August 18, 2021 Lunch - New Recipe, Deconstructed Bean and Beef Burrito. Dinner - Guacamole and Corn Chips

August 18, 2021 Lunch - New Recipe, Deconstructed Bean and Beef Burrito.  Dinner - Guacamole and Corn Chips

Today was an odd day of food and Stock market activity and news.

It seemed liked the convergence of the bad news from Afghanistan where there is a chaotic rescue of Americans and their helpers and increased uncertainty caused by a Taliban takeover, the rising numbers of new Covid cases causing slowdowns in economic activity worldwide plus a spike in interest rates in the afternoon after the fed notes were released, plus higher temperatures, wildfires, and droughts around the world are forcing an awareness that the Earth is now facing the effects of global warming finally turned the markets worldwide sharply negative.

As I write this blog at 2:00 a.m. on August 19, 2021, the market futures worldwide are also down sharply.  It looks like we are in for a rough ride during the next month.

So, back to food.

After Suzette and I walked 3/4 mile, I toasted four slices of bagel, spread them with cream cheese, added slices of red onion and Gravad lax, and capers and made a cup of Earl Grey tea for a terrific breakfast.

Then we worked at our desks. At noon Suzette went to a seminar.

Deconstructed Bean and Beef Burrito - 

At 1:20 I decided to combine the PPI refried black beans and leftover piece of Suzette’s uneaten hamburger from last night’s dinner to make a burrito for lunch.

I diced the 3 oz. piece of hamburger with it slice of cheddar and tomato and added it to the remaining Refried black beans with red bell pepper and added a handful of grated mozzarella cheese and heated that mixture in the microwave on a setting of reheat sensor.

While the mixture was heating I toasted a flour tortilla on the open flame on the gas stove and opened a Warsteiner Oktoberfest beer.

When the bean and beef and cheese combination was heated thoroughly I spooned it onto the toasted tortilla and ate a magnificent, delicious, and filling lunch as I watched the market plunge to the close.

I was not until later when I checked my portfolio that I realized how bad it had tumbled.  I lost 1.35% of value.

I worked at my desk until 5:45 and then made a rum and tonic with the juice of 1/2 lime.  As I finished making it at 6:00 Suzette arrived and joined me in a cocktail with her daily scotch and we watched the news.

Suzette had been served a big lunch at the seminar, so neither of us was particularly hungry.  At 7:30 I decided to eat the last 1/3 cup of PPI guacamole with a bit of sour cream and a squeeze of fresh lime juice added with several rather old corn chips and a second rum and tonic.

Suzette soon joined me with three slices of French baguette and a wedge of brie from Isigny Ste Mere and a glass of Origon Spanish red wine.  

We both enjoyed our small dinners.  

After dinner, we peeled and sliced our first crop of peaches and then Suzette made a blueberry and peach cobbler and froze a freezer bag full of peaches.

We were both tired of TV.  Suzette worked at her desk and arranged a house painter and I read the Autobiography of Malcolm X until 10:00 when we went to bed.

I awakened abruptly from a dream at 1:45 that confirmed that I wanted to stay in Isigny Sur Mer.  Suzette had suggested that we rent a house for a month in France and my brain must have clicked onto Isigny for several reasons. The brie cheese Suzette was eating that we buy at Costco is produced in Isigny and we visited Isigny on our last trip to France.  It is a charming small seaside fishing village with its own small fish market and a big Carrafour market where you can buy anything. It is positioned between the  oyster beds of the nearby river deltas and the wide D Day beaches of Utah and Omaha in Normandy where the best apple brandy, Calvados, and cider in the world is made.  We drove out to the oyster processing facilities and bought a box of oysters while in Isgny and ate them on the half shell at the bungalow we rented near Omaha beach about 6 miles from Isgny and 1 mile from several cider producers. Great apple cider and brandy, oysters, fish, and a thriving dairy and cheese industry.  Isigny strikes me as being heaven on Earth.  Also, Isgny is also reputed to be the ancestral family home of Walt Disney, the D’Isgnys, dating back to Norman times.

Bon Appetit