Brandy, the bottle of Tempranillo and stopped to buy a quart of vanilla ice cream at the Waikiki Creamery on the Main Street on our way to Linda and T..’s house in BaliVille which is about a ten minute drive from Sayulita.

Their house is a teak wood house from Bali that has been fashioned into a residence by adding bedrooms, a kitchen, and a bathroom.

Linda was making nachos when we arrived with shredded Oaxaca cheese and canned jalapeños.  She had made guacamole.  She opened the manzanilla olives we brought and we sat on the patio in front of the house which serves as dining area and nibbled apps while TR soaked his hip in the hot tub next to the patio.

T.R. was hit by a car and sustained a hip injury.  We discussed medical stuff for a while but the conversation went from subject to subject.

I consider TR a real estate visionary, because he can not only see the potential for a real estate opportunity in a site, but he can also manifest its potential.  BaliVille is a great example.  He imported teak wood houses from Bali and then designed and built house around them in the middle of a jungle a few miles from Sayulita.  TR said the locals though he was crazy when he started building houses in the jungle, but now there are many houses located further out and he is not the last house at the end of the road.

Tr and Linda eat very simply.  We found out that they had given up ice cream because the dairy doesn’t agree with their stomachs, so we took the raspberries, Brandy, and ice cream back home with us.  We gave them a bag of salt, which they may use.

The menu was very simple flank steak marinated in a soy marinade cooked with Mexican green onions.  We shelled and butterflied the shrimp we brought and TR grilled them on the grill after the steak.  Linda sautéed a vegetable medley of red bell pepper, onion, carrots, snow peas, and squash.

They heated corn tortillas and diced the grilled flank steak and served each person two rolled tacos filled with flank steak and a grilled green onion, some grilled shrimp, and a small pile of vegetables.  They drink beer, so practically none of the Tempranillo was drunk.

We enjoyed a simple meal and Suzette, still suffering from turista, began fading around 7:30.  We said goodnight and planned to meet tomorrow at Mama Mia’s restaurant.

We were home by 8:00 and Suzette immediately took an antibiotic and went to bed.

I stayed up to drink a cup of camomile tea and look at the beach and the nearly full moon.

Bon Appetit

February 16, 2019 Caracoral Beach. Dinner – Fish Soup and Turista

February 16, 2019 Caracoral Beach. Dinner – Fish Soup and Turista

The day started beautifully.  We ate yogurt and papaya and toasted a palmier and a chocolate croissant in a dry skillet.

We then drove along the jungle road to Caracoral Beach, which I think is perhaps the most lovely I have ever seen and walked along it looking for shells.  Again Suzette found the best cowerie.  Here is a picture of the two she has found.  Both are backed shells without their full coloration but a thrill to find.

We stopped and ate a ham sandwich on the beach, which was my lunch.

We then returned and Suzette ate the remaining guacamole with chips and a beer.

I was not feeling up to food so I passed.

At 5:00 Suzette made a lovely fish and shrimp soup with tomatoes and potatoes, which she ate with a glass of rose de Douro.  It is a wine made from the vino tinto grape, so it has a heaviness and body to it, but an unusually drinkable wine that I have not drunk previously.

In the evening I began to throw up and did so three times until I had thrown up the entire ham and cheese sandwich plus all the water I had drunk.

I have this theory that my stomach and gut is filled with protective bacteria that will not accept certain things I eat.  In this case I think the offending thing was the water in the open bottle in the unit that we made tea and coffee with, brushed our teeth, and drank on our beach walk.  It was an open bottle that looked old and I decided that the water was polluted with local bacteria.  An hour or two later Suzette began throwing up, which confirmed that it was probably bad water.  I finally cleared my system of offending water and sandwich around midnight and Suzette a little later.  I had taken the precaution of obtaining a zpak of antibiotic for turista from my doctor, so at 2:00 a.m. after I was convinced I was through throwing up I took one and soon felt better and slept until 8:00.  Suzette took a half pill a little later and began to feel better, but she suffered from diarrhea some also.

By the morning I felt much better.  Suzette not so much but she was making progress also.

Bon Appetit

February 15, 2019 Breakfast – Ham and Cheese Omelet. Lunch – Egg Salad Sandwich. Dinner – Chicken Mole with Refried Black Beans and Steamed Green Beans

We slept in until 7:30. Then we got up and dressed and I made a ham, Swiss cheese, and red onion omelet, which We drank with a glass of mango nectar and I had a cup of camomile tea.  Suzette also simmered the remaining chicken.

A bit after 10:00 we walked to the river and walked north through the Hippie Market, where I only saw Mexican families selling Mexican souvenirs.  When we arrived at the main road I asked directions and was directed to Sayulita’s Friday Public Market.  We walked by every booth.  There was a combination of organic growers and bakeries as in Santa Fe or Taos plus regional goods, such as coffee and cacao.  We bought a bag of powdered and a bag of processed cacao beans and cups of Nayarit coffee.  We also bought a container of beautiful raspberries.  The other portion of the market was devoted to unusual souvenirs.  Suzette bought colorfully decorated boxed of matches and two Day of the Dead made from Mexican oilcloth.  I tasted and then bought a large cup of iced coffee.   We walked the three blocks back to the room.  We noticed that the tide was out and the rocks exposed so we walked on the beach to the rock outcropping at the end of the river.  We didn’t see any great shells today.

When we returned I picked the chicken off the bones and we read until about 1:30 when Suzette made egg salad with egg, mayo, celery, and onion which she served open faced on a toasted Bolilla under the palapa with a beer.

There is a massage parlor in a tent beside our condo and after lunch Suzette made a reservation for a massage at 4:00.  When she left for her massage I lay down for a nap.

When she returned a bit after 5:00 we rested for a while and then made guacamole with avocado, onion, garlic, salt, cilantro, and lime juice, which we carried to the beach front palapa and ate with chips and brandy and coke cocktails.

We cleaned up and dressed for the evening and went back to the beach at 6:45 for the sunset.  Sunsets in Sayulita are not real sunsets because there is no horizon on the ocean.  Instead the sun sinks behind a hill in the jungle festooned with hotels and houses, but given that the golden afterglow was wonderful.

We then returned to the room and made dinner.  It was easy.  Suzette heated the Oaxaca mole we bought in PV mixed with some chicken stock and added the chicken.  The black mole was a little spicy for us, so Suzette added some honey.  In another skillet, she heated a can of retried beans emulsified with chicken broth. I snapped the green beans we bought yesterday and Suzette steamed them with a bit of water covered with plastic in the microwave for 3 minutes.  I then heated three tortillas for 1 minute in the microwave in a plastic bag to heat them to steaming hot and dinner was ready.

We decided on the bottle of A Chardonnay and Chenin Blanc blend produced by Domenquez.  The Chardonnay was a little overbearing for us non-Chardonnay drinkers, but we both agreed that its slight oakiness complemented the spicy mole nicely.  I filled my three tortillas with beans and chicken mole and loved the soft tacos that I dipped in the remaining mole sauce to further flavor the tortilla. As the wine warmed toward room temperature it’s oakiness subsided and it expressed it sweeter notes more.

After dinner I blogged and Suzette texted.

 Bon Appetit

February 14, 2019 Another wonderful Valentine’s Day in Mexico. Lunch – Shrimp Stuffed Flounder with Sautéed Squash and Red Onion. Dinner – Barracuda

February 14, 2019 Another wonderful Valentine’s Day in Mexico. Lunch – Shrimp Stuffed Flounder with Sautéed Squash and Red Onion.  Dinner – Barracuda

We ate one half of a ruby red grapefruit and split a fruit cake pastry and chocolate croissant for breakfast on the terrace overlooking the Pacific.

Then we showered and dressed and drove through town to see what was new on our way to T.R. and Linda’s house at BaliVille.
After two failed tries we found the new road to their house.

Les and his wife who used to live in Santa Fe but now live in a San Miguel are staying with them.  They were on their way the the beach club at San Pancho, up the coast another ten miles.  We decided to join them for dinner in Sayulita and not join them for lunch.

We drove back into town and parked 1 block from Calle Libertad on which Chayote, our favorite seafood store, is located.  We walked up the steep hill of Calle Libertad to the store and inquired about fresh fish. The proprietress said they had fresh fish and led us through an ally to an area where there was a large plastic container holding lots of fresh fish and a boning table.  We asked about grouper and found out there were five different varieties of grouper caught in the waters off Sayulita.  The proprietress showed us three types in the bucket.  The pink grouper we usually think of a grouper,  was one of them

Then a man who probably was the proprietor joined us and showed us several fish and mentioned flounder as he pulled one out of the bottom of the container. Our eyes lit up and we decided on the spot to fix a stuffed flounder for lunch.  We asked him to filet the smaller one. He expertly filleted the flounder, better than I have ever seen anyone bone a fish.  He took all the bones off, even the tiny bones that surround the fish.

We went back inside the store/house and he put the fish on a large scale and it weighed 1 kilo.  The freshest flounder I have ever eaten cost us 90 pesos or less than $2.50/lb..  they did not have crab meat, so we decided to buy 1 kilo of medium shrimp for 190 pesos.  They graciously packed the fish in a bag and packed that bag in a bag of ice and packed both that bag and the bag of shrimping in another bag tied nicely so we could carry it.  We were thrilled with our first fish shopping of the trip.

We then walked down the hill back to the Main Street and walked toward the square.  We walked as far as the new wine shop, which is two blocks from the square.  On our way back to the car we stopped at a fruteria where we bought a red onion, green beans, five lovely small squash and parsley for 40 pesos.

Then as walked further up the street we stopped at a torterilla and bought 1.1 lb. of fresh warm tortillas for 17 pesos.

We returned to our car and drove back to the room and went into cooking mode.  I chopped cilantro and parsley and shrimp and a green onion for the stuffing while Suzette diced the squash and some red onion as our vegetable.  Suzette turned on two burners on the stove and sautéed both the stuffing and squash and onion in olive oil and butter.  The idea was fill and to roll the stuffing inside the flounder filets, but there was so much stuffing and each filet had two equally wide sides that we decided to simply lay the stuffing between the sides of each filet and fold the sides together to hold the stuffing between them.  We had no string to tie the two sides together so I slit another green onion down the side to create a long strip of green onion and we tied a length of green onion around each filet to hold the stuffing inside while the filet cooked.  Here are several pictures.

Suzette then seared the stuffed filets in the remaining butter and olive oil and added about ½ cup of white wine to the skillet and covered it to poach them for about twenty minutes.

When both dishes were cooked I poured out the rest of the Arco de Vega Spanish Verdejo and Viura blend.  The chilled white wine was perfect with the oily fish stuffing and squash.  The fish was elegantly tender, being poached to perfection

Suzette piled squash in the center of each plate and lay a poached flounder filet on the squash and we carried our glasses, the still warm tortillas and plates of food to the palapa on the terrace by the beach and ate and drank our fabulous lunch while overlooking the bay.  It was 1:21 when we sat down to eat, so another stellar effort of shopping and cooking and there is lots of fish PPI.  We were tired when we finished eating a bit before 3:00, so we decided to lie down for a nap and slept soundly until 5:30.

We got dressed and drove to town and parked 1 block from the Barracuda  restaurant where we were to meet for dinner.  We walked around downtown at 6:15 and Suzette did some shopping.  We stopped in the Allas Blancas store and bought our vanilla powder and a Negra Modelo which we drank to help wash down lunch and clear our palate for dinner.  We arrived at Barracuda at 7:20 and took the only table for six, which was inside the restaurant situated between the bar and the kitchen.  I took a seat with a direct view into the kitchen.  We ordered a Guzman cocktail made with Mezcal and cucumber juice, ginger, and  agave syrup, and a water when Les and Shiela and Linda and T.R. arrived.

Soon we ordered. I wanted the fresh tuna sashimi and a Suzette wanted a steamed octopus dish, so we decided to split both dishes.

Barracuda’s food quality is superb, but its strong point is its presentation.  I have not seen better presentation in years.  Linda and Shiela ordered Caesar Salad that was served in a bowl made of toasted Parmesan cheese.

T.R. ordered the fish of the day, which turned out to be two dorado filets sautéed and stacked on top of each other and on a mound of mashed potatoes cut to the same shape as the fish filets.  Here are pictures.  The tuna sashimi was served with a soy, sesame oil, and perhaps squid ink.  I ordered soy and more pickled ginger and mixed it with the ball of wasabi on the plate, so we could dip in a traditional sashimi mixture also.  Both sauces were good. The tuna is some of the best I had had.  T.R. told me he went out on a boat in Sayulita and they caught tuna.  The tuna seemed to be pretty fresh.

I asked the chef how he prepared the octopus and he said he cooks it in boiling water with orange wedges and onion for 40 to 50 minutes.  The octopus was served on a round of risotto rice with mixed vegetables and sauced with a carrot and tomato coulis.

It was an entirely successful meal.  I will go back.

After dinner we said goodnight and walked across the street to the gelato restaurant where we shared triple scoop dish of Ferraro Roche, coffee, and caramel gelatos.

We then walked the one block to our car but were drawn by some heavenly jazz into the Latitude 20 bar and BBQ restaurant.  We drank a chocolate stout named Los Cuentos brewed by a local micro-brewery near PV.

At 9:30 or 10:00 we finally went back to the room.

Bon Appetit

February 13, 2019 Traveling to Sayulita Dinner – Roasted Chicken Tacos with Avocado and Roasted Potatoes

February 13, 2019 Traveling to Sayulita  Dinner – Roasted Chicken Tacos with Avocado and Roasted Potatoes

We awakened at 4:45 to make a 6:40 flight to Houston where we connected to a 2 hour 40 minute flight to Puerto Vallarta at 11:15.

I we ate two toasted bagels smeared with cream cheese with slices of red onion and Lax and the last of the fruit salad that Suzette had packed in a plastic container, so we did not get hungry.

When we arrived in PV it took ten minutes to clear Immigration and an hour to clear customs.

We found the shuttle to National Car Rental and picked up our tiny Nissan March at around 3:45.

We drove to Actinver at the Marina center just south of the airport.

I needed to do some business that lasted until 6:15.  While papers were being prepared we left and shopped at the Pelican supermercado in the center for over an hour to buy staples for the week, such as avocados, green onions, a papaya, carrots, cilantro,Principe cookies (sort of a reverse Oreo with a chocolate filling between two vanilla cookies), President brandy, a six pack of Negra Modelo, 5 liters of water, chamomile tea, limes, four bottles of wine, several Bolillas, lots of pastries, ham, Swiss cheese, natural yogurt, mole, and baby oil.  When we walked out of the store we went around the corner to our favorite rotisserie chicken place.  There is a Wednesday special, which we and everyone else ordered; a whole rotisserie chicken plus a plastic bag with 8 or 9 tortillas,  grilled jalapeños, and salsa for 100 pesos (a bit more than $5.00 and clearly a family dinner package , although some people were buying two or three chickens and orders of potatoes).  We also ordered a side of roasted potatoes for 22 pesos, which is about $1.25. We love the potatoes because after they are roasted they are thrown on the grate below the rotisserie where they are flavored by the hot fat dripping from the chickens.

Here is a picture.

We then walked back toward Actinver by way of the Michoacán kiosk, where we bought about ½ lb. of fresh honey for 49 pesos or $2.50.

We finished our business at Actinver at 6:15 and drove north about 45 minutes in dense traffic to Sayulita.

We found our rental unit without any difficulty and unloaded the car.

We had our usual first night dinner, chicken tacos with slices of avocado, salsa, slices of potato with a Negra Modelo, which required only a couple of minutes to prepare, thanks to the Wednesday Chicken special.  Suzette simply sliced an avocado and a couple of potatoes, opened the bag of salsa and tortillas, and re-heated the chicken in the microwave.

After dinner we walked to the beach and lay on lawn chairs on the deck at the sea wall and looked at the waves roll in an the stars and a half moon in a clearing sky through three coconut palms on the property.

It was good to be back in Sayulita and at Villa Palomar.  After a long adventurous day it is only 8:30 p.m. as I drink a cup of camomile tea laced with fresh honey and lime juice and nibble on Principe cookies.

Bon Appetit

February 12, 2019 Lunch – Enchiladas. Dinner – Enchiladas and Artichokes

February 12, 2019 Lunch – Enchiladas.  Dinner – Enchiladas and Artichokes

When you are getting ready to leave town you try to clean out the fridge.

 I ate granola, fruit salad, and yogurt for breakfast.

We had more than ½ of the 9x13 inch baking dish full of chicken enchiladas left after dinner last night.  They were so delicious I ate them for lunch at 1:00 topped with a fried egg and we ate them again for dinner with Artichokes.

Suzette discovered two boiled Artichokes in the fridge as she was trying to decide what to throw and what to freeze tonight. We froze Billy’s sour cherry sauce.

We decided to halve each artichoke and grill the halves.  We like Artichokes grilled and warm.  I cut each in half and Suzette sprinkled them with salt, pepper, and a liberal amount of Spanish olive oil
and grilled them.

While the Artichokes were grilling I made a dipping sauce by mixing 2/3 cup of mayonnaise, juice of ½ lemon, a pinch of herbs Provence, and ½ tsp. of Suzette’s homemade sorrel pesto.

Willy came around 6:45 and ate with us until his counselor texted him and reminded him that he had a session this evening, so he left hurriedly at 7:10.  We each showered and packed and were in bed by 8:30.

I toasted bagels and spread cream cheese on them and lay slices of Gravad Lax on each half and packed them in plastic bags.  Suzette packed the remaining tropical fruit salad in a plastic container.  We will have food for breakfast and lunch on the trip to Mexico tomorrow.

Suzette set the alarm for 4:45.

Bon Appetit

February 11, 2019 Lunch – Mega Pork Salad. Dinner – Chicken Enchiladas with Guacamole

February 11, 2019 Lunch – Mega Pork Salad. Dinner – Chicken Enchiladas with Guacamole

Today I spent 6 ½ hours continuously sitting at my desk editing the final draft of a filing for my water case.

At 2:30 I finished the project and decided to make a salad using as many ingredients as possible to clear out the fridge.

Here is the result.

I had to stop before I used up all the ingredients including last night’s PPI stuffed pork tenderloin for fear that the mound would collapse and make a mess on the table.

After lunch I worked until 4:30 when I drove to the bank and post office.

I knew Suzette would want chicken enchiladas, so I stopped at Lowe’s at around 5:15 and bought a package of five fresh chicken thighs.

When I returned home at 5:30 I fetched the mozzarella cheese and requeson and simmered the Chicken thighs for about an hour during which time Suzette arrived.  I de-stemmed and chopped the last six or seven stalks of kale.

Then I made a batch of The Shed red chili.  It is essentially a roux made with 2 T. of minced garlic,  ¼ cup canola oil, 2 T. of flour, and 1/3 cup of red chile that is diluted with 1 cup of tomato juice and 2
cups of water.

I used 1 ½ cups each of Clamato and 1 cup of water

I boned and shredded the cooked chicken thighs and put the bones into the pot that I had used to boil them and continued to simmer the pot to create a richer broth.  At this point, Suzette helped me assemble the enchiladas in a 9 x 13 inch Pyrex casserole.  I soaked 5 blue corn tortillas in a mixture of chili and broth to soften them and we lay the soaked tortillas in the bottom of the casserole . Then Suzette spread requeson, grated cheese and chicken on top of the tortillas.  I then softened 5 more tortillas and laid them on top of the first layer and Suzette added another layer of chicken meat, cheese, kale, red chili and requeson.

Finally I softened the last six tortillas and laid hem on top.  Suzette sprinkled shredded mozzarella on top as the final layer.  She then poured the remaining broth into the remaining red chili and we cooked it for abut fifteen minutes to thicken and then filled the casserole to its lip with sauce.

                                                        After 1/2 hour

We cooked the enchiladas about 1 hour until they gave off a cooked smell and the cheese seemed to be fully melted.

After 1 hour of baking at 350 degrees

While the enchiladas coked we made guacamole with two small avocados, two oz. of finely minced red onion, 1 T. of fresh cilantro, some of the PPI red chili with garlic, and salt.

Suzette fetched beers from the garage and we had a delicious dinner while we watched the Antiques Roadshow from Sarasota.

After dinner we ate the last piece of clementine cake and Suzette made Martha Stewart spiced pecans for the Bistro’s new salad and we went to bed around 9:00.

Bon Appetit

February 10, 2019 Brunch – sautéed Onion and Kale with a Poached Egg and bacon. Dinner – Baked Fruit Stuffed Pork Tenderloin with Caprese Salad and Sautéed Fresh Garbanzo beans and Asparagus tips

February 10, 2019 Brunch – sautéed Onion and Kale with a Poached Egg and bacon. Dinner – Baked Fruit Stuffed Pork Tenderloin with Caprese Salad and Sautéed Fresh Garbanzo beans and Asparagus tips.

I awakened at 7:45 and watched Fareed Zacharia in bed.  At 9:00 I toasted 1/3 of a bagel and smeared it with cream cheese and drank a cup of tea with it.

Willy was coming over at 11:00, so I chopped kale and onions and garlic for a sauté and fried six pieces of bacon to crisp.

When Willy arrived Suzette pouched an egg for each of us and he toasted the rest of the everything bagel.  I sliced and toasted another 1/3 of a regular bagel and laid slices of Jarlsberg cheese on it.  We drank tea with brunch and watched Man City thump Chelsea 6 to 0.

At 1:00 after Willy left to play soccer and Suzette went to work I went riding.  Today I rode to Mountain Rd. So about five miles.



When I returned I took the Haddock water color to Fedex and shipped it to Billy.

When I got home I worked a bit and then ate a peanut butter and honey sandwich with a cup of tea.

Soon after I lay down Suzette arrived from her day at work. We each ate a bag of popcorn.

Around 5:30 we started cooking.  I popped the fresh garbanzo beans out of their husks while Suzette diced asparagus.

She then rehydrated some apricots and figs and peeled and added two Bosc pears that she then puréed in the Cuisinart.  She made a deep slit in one of the pork tenderloins we has thawed today and stuffed the fruit into the cavity

I made a Caprese salad with the three renaming aroma tomatoes, the 8 oz. ball of fresh mozzarella, fresh basil leaves from the plant I bought at Sprouts several days ago and slices of red onion.  I made a simple balsamic and olive oil dressing with a dash of salt and pepper.

She then baked the stuffed pork tender in the oven for about thirty minutes and made the rest of the puréed fruit into a sauce by adding cognac and heating it.

When Willy arrived Suzette sautéed the vegetables and I dressed the Caprese salad and sliced the
stuffed Pork Tender and we plated our plates.

I chilled one of the bottles of 2016 Benton Lane Rose that was delivered yesterday.   We liked it a lot. It has character and body even though it is 100% Willamette Valley Pinot Noir.

Willy and I ate Pieces of the moist Clementine and Almond flour cake.

We watched the Grammy ceremony and around 8:15 Willy left.

I started blogging while Suzette kept watching.the Grammys.

Bon Appetit

February 9, 2019 Lunch – Turkey Sandwiches  Dinner – Grilled Filet Mignons and Asparagus, Roasted Potatoes, Sautéed Onions and garlic and Clementine Francipan cake

I am sorry to note to those I have shared this blog with that the share function no longer appears to be available.  Its loss appears to be due to a “depreciation” by Google, whatever that means.

I worked from 7:00 until 2:30 to revise the water case draft.  I guess the huge protein and vegetable meal last night carried me through.

Suzette worked for about the same period, but in Los Lunas.

At 2:30 I toasted two slices of whole wheat bread, spread mayonnaise on them and then layered each slice with a slice of tomato, lettuce,  slices of Jarlsberg cheese, a slice of red onion and finally a slice of turkey breast.  I drank water with the rather thick sandwiches to help wash them down.

At 4:00 I took a shower and dressed, during which time Suzette arrived..

I went to the kitchen around 5:00. I prep most of the elements of each meal and Suzette cooks the food.

Today I started by butchering the 5.8 lb. beef tenderloin I bought last Wednesday at Sprouts for $9.99/lb..  It took 1 hour and yielded over a lb. of stew meat that we will make into Boeuf Bourguignon, 1 ½ lb. of fat and silver skin, 1 and 15 steaks for an average price of $4.00 for each 5 to 6 oz. filet.

Suzette cooked four strips of bacon in the microwave for two minutes and then wrapped four steaks each with a strip of bacon for dinner.

While I was butchering, Suzette made a clementine and almond flour cake.  Here is the recipe.

When the cake finished baking Suzette melted and drizzled the cake with the chocolate glaze Elaine had left last weekend made with butter and chocolate pastilles.

Suzette then chopped several potatoes and tossed them with salt, pepper, and olive oil an'd roasted them in the oven.

She then cut the ends off about a dozen asparagus stalks and tossed them in a freezer bag with olive oil.

We decided to sauté two medium thinly sliced onions and four finely minced cloves of garlic in butter and olive oil as a garnish for the steaks, so I sliced and Suzette sautéed them in a heavy iron skillet until they softened.

Sautéing the garlic

                                                    The sautéed onions and garlic

Charlie and Susan arrived a bit after 6:00.  They brought us a lovely bottle of 93 point Malbec Reserva from Mendoza, Argentina bought at Costco and some homemade ice cream and we started cooking.  The potatoes and cake were both ready, so the only thing Suzette had to do was grill the steaks and asparagus.  I opened the bottle of Malbec and filled glasses.

Soon Suzette brought in the asparagus wrapped in foil and the steaks and she plated four plates with a dollop of onions on each steak, a pile of potatoes and four grilled asparagus.

Susan’s plate

We all enjoyed our meal and surprisingly, drank the bottle of wine.

After dinner Suzette served slices of cake.  Everyone loved the combination of clementines and almond flour in the cake.  What we all noticed was how moist and dense the cake was, which is very different from a flour cake.

I cut a piece of cake for Susan to take home and Charlie and Susan left at around 8:20, so we were able to watch the last half of Death in Paradise on PBS.

We went to bed a little after 9:00.

Bon Appetit

February 8, 2019. Lunch – Cassoulet. Dinner – Shrimp Salad and Steamed Clams

February 8, 2018 Lunch - Cassoulet. Dinner -+Shrimp Salad and steamed clams

Today was interesting from a food standpoint.  I finished peeling and dicing three mangos and five oranges to complete the tropical fruit salad. Then I ate granola, yogurt, and fruit salad or breakfast.

Then I called Peter to invite hm to join me for Cassoulet for lunch.  When he arrived at noon I heated the PPI cassoulet and heated a baguette in the oven until the crust was crisp.  I sliced the baguette in half and put butter on the table and poured glasses of Paton-Clemente Tempranillo Crianza.  Peter loved the cassoulet, especially dipping the toasted bread into the bean, sausage, and duck meat stew.

I had an amazing day in the Market.  I sold Apple at 169.20 near the open and watched the stock go up and down. Finally five minutes before the close I bought it back at 169. 92 and watched in amazement as Apple rose to 170.41.  So instead of a $.72 cent loss, I had a $.26 loss.  A lucky opportunity to cut my losses when I guessed wrong about the market.

I took a nap in the afternoon and around 5:00 talked to Suzette about dinner.  She approved my plan to make a shrimp salad.  I boiled 15 large shrimp, peeled them and chilled them in the fridge. I then chopped a bunch of curly kale and lay it on a layer of romaine lettuce leaves. Then I diced three Roma tomatoes, sliced an avocado, and peeled and sliced 1/2 of a cucumber. I made a special dressing soaking a diced shallot in juice of ½ lemon for thirty minutes and then added 2/3 cup of prepared mayonnaise, a T. of horseradish, 2 T. of catsup, ½ T. of olive oil, and ½ T. of Amontillado sherry.

Suzette arrived around 6:30 with a bag of fresh clams, which she steamed in a fume made with white wine, butter and water plus garlic salt, and pepper.

I composed the salad by mounding chopped kale on the lettuce, then added diced tomatoes, sliced cucumbers and shrimp.  Here is a picture before and after dressing.

Suzette brought the pot of steamed clams to the table and we forked them as we ate salad.  We opened a bottle of Luzada Albariño ($7.99 at Trader Joe’s) and found it really tasty.   We will buy more.  It was great with the seafood.

After I ate my salad I drank a cup of the rich clam broth.

Later I drank three cups of chai to help digest the huge meal.

This was a really healthy and filling meal, salad and seafood protein with a nice new wine.

A happy day of good food.

Bon Appetit