April 9, 2019 Lunch – PPI Duck Meat Posole with Tamales. Dinner – Sautéed Hamburger Steak with sliced Mushrooms and onion with Steamed asparagus

April 9, 2019  Lunch – PPI Duck Meat Posole with Tamales. Dinner – Sautéed Hamburger Steak with sliced Mushrooms and onion with Steamed asparagus

Suzette and I have both become busy and our schedules do nor mesh, so we have not been able to plan and cook collectively the last few days.  Today was a good example.  Suzette left at 7:00 and I ate a slice of whole wheat bagel smeared with Neufchâtel cream cheese and garnished with the last two slices of Gravad Lax left on the first 2 lb. slab of Gravad Lax plus red onion and capers. A tasty quick breakfast with a cup of Earl Grey tea.

I worked until noon and decided to heat the last of the Christmas Posole and tamales for lunch in the microwave.  I put the Posole and tamales in a bowl and heated them.  Then I added juice of ½ lime, a few dashes of dried oregano, and a handful of chopped red onion and heated the bowl another 1.11 minutes in the microwave.  I opened a bottle of Dos Equis.

The Duck Meat Posole and tamales were delicious and reminded me how lucky I am to have regained so much of my health and my taste since my gall bladder removal before Christmas.

Then I recalled Rahim’s comment to friends at lunch a few days ago about how I make a great mulled wine for our Christmas open house, which made me realize that some of the entertaining we do makes people happy and their sharing friendship with us helped my recovery.

I worked in the afternoon and then got a call from a new client that required me to work until 7:00 at their office.

When I returned home at 7:05 Suzette greeted me with, “I ate the remaining Pasta.”

I was happy that we were clearing lots of PPIs from the fridge (the Posole and pasta), but it meant I had to fend for myself for dinner.

There was an open package of ground beef in the meat drawer that I had been intending to form into hamburger patties, so I decided to make a hamburger patty for dinner and complete the task of making and freezing hamburger patties with the rest of the meat.  I formed five patties and froze four.

I then sliced some onion and two large mushrooms and sliced and diced two strips of poblano chili and sautéed all of those ingredients in a medium skillet with 1 oz. of melted butter.  After the ingredients softened I added the hamburger and then some sherry.  I also snapped and steamed seven stalks of asparagus.

While my dinner was cooking I cleaned the pasta baking dish and crock pot in which we made the Pork and Sauerkraut and emptied the dish washer. Suzette wanted a glass of red wine and opened a bottle of the 2012 Origon Gran Reserva ($5.99 at Trader Joe’s) from the case sitting on the floor in the dining room floor, which reminded me of last year’s Christmas party.

Before I got sick and had to go to the hospital on December 20  I had bought three cases of an assortment of wines and put them on the floor in the dining room with the intention that folks would select bottles to open Christmas Eve.  That is exactly what folks did in the absence of mulled wine and my ability to host.  All of our attendees are regulars and old hands at the Christmas Party and I was happy that in my absence Suzette had organized the food and wine with the help of many of the regular guests without my involvement.  As Suzette and I decided when I was confronted with the prospect of an emergency operation three days before the party, it was easier to proceed with the party than try to call it off.  The only unanswered question was whether I would attend.  As it turned out it was able to recover sufficiently to be discharged from the hospital at 4:00 on December 24 and the party began at 6:00 without my assistance.  Suzette and Willy and I suspect many of the regular guests orchestrated the party logistics beautifully because lots of folks came and went as I sat propped up in a chair in the TV room for several hours before returning to bed. Thankfully Luke and I had made the Duck Posole and red Chile and I had made Gravad Lax a week before the party and I had decided to buy three cases of assorted wines and place them against the walls of the dining room ready to be opened by guests.

 

When the hamburger and vegetables were ready I slid them onto a plate, squeezed a dollop of catsup on the hamburger, poured a glass of Origon, and ate dinner. The hamburger and sautéed vegetables were not as tasty as when Suzette grills hamburgers, asparagus, and onions on the outdoor grill because the grease from the hamburger interfered with and altered the natural flavors of the onions and mushrooms. I realized that I had traded delicious for quick and easy. But in the bargain I had cleaned the dirty dishes and emptied the dishwasher so there was a real sense of satisfaction when Suzette went into the kitchen and was loading the dishwasher and cleaning the kitchen counters as I ate.  When I finished dinner Suzette took my plate, asking, “Is that everything? I am going to run the
dishwasher.”

Hearing the dishwasher running was Music to my ears after dinner as I ate a small wedge of Brie cheese with the last sips of wine and then a few spoonfuls of PPI blueberry Clafoutis while enjoying the thought of how lucky we were to have such wonderful PPIs available when work overwhelms us and we do not have time to shop and cook.

I also thought that as soon as we fix garlic eggplant with steamed buns tomorrow evening we will have emptied the fridge enough to restart the cycle of shopping and preparing new dishes.

By then it was 9:00 and I was happy to stop thinking and we went to bed happy, full of good food, and with a clean kitchen.

Bon Appetit