June 4, 2022 Lunch - Leftover Roast Duck, Fried Tofu and Mixed Vegetables and Rice. Dinner - Meatloaf and Mashed Potatoes and cherries with Lovage and Blanched green beans and snow peas

I awakened at 6:15 and drank water and watched the news and then went back to sleep until 8:00.

I showered and dressed and ate a toasted bagel with cream cheese, lax, red onion slices, and capers with a cup of tea.

I then went outside at 9:30 and pruned the dead head roses off the rose bushes.  Suzette had already begun working in the garden, mostly pulling the bindweed out of the lavender and pulling out invasive mint out of the four triangles it has not already consumed.

We came in at 11:30 and heated the roast duck and Fried tofu and Mixed Vegetables and rice.

Suzette drank a Negra Modelo and I drank water.

After lunch I lay down to rest but soon was absorbed watching the Italy vs Germany European Nation’s cup match.

At 3:00 when it ended in a 1 to 1 tie, we drove to Costco and bought a few items, including halibut, Skippy peanut butter, butter, goat cheese, eggs, heavy cream, and tortillas.

Then we drove to Vara to pick up our allocation of four wines and our monthly tasting and ordered meatballs to go with the wine, which was odd because we planned to make meatloaf for dinner.  We liked the Cava and the Viura, but not the new Tempranillo, so we took two Cavas, a Viura, and the new red blend.

We arrived home just at 6:00’ as game 3 of the Western Final was starting.

We are rooting for Colorado so we’re thrilled when Colorado beat the Edmonton Oilers 3 to 2 to take a commanding 3 to 0 lead in the best out of 7 series.

Suzette prepared dinner of meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and string beans.

She made a special new prep for the meatloaf.  I went to the garden and picked about 1 T. of thyme, 2 T. of sage, about seven or eight snow peas, and three sprigs of lovage.

Suzette purred 1/2 onion, several carrots, and several stalks of celery and then sautéed the vegetables in butter and olive oil. 

I minced the thyme and sage and Suzette added the herbs to the mirepoix.

She then pulverized 1/2 cup of crackers in the Cuisinart.

Then she combined the herbs and vegetables in a bowl with 1 lb. of ground beef and 1/2 lb. of ground pork with three eggs, the ground crackers, salt and pepper, and 1/2 cup of catsup.

She molded the meatloaf into a loaf in a Pyrex baking dish, and baked it for 1 hour at 350 degrees.

She then boiled white potatoes and made mashed potatoes by mixing the cooked potatoes in the Kitchen Aid mixer with melted butter and milk.

She also blanched green beans and snow peas in a skillet.

While Suzette was cooking I pitted and cut in halves 1 1/2 lb. of cherries and finely minced about 2 T. of the lovage leaves.  Suzette drizzled a bit of lovage onto about 1 1/2 cups of cherries to replicate the lovage seasoned cherries served with the steak tartare at the Boonville Hotel dinner on May 21.

We opened one of the bottles of 2012 St. Emillon grand cru I bought yesterday at Trader Joe’s for $20.00, but it was heavier and lacked the vibrant fruitiness of the previous bottle I bought of the same wine.  Something happened to this wine.  Alas.

After the game we watched a Danish movie about a Danish chef who inherits an Italian castle titled Toscana. I did not like it that much, but enjoyed the cooking parts.  

Bon Appetit