March 18, 2021 Lunch - 2nd half of 2000 Vietnam No. 21, Dinner - Grilled Hamburger with Broccoli, Sautéed Mushrooms, Shallot, Poblano chili and Baked Russet Potato

March 18, 2021 Lunch - 2nd half of 2000 Vietnam No. 21,  Dinner - Grilled Hamburger with Broccoli, Sautéed Mushrooms, Shallot, Poblano chili and Baked Russet Potato

I had a terrible day in the market. I sold some stocks early but not all the ones that fell the most and I bought back long before the damage was done by the end of the day as many stocks kept dropping after I bought back in. My portfolio suffered at least a 2.2% drop even after I sold and bought back.  Two lessons, get out while you can and stay when there is broad weakness and there is a fundamental shift going on in the Market.

But food was really great today.  Fruit, yogurt, and granola for breakfast at 9:30.  

Then the remaining 2nd half of the 2000 Vietnam No. 21 that I heated 1 minute and 11 seconds to warm it up.  Loyda was cleaning so I  ate in the garden with my back bathed in warm sunlight.  I made an iced Vietnamese iced coffee with leftover coffee, condensed milk, and ice.  It was refreshing even on a cool day.

After lunch I drove to Smith’s at the corner of Carlisle and Constitution to shop because the had sent me their weekly sales notice and I was attracted to 48 oz. containers of ice cream for $1.99. As it turned out there were lots of other things to buy also. I bought working hands lotion, a 2 lb. salmon fillet, a small piece of sushi grade aji tuna, two large avocados, 18 eggs for $1.29, 3 pounds of 85% lean hamburger meat for $2.97/lb., fish sticks on sale for $3.99, bananas, and last but not least vanilla and death by Chocolate ice cream for $1.99 for a 48 oz. container and a 10 lb. bag of Russet potatoes for $3.39 that I wanted to bake if we grilled the steak I had thawed yesterday.

Everyone was old in the store and masked, so I felt relatively safe. It was a beautiful warm day, so when I got home at around 3:15 I decided to ride. I rode 5 miles south and was just a little tired when I got home.  I think I am beginning to gain strength and stamina, but tomorrow I will probably not ride so my body can rest a bit instead of placing a lot more stress on it.

I really liked the way the Vietnamese iced coffee I drank at lunch made me feel so I made another one when I returned and sipped about 1/2 before meditation. 

I meditated at 5:00 until 5:30 and felt strong and focused.

Suzette arrived at 5:30 just as we finished and became upset that I was drinking coffee and made me put it away in the fridge, so I would be able to sleep at night.

We decided to roast potatoes so I washed and poked holes in six nice russets and put them on a cookie sheet and we put them in a 360 degree oven to roast at around 6:00.

We discussed the options for dinner: fresh salmon, steak, or hamburgers.  We were ambivalent so we called Willy and he decided on hamburgers with melted cheese on top and sautéed mushrooms. 

We decided to eat at 7:00, so at 6:15 we started prepping dinner.  I minced 2/3 of a medium shallot, sliced three portobello mushrooms and three white mushrooms and 1/4 poblano chili while Suzette formed  four hamburgers with about 1 1/4 lb. of the fresh ground beef and de-stemmed flowerets from a large head of broccoli.  I wrapped and froze the remaining hamburger and 1 3/4 lb. of ground beef, which provides us two hamburgers and enough ground beef for meat loaf.  Suzette decided to melt brie on top of the hamburgers so I skinned and sliced three slices of brie for each hamburger.

Suzette put the broccoli flowerets in the steamer with water and put the steamer on the stove and went out and started the grill.  I started sautéing the shallot and poblanos  in three T. of butter and 1 T. of olive oil and a dash of white pepper and salt.  I fetched the Amontillado sherry and when Suzette put the hamburgers on the grill, I added the mushrooms to the skillet and started steaming the broccoli.  After a minute I added the mushrooms slices and kept flipping them until each was coated with oil and had cooked a bit.  I then added the last 2 T. of sherry and turned down the heat so the mushrooms would simmer in the sherry.  

Willy likes Malbec, so I opened a bottle of Los Alamos Malbec from Argentina I bought at Trader Joe’s for around $10.00 on Tuesday and poured it equally into three wine glasses.

Suzette wanted a fire in our ceramic Mexican brazier so she went out to set a fire just as Willy arrived.  I asked Willy to go help Suzette with the fire so she could watch the hamburgers.

After about 8 minutes I turned the heat off under the broccoli and to the oven and removed the baked potatoes.  In another minute or two Suzette brought in the grilled hamburgers and we started plating dinner.  Suzette fetched a handful of fresh chives from our garden, our first produce of the year and proof that we can count on Mother Nature to bring forth her bounty yet again.

Suzette snipped the chives into thin slices on the wooden board and fetched the container of sour cream and criss-cross cut three potatoes and placed butter in each on a plate.  Then she placed a hamburger on each plate and I added steamed broccoli and Sautéed mushrooms.  I fetched catsup and each of us who wanted catsup added that to our plate.

When Willy returned to the kitchen shortly thereafter each us us took our plate and glass of wine to the table under the gazebo in the garden beside which a small fire was blazing in the brazier and Suzette had set the table with silver and napkins.

We ate a lovely dinner as the sun settled into twilight and talked until around 8:30 when the air began to chill as night consumed us.

We said goodnight to Willy and each fetched an after dinner drink of cognac and I fetch one of the Swedish milk chocolate and hazelnut bars I bought at IKEA in Las Vegas and we watched a house hunters episode about rentals in Brussels and the Trevor Noah Daily show and finally the 11th Hour until 10:00 when we went to bed.

I went right to sleep in spite of the coffee and chocolate and awakened at 1:00 to blog

Bon Appetit