September 29, 2022 Breakfast - fried eggs and Serrano ham. lunch - Book Club. Costco Hotdogs. Dinner -Butter Chicken with Rice

September 29, 2022 Breakfast - fried eggs and Serrano ham. lunch - Book Club. Costco Hotdogs. Dinner -Butter Chicken with Rice

Suzette woke me up at 8:00.  I dressed and went to fetch the Palmer’s Coleman cooler and we filled it with beer, water and wine.

I then made breakfast of fried eggs and serrano ham and two slices of French baguette for breakfast.

Then I worked for 1/2 hour and then drove to Lowe’s to ice the ice chest and cookies and picked up Peter Eller.

We then drove to NM Veterans’ Memorial near Louisiana and Gibson for our book club meeting.

Today was a double hitter with my August book, Blessing Way by Tony Hillerman first and Keith’s September book, Hatchet by Gary Paulson second.

I served drinks and then Keith served hotdogs with relish, catsup, and mustard.

We had a lively discussion for 3 hours about many different topics, including the books.

Many people had read Tony Hillerman’s books so there were many perspectives on his work.  The general consensus was that his eight book, Thief of Time was his best book.

After the meeting I drove Peter back to his house and he loaned me a Harrison Begay painting of feather dancers to show Suzette. I then drove home and unloaded.

I printed the recipe for butter chicken and lay down for an hour but the pain in my hips and knee did not diminish much while Suzette made the Marinade for the chicken.

I added chicken stock, cinnamon, and cloves to the 2 cups of rice water add when it came to a boil added 1 cup of jasmine rice and turned down the heat and let it simmer for thirty minutes.

Suzette did not care for the panting and neither did I, so it will go back to Peter.

Suzette added the spices to the tomatoes and then combined the tomatoes with the marinated chicken and added cream to make the sauce for the chicken.

Suzette spooned a pile of rice into a bowl and added spoonfuls of buttered chicken for a delicious dinner.  We added quince chutney Suzette made and I added Swad Mixed Pickle to the dish.

I drank a gin and tonic and Suzette drank a Negra Modelo with dinner.

We then watched Midsomer Mystery from 8:00 until 9:30 and then went to bed.

Bon Appetit

Suzette is suffering back pan, so we are feeling our age.

Suzette came to get me up to make rice at 6:30

September 28, 2022 Lunch - ACC with Mary and Joe. Dinner - BLT Sandwiches

September 28, 2022  Lunch - ACC with Mary and Joe. Dinner - BLT Sandwiches

Today was a full food day. I woke around 8:00 and showered and dressed.

Then at 9:30 I ate a bowl of granola with milk and blueberries and yogurt.

I then walked to the bank.

At 12:25 Suzette stopped on her way from work to pick me up for lunch with Mary and Joe at ACC.

We enjoyed talking to them because we share so many interests, wine, art,  collecting, etc.

The food at ACC is not great.  Suzette ordered fried Calamari in a marinara sauce and had to drink a glass of red wine when she came home after lunch.  I ordered a crabmeat cobb that I liked very much.  It was made with crisp iceberg lettuce and all the usual Cobb ingredients plus some crabmeat.

                                                      Mary and her chicken fried steak 

                                                            My crab cobb salad

                                                         Joe and his Reuben Sandwich

Joe ordered a Rueben sandwich and Mary ordered a chicken Fried Steak and that is how I learned she was from Muleshoe, Tx.  Joe is from McKinney just north of Dallas.  His family started the town, but he has lived in NM since the 50’s.

We went home after lunch.  At 3:30 we drove to pick up the new pillows for the ottoman that are covered with the fabulous 50’s fabric one one side and cowhide on the other, each of which matches one of the ottomans.

We then drove to Trader Joe’s and bought twenty bottles of wine and two bottles of cognac to replenish our everyday wine stock.

We returned home at 4:45, just in time for me to meditate at 5:00.

I lay down for an hour after meditation, when Suzette came to tell me it was time for dinner.

We were going to serve a bowl of Vichyssoise and make a BLT sandwich, but the Vichyssoise seemed to be going bad so we went with just the BLT and several dried Moroccan olives and drank beers.

Later Suzette warmed and served the last of the quince tart with ice cream and a glass of the Herman Weimar Late Harvest wine.

I enjoyed the day.  The walk felt good and I think I am building a bit of muscle.

Bon Appetit 

September 27, 2022 Lunch - Vichyssoise and toasted cheese and salami sandwiches. Dinner - Bratwurst. mashed Potatoes, and Sauerkraut

September 27, 2022 Lunch - Vichyssoise and toasted cheese and salami sandwiches. Dinner - Bratwurst. mashed Potatoes, and Sauerkraut 

Today was another two meal day.  I worked until noon when Peter came and we ate bowls of Vichyssoise with slices of French baguette toasted and buttered and spread with brie and garnished with salami and prosciutto.

I opened a bottle of Cherry Blossom California Pinot Noir (Trader Joe’s $4.99), which Peter did not like but drank grudgingly.

We ate outside under the gazebo and I loved the view of our garden that was full of zinnias in bloom. Peter picked several chives to garnish the soup that we both liked.

After lunch Peter left and at 2:00 I lay down for two hours and then when Suzette came home around 4:00 I made chocolate chocolate chip cookies for the Book Club meeting on Thursday.

Suzette worked until 6:30 and then we cooked dinner.

We texted Willy and he came over for dinner, which was very German.

Brats sautéed in beer with sauerkraut, mashed potatoes, and steamed green beans.

We drank Negra Modelo beer with dinner.

Suzette has a special way of cooking brats.  She boils them in beer and sauerkraut and sautés to brown them and the sauerkraut when the beer evaporates.  I peeled and cubed four Yukon Gold potatoes.  She then  boiled the potatoes and then mixed them with milk and butter in the Kitchen-aid until they were creamy.

It was a lovely meal but the best was yet to come.  Suzette heated slices of the fabulous quince, fig, and raisin torte and put a scoop of vanilla ice cream on it and I poured cordial glasses of Herman Weimar late Harvest Riesling that had to be 20% sugar by volume.  It was intensely sweet with more than a bit of botrytis fungus acidic flavor.

The meal and dessert were amazingly good.

This dinner of sautéed brats, mashed potatoes, and sauerkraut is my favorite German style meal that Suzette prepares.

The dessert combination of late Harvest Riesling and fresh quince and fruit tart was off the charts and exceeded any dessert available in any restaurant in Albuquerque.

Bon Appetit

September 26, 2022 Breakfast - Baked Potato Lunch Taj Mahal. Dinner - Teriyaki Salmon Fried Rice with onion and Garden Greens

September 26, 2022 Breakfast - Baked Potato  Lunch  Taj Mahal. Dinner -  Teriyaki Salmon Fried Rice with onion and Garden Greens

I slept until 8:00 again today.  I ate a baked apple doused with heavy cream and read and sent mail and read a new water case before lunch.  Mike called and I agreed to meet him at Taj Mahal for lunch at 1:15.

When I arrived at Taj Mahal I talked to Shamiz and found out that his daughter is taking her Masters in Islamic Studies at London University.  I was very pleased for him and her. I told him that Sarah Lawrence has a very strong Islamic Studies curriculum.

We ate the usual buffet with tandoori chicken, meat balls, a beef shish kabob, butter chicken, naan, Dahl, and saag plus a bowl of raita sauce.  This was one of the few times that there was a spot on my plate that was not filled with food.  I also did not go back for seconds or eat dessert.

I then drove next door to my local Smith’s and bought cookies and root beer for the book club meeting.

I dropped off a signed legal opinion to Bill Turner on the way home.

When I returned I studied a legal report for a case and lay down at 4:00 to watch the news.

Suzette arrived a bit later.  As usual we did not have a plan for dinner.  And, as usual Suzette came up with a fabulous menu idea.  We needed to eat the teriyaki salmon.  We also had some rice left from a prior meal.  So as soon as Suzette mentioned that our menu became Chicken Fried Rice.  As for a green vegetable, Suzette mentioned that we had green beans.  I suggested adding fresh greens from the garden.  We agreed on adding fresh garden greens, kale and chard.

While Suzette went to the garden to pick a basket of greens, I started prep of the garlic, ginger, onion, and poblano chili.  I chopped those ingredients and put them into a bowl. 

When Suzette returned she made her usual seasoning sauce of rice vinegar, oyster sauce, soy sauce, and cornstarch and then heated peanut oil and sesame oil in the wok.

While I was de-stemming the leaves of kale and chard and cutting them into bite-sized pieces she began stir frying the ingredients I had chopped.

She then added the rice and then the salmon that she had diced.

When all of that was heated, she added the seasoning sauce and finally she rinsed garden greens dried them and added them.

In a couple of stir frying turns of the ingredients the greens were mixed with the other ingredients and wilted from the heat and the dish was ready to serve.

Suzette went to the garage and fetched a bottle of effervescent Pinot Grigio rose (Trader Joe’s $5.99?) that was a real surprise and fun to drink with the meal because it had a slight sweetness and effervescent.

We enjoyed dinner. We then started watching TV, switching between Rachel Maddow and Repeats of the Antique Roadshow.

Suzette cut slices of the lovely Quince, apple, fig, and raisin torte and heated them in the microwave and then added a scoop of vanilla ice cream and we ate dessert in front of the TV with the last glass of the Pinot Grigio rose.

Suzette was tired and went to bed at 8:30 and I followed at 9:30.

Bon Appetit

September 25, 2022 Breakfast - Bagel, lax, cream cheese, red onion and capers. Lunch - Museum Hill Restaurant. Dinner - Chicken, mushrooms onions, zucchini, and Poblano Chile on Truffle linguini.

September 25, 2022 Breakfast - Bagel, lax, cream cheese, red onion and capers. Lunch - Museum Hill Restaurant. Dinner - Chicken, mushrooms onions, zucchini, and Poblano Chile on Truffle linguini.

What a fabulous day of food.  I think I ate the perfect balance of carbohydrates (70%) and Protein (30%) for all three meals and my pain seems to have diminished.  I also got some exercise.

I awakened at 7:30 but Suzette slept until 10:15, which could be a record for her of around 10 hours and one-half hours. 

For breakfast at 9:30 I toasted the last two Sara Lee plain bagel slices and spread cream cheese on the and lay thin slices of red onion and lax on them and garnished them with capers.  I drank a cup of chai.

At 11:00 we drove to Museum Hill in Santa Fe to meet Linda and T.R for lunch at the Museum Hill Restaurant.

We like them a lot and always have interesting and wide ranging conversations.

I tried to order a Cobb Salad but when the waitress said they were out of crumbed blue cheese and Bleu cheese dressing I switched to a Reuben Sandwich.  Suzette ordered the baked polenta that turned out to be dried out and flavorless.  Linda and TR ordered crab cakes that turned out to be the best choice.  

The wine experience was the best experience of the day.  Linda ordered a Chardonnay but I noticed Nortico Albariño on the menu and ordered because i had tasted it on Wednesday at the wine and Chile to the trade tasting and it was my favorite white wine, so I ordered a glass of it and encouraged Linda to switch to it.

When glasses of it were served it tasted flat and did not have the floral nose or effervescent and bright fruitiness.  After a few minutes I took my glass back and told our waitress it was not right and asked her if the bottle that she poured from had been open.  She said it was a fresh bottle.  I said, “Then that bottle is no good.  I asked her to pour me a glass from a fresh bottle and when she did the effervescent and fruity flavor exploded out of the glass. I also noticed and pointed out to her that the color of the first bad bottle was noticeably a darker yellow, which is a sure sign of oxidation.

She brought Linda fresh of the new bottle and Linda noticed the difference.

I am not sure how it happened but our waitress poured us each another glass of Nortico toward the end of the meal, perhaps help us forget the bad first pour.

Linda is on the board of the Folk Art Museum and her Museum Hill membership card garnered a 10% discount on the check.  So the meal turned out to be wonderful.

After lunch we all walked to the Indian Museum at the north end of the Plaza and they each used their card to admit Suzette and me as their guests.  They went ahead but Suzette and I looked at all the exhibits.  There was a big pot exhibit originated by this museum that will tour the U.S. starting next year named Grounded in Clay which contains hundreds of pots, both ancient and modern.

We coincidentally met Megan and her daughter in the exhibit, which made me realize that Megan is really a diehard craft person.

The sky was beautiful as we left the Museum.

After the exhibit we drove to Stephen’s Consignment, but did not see anything we wanted to buy.

Suzette then drove us home.

We arrived about 5:00.  I lay down and Suzette watched home remodeling shows on HGTV.

I got up around 6:30 and we discussed what to prepare. Suzette finally came up with an idea, chicken Alfredo over pasta.  Besides chicken I chopped 1/2 Poblano chili, seven or eight portobello mushrooms, 1/2 onion, two cloves of garlic, a zucchini, and destemmed a pile of fresh greens from our garden.

Suzette showed me several pasta choices until she remembered that Melissa sent Suzette a fancy Truffle linguine in the box of fancy Italian foodstuffs for her birthday.

Suzette boiled the linguini and sautéed the ingredients with a light  and simple cream sauce made by adding a bit of white wine and heavy cream to the ingredients after they were cooked.

Suzette then served pasta bowls filled with a twirl linguine that made it stand up a bit and the sautéed creamed chicken and vegetables.

Suzette then spooned the combination of fresh creamed chicken, with the ingredients and sautéed chard and kale on top of the truffled pasta.  

Suzette add some truffle flavored salt to the dish to amplify the truffle flavor.  We both noticed the truffle flavor and enjoyed the freshness of ingredients.

I grated Pecorino-Romano cheese on top of each of our piles of creamed chicken.

Suzette fetched a bottle of chilled Pinot Grigio ($5.99) at Trader Joe’s that was perfect for the dish because it had a light flavor that did not clash with the subtle flavor of truffles.  

Later Suzette cut us each a slice of the lovely quince tart that she made with fresh quince from her garden at the Center, fresh apples from our garden and raisins with a lovely pie crust made with wine instead of milk with a scoop of vanilla ice cream that we ate with the last glass of Pinot Grigio.

Bon Appetit

September 24, 2022 Lunch - Salmon, Rice, and Seaweed Salad. Dinner - Picnic at Globalquerque

 September 24, 2022 Lunch - Salmon, Rice, and Seaweed Salad. Dinner - Picnic at Globalquerque 

Today as another two meal and a snack day.

I woke up at 8:00 and watched EUFA matches for a while.  I don’t know if it was an upset, but Slovenia beat Norway 2 to 1.

Suzette got hungry around 11:30. We decided to eat PPI Teriyaki Grilled Salmon with rice and Seaweed Salad, so I made a cup of rice.  We drank the lovely Calstar Sauvignon Blanc with the meal.

We then drove to Costco and bought Mayo, eggs, heavy cream, French baguettes, Dubliner cheese, and Jarlsberg cheese, plus coffee, Yukon Gold potatoes, multi grain crackers, bratwurst, and Charcuterie.

When we returned home at 2:15 I was able to watch the last 20 minutes of the Portugal v. The Czech Republic which Portugal won 4 to 0.

We lay down and Suzette napped until 4:00 and I watched Texas Tech pull off a stunning upset of University of Texas.

Suzette then went to the kitchen and made basil mayonnaise and then a quince, apple, and raisin tart.

We each ate a baked apple at 5:00 drizzled with heavy cream as a snack.

While she was baking I prepped dinner. I made three sandwiches for me by spreading fresh basil mayonnaise on 3 toasted slices of baguette and then laying salami and ham and slices of cumin flavored Gouda.  I then packed charcuterie and lettuce and suzette fetched the picnic basket and a tablecloth and fetched and filled the thermos with Cherry Blossom Pinot noir.

We also packed the round of brie and container of dried olives and a package of multi grain crackers.

At 6:00 we drove to the NHCC for Globalquerque.  When we arrived a Northern New Mexican group named Nuevo Luna as playing Northern New Mexico songs bit new and old in the plaza Mayor.  We laid out our dinner and ate while we listened.

We then went to several different venues and listened to music until 11:15, when we returned home and went to bed.

Another wonderful day of food and music.

Bon Appetit

September 23, 2022 Lunch - 2000 Vietnam Duck Soup. Dinner - Vichyssoises. Globalquerque

September 23, 2022 Lunch - 2000 Vietnam Duck Soup. Dinner - Vichyssoises. Globalquerque

This turned out to be a fabulous day.  I slept until 8:30 then worked a little and then called Sheryl Bolton Johnson to find out about her concerns about Linda Grace and ended up having a lovely over an hour conversation until 11:30.

I finished up a small project and at 1:00 drove to 2000 Vietnam and ordered duck soup which is my favorite soup there.

Duck soup is a large bowl with a hind quarter of roasted duck, a bundle of rice vermicelli, onion slices, fried onion strips, and 1/2 inch slices of green onion served in a pho broth. I love it.

I ate 1/2 and the proprietress packed the remaining soup in a take out soup container for me.

I drove home arriving at 2:30 and lay down to rest until Suzette came home at 3:30 and even after until 5:00 when Suzette called me to dinner.

She had fetched the vichyssoise from the garage and ladled bowls of it into soup bowls and garnished each bowl with finely sliced fresh chive ringlets from our garden.

I toasted and buttered a whole wheat dinner roll and ate it with my soup.

We then drove to the NHCC for this year’s Globalquerque that started at 6:20.

We stayed until 10:20. There are three different stages with bands.  This year’s music was spectacular in quality or just because this is the first time we have been able to enjoy live music in a crowd in over two years.

When we returned home I ate the last piece of tiramisu cake with a cup of chai to make sure my minuscules did not fatigue. I guess my diet starts tomorrow.

It has been a lovely and busy week.  The wine tasting on Wednesday was terrific, Globalquerque was great tonight.  We will attend another evening of Globalquerque tomorrow night and Sunday we will have lunch with Linda and T.R. at the Museum Hill Restaurant.

I noticed that my legs held up for about the first 85% of the evening and I never triggered my condition, so I may be making progress in my building back some strength in my leg muscles, although sitting down and standing up are still challenging.

Bon Appetit

September 22, 2022 Breakfast - Bagel, cream cheese, prosciutto, and cheese Lunch - Potstickers with Seaweed salad. Snack- Baked Apple. Dinner - Salmon and eggs

September 22, 2022 Breakfast - Bagel, cream cheese, prosciutto, and cheese  Lunch - Potstickers with Seaweed salad. Snack- Baked Apple. Dinner - Salmon and eggs 

I woke up at 5:30 and watched news until 6:30 and then slept until 8:30.

Today I wanted to re-start an exercise regime.

At 9:30 I toasted two slices of bagel and spread them with cream cheese and lay a thin slice of prosciutto and slices of Dutch cumin flavored Gouda on each and drank chai for breakfast.

I worked a while and then lay down and rested until 1:00 when I walked 1/2 mile around the block.  

When I returned home I stir fried ten potstickers in 3 T. of peanut oil and1 tsp. of sesame oil in my wok.  I had much better control over the flipping the potstickers with chop sticks in the wok with its curved sides than a skillet with a flat bottom.

While the potstickers fried I made a dipping sauce with chili oil and soy sauce plus a thinly sliced green onion.

When the potstickers were lightly browned I moved them to a plate and added a pile of seaweed salad to the plate.

I also made a cup of green tea to drink with lunch.

After lunch I rested until 3:30 when the mail arrived bearing a check.

So I drove to the bank and deposited the check and Omar, who is the new manager and an old friend taught me how to make a deposit from my I Phone with the Wells Fargo app.

I then drove to Lowe’s and bought a carton of heavy cream.

When I arrived home at 5:00 I ate a baked apple doused with heavy cream, which is the way my Mother served them when I was young.

I lay down to read and Suzette arrived at 7:30, just in time to view Midsomer Mystery at 8:00.

I was a little hungry so I stir fried a piece of salmon with 2 oz. of red onion and then the salmon diced and then two eggs mixed with the remaining soy and chili sauce from lunch with the chopped garden greens.

I drank a cup of green tea with this dinner at 8:30.

Suzette had dinner and drinks with Debbie andvthe girls at Debbie’s house this evening.

We watched Midsomer Mystery until 9:30.

Suzette then soaked n the hot tub and I watched a bit more TV.

We went to bed at 10:00

I promise myself to begin to exercise more. I think if I can build up my muscles it will help overcome some of my joint pain.

Tomorrow is Globalquerque, so there will be lots of walking.

Bon Appetit

September 21, 2022 Lunch - Sliced Chicken Sandwiches. Santa Fe Wine and Chile Festival To the Trade wine tasting.

September 21, 2022 Lunch - Sliced Chicken Sandwiches. Santa Fe Wine and Chile Festival To the Trade wine tasting.

I awakened at 7:30 this morning and worked a little, so including meeting with Fernando to start the process of installing new windows on the here Northern windows in Willy’s apartment.

We then dressed and Suzette made Sliced Chicken and tomato sandwiches with the fresh basil mayonnaise.

We split a beer and I also drank a glass of kefir to settle my stomach.

We

At 1:30 we drove to the Santa Fe Convention Center for the to the trade wine tasting from 3:00 to 5:00.  As usual the convention hall was filled with about 100 wine vendors and producers spread out on tables on both sides of a huge aggregation of tables spread with Sysco food stuffs including two hot meat service stations, one with Roasted Prime Rb, pepper sirloin, and a standing rib roast of bison and the other with roasted pork and pulled pork.  There were also mini-gorditas and artichoke salad plus lots of other items. 

                                        Port and champagne with desserts

We started by drinking Argyle champagne at 3:10 and ended with an Australian dry Riesling from Eden Valley at 5:00. I particularly liked the Lanson Rose champagne and the Ridge Grenache Blanc.

                                                This was a lovely gigondas

       The last stop was a great Gruner and an amazing Australian dry Riesling 

                  This was my favorite, an amazing Albariño 

                          Wine, food, and drinkers from end to end

We left at 5:00 and ended up in the most awful traffic jam that left us bumper to bumper all the way from Cerrillos to the 6th St. I-40 exit.

My legs we sore and hurting and Suzette was kind enough to massage me and then rub in some CBD infused oil into my hip joints as I lay in bed.

I could not watch the third episode of the Holocaust series because it showed the stacks of bodies of killed people found by the American troops when they advanced through Europe to the Death camps.

I had seen those photos before and they were equally horrifying the first time.

I fetched Suzette a bowl of Vanilla ice cream and I ate a piece of tiramisu cake with vanilla ice cream and a cup of tea at 9:00.

I then went to bed and dozed until 11:30 when I brushed my teeth and read a bit and went back to bed.

Because of my lack of mobility this was the most enjoyable to the trade wine event I have attended because I ate and drank less than usual and did not get drunk or overly stuffed. Because I drank less I chose those wines that really appealed to me rather than drinking indiscriminately.

Bon Appetit