November 25, 2022 Breakfast - Lax and bagels with cream cheese and onions. Linch - Oysters on the half shell. Dinner - Oyster stew

November 25, 2022 Breakfast - Lax and bagels with cream cheese and onions. Linch - Oysters on the half shell. Dinner - Oyster stew

This was a day of oysters two ways and pecan pie two ways.

We drove to Billy and Elaine’s at 9:30 and stayed there all day with several excursions. 

When we arrived there was a large platter of lax on the table with a block of cream cheese. Soon Elaine was slicing the New York bagels Mickey and Rebecca brought and Elaine was kind enough to slice yellow onion for me.

We watched World Cup soccer early but the big match was U.S. v. England at 1:00.

The first excursion was Willy and Billy going to the gym.

Then Suzette and Elaine and Mickey and Rebecca went to an estate sale at a large house.  Suzette bought five ribbon pillows and Elaine bought a new Cuisinart for $40.00.

Then at 11:30 Billy and Suzette went to Whole Foods to pick up 5 dozen oysters on the half shell and a bottle of cocktail sauce for lunch and 25 shucked oysters for oyster stew for dinner.  Whole Foods sells oysters on the half shell for $1.00 on Fridays.  We have eaten them all over the country.  Today Suzette bought 1/2 WellPoint and 1/2 Gulf oysters.

Billy’s 25 shucked were Gulf.

The oysters arrived at 12:30 just before the US v. England match began,

So we ate and watched and cheered and cried as the match proceeded to a 0 to 0 tie.

After lunch I ate a slice of chocolate pecan pie and then watched some football and Elaine went swimming.

Mickey and Rebecca left for the airport at 3:30  At 4:30 we walked. Willy, Elaine, and Billy took a long walk and Suzette and I took a short walk to the end of the block, although Suzette zigzagged across the street as I walked straight, so she walked three or four the distance that I did.

When we returned Billy started making oyster stew by chopping celery and shallots and boiling cubes of potatoes.  Elaine went to the garden and picked a handful of fresh thyme at my request.

After Billy sautéed the shallot, celery, and a clove or two of minced garlic, he added half and half, the potatoes, and thyme and finally he added the oysters and their milk.

Billy opened a bottle of Espiral Vino Verde, which gave me the opportunity to tell them about our visit to that winery.

The stew was lovely.  It had a slightly creamy consistency that unified the flavors better than the stew we usually make with milk.

Also the slight effervescent of the white vino verde freshened up the flavor of the stew.

Willy drove to a new Hawaiian restaurant and bought several Hawaiian dishes and several loaves of Spam Sushi for his dinner.

After the stew I ate a piece of Elaine’s pecan pie and it was fabulous, crunchy crust and the filling was not sickeningly sweet.

We went home at 10:00

Bon Appetit