December 12, 2021 Brunch - Lax and Bagel with red onion slices and capers. Snack - Tamale and Posole with chips and avocado soup. Dinner - Albuquerque Country Club

December 12, 2021 Brunch - Lax and Bagel with red onion slices and capers. Snack - Tamale and Posole with chips and avocado soup. Dinner -  Albuquerque Country Club

I watched the news and drank a cup of sweet lime juice with honey in hot water.  Peacock said it would show the Leicester match but I could not access it, which was a pity because Leicester won. 

At 10:00 I toasted two bagel halves, spread them with cream cheese, lay slices of red onion and Gravad Lax on and garnished with capers. We each ate one.

At noon we set up the Christmas tree on the newly painted front porch and strung lights and decorated it with ornaments.  It looks great.

At 2:00 I heated a tamale with the last bit of Posole.

Suzette joined me and ate a bowl of avocado soup with chips.

We both also dipped corn chips into the thick avocado soup.

At 3:30 we dressed and Wayne and Elaine picked us up at 4:45 and drove us to ACC for ACC’s holiday buffet. There was food in three different rooms and the huge kitchen.

We started in the Kitchen where the line chefs were prepping Seared scallops with an eggplant purée and mustard sauce and another dish with a grilled slice of entrecôte with mashed potatoes and a mushroom sauce.

These two dishes seemed the best two dishes so I ate two helpings of them.

We asked the maitre d’ about a bottle of red wine.  Suzette said, “Do you have a light red?”

He said, “We just got a case of Chianti, let me bring one.”

The waitress soon appeared with a bottle of 2019 Tenuto di Arceno Chianti Classico.  We liked it. It was smooth and of a medium weight.  It was a young wine but got better the more we drank it as the tannins settled down.  I thought it went particularly well with both of the heavy dishes I ate, especially the entrecôte.

Wayne and Elaine were a delight and very knowledgeable when responding to Suzette and my questions. I said hello to my old banker, Bill, who was friends with Wayne and stopped by our table to chat.

Finally, we asked the waitress where the desserts might be found and she said, “In the Ventana Room.”

So, we trekked down a long passageway to a windowed dining room where a line of buffet tables held an assortment of desserts.  I was thrilled to see an Opera torte and several other interesting items.  I took mostly chocolate petit fours, except for one lemon custard mini torte.

On the way back to the table, I spoke to Peg Cronin for a while about a consignment store named ETC.  in Corrales that sells very high end items where Peg is deaccessioning some of her family items she does not want to keep and her kids do not want.

Wayne and Elaine and we just kept talking until most of the others had left.  Wayne then got the car and drove us home.  It was 7:00.  I could not believe we had such fun and so much food and wine in such a short period of time.

 We fell asleep by 8:45 and I slept until 11:15 when Suzette’s phone range with a crisis call from work.

I woke up and drank a cup of tea and a sip of Calvados to help settle my stomach.  

I had eaten lots of food today and was a little bloated. 

I love my schedule. I sleep when I feel like it and work when I feel like it.

The market in Elaine’s words, “Has been crazy.” And that is a good thing, because I am making more than I ever made as a lawyer and do not feel the pressure of working to pay the bills.

Bon Appetit 

K