March 31, 2024 A Quiet Easter Breakfast - Zabar Lax and Bagels Late Lunch - Pita Sandwiches with Salami. Dinner - Stir Fried Pork Belly, Zucchini, Asparagus, and Mushroom

March 31, 2024 A Quiet Easter Breakfast - Zabar Lax and Bagels  Late Lunch - Pita Sandwiches with Salami. Dinner - Stir Fried Pork Belly, Zucchini, Asparagus, and Mushroom

My gut seems to have recovered a degree of stability.

I woke up at 6:00 and made a cup of Earl Grey tea and ate a chocolate crepe heated for 38 seconds in the microwave and watched the first PL match of the day between  Liverpool and Brighton that Liverpool won to go into first place in the PL with 67 points.

The next match was the big one of the day and perhaps the year. It was Number 2 Arsenal at 65 points against now number 3 Man City at 64 points, so a win by either would put the winner in First place.

I made chocolate chip cookies with Suzette. The kind a love. Added butter, 2 T. of cocoa, three eggs instead of 2, plus raisins and toasted pecans added to the 1 1/2 cups of chocolate chips. The regular recipe is 2 cups flour, 1/2 lb. Butter, 1 1/2 cups brown and white sugar, 1 tsp. Baking soda an 1/2 tsp. Salt plus a tsp. of vanilla.  The result is a chocolate colored chocolate chip cookies.

Willy arrived as we were beginning to bake the 36 or so cookies and helped us put in and take out and rack the cookies to cool.

After we ate a few Suzette toasted some bagels and we spread them with cream cheese and garnished them with onion, Zabar’s lax, and capers and had a great Easter brunch as we watched Man City and Arsenal play to a 0 to 0 tie that left Liverpool at the top of the PL standings.

After lunch we gave Willy a bag of cookies to take to Amy in Santa Fe for their Easter dinner of Indian food and a bag for him.

I was happy to have been able to create a small amount of joy for others at Easter.

Actually, I was also motivated by the fact that Costco is now selling large chocolate chip cookies without pecans or raisins for $3.49 per cookie, which is approximately the cost of the 36 cookies I made.

I rested and napped until 3:00 when I walked outside in the warm sunlight through the garden and rested in a chair on the patio for a few minutes and smelled the blooming wisteria and counted myself lucky.

At 4:00 I went to the kitchen and made two pita pocket sandwiches with salami, cured ham, tomato and feta cheese slices and sour cream.

I drank the last of the Clamato juice with a few drops of lime juice.

Then at 6:00 we watched Dr. Morgan MD and at 7:00 I took a shower and shaved and Suzette rubbed baby oil on the rash on my back and treated my toes with antibacterial soap and then ointment. I felt like a new man.

We then went to the kitchen to cook dinner. We wanted to keep going in the diet for a small planet direction, so we decided to combine the beans and rice Luke had made with a fresh stir fry dish of pork belly, mushrooms, asparagus, minced shallot, and sliced zucchini.

While I was slicing the zucchini, mushrooms, asparagus and mincing the shallot, Suzette sliced pork belly into lardon strips and several cloves of garlic that she started stir frying in an wok with olive oil.

After she stir fried the garlic and pork belly u)nail cooked she added all other ingredients and sautéed  and finally added the beans and rice and heated the mixture.

I wanted mine in an egg matrix so Suzette whisked two eggs and added them to the wok after she took her portion and I stir fried the eggy suspension of ingredients.

I poured out the last glass of Trader Joe’s

 Anderson Valley Pinot noir and filled a glass of water.

We then watched PBS Masterpiece Theatre’s production of Nolly.

At 9:00 Suzette went to bed and I stayed up to watch a compelling Masterpiece drama named Alice and Jack and at 10:00 an Australian production titled Royal Flying Doctor Service with a cup of chai.

At 11:00 I blogged this entry and then went bed after a very relaxing day.

Every day I seem to get stronger. We decided today to try to extend our trip to Dallas by two days so we can go to Fort Worth and perhaps Weatherford to see the Chandor Gardens, which Billy agreed to.

I only use the cane to help keep me safe. Otherwise I can walk on my own two legs with my two new hips.

Bon Appetit

March 30, 2024 Breakfast Bagel with Lax. Lunch - Beans, rice, chicken, acorn squash, and asparagus Snack - Hummus with avocado and pita chips and a Costco hot dog and bread with cheese

March  30, 2024 Breakfast Bagel with Lax. Lunch -  Beans, rice, chicken, acorn squash, and asparagus  Snack - Hummus with avocado and pita chips and a Costco hot dog and bread with cheese

I woke up early to watch Aston Villa beat the Wolves 2 to O.

Then I watched an exciting match between Brentford and Man Union.

In the morning i toasted two slices of bagel, spread cream cheese on them and garnished them with slices of onion and Nova cured salmon from Zabar’s.

At 1:30 I switched between women’s NCAA tournament match between Colorado and Iowa and the PL match between Man union and Brentford  that was 0 to 0 at the end of regulation. In the 8 minutes of added time, first Man Union and then Brentford scored in a flurry of attacks to end 1 to 1.

Then Suzette sautéed a wonderful mixture of acorn squash, chicken, asparagus, rice and beans that we ate for lunch.

 After the match we drove to Vara and drank a glass of wine while my allotment was packed. After the wine was loaded we drove to Costco.  I was hungry again so I ate a hotdog while Suzette shopped. She bought laundry soap, pita chips, baguettes, and a few other necessities.

I met her at the check out counter and helped push the cart to the car a bit after 5:00.

When we returned home Suzette mixed avocado with hummus and ate pita chips with the mixture and I ate a few pita chips.

Later we watched Death in Paradise and then Suzette went bed.

I stayed up to cut the baguettes into 4 sections that fit into a gallon freezer bag with a few ends left over. I sliced and buttered several slices and spread cherry preserves and slices of Jarlsberg cheese.  It brought back memories of Sweden where we used to enjoy fresh bread spread with butter and jam and covered by slices of Jarlsberg cheese.

I went to bed around 10:30.

Bon Appetit

March 29, 2024 Breakfast - Ginger tea and chocolate crepe. Lunch -Curried Red Lentils with brown rice and steamed Spinach. Dinner - Oysters, Salad, and Cheese

March 29, 2024 Breakfast - Ginger tea and chocolate crepe. Lunch -Curried Red Lentils with brown rice and steamed Spinach. Dinner - Oysters, Salad, and Cheese

I ate a chocolate crepe with a cup of ginger tea for breakfast and then worked with Rahim on a contract until 10:00 when Steven arrived to administer physical therapy.

At about noon Amy arrived with another Martin Walker book and Julia Child’s Autobiography for me.

After Amy and Luke took a walk around the block, Luke made us lunch of red lentil Dhal seasoned with turmeric, garlic, and coriander. He poured the dhal over a small cup of brown rice in a pasta bowl with a pile of yogurt and a strand with several sprigs of fresh steamed spinach and a medium boiled egg.

It was a tribute to the diet for a small planet and a perfect lunch with legumes, rice, dairy and a vegetable.

After lunch Amy and Luke went to the Albuquerque Museum and I lay down for a nap.

I rested until 3:30 and I watched TV until 4:30. We decided to set up a table on the back porch instead of under the gazebo because of the cool breeze for our dinner with Mike and Joy at 6:30. We thawed a bag of heads off large shrimp.

At 5:00 Suzette left to pick up the oysters, I cooked the shrimp with onion,Tabasco, and 1/2 lemon . I then made cocktail sauce by mixing catsup, lemon juice and horseradish.

Then I peeled the shrimp and put them in pasta bowls filled with ice cubes.

Mike and Joy arrived at 6:20 and Suzette returned shortly thereafter with three dozen oysters on the half shell; one dozen each of Great whites, rochambeau, and Rappahannock.

Mike and Joy brought two bowls of salad. Joy made a dressing with Patron flavored vinegar and Spanish olive oil.

We first served the oysters with Naveran Cava and rice and corn crackers.

Then I toasted slices of bread and we brought out the five cheeses, champignon Cambozola that Mike brought and goat, brie, Jarlsberg, and hard grana cheese and we served the salad with the Spanish vinegar and olive oil dressing and poured Embroidery Pinot noir and later Trader Joe’s Anderson Valley Pinot noir, which I liked a lot.

Luke and his two friends came a little later and Luke cooked sausage and asparagus and string beans and we talked drank red wine and ate cheese until 10:30.

It was a lovely evening of conversation and a pleasure to meet Mike’s new companion, Joy, who was born in New York to a Sephardic mother and an Ashkenazi father, very interesting.

Bon Appetit.

March 28, 2024 Breakfast - Granola, milk,grapes, and banana. Lunch - Placitas Cafe with Book Club. Dinner - Pinto beans, rice, avocado, chicken with mole salsa

 March 28, 2024 Breakfast - Granola, milk, grapes, and banana. Lunch - Placitas Cafe with Book Club. Dinner - Pinto beans, rice, avocado, chicken with mole salsa

A busy day today.  I worked in the morning and ate a bowl of granola, milk,grapes, and banana.  I forgot the yogurt.  

Then I showered and dressed and at 10:15 we drove to NM Ortho for my 11:20 appointment.  We were hoping for an earlier time but were taken about five minutes early. Suzette helped me get into a unisex pant and I was taken for an x-ray.

Then Allison came in and showed us the before and after pictures of my hips without any repair and with the new ball joints.  The new joints looked fabulous, well seated deeply in my thigh bones.  Allison removed my bandage and said I would return in four weeks for a check up and we left the clinic.

Suzette then drove me to the Placitas Cafe in 30 minutes where nine or ten book club members were eating lunch. They had received their order and were eating    except Peter who had stopped eating his chorizo and eggs, so I suggested buying the remainder of his lunch.  I ate it even though it was terribly greasy. I should have known not to eat the greasy mess of chorizo and eggs.

Charlie then drove us to Jack’s house on Sunset Lane in Placitas with an amazing view of the Rio Grande Valley with Capulin in the background.

We sat in Jack’s living room and discussed this month’s book, the first novel, A Dubious War by John Steinbeck for 2 hours, after which Jack served us slices of home made apple pie with homemade ice cream.

At 4:00 we left and Charlie drove us home. Unfortunately, I had an attack of diarrhea which I managed to hold in until we reached home, but had a disaster in the bathroom. I must remember to not eat greasy bad food because it will cause diarrhea attacks.

I showered off and got into bed by 5:00 and rested until 7:30 when Suzette came to fetch me for dinner.

Between 6:00 and7:00 Luke brought me a glass of smoothie made with banana and kefir that helped settle my stomach and gave me some nutrition and Suzette brought a chocolate chip cookie from Vickie.

 I ate the cookie with sips of the smoothie.

Suzette and Luke made the perfect meal, pinto beans and brown rice with chunks of avocado, a piece of chicken, topped with a dollop of mole salsa that was not hot.  I ate about six or seven bites as Suzette ate a bowl of the delicious food.

I was reminded of the famous book, Diet for A Small Planet by Frances Moore Lappe published in 1971 that professed that beans and rice could and should form the basis of any diet because together they provide all the necessary amino acids essential for humans. Her brother John worked at Westland with me and was a bit of a celebrity in my opinion.

I then returned to bed and Suzette brought me my meds at 8:00 and she then went to sleep.

I stayed up to blog and read. I have not felt any muscle weakness yet. Hopefully the good food I ate starting at 6:00 will help avoid that.

It is 9:40 and I am feeling fine.

Bon Appetit