July 31, 2024 Lunch - Alquds Mediterranean Grill and Grocery. Dinner - Lamb burger Pita Sandwiches with tzatziki and feta

July 31, 2024 Lunch -  Alquds Mediterranean Grill and Grocery. Dinner - Lamb burger Pita Sandwiches with tzatziki and feta

I woke up from 3:00 to 5:00 and then slept Ed until 8:00.

I had a pain au chocolate and coffee and then later a slice of baguette spread with Cherry preserves and slices of Suzette’s latest cheese ball that she makes by combining several old cheeses, butter, and white in a Cuisinart. It tasted mild and yet was firm.

I checked my portfolio and I was up big time. Then I drove to demo, which is one of the doctor visits I like because it cleans up my skin.

Then at 11:00 I drove to Alquds Mediterranean Grill and Grocery at the northwest corner of San Pedro and Montgomery in the space that once was acWells Fargo branch. I picked a 6 pack of pitas, a yogurt, and ordered an order of kibbeh, which consists of two kibbeh and a puddle of tzatziki. Kibbeh have a meat stuffed center surrounded by a grain outer shell. These were fried and very hot. I loved them and they only cost $6.34 with tax and no tip because I ordered them in the grocery, although I sat in the restaurant to eat them. 

After lunch I went home to meet Debbie and help her with a legal matter.

Before she arrived I was able to watch the US women’s team beat Australia in soccer.

I finished around 4:00 and then worked with another client until after 5:00.

Finally when I checked my portfolio I discovered that my portfolio had its best day ever, rising 5.26%, which got my portfolio more than halfway back to my all time high of about ten days ago.

Suzette came home and we discussed dinner and decided to keep it simple by making lamb burgers by wrapping one a lamb burger in a pita, like a big taco. Willy came by to do his laundry and then left to go to the gym I made tzatziki with the fresh Middle Eastern yogurt, garlic, diced cucumber, the PPI minced mint, and 1 1/2 T. of olive oil.

I also chiffonade cut about six leaves of lettuce.

When Willy returned we made sandwiches by wrap a whole heated pita around feta, tzatziki, lettuce, and a lamb burger like a large stuffed taco. Willy drank Pellegrino, Suzette drank Vara 2019 Tempranillo, and I drank Danish Carlsberg.

We watched Olympics and news. Donald Trump got roughed up verbally at the the Black Journalists and Kamala had a great day and the annual meeting of her college sorority.  

We went to bed at 9:15

Bon Appetit

July 30, 2024 Lunch - PPI Pasta with mussels in Cajun Shrimp Sauce, Dinner - Apricot and Mint Lamb burgers with PPI Dirty Rice

July 30, 2024 Lunch - PPI Pasta with mussels in Cajun Shrimp Sauce, Dinner - Apricot and Mint Lamb burgers with PPI Dirty Rice 

I ate a pain au chocolat for breakfast and then followed Suzette to deliver the van to Wrap It where they are going to decorate the exterior of the van.

When I returned home I walked to the bank and back.

I then worked until 1:45 when I ate a bowl of leftover spaghetti with the remaining mussels in Cajun Shrimp Sauce for lunch.

From 4:00 until 5:00 I rested.

I meditated at 5:00.

Then for dinner we made and sautéed lamb burgers with the remaining 1 lb. of ground lamb, about 1/4 lb. of pork sausage, 1/4 cup of minced mint, 1/4 cup of minced dried apricots, and 1/4 cup of minced shallot plus 1/2 tsp. of salt.  We reheated the leftover dirty rice in the wok to try to dry it out a bit.

Suzette fetched a bottle of her homemade apricot chutney and stuffed two fresh figs with goat cheese that were delicious with the lamb burgers and dirty rice.

I opened a bottle of Vara 2020 Vino Tinto Tempranillo that we iced. The vino tinto is a heavier style of production of wine that went well with the heavy lamb flavor of the burger and the chicken livers in the dirty rice.

We watched Finding Your Roots and the news and some of the Olympics and went to bed at 9:15.

Today was another ruinous day for me in the stock market. My portfolio dropped another 2.435% today, aggregating a total drop from its recent high of 8.12% in a matter of days. Suzette says the market will rebound after the election and the economy picks up steam in the first quarter of 2025.  I hope she is right.

When we go on our trips in August and September I hope to stop obsessing about the stock market.

Bon Appetit

July 29, 2024 Dinner - Spaghetti with Mussels in Cajun Shrimp Sauce

July 29, 2024 Dinner - Spaghetti with Mussels in Cajun Shrimp Sauce

I ate a pain au chocolate and Latte macchiato for Breakfast with Don and Bev before they left around 8:30.

A little after 9:00 I walked to the bank.

Then around 10:00 when I returned I got a call from a client who needed a document.  I met with the client at 1:00 and worked until 2;30.

Then at 4:15 I ate a piece of chicken and then drove to the library to pick up our next Month’s book, The Mapmaker’s Wife, then another bank and finally, Lowe’s to pick up milk, tonic water, and a bell pepper.

When I returned home at 5:00 Suzette was at home. We watched some news and then fixed dinner. We boiled spaghetti and worked on the sauce.

Suzette removed the remaining pulp from the shrimp shells and added it with the Cajun BBQ shrimp sauce to the mussels in wine sauce from Friday night to which we added a few drops of Spanish Vermut.

The result was excellent, mussels in a tangy Cajun shrimp flavored sauce. It was hard to believe that this dinner was in any way related to the disastrous dinner of Saturday night.

I chilled a bottle of La Crema Pinot noir rose that was also delicious.

We were both tired and I lay down after dinner and Suzette watched TV until around 9:30 when we both were in bed.

I woke up for a few minutes at 10:25 to pen this blog and went back to sleep.

The market gave up what it had given on Friday, so my portfolio in back near its low for the month.

The cumulative effect of all the activity of the day was 4100 steps.

Bon Appetit

July 28, 2024 Brunch - Eggs, Bacon and Toast, Snack - chicken sandwich. Dinner - Pot Roast With Roasted Root Vegetables, Mashed Potatoes, mushrooms and Kale

July 28, 2024 Brunch - Eggs, Bacon and Toast, Snack - chicken sandwich. Dinner - Pot Roast With Roasted Root Vegetables, Mashed Potatoes, mushrooms and Kale

I woke up at 4:00 and watched Women’s gymnastics and US basketball team beat Serbia. I went back to bed at 6:00 and slept until 7:30.

I watched Olympics most of the day. Willy came over around 10:00 and Suzette fried bacon and eggs for brunch and Willy sliced and toasted Slices of French Sourdough boulle that we spread with butter and Portuguese plum jam.

Willy is liking his Spanish and computer programming courses.

Around 3:30 I got hungry and ate a slice of toast spread with Mayo with slices of chicken on it

After brunch Willy left and I watched more Olympics until Don and Bev arrived around 4:30.  We talked and at 5:30 we started on dinner. Suzette picked kale in the garden and I rolled and cut a pile of leaves into thin long  strips using the chiffonade method. 

I also diced the pot roast and sliced four large portobello mushrooms and added them to the sauce and peeled 6 small russet potatoes.

Suzette boiled and mashed the potatoes and stirred the roast, roasted root vegetables, mushroom slices, and some bouillon into a sauced dish.

I opened a 2019 Chateau Tannese Cotes du Bordeaux Cadillac. Here are some tasting notes.

With a comfortable balance between Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, this wine has fine tannins and elegant black fruits. Its structure and acidity are developing in tandem. Drink from 2023. — Roger Voss

Wine Enthusiast rates this wine at 92 points, an exceptional wine. It was very balanced and went well with the meal.

After dinner we watched the Olympics until 

Simon Biles finished her Vaults with a triple rotation that garnered her the high score of the day.

I drank a cognac with Grand Marnier and two blood orange Lindt Lindors and went to bed when Suzette and Don turned in.

Bon Appetit

July 27, 2024 Breakfast - 2 Pain au Chocolates and a latte, Lunch - a Lamb-burger Pita Sandwich, Dinner - BBQ Shrimp and Dirty Rice and Clafoutis

July 27, 2024 Breakfast - 2 Pain au Chocolates and a latte, Lunch - a Lamb-burger Pita Sandwich, Dinner - BBQ Shrimp and Dirty Rice and Clafoutis

 I awakened around 6:30 and began watching Olympic coverage and did so much of the day.

I ate 2 pain au Chocolate with a latte for breakfast, at 11:00 we drove to REI where we bought a pack for our trip to Spain. We then drove to Goodwill and shopped but did not find anything.

When we returned honey around 1:30 I sliced the PPI lamb-burger and heated it in the microwave . We filled pita pocket with lamb-burger shredded lettuce, tzatziki, and labni. We drank white wine with the meal.

After lunch I pitted and sliced in half about four cups of bing cherries and doused them with Grand Marnier and put them in the fridge.

 Then I drank a glass of yogurt milk and rested until 4:30 when we started preparing dinner.

I diced an onion and three stalks of celery for the dirty rice while Suzette read the recipe and measured the spices.  I then diced 3/4 cup of chicken livers and Suzette measured 3/4 cup of rice and added 2 cups of chicken stock and the spices and ingredients and cooked the dirty rice.

Hen we made the clafoutis. I scalded 1 1/2 cups each of milk and heavy cream. Then I minced 7 T. of flour and 10 T. of powdered sugar and 1/2 Tsp. of salt to which stirred in 3 eggs and then the scalded milk . Suzette had buttered a ceramic baking dish and coated the butter with granulated sugar. I stirred in the cherries and poured the batter into the ceramic baking dish and we baked it at 350 degrees for an hour.

Mike arrived at 7:00 with Sauternes, duck pate mousse, a loaf of French bread, crackers, and Roquefort cheese.

Then a few minutes later Aaron and Alex arrived. 

We put the pate and cheese on the table in he TV room and I sliced and toasted slices of French bread while Suzette prepared the BBQ shrimp.

Mike wanted a white wine so I fetched a bottle of Acrobat Pinot Gris from the garage fridge (Costco $ 11.00). Aaron and I drank Carlsberg beer and Suzette and Mike drank wine.

The shrimp had gotten terrible freezer burn and collapsed so that they were essentially mush, which made the dish fail. Suzette served the dish in the traditional manner of spoonfuls of BBQ shrimp on a pile of dirty rice.  The rice was fabulous but the only way to eat the combined dish of shrimp and rice was to peel the shrimp and combine the clumps of mealy shrimp with the rice.  The Shrimp had complete lost their structural integrity as shrimp and collapsed into clumps of shrimp pulp.

Suzette made the best comments, “We can make great shrimp burgers;” meaning an elegant egg foo young or fried rice combining Shrimp pulp and dirty rice.

Aaron did not eat any of his meal and I was too busy trying to strip shrimp pulp from the shells to notice the others.

We ate under the Gazebo and the mosquitoes were not very noticeable.

After the man course was over we went back inside and we put the warm clafoutis and bowls and spoons on the table in the TV room and each of us filled bowls with clafoutis. I fetched a bottle of Maison Serene and poured tasted for us and refilled Mike’s glass.

Aaron and Alexi left around 9:00 and Mike left around 10:00 after several calls with Joy about trying to get her medication correct at the rehab hospital she was moved to today.

A weird failed meal with a lovely dessert was had by all.

Bon Appetit

July 26, 2024 Breakfast - sautéed Smoked Pork Cutlet and two fried eggs, Lunch - Salad. Dinner - Steamed Mussels

July 26, 2024 Breakfast - sautéed Smoked Pork Cutlet and two fried eggs, Lunch - Salad.  Dinner - Steamed Mussels

I woke up and watched TV from 5:30 to 6:30 and pedaled one mile and then went back to sleep and slept until 8:00.

After Suzette left i made breakfast, a fried Smoked Pork Cutlet a slice of onion sautéed, and two eggs over easy with a glass of orange juice.

At 10:00 I drove to Shahin’s and delivered my tax records for tax preparation.

Then at 11:30 I drove to Costco and bought seven bottles of good wine, including a Gruet Blanc de Noir, a Kirkland Barolo, an Argentinian Malbec, a highly rated Spanish Rioja, a Pinot Grigio, a Chateau Curoc? Cotes du Rhone, and an Acrobat Pinot Gris, plus a 5 lb. bag of mussels, two duck halves, baguettes, a wedge of Jarlsberg, a 3 lb. log of Jimmie Dean Sausage, a bag of 16 pain au chocolate, a 3 liter container of Spanish olive oil, a 21 oz. bag of Lindt blood orange chocolate balls, pistachios, light bulbs, shampoo and conditioner.

After I returned home and unpacked, I made a salad of romaine lettuce, radishes, cucumber, a tomato diced, some small rosemary cheese squares and three thin slices of yellow onion and dressed with the Cesar dressing reconstituted with Spanish olive oil and lemon juice.

I watched the opening ceremony of the 2024 Olympics starting at 1:15 after it had begun.  The opening procession was 85 boats traveling on the Seine four miles through the heart of Paris packed with athletes of each of the over 200 countries competing.. It was a little redundant but very dramatic. 

At 3:30 I drove to the Titan board meeting that lasted until 6:00.

When I arrived at home we started dinner. Suzette made a poaching medium of chicken stock, white wine, butter, shallot, Korean basil from our garden and water in the large Le Creuset casserole and began steaming the mussels. I sliced and buttered pieces of baguette and soon Suzette had steamed open two pasta bowls of mussels. We ate the mussels and kept boiling until all of them that were going to open, opened.

After dinner we watched the opening ceremony again. It was raining in Paris during the opening ceremony.

After it ended we went to bed.

Bon Appetit