September 30, 2020 Lunch – PPI Chicken Noodle Soup. Dinner – Chicken Salad Salad

 September 30, 2020 Lunch – PPI Chicken Noodle Soup. Dinner – Chicken Salad Salad

I had a bad food day yesterday.  The ham and cheese omelet did go down well, so today I decided to clean up my food act.  I started with a bowl of granola with yogurt, milk, and blueberries at 10:30.

I researched a new case and drafted a complaint until 1:55.PPI hockey h Then I checked the Market close up.  Unfortunately, it was well off its high of the day, so instead of 1.2%, my portfolio gained only .6%.  But a plus is a plus. The run up today was due to the expectation of a deal on a stimulus package that evaporated in the afternoon. But Pelosi and Mnuchin are still talking about a package. Perhaps that is why the market futures are up tonight.  I usually check the futures before I go to bed, so I know whether to wake up early to decide if I needed to take action.

At 2:00 I heated the PPI chicken noodle soup.  I freshened it by adding about 4 oz.of medium firm tofu and a handful of fresh spinach leaves. 

I opened a new bottle of hoisin sauce to flavor it with a bit of sweetness.

After lunch I worked until 4:00 when I took a nap until 5:15 when Suzette arrived.  We decided to make a light dinner of chicken salad salad.  I fetched a head of Romaine lettuce. 

I de-stemmed the lettuce leaves and cubed a tomato and sliced 1/3 of a  cucumber.  I drizzled the salads with Spanish olive oil. 

We drank the last of the bottle of La Granja Viura/Verdejo blend bought at Trader Joe’s for $5.99.

After dinner we each ate a couple of chocolate chip cookies I made during the debate because I could not sit and watch. So something good came of the debate.  I added Mexican powdered chocolate and liquid vanilla, plus raisins and chopped toasted pecans.

I drank a sip of brandy flavored with maraschino cherry liquid and acup of Earl Grey tea with the cookies.

After Trevor Noah’s show ended we went to bed.

We peeled and sugared three peaches and ½ cup of blueberries that we will use tomorrow night with our dinner of PPI teriyaki salmon.

I feel much better tonight.

I will start reading my book selection for the book club this month, Educated by Tara Westover.

Bon Appetit    

September 29, 2020 Breakfast – Ham, onion, asparagus, mushroom, and cheese Omelet. Lunch – salmon and Scallop Sashimi. Dinner – Baked Acorn Squash Stuffed with a Sausage, onion, mushrooms and bread crumbs topped with a mornay sauce

 September 29, 2020 Breakfast – Ham, onion, asparagus, mushroom, and cheese Omelet.  Lunch – salmon and Scallop Sashimi.  Dinner – Baked Acorn Squash Stuffed with a Sausage, onion, mushrooms and bread crumbs topped with a mornay sauce

I read The Lincoln Lawyer from 2:30 to 4:15 and then slept until 7:30.  I started working at 8:00.  The most significant thing I did was pay my federal and state income taxes, which took much of the day and lots more money than President Trump paid in income taxes.

At 9:00 I made a Ham, onion, asparagus, mushroom, and cheese Omelet with a piece of toasted and buttered French baguette spread with raspberry jam and a cup of Earl Grey tea. 

I used  manchego cheese

  

  Perhaps the most historic event of the day was that I facilitated Peter Eller joining our book club.  I think 

he will be a great member.

 After the market closed I made a lunch of salmon and Scallop Sashimi and made the PPI rice into sushi  rice by the addition of rice vinegar and aji Mirin. I also peeled and sliced ¼ cucumber. 

 The Dow and NASDAQ were down today, but my portfolio was up slightly. It is hard on days like this when the market is less volatile to see which way the market is going next.

  I am still waiting for Apple’s introduction of its new 5G phone to cash out some of my Apple stocks do I may need to wait one year to achieve long term capital gains.

 After lunch I completed my taxes and then drove to the bank and then the Post Office to mail my tax payments.

 Shortly after I returned home Suzette arrived, but I worked untIl 6:30, so Suzette started dinner prep-without me.  She chopped onion and garlic and sautéed it with sausage and bread crumbs.  

Then in a separate sauce pan she made a roux and added milk to makes cream sauce and then added 

Jarlsberg cheese to make a mornay sauce.  She cut in half and de-seeded and then stuffed the already  baked acorn squash with the stuffing and then drizzled mornay sauce over the stuffed squashes.  She the   baked the squashes in a Pyrex baking dish in a 350 degree oven for approximately 30 minutes until the squash were well heated.

 I went to the garage and fetched a bottle of 2018 St. Sagnol French Rose from Coteaux Varois en Provence, a French Provence Rose..  We love rose with pork dishes such as this dinner.  I bought 6 bottles at Trader Joe’s not long ago for $7.99/bottle. 

We each ate ½ squash and saved the other half for another meal.

  

 After dinner I became enraged by President Trump’s lack of civility and decorum, so I went to the kitchen   and made a batch of chocolate chocolate chip cookies with raisins and chopped toasted pecans.

Suzette went to bed at 9:00 after eating a couple of cookies.  I stayed up to read and blog and drank tea.

Cousin Marty called before and after the debate.  He must be excited by the increased political activity.

I was enraged because as a lawyer I felt no judge would allow what happened tonight to occur in their courtroom.

Bon Appetit 

September 28, 2020 Lunch – Chicken Noodle Soup Dinner – Sautéed Lamb Chops with Ratatouille another 1 ½% and I am approaching a point where my portfolio is above where I sold shares coming down from its high a few weeks ago.

 September  28, 2020 Lunch – Chicken Noodle Soup Dinner – Sautéed Lamb Chops with Ratatouille another 1 ½% and I am approaching a point where my portfolio is above where I sold shares coming down from its high a few weeks ago.

I mentioned grilling lamb chops and serving them with Ratatouille to Suzette and she supported it, so after lunch I thawed 10 lamb chops.

What I try to do is to sell high and buy back more shares at a lower price if I see the market in a definite down trend. So if the stock prices rise above the prices I bought back at, my portfolio should rise higher.  Three or four of the stocks have already risen above thei repurchase price and I am less than 5% away from the old high and half of the drop in my portfolio has been recovered. The problem is that I bought back in before the market bottomed and it has not fully recovered to the point I sold at for all stocks, especially Apple,

I ate a bowl of granola, milk, yogurt, and blueberries at around 9:00.

Then at 12:15 I heated the PPI chicken soup and added a bundle of egg white noodles, more water, a heaping T. of white miso, about 1/3 lb. more chicken meat from two wings, and a handful of spinach.  I then whisked an egg mixed with a T. each of soy sauce and Chinese rice wine and then mixed it into the soup with a tsp. of sesame oil. So this was something quite different from a can of Campbell’s chicken noodle soup.  Here is a picture.

    

After lunch I learned that there is a new procedure for evicting a squatter from a property in the metro court.  I obtained the forms and prepared the 3 day notice and sent it to my client for posting.  I love learning new legal procedures.

At 4:00 I drove to the bank and deposited a rent check and then drove to Sprouts where I bought yogurt, eggs, milk, a cucumber, and tofu.

When I returned home at around 5:00 Suzette had arrived but recalled she needed to water Willy’s plants, so left and did that.

Then at 6:00 I separated the chops. I bagged three chops in one sandwich bag and four in another sandwich bag.  The other three chops were left out for dinner.

Suzette had brought home a gallon freezer bag of roasted fresh Limitar red and green chili.  We separated it into five sandwich bags of chili.  Beautiful.

At 6:30 Suzette said, “Let’s cook dinner.”

Dinner included grilling three chops and  heating the PPI Ratatouille on the stove and some PPI spaghetti in the microwave.  A minimum of effort because we had created PPIs

I knew it would be a great dinner, so I opened a 2011 Castillo Clavillo Gran Reserva Tempranillo from Rioja. This was a wine I recently bought at Total Wine for $19.00.  I had bought it before and really like it. It is so smooth you forget you are drinking wine and the longer it was open the better it tasted.  It is a special wine and it made a rather simple meal wonderful.  The grill ran out of propane so Suzette finished cooking the salted and peppered chops in a cast iron skillet on the stove to rare, which I like for lamb. Gran Reserva is aged in oak and in the bottle for a minimum of 4 ½ years.  It is Spain’s highest designation and although it does not say anything about the quality of the grapes, usually the best grapes are used to Gran Reserva.

Suzette plated in a pasta bowl.  I lay a handful of spaghetti in one bowl and when the chops were cooked, Suzette ladled Ratatouille on top of my spaghetti and then lay a chop on top of that and finally a T. of her homemade mint jelly.  Here is a picture.

   Dinner was superbly satisfying and we sipped the last of the wine as we watched the Antiques Roadshow. 

I ate some chocolate and sipped an ounce of Calvados, which I often do after an especially good meal.

We went to bed at 9:30. I to blog and Suzette to sleep.

 Let’s hope the stock market rebounds this week 

Bon Appetit

September 27, 2020 Lunch – Teriyaki Salmon and Goat Cheese Omelet Dinner – Sautéed Hamburger and Ratatouille

 September 27, 2020 Lunch – Teriyaki Salmon and Goat Cheese Omelet Dinner – Sautéed Hamburger and Ratatouille  

I woke up at 5:30 and watched Sheffield play Leeds . Then I watched news programs until 10:00 and then we made Brunch Suzette made a Teriyaki Salmon and Goat Cheese Omelet and she drank white wine and I drank green tea. 

I then watched Leicester beat Man Union 5 to 2, the worst beating Man U. has suffered at home ever.

After the end of the match I rode 5 miles south.  Suzette went to HD to buy parts to make a frame for the pond cover.  I also removed two hamburgers from the freezer to thaw.

When I returned a few minutes before 2:00 we zoomed with the Simons, my brother, his wife and my niece.  

Then I took a shower and read the Lincoln Lawyer until Suzette asked me to help cover the pond.  The frame and cover look great.

Then I  read until 5:45 when Suzette called me to dinner.  I watched the last two minutes of the Cowboy v. Seattle game. Enough to see Dallas lose 38 v. 31.

Then we ate dinner of Ratatouille and hamburger with a slice of Jarlsberg cheese melted on top with a glass of Chianti while we watched 60 Minutes. This was one of the easiest dinner we have made since theRatatouille was already made.

Then we watched shows on PBS until 10:00 when we went to bed.

Bon Appetit 

 September 26, 2020 Lunch – Eggplant Parmigiana. Dinner – Chicken Salad Salad with Toast points

Today I was deeply immersed in college football and Stanley cup hockey.

I started with a bowl of granola, milk, yogurt, and blueberries at 8:30.  

Suzette planned a day of gardening, which meant two projects, shearing the privet hedge and covering the pond.  We were able to trim the hedge with Suzette’s gas powered trimmer.  Again we were unable to start the mini tiller. But we trim the excess cosmos around the pond and set the supports.  Then around 11:00 we finished and Suzette heated the takeout plate of Eggplant Parmigiana she brought from the bistro. We opened a bottle and poured glasses of Chianti t drink with lunch.

Then I started watching football and soccer and Suzette went to HD to buy ½ inch PVC pipe connectors for the pond cover.  I watched Kansas State beat Oklahoma, I watched IOWA State beat TCU, I watched Mississippi State beat LSU and finally I watched Texas beat Texas Tech 62 to 56 overtime.

We then made Chicken salad.  I chopped chicken breasts, celery stalks, ½ onion, chives, tarragon, and two hard boiled eggs.  Suzette the made a dressing of mayo, white wine tarragon vinegar, sour cream, and olive oil. 

I then tore Romaine lettuce and Suzette sliced tomatoes and an avocado to garnish the salad. Suzette toasted four slices of French baguette.

We filled wine glasses with white wine (mine was Flaverio and Suzette drank La Granja Verdejo and Viura bland.   We took our plates and glasses out to the garden to eat in the warm 80 degree evening weather.

Later we watched Stanley Cup Finals and sipped cognac and ate Guidan Belgium chocolates.

Bon Appetit

September 25, 2020 Lunch – PPI Bun Cha Gio, No. 21 from 2000 Vietnam. Dinner – Cedar Board Grilled Teriyaki Salmon with Rice and Catalan Spinach

 September 25, 2020 Lunch – PPI Bun Cha Gio,  No. 21 from 2000 Vietnam. Dinner – Cedar Board Grilled Teriyaki Salmon with Rice and Catalan Spinach

Today was dominated by the market.  All the big tech stocks rose handily and so did the Dow.  My portfolio rose 2% today.  The market has been volatile, but hopefully will continue back toward its recent highs. 

I had an appointment and worked until 11:15 when I heated the leftover portion of the No. 21 from 2000 Vietnam and added cilantro and basil.  Here is a picture.

 

 

After lunch I walked 1/3 mile and then watched the Market close.  

I also made teriyaki sauce and marinated most of the Atlantic salmon filet I bought yesterday at Sprouts for $5.99/lb.

Then I lay down and read and rested until 4:30 when Suzette returned home.

We decided to make rice and Catalan Spinach.  Catalan Spinach and Teriyaki Grilled Salmon is one of Willy’s favorite dinners, so the menu was an easy decision.

At 5:30 Suzette cut two cedar planks to hold the salmon and soaked them in water. Then I destemmed a colander full of spinach.   

At 6:00 I made rice by boiling 2 cups of water seasoned with pulse seaweed and dehydrated dashi. When the water boiled I added 1 cup of long grain rice and turned the heat down to its lowest setting and simmered the rice for thirty minute   

Suzette Grilled the salmon fillets on the cedar planks on the propane grill for about twenty minutes.  The planks may not have been adequately soaked in water because the salmon was charred more than usual. 

    Amazingly, the inside of the salmon was still reddish pink the way I like it. Here is a picture.   

  

 

The deliciously charred salmoncharred 

 

 

                                                 

 Catalan  Spinach

I diced a Granny Smith Apple and minced about 3 oz. of red onion.

Suzette sautéed the apple, onion and a handful of piñon nuts in butter in a large skillet and when they were soft added the spinach and tossed all the ingredients until the spinach wilted.

Suzette plated plates with a pile of rice, then a pile of Catalan Spinach and finally a piece of teriyaki salmon.

Suzette and Willy drank beer and I drank cold sake with dinner under the gazebo in the garden and marveled at the brightness of the half full moon.

At 7:45 Willy left to meet a friend and we went inside to watch news and each sipped a limoncello..

At 8:00 I ate a chocolate lay down and after watching Washington Week blogged and read More of Lincoln Lawyer.

Bon Appetit

September 24, 2020 Lunch – 2000 Vietnam. Book Club, and Dinner – Roasted Chicken with Sautéed Sweet Potatoes and diced Asparagus

 September 24, 2020 Lunch – 2000 Vietnam. Book Club, and Dinner – Roasted Chicken with Sautéed Sweet Potatoes and diced Asparagus

Today was fun.  I ate yogurt, blueberries, granola, and milk for breakfast.

Then I worked until 12:30 when I drove to the library to pick up next month’s book club book, Educated.  Then I drove to Willy’s and picked up a folding camp chair.  I then telephoned an order for a no. 21 from 2000 Vietnam. I drove and picked it up and then drove to the NM War Memorial Park for the book club meeting.  We met under a large covered benched area.  Keith went all out.  There as a stereo playing baseball songs, hot dogs from Sonic, cold drinks, boxes of the original cracker Jacks, caramel corn, peanuts, everything  one associates with baseball games. We discussed the book, DiMaggio, by Durso, which did not get a good grade.

After the book club I drove to Sprouts and bought a salmon filet, a whole chicken, a lb. of mushrooms, a bunch of asparagus, and five tomatoes.

I returned home at 4:45, just in time to unpack the groceries, grab a glass of water and slide in front of my computer to log in to the zen group Zoom meditation at 5:00. Luke joined us for the first time today.  Everyone was happy seeing him.

Suzette arrived shortly thereafter.  I asked her whether she wanted salmon or chicken. She did not care so I called Willy and he said he was going to play soccer, so I decided to roast the chicken.  I dusted the 

whole chicken with tandoori seasoning and placed it on a Spandex vertical roasting frame in a 9 x 9 inch Pyrex baking filled to ¼ inch with water.

I roasted the chicken in a 425 degree oven for 15 minutes and the Suzette turned the heat down to 375 for one hour.  For some reason the chicken did not fully cook and we had to microwave the leg quarters we cut off after removing it from the oven.

While the chicken was cooking Suzette peeled and sautéed the three small sweet potatoes we had baked several days ago with about five stalks of asparagus in butter in a large skillet.  This slightly crisped the vegetables and caramelized the sweet potatoes.  The result was delicious, which was refreshing because the chicken was tough.  I fetched and Suzette opened and poured a bottle of Falerio Italian white wine.  The wine has a unique flavor that is acidic and fruity but more  grapefruit  than lemon of Vouvray or grassy of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc. I bought the wine at Total Wine for about $9.00 per bottle.

I also cubed a aubergine and a white eggplant, a zucchini, a yellow squash, an onion, a small head of garlic, a green bell pepper, and the five Roma tomatoes I had bought today. I put all the ingredients into a large casserole and added olive oil and cooked them into Ratatouille.  After about 30 minutes Suzette added a cup of water to keep the vegetables from scorching.  We will eat Ratatouille for the next few days.

We each took our plate and glass outside and enjoyed eating our meal and sipping the wine in the mild evening air as we discussed the Coopers Hawk that has become a regular visitor to our bird bath in our garden.  In fact today when I went to the garden at 1:00 to pick basil for my Vietnamese lunch, as I stepped from behind the hedge onto the path into the garden, it flew away and I watched it pass under the trees in our neighbor’s yard making its way to open sky.

At 9:30 Suzette went to bed and I stayed up to blog.  

The sweetness of the sweet potatoes must have satisfied our craving for dessert, although Suzette drank a  glass of limoncello chilled with crushed ice.

Bon Appetit

September 20, 2020 Lunch at Santa Cruz Lake. Dinner – Cesar Salad

 September 20, 2020 Lunch at Santa Cruz Lake.  Dinner – Cesar Salad

We watched the news programs in our room at the Kachina Lodge and ate the rest of our hamburger and sweet potato fries left from last night’s dinner that Suzette microwaved.  At 10:00 we packed the car and drove south.  We stopped to fill the tank and Suzette got coffee. We turned southeast onto the Talpa road at the Trading Post and soon passed Dasburg, Cook, and Reed’s houses.

We drove to Sipapu and turned left toward Tres Ritos and drove as far as the Comales camp ground so we could see some aspens whose leaves had turned yellow.  

We then drove back south west along the high road, stopping at Trampas to view the church.  At Chiquito we turned off the road and drove to Santa Cruz Lake, where we at lunch at a picnic table overlooking the small mountain lake.  We ate the ham, cheese, avocado, and lettuce sandwiches I had made with a bottle of French rose from Provence that was 100% carignan.

Comales camp ground

 

                                                                  Trampas

Chimayo

 

Bob with the holy dirt 

We then drove to to the Santuario de Chimayo where we filled a cup with holy dirt and bought two bags of heirloom Chimayo medium red Chile powder.

The reason the dirt is holy is because it is from the location where the Spanish friars buried a small wooden cross when they were expelled from New Mexico during the Pueblo Revolt of 1680, so it was the only Catholic symbol to survive the revolt.

We then drove home.  Watched The Kansas City vs. LA Chargers game and Suzette rested.  We then went to the ceremony at Tiguex Park honoring the memory of Ruth Bader Ginsberg.  I was touched when a rabbi chanted a Hebrew prayer for her memory.

When we returned home Suzette said she was not hungry, so I suggested making a Cesar Salad.  We had all the ingredients, the croutons, the Parmesan cheese, the anchovies, and Romaine lettuce plus the Cesar dressing that I added lemon juice and Spanish olive oil to.

 We watched the end of the Tour and then PBS Mystery “Van Der Velk” and then went to bed.

We both felt bloated after all the bread we had eaten on Saturday and Sunday, so we were happy to eat salad for dinner with a chocolate chip cookie for dessert.

Bon Appetit

September 23, 2020 Lunch – PPI Vietnamese Chicken Noodle Soup. Dinner – Grilled Rib Steak with Baked Potato and Caesar Salad

 September 23, 2020 Lunch – PPI Vietnamese Chicken Noodle Soup. Dinner – Grilled Rib Steak with Baked Potato and Caesar Salad

Today I ate a breakfast I learned to love when we stayed in Paris when I travelled there with my parents in 1960.  My brother and I had a separate room from my parents at the Hotel du Printemps with a view from our balcony of Gard St. Lazare. Every morning we would be served a French breakfast of a croissant and baguette with butter and jam and hot chocolate.

That breakfast is what I ate for breakfast today. Two pieces of tasted baguette that I buttered and spread with raspberry jam.  The only thing missing was the balcony, the smell of coffee beans roasting from down the street, and the view of the Gard.

At 9:00 I rode five miles south and then worked until 11:30 when I heated the pot of PPI Vietnamese Chicken Noodle Soup to which 8 added a handful of spinach leaves and garnished with sliced green onions, cilantro, and hoisin sauce. I ate 1 ½ bowls and there was still 1 bowl left.

After lunch I thawed a rib steak for dinner.

The market had a huge sell off today.  My portfolio was down a whopping 3%.  Looks like I may need to wait until after the election for a come back, unless Congress reaches a meaningful agreement on another stimulus package or Apple issues it’s new 5G phone.  

At 2:45 Ii drove to an appointment with a new client and the back home.  I is good to have a paying client.

When I returned home a few minutes after 4:15 I baked the three sweet potatoes, two acorn squashes, and three baking potatoes at 375degrees for 45 minutes.

Suzette arrived at 5:15 and monitored the baking of the vegetables while I read Lincoln Lawyer in bed.

At 6:00 Suzette she was ready to proceed with dinner, which meant she was ready to put the steak on the grill.  I returned to the kitchen and made a Caesar Salad with Anchovies, Romaine lettuce, shaved strips of Pecorino Romano cheese, croutons, and Cesar salad dressing .

Suzette went to the garden and cut about ten chives

When the steak was grilled to medium rare Suzette brought it in and I sliced it, while Suzette prepared the potatoes by cutting them open and inserting pads of butter in them.  We each added our own steak strips and salad to our plates and I poured a 2011 De Ponte Dundee Hills Pinot Noir.  This wine had the longest smooth finish of any wine I have tasted lately.  I waited to feel a harshness and never did, just elegant aged fruit flavor.

We carried our plates and glasses of wine to the table in the garden gazebo and ate a hearty and delicious dinner.  Suzette had grilled the steak perfectly to our liking of medium rare and heavily charred.  The potatoes were the huge restaurant grade potatoes we bought at Costco so there was lots of fluffy white potato, and the Cesar salad was full of anchovy flavor because I had opened a small can of out of date anchovies that had disintegrated into a mush that went into solution in the Cesar salad dressing easily.

After dinner we drank glasses of limoncello and watched Tampa Bay beat Dallas in game three of the Stanley Cup and then went to bed.

Bon Appetit

September 21, 2020 Lunch – Mexican Pork and Bean Stew Casserole Dinner – Eggplant Parmigiana with Spaghetti and Spinach

 September 21, 2020 Lunch – Mexican Pork and Bean Stew Casserole  Dinner – Eggplant Parmigiana with Spaghetti and Spinach

The first day without the Tour de France seemed a bit empty, but there were other distractions of note.  The most interesting was Market it did one of those extreme roller coaster rides today.  The Dow was down almost 1000 points at one point but began to recover in the afternoon and ended down only 510 points.  I bought 300 shares of Disney in the morning and I think it ended up a bit. The Apple stock I bought at 106.78 on a Friday did better.  Apple ended up to over 110 for the day, which helped my portfolio gain about 3/4% in value, even though the indices were down for the day.  Unfortunately, Apple still has not returned to the price I bought most of it at. I sold Apple when t fell from $134.00 to $128.00.  Then I bought most of it back at 116, but it continued to fall below 110 in the middle of last week, so I bought another 500 shares at $106.78 on Friday.  Luckily, as stated above, it closed at 110 again today.

I was hungry today after eating salad for dinner.  I ate two small toasted bagel halves spread with goat cheese and garnished with slices red onion and Gravad Lax.

A few minutes later I ate a bowl of blueberries and yogurt.

Then at 1:00 I heated the last of the Mexican Pork and Bean stew with about ½ cup of Tomatillo sauce and slices of Jarlsberg cheese with corn tortillas mixed in.

It was just as delicious today as in the last week.

I worked on obtaining proof of ownership of a some property escheated to the State of Texas and tried to finish up my federal taxes in the afternoon.

Willy came by to do Laundry at 3:00 and we took a quick 1/3 mile walk around the block and I invited him to dinner.

When Suzette arrived a little before 5:00 we decided to make Eggplant Parmigiana.  Suzette Grilled three thick slices of eggplant from her garden in Los Lunas.  She dusted the grilled eggplant slices in bread crumbs and then constructed a casserole in a Pyrex baking dish.  The bottom layer was PPI spaghetti.  Then she lay the sautéed and bread crumb coated eggplant slices and then slices of fresh mozzarella and fresh leaves of basil I picked in the garden. Finally, she covered everything with a thick coating of spaghetti sauce and Pecorino Romano cheese and baked the casserole in the oven for thirty minutes to heat everything and melt the cheese.

I had chilled a bottle of Faustino Rivero Reserva Tempranillo from the Rioja in Spain. We filled wine glasses with wine and de-stemmed enough spinach stems to lay a layer of fresh spinach on the bottom of each bowl. Suzette then divided the eggplant parmigiana between three pasta bowls and we each carried our bowl and glass of wine to the table in the gazebo and ate a delicious dinner.

We watched game 2 of the Stanley Cup Finals tonight along with the Antiques Roadshow and NO play the Las Vegas Raiders in the NFL.

Willy left after dinner and I drank a cup of tea with 2 chocolate chip cookies.  Suzette Thad a glass of her homemade limoncello and a cookie.

We went to bed at 10:00, I blogged and Suzette slept.

I enjoyed the day and its food and activity.

Bon Appetit

September 18, 2020 Lunch – Ham and cheese sandwiches. Dinner – Cedar plank Grilled Teriyaki Salmon with blanched and sautéed green beans with piñon nuts and tomato

 September 18, 2020 Lunch – Ham and cheese sandwiches. Dinner – Cedar plank Grilled Teriyaki Salmon with blanched and sautéed green beans with piñon nuts and tomato 

I woke at 4:30 and went back to bed and slept until 7:00. Watched the Tour and the market tumble agaIn today.  When the bike ride was over and the young a Danish rider won a second stage. 

 I dressed and drove to Costco and shopped for an hour and got a flu shot.   Bought lots of stuff, a case of Rivero Reserva Spanish tempranillo, a bottle of Malbec for Willy, Saran Wrap, windex, 3 lb. of lobster claws, pasta, olive oil, diced tomatoes, kalamata olives, Two French baguettes, sliced ham, lettuce, a bottle of Dewar’s scotch for Suzette, and hummus. 

I then drove home and quickly made and ate two open faced ham and cheese sandwiches, which I ate with dill pickles and kalamata olives.

Then I found out that my 12:00 appointment canceled so I relaxed and watched the Market.  All the tech stocks were down again, so near the end of the day I put an order in for 500 shares of Apple at 106.78 and it filled and then bounced back to close above 107.  We will see what happens on Monday.

After 2:00 I checked the results of the day and my portfolio was down another 1 ½%.  I hope Apple’s 5G phone is released soon and rejuvenates Apple’s stock price.

I dozed from 2:30 to 3:30.

At 4:00 Suzette arrived as I was taking the two boxes of Luke’s clothes to the post office to mail to him, so she helped me load the boxes and drove us to the post office.  When I got the boxes to the counter, they were weighed and I was told, “That will be $146.00.”

I immediately responded, “wow, I bet that is your big sale of the day.” 

The lady clerk’s response was silence. I guess they see their efforts as a service rather than a business.

We returned home and we signed to attend the screening of the new locally produced documentary covering the life and art work ofBeatrice Mandelman.  She moved to Taos with her husband, Louis Ribak, in 1944 and started theTaos Moderns  movement.

I then made chocolate chip cookies with raisins and toasted chopped pecans and Suzette took a shower and soaked the Cedar Plank.

Then at 6:20 we started dinner, which was easy.  Suzette placed the salmon  on the wet Cedar Plank and grilled the teriyaki salmon and started sautéing the green beans and piñon nuts and put the Couscous into the Pyrex loaf pan and covered the green beans with water in a skillet and blanched them.  Suzette soon removed the water and added pinon nuts and sautéed the green beans and pinions in butter.

I opened a new chilled bottle of sake and filled three glasses with wine and we ate a simple but lovely dinner.

We ate chocolate chip cookies for dessert.

Bon Appetit 

September 22, 2020 Lunch – Vietnamese Chicken Noodle Soup. Dinner – Bistro Chicken Pot Pie with steamed Green Beans

 September 22, 2020 Lunch – Vietnamese Chicken Noodle Soup. Dinner – Bistro Chicken Pot Pie with steamed Green Beans

Today began the recovery of high tech in the Market and brought three new cases my way.  I have been preparing deeds for mortgage lenders for several years. During that period I have never received any calls for legal assistance and today I received a call out of e blue and another person came to my door requesting advice and representation for a deed I prepared.

Then in the afternoon a client of Shahin called with a request for assistance.  I am thrilled to be busy again.

I ate yogurt, blueberries, granola and milk for breakfast.

Then at 1:00 I made chicken noodle soup with 1/3 of a breast of chicken diced, 1 tsp. of Knorr dehydrated chicken stock, a Pho seasoning cube, a T. each of white and red miso, 2 oz. of chopped onion, a handful of green beans diced, some Chard, some basil chopped, and 5 or 6 chives sliced in thin ringlets.  I added four types of Oriental noodles: bean thread, rice sheets, wheat, and soba buckwheat noodles in 1.75 quarts of water.  I added hoisin sauce to flavor the soup when I was eating it.  I also have more than 1 quart left because I add water as I eat the soup and the noodles expand by absorbing the added water.

The soup was still simmering at 2:00 when the market closed and I was amazed to find out that my portfolio increased 1 ½ % today. For example, I bought five more shares of Amazon on Friday because I thought it had been beaten down, bringing my total ownership to 30 shares and today it closed up $152.69 per share.  Tech shares are still far below the high set in August but moving up quickly.  If there is a covid relief package adopted by Congress or a vaccine the market should respond positively.

I went to the bank in the afternoon and then rested a bit after 4:00.  When Suzette came home a bit before 5:00 she lay down and we napped until 6:30.

We still had ½ of the Chicken Pot Pie Suzette brought from the Bistro a few days ago, so the entrée for dinner was decided. Suzette suggested we steam the rest of the green beans because there were beginning to go bad.  So that was the dinner menu.

We drank a white Bordeaux with the meal.

After dinner we watched some TV, most particularly the life histories of Biden and Trump as presented by Frontline on PBS while we drank limoncello and ate cookies for dessert.

Bon Appetit

September 17, 2020 Lunch – New Recipe - Mexican Pork and Bean Stew with Tomatillo Sauce Dinner – Greenhouse Bistro Signature Chicken Pot Pie

 September 17, 2020 Lunch – New Recipe - Mexican Pork and Bean Stew with Tomatillo Sauce  Dinner – Greenhouse Bistro Signature Chicken Pot Pie

I woke up at 4:00 to look at the Tour and went back to sleep at 5:20 and slept until 7:00 when Suzette awakened me to tell me she was leaving for work.

I watched the Race and ate a slice of toasted banana bread smeared with orange marmalade at 8:30, but missed the end of the stage because of loss of the connection of the TV to the Internet.  I got dressed at 9:15 and appeared at a Zoom hearing at 10:00 with Bill Turner.

I then showered and prepared lunch at noon. I have created a new dish that I like very much.  We had a large can of white beans that I cooked with a pork shoulder and about a quart of Tomatillo sauce I made by cooking and then emulsifying tomatillos, onions, oregano, and garlic. 

The result was a thick stew.  I cut three corn tortillas in halves and line the bottom of a pasta bowl with them.  Then I pour some Tomatillo sauce on them and then cover them with stew, then add more Tomatillo sauce and finally top the dish with grated Monterrey jack cheese and heat in the microwave until the top starts to bubble.

The brilliance of this recipe is that the tortillas absorb the liquid from the stew and sauce and become soft and pastry-like so one can cut bites of the stew and tortillas and they have the same consistencylike great enchiladas.

 At 2:00 I napped for an hour.  I meditated from 5:00 to 5:30 when Suzette came home with a freshly made chicken pot pie from her Greenhouse Bistro at the Center for Ageless Living.  She calls this one the Signature Chicken Pot Pie, but it s a standard 9 inch diameter pot pie with a wonderful flaky crust, not too many cubes of potato, lots of vegetables including onions, carrots, and celery.  It will easily serve six 

persons  Suzette heated pieces of it.  I fetched a bottle of La Granja Spanish Viura/Verdejo blend white wine I bought at Trader Joe’s for $5.99 and we had a simple but lovely meal. La Granja Viura/Verdejo  blend is my favorite wine with chicken dishes. It is a pleasant blend that does not have lots of acidity or citrus flavors.

After dinner we both wanted dessert, so Suzette place a scoop of java chocolate chip ice cream on a chocolate chip cookie and garnished with the delicious maraschino cherries she made and Hershey’s chocolate syrup and I added a dash of Kahlua.

Willy came by at 8:00 and Suzette heated him a piece of pot pore and he ate a chocolate chip cookie for dessert.

We watched Biden’s drive in town hall meeting and the Tampa Bay Lightning win the Eastern Division Championship of the NHL and advance to the Stanley Cup Finals against Dallas.

We talked to Amy for a while and then went to bed when Willy left at 9:30. I have connected a lamp to an extension cord and tonight connected my I Pad, so I can blog lying in bed., which is much more comfortable.

Bon Appetit

    

September 16, 2020 Lunch – Maison Pate’ from Le Troquet. Dinner – spaghetti with Italian sausage spaghetti sauce

 September 16, 2020 Lunch – Maison Pate’ from Le Troquet. Dinner – spaghetti with Italian sausage spaghetti sauce 

Today was a day of pleasant simple peasant food.  I started the day watching the news and the Tour at 5:30.  At around 8:00 I ate a bowl of granola, milk, blueberries, and yogurt as I watched the Tour de France race up two huge mountains. 

I then worked, took a shower, picked Maison Pate from Le Troquet and confirm lunch lans with Peter Eller.  Peter arrived at 12:15 with two lovely containers of sliced Pate, tomatoes, French whole grain mustard, cornichons, thinly sliced slices of red onion, and Pitted kalamata olives plus about six or seven toasted and buttered slices of French baguette

Qi Peter wanted Fizzy water with lemon, so I poured us glasses of club soda and added fresh lemon juice.  We took our lunches out to the table under the gazebo in the garden and enjoyed the cosmos and other 

blooming flowers in the warm Indian Summer weather.

After lunch I completed gathering the tax information necessary to complete my 2019 taxes and sent them to the tax preparer.

I then lay down and finished DiMaggio, our book club book for this month and napped until 5:00 when oSuzette arrived.

Suzette had had a tough day and asked me to cook. I leapt at  the opportunity because I had a menu planned.  I had bought six pork Italian Sweet sausages on Monday at Sprouts for $2.99/lb.  My plan was to make a fresh spaghetti sauce with some of the sausage and serve it with spaghetti.

I cubed a tomato, 3 oz. of yellow onion, two sweet peppers from our garden, ½ of a bell pepper, a zucchini

 squash, and four cloves of garlic.

I also de-stemmed and chopped about 2/3 cup of fresh basil leaves

I then skinned and diced two Italian sausages and Suzette Sautéed them in a T. of olive oil in a deep skillet.  We then added the chopped vegetables and sautéed them covered with the wok cover until tender.  Then I added 7 oz. of tomato sauce and about 15 oz. of Prego spaghetti sauce.  Then I added the fresh basil.

Suzette boiled a lb. of spaghetti in a heated pot of water while the spaghetti sauce simmered.

Suzette opened a bottle of Aquino Reserva Chianti (Trader Joe’s $5.99).

The wine was a little bitter at first but became very drinkable in a few minutes with the addition of a few ice cubes. 

We enjoyed our simple dinner because of all of the fresh vegetables cooked into the spaghetti sauce.  I can not tell you how delicious the fresh vegetables and basil in the spaghetti sauce was.  We watched Rachel Maddow and Bob Woodward on Lawrence O’Donnell’s 

The speed and intensity of Trump’s lies is tiring and disheartening.  As several commentators stated, “can we just vote today so this nightmare can end.”

After dinner I toasted two pieces of French baguette and buttered them and added slices of a freshly opened wheel of my favorite French brie from Isigny in Normandy that is sold by Costco for around $6.00 for 500 grams.

I had another glass of wine as I typed this blog and went to bed a bit after 10:00.

Bon Appetit 

September 15, 2020 Lunch – Sashimi Dinner – Steamed Salmon with Cream Sauce and steamed asparagus and Tomato Couscous

 September 15, 2020 Lunch – Sashimi   Dinner – Steamed Salmon with Cream Sauce and steamed asparagus and Tomato Couscous

Today’s meals included salmon three ways plus tuna and scallops.

For breakfast I toasted a bagel and spread it with goat cheese and garnished with slices of red onion and Gravad Lax.

Then at 1:00 for lunch I sliced pieces of fresh salmon, Aji tuna, and three scallops dipped in soy sauce and wasabi sauce and pickled ginger.

As i finished Lunch at 2:00 the market closed and when I checked my portfolio had increased almost 1%. Another good day in the market.

I worked for an hour and the lay down and napped until 5:00 when Suzette arrived.

I had bought a 2 ½ lb. salmon filet, a tuna steak, and three scallops on Monday.  Today I cut off the salmon tail and cut off a 1/3 lb. piece of aji tuna and sliced the three scallops I bought for Sashimi for lunch. 

Then at dinner we cut the remaining salmon filet in half.  I prepared teriyaki sauce by heating 1/3 cup each of soy sauce, Aji Mirin, and saki plus 1 T. of sugar.  I put one of the filet salmon fillets in a gallon freezer bag and added the teriyaki sauce after it had cooled for a few minutes. 

We decided to steam the other salmon filet half in the steamer oven and make a cream sauce with garlic for it.  Suzette garnished the salmon filet with lemon slices, lemon juice, butter pads, thyme sprigs and cooked the filet for 21 minutes in the steamer oven.  Actually the fish was a little over cooked but still delicious.

Suzette made a cream sauce by making a roux with flour and butter and pressed two cloves of garlic in and then added the stock from the salmon steaming and then a bit of of milk to get the sauce to the right consistency.

Suzette also steamed a handful of asparagus and heated a Pyrex loaf pan of the PPI Tomato Couscous from last night.

I fetched a bottle of 2019 Kona New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc that was wonderful.  It had a light grapefruit flavor.  I bought it at a Trader Joe’s.

We ate outside in the lovely evening calm after sunset.

It was a lovely day of fish.

Bon Appetit

September 14, 2020 Lunch – Pork and Beans on tortillas with Tomatillo sauce and cheese. Dinner – Chicken Salad Salad and Bananas Foster

 September 14, 2020 Lunch – Pork and Beans on tortillas with Tomatillo sauce and cheese. Dinner – Chicken Salad Salad and Bananas Foster

I awakened at 4:30 and watched the remarked and Morning Joe, which is my favorite news program until 5:30 and went back to bed and slept until 7:30.

I watched the Market for a while and then ate a bowl of granola, yogurt, blueberries, and milk at my desk until 9:15 when I went for a 2/3 mile walk.

I then showered and printed the form of power of attorney for Luke’s closing.  At 11:00 I drove to the bank to get my signature notarized and the sent the power of attorney to the attorney closing the transaction by express mail.

I then drove to the dentist’s office and had my chipped tooth repaired.

I then drove to Sprouts and bought a 2 lb. bag of sea scallops, a 2 ½ lb. Atlantic salmon, a small Aji tuna steak, shallots, milk, a red and green bell pepper, some chocolate covered cashews, parley, cilantro, a large avocado, and a head of Romaine lettuce.

When I returned home at 2:25 I was hungry and sore, so I made the quickest lunch I could think of.  I lay halved tortillas in the bottom of a pasta bowl amend ladled Mexican Pork and Beans on the tortillas and poured a generous amount of Tomatillo sauce of the pork and beans and then sprinkled grated cheese on top and covered the bowl with Saran and sensor re-heated the food in the microwave. It was filling and delicious.

I checked my portfolio and was pleased to see that it bounced back 2% today.  I then lay down and read and rested until 5:00 when Suzette arrived.

We decided to use the Romaine lettuce and add a cubed cucumber, ½ of the large avocado, and several tomatoes from our garden with the PPI Chicken Salad to make a salad for dinner, to use up the chicken salad.  Suzette finished the 2009 Pennywise Pinot Noir and I drank the rest of the Sagnol Rose from Cotes de Provence (Trader Joe’s $7.99).

We had a cocktail and then made our salad and watched the news until 6:30 when game five of the Western Finals between Dallas and Las Vegas began.  We switched between hockey and the Antiques Roadshow until 8:00 when the 3rd period began.  Soon Las Vegas scored a second goal to lead 2 to 0, but Dallas started skating better and faster and scored 2 goals to tie.  The game went int overtime and Dallas scored to win the Western title and advance to the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time in 20 years.

We decided to make bananas foster to celebrate.  Suzette sautéed bananas in brown sugar and butter and when cooked added rum amend flambeed the mixture.  Here is a video.

Suzette went to bed and I stayed up to blog.

Bon Appetit

September 13, 2020 Lunch – Baked Tomatoes with Eggs Dinner – PPI Duck Breast with Steamed Asparagus and Tomato Couscous

 September 13, 2020 Lunch – Baked Tomatoes with Eggs   Dinner – PPI Duck Breast with Steamed Asparagus and Tomato Couscous

I awakened at 5:30 again.  Today was a symphony of wonderful TV programming; the Tour de France, the English Premier League, and CNN.  Then at 9:00 the news programming increased with Mert the Press and Stephanoulolus.  The two Slovenians finished this mountain top finish 1 and 2 for the second time and are 1 and 2 in the standings, although below them there was a large shake up in the GC standings as the two favorite Colombian riders. Quintana and Bernal, lost time.

At 9:00 I toasted two slices for bagel and spread then with goat cheese and slices of Gravad Lax and Whitefish and red onion.

At 11:00 I watched Fareed Zakaria and Suzette baked tomatoes filled with egg.  They were flavored with tarragon and cream, and cheese, but somewhat lacking in flavor.  I ate them because intended to ride my bike.

At 11:50 I ride five miles south.  When I returned at 1:00 I showered and read my DiMaggio book and rested until 1:45 when we set up the Zoom meeting  and zoomed until 3:00 and lay down again.

I awakened at 6:00 just in time to see the Bob Woodward interview on 60 Minutes.

I prepped the asparagus for steaming by breaking off the stalks where they broke naturally and placed them in the steamer with water and steamed them for 8 minutes.

I then made couscous.  I minced 3 oz. of red onion, a chili from our garden, and two cloves of garlic and sautéed those ingredients in 2 ½ T. of butter.  After they softened I added 1 cup of Couscous and sautéed it to coat it with butter.  Then I added about ½ cup of tomato pulp that Suzette had not used for her egg dish for brunch and 1 ¾ cup of boiling water.  The normal ratio is 1 ½ cup of water to 1 cup of Couscous but I use more water because I like my Couscous wetter and so it will not stick or scorch. I cook the Couscous for a couple of minutes and as it absorbs liquid I turn down the heat to low for several minutes.  Then I fluffed the Couscous with a fork and turned up the heat for a minute to develop steam and then turned the heat to let the Couscous steam. The  resulting Couscous was moist and really delicious.

Suzette then re-heated the Duck Breasts for 2:22 minutes in the microwave at a power of .8.  

I went to the basement looking for a Pinot and to my surprise found a bottle of 2009 California Pinot Noir that I had bought at Costco for $7.45 10 years ago.  It was spectacular, full bodied with a slight licorice, port after taste.  Suzette loved it. I found it a little off but immensely drinkable.

We took our glasses filled with Pinot and our plates filled with Couscous, asparagus and a sliced duck breast out to the garden to eat.

The air was perfect, around 75 degrees with a slight breeze.  We enjoyed a simple, healthy, and elegant meal al fresco.

Bon Appetit

       

September 12, 2020 Breakfast – Soft Boiled Eggs on Sausage and Toast with tomato slices Lunch – Avocado Stuffed with Chicken Salad and Chicken Salad Sandwich. Dinner – Fish Chowder with Garlic Bread

 September 12, 2020 Breakfast – Soft Boiled Eggs on Sausage and Toast with tomato slices  Lunch – Avocado Stuffed with Chicken Salad and Chicken Salad Sandwich. Dinner – Fish Chowder with Garlic Bread

I awakened at 5:30 to watch the Tour de France and the opening day of English Premier League.  

Suzette slept until 7:30.

At9:00 after Suzette had had her coffee we were hungry, so Suzette soft boiled 4 eggs and sautéed two patties of sausage while I sliced tomatoes and toasted and buttered bread for an interesting and light breakfast.

I kept watching the bike race and soccer until about 1:00 except for a break to tape shut eight boxes of Luke’s belongings, we intend to send to him now that he has a place in New York.

Suzette stitched the silk duvet cover closed and we covered the duvet and lay it on the bed, so we are ready for winter. The duvet is filled with silk cocoons and we bought the silk duvet and duvet cover and pillows all made from silk in China when we visited with Suzette’s parents about ten years ago.

We decided to eat chicken salad for lunch. We made chicken salad we made yesterday with celery, lettuce, red onion, basil mayonnaise, diced hard boiled eggs and roasted chicken breast.

For lunch I made a stuffed avocado salad with diced tomatoes for Suzette with the one good avocado half and cut the other damaged half into slices and made a chicken salad sandwich with slices of tomato, lettuce, avocado and chicken salad on Toasted German Whole wheat bread.  

We poured glasses of Martin Codax Spanish Albariño and took our lunches outside and ate in the garden.

We then took naps and at 4:00 when we awakened we walked ¾ mile around the neighborhood.

When we returned home we saw a Colores short on Bea Mandelman and decided to go to Taos next weekend to see the new exhibit at the Harwood.

I am glad I bought a work by her.

At 6:20 we started watching game four of Dallas v. Las Vegas in the Stanley Cup playoffs and during the breaks watched back yard make overs.

We decided to make fish chowder with the PPI red snapper, squash, spinach, and green beans.  Suzette added two shrimp, several scallops, and a piece of tuna plus white wine, water, and butter.  I diced and we added ½ white onion, ½ potato, a carrot, and several stalks of celery.

I made garlic bread by sautéing slices of French baguette in garlic, butter, and olive oil.  The warm garlic bread was really delicious with the fish stew.  This was a perfect conversion of a not very interesting leftover red snapper with squash into a new exciting fish stew.  

The result was a delicious fish stew.  We drank the rest of the Martin Codax Albariño with the stew.

We love converting leftovers into new exciting dishes.  That is why we consider leftovers previously prepared ingredients or PPIs.

Today we had two of them.  The roasted chicken that was used to make chicken salad and the red snapper that became the base for the fish stew/chowder.

Bon Appetit