July 27, 2023 Breakfast - Sausage and Eggs. Lunch - Le Quiche Dinner - Cheese and Crackers and leftover Birria Taco and Mole enchilada

July 27, 2023 Breakfast - Sausage and Eggs. Lunch - Le Quiche Dinner - Cheese and Crackers and leftover Birria Taco and Mole enchilada 

I awakened at 6:00 and got dressed. We have no water because there is a leak where the main line from the street enters the house.

I then revised a document and sent it to a client and made breakfast of two thin slices of Jimmie Dean sausage and two eggs fried over easy and a slice of sautéed onion with two slices of baguette. I toasted the baguette and spread cherry preserves on each slice.

Then at 7:50 I drove to Presbyterian Physical therapy in Rio Rancho and did 45 minutes of mostly standing exercises to strengthen my hips and legs.

At 8:45 I drove across town to Sunwest Trust at 10800 Menaul and picked up the terminated REC and delivered it to Fidelity National Title at 8400 Menaul.  

It was about 10:30 and I could not resist the urge to drive the two blocks to Le Chantilly Bakery, which I used to eat lunch often when I worked in Uptown but had not visited for twenty years.

I had fond memories of Le Chantilly’s pastry, especially one made with alternating layers of hazelnut nougat and mocha cream.

I also knew that we had no water and lovely sugary pastries might be just the extra lift that makes the aggravation bearable.

I bought two Mocha Breslin, a Parisienne pastry with chocolate cake and pudding filling covered with chocolate, an almond mound filled with marzipan, and a chocolate croissant. 

It was 11:00 when I left Le Chantilly so I called Aaron and to see if he wanted to go to lunch.  We agreed to meet at Lime on Montgomery, but when I arrived I found it closed, so I called Aaron and he suggested eating at Le Quiche on Eubank.  He had heard me mention it and was interested to try a French restaurant in his neighborhood.

When I arrived I had the most embarrassing moment of my day.  I had to take the box of pastries from Le Chantilly into Le Quiche and ask our waiter to refrigerate them in their pastry case to keep cool while we ate lunch.

When Aaron arrived we perused the menu and he chose French Onion Soup and a Parisienne Omelet containing ham and Bacon.  Sine I had eaten breakfast I decided on a salade Nicoise.  When the salad was served I was amazed. It was different than any Nicoise I had ever seen.  It was both decomposed and composed. It stretched in a line across the middle of a large platter. On bottom were thin slices of potato, then slices of seared Aji tuna and on top slices of hard boiled egg. Surrounding the line were small 1 inch slices of green beans and Kalamata olive halves. It was drizzled with a creamy dressing and dotted with micro greens.  It was the most amazing salad I have been served in Albuquerque and contained all the ingredients of a standard Salad Nicoise. After lunch I took two freshly baked Pain au chocolate and Aaron took a pain au chocolate and a croissant. 

I then drove home and put the pastries in the fridge.

When I finally got to my desk I discovered the message from Fidelity National that they require a payoff statement directed to them by the lender with their form of authorization attached.  So I called Leslie and asked to come over.  When she had signed the authorization I sent it to Fidelity and called the Lender’s attorney to request that the Lender send a payoff to Fidelity and sent him a request with the authorization.

Finally by 4:30 I was done and succumbed to the heat and lay down.

When Suzette arrived at 5:00 there was no cooling because there was no water to run the swamp coolers and it was 103 degrees.

So we turned off the swamp coolers and called the plumber and left him a message that we had turned off the water now for 1 1/2 days.

I felt more sorry for him than us because he had to work outside in the heat.  Fortunately for him, he will never be replaced by AI.

We rested and Suzette drank a mint julep and I drank ice cooled water.

Then we decided to snack on cheese and crackers with glasses of Kirkland New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc and several of the cherries we dehydrated yesterday.

We particularly liked crackers spread with goat cheese and topped with a dried cherry that was still soft.

Finally at 6:30 Suzette fetched cold beers from the garage fridge and heated the leftover brisket Mole enchiladas and Birria tacos and we ate a delicious light dinner without turning on the stove.

We watched South Africa and Argentina play to a 2 to 2 tie and then at 8:00 turned to Midsomer Mystery.  I was tired and lay down and slept while Suzette watched it.

I awakened at 11:30 and blogged and watch a bit of the reply of the US v. Netherlands match and then went back to bed.

I had a busy day but I was again amazed by the quality of food available in Albuquerque when I encountered the most creative Salad Nicoise ever for lunch and again enjoyed the creative and fabulous Oaxacan cuisine of Quelaguetza.

Bon Appetit