August 18, 2020 Lunch – PPI Bun Cha Gio No 21 from 2000 Vietnam. Dinner – Fried Chicken Thighs with Tomato and Chard Couscous and Steamed Broccoli

August 18, 2020 Lunch – PPI Bun Cha Gio No 21 from 2000 Vietnam. Dinner – Fried Chicken Thighs with Tomato and Chard Couscous and Steamed Broccoli 

I awakened at 5:00 to watch the pre-market stock trades and Morning Joe.  Suzette woke up s little later and suggested that since we were up before sunrise, we could go watch the beavers. So I at a bowl of granola, yogurt, milk, and blueberries and then we dressed and drove to Kit Carson Park around 6:00 and walked to the beaver pond in the Bosque.  This was a good morning because Suzette saw two beavers and I saw one. We also saw a flock of Canadian geese land in the pond.

Me walking out of the Bosque at sunrise

We returned home a bit after 7:00 and decided to cook the five chicken thigh we had bought in our last order Suzette went to work and I watched some market action, until I decided to stand pat on all my positions, even though Apple was several dollars negative.  As it turned out Apple came back snd ended positive for the day.  In fact today was historic because both the S & P and the NASDAQ both finished at all time highs eclipsing their former highs on February 19, 2020 before the bottom fell out of the market.  

The questioned asked of one of the traders today was, “Do you intend to sell?”  The trader answered, “I intend to stay on the bus, but I am making sure I am sitting by the exit.”

That is how I feel.  I see nothing to stop the upward trajectory of the market but one never knows when things can change and one must be willing to make a hasty exit when conditions do change.

A bit after noon I ate the PPI Bun Cha Gio No 21 from 2000 Vietnam left from yesterday’s Lunch. After lunch I made myself a Vietnamese iced coffee with a heaping T. of Nestle Lechera condensed milk and the leftover coffee brewed this morning.

I then watched the Market close and discovered that Apple and several other of the big tech stocks had recovered.  In fact Amazon was really brilliant, gaining over $130.  This and a couple other gainers resulted in a daily gain of .033% and a new all time high for my portfolio.

The market has been on fire in August. My portfolio has risen over 7.5% since August 1, 2020, an average year’s gain in the last 14 trading days and more than I have earned in any of the last few years from legal services

I rested and dozed in the afternoon arising at 4:30.  

Suzette arrived and showered and then joined me to watch the news.

When we were sitting we discussed dinner.  We had examined the meat we ordered in the morning when returned from our trip to the Bosque and decided to cook the chicken thighs. Suzette took two flats of pork steaks to work and I butchered I flat that turned out to be mostly bone joints and only about 2/3 usable meat that I bagged and froze for Posole or a stew or stir frying.

As we sat together in the evening I suggested steaming some of the fresh broccoli and making Couscous with several of the tomatoes we bought.  Suzette suggested adding some chard from our garden, so we went outside and picked Chard and basil and a sweet pepper.

Unfortunately, we discovered that someone or thing has been stealing our tomatoes.p, which upset Suzette. Whoever or whatever is taking our produce, I hope you enjoy it.

Couscous

When we returned to the kitchen Suzette cleaned the items and cut the pepper in half.  I finely minced the pepper and de-stemmed and cut the basil and Chard leaves into bite-sized pieces along with 3 oz. of red onion.

I then sautéed the pepper and onion in 3 T. of butter in a 2 quart sauce pan and after a couple of minutes added the tomatoes.  I heated water to a boil in the tea kettle. Then I added 1 cup of dry Couscous to the pot to coat with butter and after another minute added 1 3/4cups of boiling water to the pot and cooked the Couscous for several minutes to steam it.  I then turned iPod the heat because Suzette still needed to cook the fried chicken in the oven for twenty minutes.

When I checked the Couscous twenty minutes later it was perfectly cooked, having absorbed the steam and heat.

 

Bobby Flay Chicken

Suzette removed the excess fat from the five thighs and coated them with flour p, salt, and pepper by shaking them in a plastic bag containing those ingredients.

She then sautéed the coated thighs in about ¼ inch of bacon fat weighted by a skillet filled with water for about 15 to 20 minutes.  She then placed the sautéed thighs on a cookie sheet and baked them in a 350 degree oven for 20 more minutes.

When there were 10 minutes of cooking time left I started the broccoli steaming.

When the chicken was ready Suzette plated the plates with broccoli, Couscous, and a chicken thigh.

I opened a bottle of 2018 La Granja Verdejo and Viura Spanish white grape blend that is my favorite every day wine with chicken.  It is a pleasant wine that is reasonably priced at $5.99 at Trader Joe’s.

 

 This was another feel good comfort food meal. 

We watched the Democratic Convention.  Suzette brought home a lavender pound cake. So later she made a blueberry compote and spread it over slices of pound cake.

 

Today’s dinner turned out to be delicious and very spontaneous.

Bon Appetit