June 19, 2020 Lunch – 2000 Vietnam No. 21. Dinner – Hamburger with Ratatouille

June 19, 2020 Lunch – 2000 Vietnam No. 21. Dinner – Hamburger with Ratatouille

I awakened at 4:30 and went back to bed at 5:30 and slept until 7:00.

I ate a bowl of granola, milk, tropical fruit, and yogurt and watched the Market open.  At 8:30 I rode 6 miles south and back.

I invited Willy to join me for lunch.  I ordered two No. 21s from 2000 Vietnam with extra fish sauce for dipping for $20.00.

Willy arrived just after me.  We grabbed a glass of water and took the styrofoam boxes to the garden table and enjoyed a really delicious lunch.  I like to eat lots of carbs after a bike ride to keep my strength up. Eating a No. 21 with Willy at Friday lunch is becoming a tradition.

No. 21 is my favorite summertime lunch.  It contains three layers: a chilled layer of chopped lettuce, mung bean sprouts and herbs on the bottom, then a warm layer of freshly boiled vermicelli rice noodles in the middle, and finally grilled marinated slices of pork and two crisp deep fried pork filled egg rolls each cut into four sections on top.  I usually add fresh cilantro as I did today.  The dish comes with two small containers of fish sauce that are drizzled over the warm noodles to soften and flavor them and the vegetables.  I usually get an extra container of fish sauce to dip the egg roll sections into to flavor them.



I was hungry and devoured my lunch.  Willy was a little more restrained and nibbled the vegetables and meat toppings, leaving some of the noodles.

At 2:00 I checked the market. It had been all over the place today and ended down a bit more than 200 points.  I lost a little today as the market ended down and my portfolio ended where it closed four days ago.  The market has been going sideways for the last four days ready to be pushed up or down by the next big economic event.

The three big political events of the week, the Supreme Court’s decision affirming that the federal anti-discrimination in hiring and firing law protects gays from being fired and the decision that Trump’s attempt to reverse Obama’s Executive DACA decision to stay the deportation of children brought to the US without proper visas and the publication of John Bolton’s tell all book about working with Trump as his National Security Advisor were hugely important from society’s standpoint but had no discernible effect on the market.  I was immensely proud that the judiciary is still functioning. At least one branch of our tripartite government is still working.

After lunch I took two hamburgers from the freezer to thaw and then read about the capture of Vicksburg by Grant by siege on July 4, 1865 and rested from 3:00 to 5:00.  At 5:30 I started making

Ratatouille.

I diced 1 ½ onions, 6 cloves of garlic, ½ red and ½ green bell pepper, I Eggplant, three small zucchini squash, and four tomatoes and ¾ cup of fresh chopped oregano. We sautéed the ingredients in a large casserole on the stove at low heat and then Suzette added some water to prevent scorching.  After about an hour the vegetables cooked into a stew.

After lunch I had thawed out two hamburgers from the freezer.  Suzette sautéed these on the stove and I opened a bottle of 2012 Tuella Portuguese red wine ($6.99 in 2015 at Trader Joe’s).  I had the distinctive flavor of the blend of many grapes characteristic of Port, but seemed to have lost some of the fruitiness I recalled of less aged  bottles.

Suzette asked me what cheese I wanted on my hamburger and I said, “Cheddar”.

She sliced two slices of Dubliner cheddar and laid one each on the top of each hamburger after she flipped them and put a lid on the skillet to melt the cheese.

I did the same with the Ratatouille. I put the lid on the casserole to speed the cooking and integration of flavors.

At 7:30 we were ready to eat. Suzette spooned a pile of Ratatouille into a bowl and placed the hamburger on top and she squeezed catsup on top to make a stack.  I squeezed catsup on two sides of my hamburger to make a pond.

I poured glasses of wine and we added lots of ice cubes to chill the wine and carried our glasses and plates to the garden table.

It was a warm evening but it was beginning to cool down a bit and there was a slight breeze that made it very pleasant to be outside.

My steak was a little tough but the Ratatouille was wonderful.  I love this vegetable stew.  It is the essence of summer.

We sat and talked as we sipped our wine after eating.

Later after returning to the house I ate a few bites of pistachio ice cream and went to bed at 8:45.

I awakened at 3:30 to finish this blog after a satisfactory 6 ½ hours of sleep.

Our plan was to awaken at 5:30 to watch a summer solstice ceremony being broadcast from the Anasazi Ruins in Aztec, New Mexico, so I may not go back to bed.

Bon Appetit