April 1, 2023 Breakfast - Bagels with cheese and salami. Lunch - mushroom and Steak Omelette Dinner - Party with Aaron, Monika, and Alexi

April 1, 2023 Breakfast - Bagels with cheese and salami. Lunch - mushroom and Steak Omelette   Dinner - Party with Aaron, Monika, and Alexi 

Today was the day we worked in the yard to clean it for this year’s gardening and living.  We also planted 15 Thompson seedless grape plants.

I woke up at 7:00 and showered and shaved and dressed by 8:00.

Suzette was already outside organizing the work because we were expecting Ken, Carlos, and Willy to join us to work today.

I made a quick breakfast of two slices of toasted bagel spread with cream cheese and garnished with slices of Gouda cheese and Salami and opened the large can of dolmas (cooked seasoned rice wrapped in grape leaves and cooked covered with olive oil).

I ate breakfast as I watched Leicester lose in the last minute of overtime to Crystal Palace and go into the relegation zone of PL soccer. 

Ken arrived at 9:30 and he and I went outside to supervise the planting of the grape vines.  With his help we planted four beside the house and the bocce court to become a grape arbor and the other eleven along the picket fence that will run along and above the fence.

Carlos also came at 9:30 but he went to get parts and worked on repairing the irrigation system first and then helped me dig post holes with a post hole digger to plant grape root stock.

Willy came a little later and cleaned the pile of rose bush trimmings I had made when I pruned the Don Juan rose on the patio and the dead leaves that had piled up on the patio.

I started about eleven or twelve post holes, which was about all my stamina would permit.  Ken dug out the first four holes I had started in the roto-tilled ground by the house and Suzette watered the holes and planted the grape plants. Ken identified and I started digging the line of holes along the fence. Carlos and Suzette took over the digging and planting at that point and I retired to fetch the hot dogs and drink a Magner’s apple cider from the garage fridge and watch Aston Villa beat a disorganized Chelsea 2 to 0 starting at 10:30. Ken drank a glass of club soda and then left at 11:00 after watching the match for a few minutes.

At 12:00 I cleaned the outside of the grill with Dawn soap and a brush that Suzette gave me and then washed off the grease and dirt with a wash rag and water she brought me

Willy left soon after after he cleared the pile of clippings on the patio that filled a large 33 gallon bag and watched the end of the Chelsea match with me at 12:30.

Suzette and Carlos worked into the afternoon to complete the cleaning of the yard and the patio.  Carlos blew the patio clear of leaves and he and Suzette washed off the patio furniture and rearranged the furniture. 

Suzette worked about eight hours and Carlos worked almost as long.

I then drove to Bosque Bakery a bit after 1:00 and bought two rustic baguettes. I then drove to Lowe’s Market and bought a head of Romaine lettuce, a pound of white mushrooms, and a jar of sweet pickle relish.  

When I returned home at 2:00 I made a small omelet with one of the mushrooms sliced, a shallot minced and a slice of grilled rib steak cubed. And toasted and buttered and spread orange marmalade on a slice of rustic baguette. 

After lunch I lay in bed and read and napped until 4:30 after Suzette had showered and dressed for the party.

At 5:00 I went to the kitchen and sliced slices of red onion and avocado and cubed the three green chilis Suzette had thawed.

Suzette fetched two monkey pod wood trays.  In a three sectioned long tray I put two types of black olives into one side, two kinds of green olives into the other side and dolmas in the middle section.

I then formed six hamburgers that Suzette seasoned with Cracked black pepper and salt and sliced slices of the aged Gruyere cheese to melt on the hamburgers.

Suzette fetched the potato salad and I fetched four bottles of red wine to drink with dinner, a 2019 Chateauneuf du Pape I bought at Trader Joe’s a few weeks ago, a 2010 Wellington Morehardt Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon, a 2019 Vara Grenache, and a 2016 De Ponte Baldwin Family Reserve Pinot Noir.

Suzette set the table under the gazebo, tore, rinsed and spun some pieces of romaine lettuce, and filled our New Mexican brazier with wood and we were ready.

We watched the exciting semi-final Men’s NCAA match between San Diego State and Florida Atlantic that San Diego State won by one point with a puzzler beating shot.

A few minutes after 6:30 Aaron and Monika, and Alexi arrived with a salad, a cheese cake from Whole Foods, a small wheel of brie, and a bottle of Decoy Merlot.

Suzette put the salad on the patio table with the potato salad and mustard, catsup, Mayo, and the relish and the tray of olives and dolmas.

I asked Monika to select the wine and she picked the Chateauneuf. 

Suzette started grilling the hamburgers, hot dogs, which turned out to be eight of the beef sticks she bought for her birthday party last August, and toasting hamburger buns and hot dog buns on the grill. We all filled our plates with a hamburger and hot dog plus the salads and condiments and took them to the table in the gazebo.

We soon drank the Chateauneuf and Aaron fetched the bottle of Vara Vino Tinto Especial.  

We opened a bottle and poured a glass of Welch’s non-alcoholic wine for Alexi. 

Monika loves cheese so after we finished dinner she and I went to the kitchen and made a cheese board of Manchego, the aged Gruyere cheese, the goat cheese, a French blue cheese, and our half wheel of brie.

I also sliced and toasted six slices of the fresh Bosque baguette and put them into the bread basket.

We considered which wine to drink with the cheese and agreed the Pinot would be best, so Monika opened the De Ponte Pinot.

I gathered a sharp knife, two small knives and the cheese slicer and we took the cheese board, the bread basket, and Pinot out to the gazebo.  

Suzette had started the fire and she and Aaron and Alexi were sitting around the blazing brazier.

We retired to the table to eat cheese and drink wine.  The Baldwin Family reserve was an immediate hit among this knowledgeable wine drinking group.  Everyone acknowledged that it was a superior wine and the best wine of the evening.  Monika wanted to buy some immediately.  I told her it was part of the De Ponte wine club but promised to send the wine club information.

We ate cheese and bread and drank wine for a while warmed by the fire from the brazier that was about fifteen feet away from the table.

Finally, when we finished the bottle of Pinot, we cleared the two tables and went back inside for dessert.

Suzette and I looked at and admired the cheese cake but decided we had eaten enough and requested that they take the cheese cake home with rest of their salad. 

We said goodnight at around 9:15 after I gave Monika a sip of Maison Serrene cognac.  Monika’s taste is very much like mine.  She lived in France for a while as a young woman, which impressed the French style of dining on her psyche.

After Suzette filled the dishwasher with a few items we sat down and watched the last half of acre-run of an episode of Death In Paradise.

Suzette then went to sleep and I stayed up to watch “Astrid”, the new French detective series with a sip of Maison Serrene mixed with a splash of Grand Marnier, two oatmeal cookies, and a cup of chai for dessert.

I went to bed at 11:30 after Astrid.

Bon Appetit