September 16, 2022 Lunch - Picnic at Wild Rivers National Monument. Dinner - New Recipe - Sautéed PPI diced Moroccan Lamb riblets, sautéed mushrooms, potato cake, pimiento, and Spaghetti

September 16, 2022 Lunch - Picnic at Wild Rivers National Monument.  Dinner - New Recipe - Sautéed PPI diced Moroccan Lamb riblets, sautéed mushrooms, potato cake, pimiento, and Spaghetti 

Today was long but interesting.

I ate a buttered heated slice of banana nut bread drizzled with honey with a cup of Earl Grey tea on the deck of the cabin with a view of the Cuchara Creek.

We then packed up, took pictures and left to drive back home.

After an hour we stopped at a rock shop in Fort Garland and switched drivers.

We then drove to Wild Rivers National Monument in northern New Mexico where the Red River that flows from Wheeler Peak converges with the Rio Grande at La Junta, the Union or joining in Spanish.  We ate lunch and then walked to the overlook. I used my newly acquired cane and it helped relieve the pressure on my right hip on the up hill portions.  The gorge is at its greatest depth at the junction of over 800 feet. I enjoyed the 1/2 mile walk on which I saw many Rocky Mountain Junipers  with interestingly twisted trunks.

Lunch was our traditional French ham, cheese, and olives picnic lunch: slices of Serrano ham, buttered hunks of French baguette, Cabot Cheddar, Humboldt Fog, and Isigny Brie cheeses, Moroccan dried olives, and cubes of gelled guayaba paste. We drank the last of the Chianti Classico Riserva from last night’s dinner and then the Italian White wine given to Suzette as a birthday gift.

We then drove to 203 Fine Arts in Taos to pick up the Earl Stroh silver point I bought, arriving just after 3:00.  We sat and rested and talked to Montana for a while as I drank a water.

We then drove south through the Canyon to the Dairy Queen in Espanola where we ordered two root beer floats.  We sipped the root beer floats as we drove south to and through Santa Fe and all the way home.

We arrived at home at 6:15 and unpacked and decided to not attend the cocktail party.

Instead I drank a chai and Suzette showered and drank a scotch as we relaxed and watched the news.

At 7;30 Suzette made dinner from the leftovers of the Moroccan meal we ate at the Bistro by combining and sautéing cubes of the spice rubbed lamb riblets, the potato pancake, and the sautéed mushrooms with the PPI spaghetti made for Alexi for last Monday’s dinner.

The combination was fabulous. This was a perfect example of our type of PPI menus.  Two PPI’s combined and cooked to create a tasty dish.

I opened a bottle of 2018 Morel Signargues Cote du Rhone VillageS Rhone red. I like a Cotes Du Rhone with lamb and this one of my favorites.  I bought it at Total Wine for around $15.00 two years ago. 

We started watching Uncorked, a movie about the son of a black family who own a successful BBQ restaurant who wants to become a Master Sommelier.

We were inspired by the determination of the son, so for dessert we opened the Italian Nougat from the box of Italian food stuffs Melissa gave sip Suzette for her birthday and opened the 1/2 bottle of 2015 Herman Weimar Noble Select Riesling that I received with the case of Riesling wines I bought this summer. The nougat that was flavored with dark chocolate was amazingly delicious, a soft texture full of roasted hazelnuts, but the wine was incredible.  It was intensely acidic and sweet at the same time. One need only take a small sip because the intensity of the wine filled one’s mouth with flavors of fruit instantly.

It was exciting to taste such a splendid wine while we watched the sommelier students trying to describe the characteristics of wines in blind tastings tests for their master sommelier certificate.

We went t bed at 10:30 when the movie ended after a wonderful but taxing day of travel.

Bon Appetit