November 12, 2021 Lunch - PPI Chicken Curry and Rice with Mike. Dinner - Potato and Leek Soup

November 12, 2021 Lunch - PPI Chicken Curry and Rice with Mike.  Dinner - Potato and Leek Soup

Today was a very lovely warm sunny day with a pleasant day of food and the market cooperated to rebound; so, all in all, quite wonderful.

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

Then I wrote to Mike to invite him to lunch.  I needed to eat the rest of the Chicken Curry and there was enough for both of us.  Mike arrived at 12:30 and I heated two bowls with rice and curry and fetched three bottles of pickles; the standard Five Vegetable, a sweet lime pickle, and a mild lime pickle plus the bottle of Major Grey’s Mango Chutney.  We heated the bowls of Curry and I made chais for each of us.  We spooned some pickle from each bottle and I placed a tablespoon of chutney into each bowl and we carried our bowl and cup of chai to the table under the gazebo to enjoy our lunch in the fresh air.

I was a very pleasant meal, especially with the spiciness and sourness of the pickles and the sweetness of the chutney that enhanced the fruity flavors of the pumpkin, apple, and raisins in the curry.

After lunch I suggested a walk, since I was feeling better and the afternoon was so pleasant.

We walked .8 miles at a steady pace that tired me out.

When we returned home I showed Mike the herbs in the garden and invited him to pick herbs.  He said he could come on Sunday, because he had a meeting in Santa Fe today.

After Mike left I checked the market and was pleasantly surprised that my portfolio had risen 1.2% to get back to a 21.5% increase for the year.

After lunch I sent out a bill and then at 3:00 started on my errands.  I filed a mortgage at the County Clerk’s new office at Alvarado Square.  Then I went to Jody’s to deliver money from Suzette.  Then I drove to the Main Post Office to mail a certified letter.

Finally, I drove to Lowe’s to buy a Turkey and cranberries. Lowe’s ad said it would beat any other sales price at any other store.  I took an ad from Smiths offering turkeys at $.77/lb. I was pleased to find Lowe’s were on sale for $.76/lb. so I bought a 16 lb. Turkey. Small avocados were also on sale for 3 for $1.00 so I bought six and two 12 oz. bags of Ocean Spray cranberries. I returned home a few minutes after 5:00, as night was falling.

I feel like we are under a 5:30 curfew because we are uncomfortable driving at night and it gets dark by 5:30.

As I put the Turkey and cranberries into the garage fridge I noticed the bunch of three leeks I had bought at El Super and since they were sitting in the space I needed to put the turkey, I took the bunch of leeks to the kitchen. 

I decided to make potato and leek soup, which is the first recipe in Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking, probably because it is so easy and never fails.

Dinner - 

I sliced the three leeks in half lengthwise and then sliced crosswise 5 cups of thin semi circles.

I then peeled four or five Yukon Gold potatoes, cut them in half lengthwise and sliced them into thin slices until I had 4 cups of sliced potatoes.  I put the leeks and onions into a large pot and Suzette took over and covered the sliced leek and potatoes with water and added 1 T. of Knorr dehydrated chicken stock and some salt and turned on the heat to high.  After a couple of minutes when the ingredients in the pot started simmering, I reduced the heat and set the timer to 46 minutes and went to the bedroom to lie down to rest my legs.

After I thought the time had elapsed, Suzette came to the bedroom to fetch me and tell me she was getting ready to emulsify the soup with the hand held blender.

I went to the kitchen and chopped some parsley and three green onions to garnish the soup as suggested by the recipe.

Suzette then ladled soup into soup bowls and poured us each a glass of Pinot Grigio and we each garnished our soup with chopped green onion and parsley and spoonfuls of thick sour cream because we were out of heavy cream, that the recipe prescribed,

The warm soup was delicious on a cool evening.  I toasted and buttered a slice of whole wheat bread to eat with my bowl of soup and ate a second bowl.

It was a surprisingly filling dinner.

When I eat potage, I always remember when we stayed at Hotel Du Printemps near Gare Saint Lazare in Paris for a week in 1960.  It was a pension and served an evening meal for 5 Francs, which was $1.00, which was always well attended by locals.  As I recall it was a three course meal that always started with a bowl of thick Potage, a lot heavier than what I made tonight, then a plate with a meat and vegetables and bread and a dessert and perhaps a carafe of wine.  Very basic. 

I never will forget that on one night when our parents went with friends to the Folies Bergere they left BIlly and me in the care of the concierge with a 10 Franc note for dinner. Billy and I studied the entire menu and decided to split a chocolate soufflé that cost 10 Francs instead of two of the usual 5 Franc dinners.

The soufflé was huge and heavenly.  We never regretted our decision to avoid another bowl of the heavy but filling potage.

After dinner Suzette and I watched the World Cup qualifying match between the US and Mexico.  The US scored twice to win 2 to 0 with two terrific goals.

It looks like the US will be competitive in the World Cup this year, which is very exciting.

Later I ate two squares of chocolate and a cup of chai with two chocolate cookies.

We went to bed by 10:00.

Bon Appetit