June 20, 2019 Lunch – PPI Chile Relleno Dinner – Grilled Rib Steak and Asparagus with PPI Ratatouille and Couscous

June 20, 2019 Lunch – PPI Chile Relleno   Dinner – Grilled Rib Steak and Asparagus with PPI Ratatouille and Couscous


This day was anomalistic in so many ways it is hard to make a simple conclusory statement about it, so I will cite three different causative factors.  The Market, my health, and diversions from work.

The Market – Yesterday an Iranian surface to air missile shot down a U.S. drone.  That focused everyone on the heightened prospect of war between the US and Iran, which is unthinkable, but possible given the bellicose personnel in the US administration. What is for sure is that Iran or Iranian mines have injured two oil freighters in the Straits of Hormuz where 20% of the world’s oil passes.  The prospect of oil shipments being  interrupted sent oil up 5% today along with all the oil company stocks.  PXD which is one of the larger producers in the Permian basin went up almost 8%.  I own shares of PXD, Exxon, and ConocoPhillips and they all went up.  Second- the Market reacted positively to Chairman Powell’s comments yesterday that the “Fed would do everything possible to insure full employment and keep the business cycle going forward.”  The Market opened over 200 points higher and the S and P 500 set a new all time record. And almost missed in all of the above was the statement that the Chinese and American trade delegations were meeting.  What was not missed was that Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau visited the WH and it was all smiles and Han shakes as he confirmed that Canada and the US had resolved all issues and Canada will ratify the new NAFTA to open up trade between Canada , Mexico, and the US.

All the averages were up over 1% and so was my portfolio. A semi-awesome day in the Market.

My Health – I had pain in my hip today and it was difficult to walk.  I can not understand why this setback occurred other than the bending I did at Macon’s this morning picked up and stretching to harvest about 10 pounds of apricots, but I will wait and see if I can ride tomorrow to keep on my new schedule of every other day bike rides.

Diversions – my pain did not put me back in bed but I suspect made me look for diversions.  Suzette is initiating a new program this Friday called Flamingo Friday’s, which involves giving a complimentary glass of rose to those who come to the spa for a pool party.  She needed rose wine, so at 12:15 I drove to Trader Joe’s and bought a case of French rose, 5 Sagnol Cotes du Provence, 3 Tavel, and 4 Carryon from Pay d’ Oc.  My drink of choice this summer appears to be tonic water and lime juice, with or without gin.  Since we were out of Tonic water I stopped at Lowe’s on the way home and bought 4 more quart bottles of tonic and since I was hungry for a sandwich, 1/3 lb. of sliced Boarshead Liverwurst and six pounds of onions on sale for 3 lb. for $.89.

When I returned home I made a snack of a Liverwurst Sandwich, a Herring sandwich, some potato salad and some pickled beets that I ate as I watched the Woman’s World Cup Game between the US and Sweden and drank a bottle of beer. A very Scananavian snack for a very Scandanavian event

I was only able to close my eyes for a few minutes before Steve, a new contractor, came with his partner, Freddie, to look at the plans and when Suzette arrived we drove to the Candy store to inspect the job site.  They seemed capable and interested in doing the remodel.  I was thrilled that we may have found our contractors for the candy store remodel.

When we got home it was 5:00 and I watched the Nightly Business news and then read a few minutes.  At 6:30 we decided to cook dinner.  Here where you can see my progressive menu planning strategy in manifestation.  Last week I had bought two lovely rib steaks at Smith’s for $4.77/lb. and lovely thick asparagus, perfect for grilling at Sprouts.  Last week we made a pot of Couscous and last night I made a pot of Ratatouille.  One of my all time favorite dinners is Grilled steak and Asparagus with Ratatouille on Couscous.  We had all those dishes and the only prep needed was for Suzette, Miss Grilletta, to grill the steak and asparagus and for me to heat the Ratatouille and Couscous.  While Suzette was grilling  I fetched the pot of Ratatouille from the garage, added a bit of water to it to keep it from burning and re-heated it on the stove. I then put a scoop of PPI Couscous on a plate, covered it with Saran and heated it in the microwave.  I then opened a bottle of Origon Gran Reserva Spanish red (60% Syrah and 40% Tempranillo at Trader Joe’s for $5.99) and poured two glasses.  When Suzette finished grilling the asparagus she wrapped them in aluminum foil to keep them warm and she covered the steak with aluminum foil to keep it cooking and warm.  In a few minutes when the Ratatouille was hot I sliced the steak and Suzette plated the asparagus and added dabs of Béarnaise Sauce to the asparagus.  We served ourselves steak and Ratatouille and took our plates to the garden table that Suzette had set.  We enjoyed the cooling evening temperature and discussed her business.

I wanted to watch some of Rachel Maddow so we came back in at 7:20 after a lovely meal.   Suzette wanted to make dessert.  She sautéed about five or six of the fresh apricots I picked in the morning at Macon’s house with pinon nuts in butter with brown sugar and poured the fruit and nut concoction over scoops of vanilla ice cream for a splendid finish to a lovely meal as we watched a re-run of an episode of “The Durrells in Corfu” on PBS.

I made a cup of tea and went bed at 9:00, beginning to feel better but very sleepy.

I ate the PPI Chile Relleno at noon and my usual bowl of granola with yogurt, milk, and tropical fruit salad for breakfast.

Bon Appetit