October 1, 2020 Lunch – Beef, Potato, Chard, and Noodle Soup Dinner – Manila Clams with Linguine

October 1, 2020 Lunch – Beef, Potato, Chard, and Noodle Soup  Dinner – Manila Clams with Linguine

I awakened at 6:30 and watched the Market open pretty strongly but as the day proceeded the Dow settled down toward zero but the NASDAQ held a healthy gain of over 100 points.  For the day, my portfolio gained an additional 2/3%.  It is now approximately 1.4% away from its all time high.  I bought additional shares.  when the market dropped from its high so if it returns to the same level my portfolio will increase in value.  Unfortunately, it has not yet and it appears that the President has gotten covid 19, which is the type of disruption that will cause the Market to become very volatile.  The futures as of 11:00 p.m. are falling precipitously.

Back to my day.

I toasted two slices of French baguette and smeared them with goat cheese and garnished them with slices of onion and pieces of whitefish for breakfast and drank a cup of Earl Grey tea with milk.

 

Then at noon I butchered approximately 1 cup of PPI grill rib steak and chopped and simmered it in a 2 quart pot filled to 2/3 full of water with 1 T. of dehydrated beef stock and a Pho seasoning cube added.  I then added 3 oz. of diced onion, a bundle of Chinese wheat noodles, a T. of red miso, about ½ cup of PPI Baked Potato with sour cream and chives.  I then went to the garden and picked six or seven Chard leaves 

and chives and de-stemmed and sectioned the Chard leaves into bite-sized pieces and sliced the chives into thin rounds and added them to the soup after it had simmered about 30 minutes.

I ate two bowls with some hoisin sauce added and put the remaining approximately 1 bowl of soup into the fridge.

   

 

 

 After my soup I made a cup of green tea and drank it with a chocolate chip cookie. 

 

I worked until 3:15 and then napped until 4:30.  I ate a cookie with a cup of green tea and meditated from 5:00 to 5:30 with the four other members of our three stones zen sitting group.

Suzette arrived around 4:45 and we drove to Costco.  We each took a basket.  I shopped for the home and Suzette shopped for her facility and some for the home.  I went to the wine section first and bought 14 bottles.  I was wanting to try mostly Kirkland brand bottles.  The two I wanted, the Cotes du Rhone and Chablis has been discontinued.  I bought 5 Kirkland Rioja Reserva, two New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs, a Gruet Brut, a Kirkland 1.5 liter Cabernet Sauvignon, a Premier Cru St. Emillon, a Kirkland Malbec, a Kirkland Pinot Grigio, and two French Cahors (70% Malbec and 30% Merlot).

I  then looked for something for dinner and decided on a five lb. bag of fresh Manila clams for $3.99/lb.  I also bought a dozen chicken thighs for $.99/lb.

I found Suzette and she sent me to fetch eggs and heavy cream. We decided to meet at the sugar, where I picked up a 10 lb. bag of sugar and Suzette put a 5 lb. log of Jimmie Dean Sausage into my basket.  Jimmie Dean Sausage has become a staple food item in our house because it can be used in lots of different ways and quick and easy to cook. 

Suzette bought a 2 liter EV olive oil, 4 lb. of butter, fresh mozzarella cheese, and bibb lettuce for our house and a basket full of items for her facility, 

We left Costco in the twilight after the sun set and drove home.  We unloaded the Highlander and brought in the clams.

Clams with Linguine 

Suzette filled a large pot with water and opened the bag of clams and let them relax in water that I add Ed ice cubes to chill the water a bit.

Suzette then made a poaching medium for the clams of ¼ lb. of butter ½ cup of white wine and a cup of water in a large enamel casserole. She also added about ¼ cup of chopped parsley.

 

She steamed the clams open in batches that could be covered in the poaching medium.  As the clams cooked they released their juices to the broth also.

I went to the garden and picked six or seven chives and sliced them into thin ringlets and grated 1 cup of Pecorino Romano cheese and mixed it with the chives to garnish the dish.

 I then heated the gallon freezer bag of PPI spaghetti in the microwave for 1 minute and 23 seconds. As the clams opened we picked the meat out of the shells with cocktail forks.

When all of the clams had steamed open, Suzette added the spaghetti and clams to casserole full of broth and heated them together.

I toasted four slices of French baguette for dipping in the sauce.

Suzette filled pasta bowls with the clam, spaghetti, and broth mixture and garnished each bowl with a mound of the grated cheese and chive mixture.

I poured glasses of the Kirkland Marlborough, New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc ($7.99) that was complex with good but not over powering acidity.  The wine complemented the clams perfectly and was pleasant to drink after the meal also.

Suzette filled cordial glasses  of limoncello with crushed ice for us after dinner and we watched  Midsomer Mystery.

Suzette went to bed at 10:00 when Midsomer ended, but I ate a chocolate chip cookie with a cup of tea after and watched an episode of the BBC Sherlock Holmes series until 11:00.

At 11:00 I checked the Market futures on Bloomberg and noticed they had dipped dramatically down, so I tuned to CNN and found out the reason; the President and First Lady had tested positive for Covid 19.

Bon Appetit