September 29, 2023 Lunch - Costco hot dog Dinner - Steamed Mussels ,

September 29, 2023 Lunch - Costco hot dog Dinner - Steamed Mussels ,

We woke up at 4:00 and Suzette got me to taste the German herring salad made with herring in wine sauce, diced boiled red beets, red onions, German pickles, German mayonnaise and mustard, sour cream, and diced apple.  It was terrific. 

I also tried the Romesco sauce, which had a few problems, but Suzette knew how to fix it next time it is made.

I then watched TV until 5:30 and went back to bed and slept until 7:00.

 Suzette exercised and then dressed and went to work around 8:00.

I blogged until 9:00, then showered and dressed.

A client came by around 12;30 and we prepared and paid the filing fee for  a probate in County Probate Court; a first for me.

Then around 2:00 I ate a slice of bread smeared with the rest of the hot pink herring salad.

I then called the court and found out I needed to deliver hard copies of pleadings to the Judge for a decision in a case, so I started copying 116 pages of pleadings and exhibits.

When Suzette came home at 3:00 she brought home a large container filled with more of the herring salad and a bottle of Vita herring in wine sauce.

I stopped copying and we drove to Costco. We were interested in trying the new padron chili flavored vinegar on mussels as was suggested by Pablo, the vinegar maker in Spain.

After eating a snack of a hot dog which was a completely wonderful experience because Costco now offers small plastic containers of chopped onions, we bought mussels, olive oil, plastic sandwich bags, pork belly for Fabada, charcuterie, Gouda cheese, Brie cheese, mozzarella cheese for Caprese salads, butter lettuce, baby spinach, and Yukon Gold potatoes.

We then drove to Total wine and bought scotch for Suzette, rum for me, two bottles of Falerio white Italian wine, and red and white vermouth.

When we returned home we enjoyed cocktails of vermouth and watched the news as the House of Representative Republicans send the government into shutdown if they do not approve a stop gap budget extension by Saturday at midnight.  The sticking point for about 20 Radical Republicans appears to be the continued aid to Ukraine for $6 Billion.

One Republican said, “when you elect clowns to Congress you are going to get a clown show.”

It appears these dissident Congress Republicans do not want to govern, they just want to create performances to garner money and the support of Trump, who has told them to shut down the government, and the MAGA base of the Republican Party.

It seems to me that it is not in Trump’s political interest to shut down the government he is running to lead as President, but that is the reality of politics currently.

The craziness of politics seems be having a positive effect on one segment of the economy. Total Wine was packed with shoppers and it looked like the political chaos has driven more people to drink alcoholic beverages.

Dinner - Mediterranean Steamed Clams

At 8:00 I found a recipe for Mediterranean steamed mussels on the Internet with broad suggestions of ingredients, so I minced four cloves of garlic, about 3 oz. of yellow onion, and a T. of parsley and put that into the large casserole that Suzette was heating olive oil in. Suzette added Italian seasoning and we sautéed the ingredients for several minutes. Then we added 1 cup of hot water, 1 cup of white wine and let the steaming medium come to a boil.  We then filled the casserole with about 1 1/2 lb. of mussels that we had kept cool in a large bowl of ice water since we returned home.

After a few minutes of steaming the mussels opened and Suzette removed them from the casserole to bowls and a bit of broth.

We then filled the casserole with the rest of the mussels and I poured glasses of chilled Kirkland Pinot Grigio.

Suzette placed a shucked mussel on a small plate and drizzled a drop or two of the padron vinegar onto it and tried and liked it. I tried one and was not as thrilled because I got almost no vinegar flavor. So I tried another and tasted the vinegar and it changed the character of the mussel’s flavor to a different flavor. I can not wait to try the vinegar on Octopus.

Suzette melted butter in the microwave because we are acculturated to eating shellfish with melted butter and we started dipping some of the mussels into the drawn butter.

I also toasted and buttered a slice of rosemary bread to eat with the mussels.

We enjoyed the simple dinner and after we could eat no more we filled a 32 oz. Plastic Container with shucked mussels and Suzette started talking about Mussel bisque and I mentioned Mussel risotto.

After dinner we watched a bit more news including the retirement celebration for Joint Chief of Staff Milley, at which President and Milley warned about the harm the Republicans are doing to military readiness by blocking confirmation of over 300 military promotions in the Senate and shutting down the government in the House that will stop the pay of 1.3 million persons in the military and the economic impact of a government shutdown on government contractors and the economy.

I ate a couple of chocolate cookies and shared a cognac with Suzette and 

at 10:00 we went to bed.

Bon Appetit