We awakened at 6:00 again as the sun rose at the East end of the long valley that adorns our view from the front of the cabin perched high on the west wall of the valley above Mechem Rd. And the cemetery.
Suzette made a wonderful omelet with the PPI teriyaki salmon and garnished it with slices of avocado. We drank the bottle of Sparkling wine from Saumur de Bussey, a rose of the typical style blending Cabernet Franc red grape juice with Chenin Blanc white grape juice.
After drinking the rose we usually find in America that blends Pinot Noir with Chardonnay the saumur version tastes different. It tastes earthy from the Chenin Blanc and more assertive from the cabernet franc. So a different taste profile.
The omelet was superb. It seems we had had superb meal after superb meal over the last few days. I don’t know if it is the desire to push the envelope for my birthday with our focus on drinking good bottles of wine or just the luck of good ingredients matched with good wines, but the result has been admirable.
I also have been feeling better. It seems it has taken 1 ½ years to reach this point that I would say is 95% recovery.
For example today after we left Ruidoso we drove north and took State 55 to see Gran Quivira Pueblo, the largest and most easterly of the three Salinas Pueblos. It was very large because it was the trading center between Pueblo settlements and plains Indians. It is only partially restored and sits on a high mount on the eastern side of a salt playa to the north.
To make my earlier point we were greeted by a ranger who told us the leisurely path through the ruins was ½ mile long and we took off on the hike without a murmur and I made it in good shape.
So I am no longer hindered by the prospect of walking distances of less than a mile by pain.
We drove home by way of the back side of the Manzanos through Manzanos and Chillili to Tijeras
where we joined I-40.
Suzette drove to Corrales to pick up her painting cleaned by Ari and we arrived home at 3:00.
After a shower and a shave I ate the PPI bowl of Pho from Thursday, defrosted the Halibut steak and lay down to nap until 6:30. When I awakened Suzette was cooking dinner.
She steamed the Halibut in the steamer oven and then divided the steak in half and wrapped each ½ of the steak in Chard leaves with a slice of lemon on each side and baked it in the oven. Suzette also blanched asparagus stalks and diced them and cooked them with some PPI Couscous. Here is a picture.
I could not resist the urge to have an exceptional wine wit( dinner so I fetched the bottle of 2017 Chateau Vivonne Bandol Rose. It gets from good to insanely great ratings that average 90 points. We thought it was a bit oxidized because of a slightly loose plastic cork but after a few ice cubes and being open for a while we liked it a lot better.
Bandol is east of Marseilles so different grapes and a different flavor profile although technically still in Provence.
We like Le Ponte rose much better with its sublime finish of no flavor of grape.
After dinner we watched Grandchester and Beecham House. I drank a Calvados and nibbled several chocolate truffles and then when Suzette went to I drank a cup of chai and blogged.
This is the end of my birthday weekend and it has been wonderful.
Bon Appetit
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