December 17, 2025 Breakfast - Shrimp in Lobster Sauce and rice. Lunch - No. 16 at Lime. Chicken Soup with egg noodles, roasted pork and wontons. Dinner - Enchiladas with Guacamole

December 17, 2025 Breakfast - Shrimp in Lobster Sauce and rice. Lunch - No. 16 at Lime. Chicken Soup with egg noodles, roasted pork and wontons. Dinner - Enchiladas with Guacamole 

The market took a deep plunge today so I stopped watching at 7:45 a.m. and dressed and around 9:00 ate the leftover Shrimp in Lobster Sauce from lunch yesterday at East Ocean.

Then I worked at my desk until 12:30 when I drove to Lime Vietnamese restaurant at the corner of Eubank and Montgomery to meet Monica for lunch. She had just returned from Romania. She and Aaron and I founded Earn, so we had lots to talk about.

She ordered an appetizer of fried egg rolls and she ordered her favorite dish: salt cooked Shrimp and. I ordered my new favorite, No. 16, Chicken Soup with egg noodles, roasted pork and wontons. 

I was unable eat much so the waiter picked the noodles, pork, and wontons in one container and the broth in another container to take home.

We talked until almost 3:00 when I drove home.

As soon as I arrived I meditated from 3:25 until 4:00.  Then with Willy’s help Suzette put the new King sized bed together and she and I made the bed and then made the bed in the guest bedroom for Luke, who is arriving this evening.

Dinner - Enchiladas with Guacamole  At 6:30 we started preparing dinner. Suzette had picked up a roasted chicken at Costco along with twelve bottles of Gruet Brut sparkling win.

I chopped 1 1/3 onion and 6 or 7 cloves of garlic and Suzette deboned and chopped the dark meat from the chicken and started boiling the carcass with a mirapoix.in a large casserole.

Then Suzette blended green chili and chicken broth to make a green enchilada sauce, while l sliced about 1/2 lb. of mushrooms and three zucchini and fetched the container of sour cream I bought at El Super yesterday and a container of requeson. 

Then Suzette assembled the enchiladas in a 10 x 18 inch Pyrex baking dish.

She moistened the bottom of the baking dish with sauce and laid a layer of tortillas on the bottom. Then she lay layers of zucchini and requeson and more sauce and another layer of tortillas and then the mushrooms and chicken and some more zucchini and sauce.

Finally she lay a third layer of tortillas and poured the rest of the sauce over it and then she added thin slices of cojita cheese on top and baked the enchiladas for 1/2 hour in a 350 degree oven. She was talking when the timer went off and I turned off the oven,which may have been too soon, because when we served the enchiladas they were a little moist.

While the enchiladas were baking I made guacamole by combining 1/4 red onion minced, four cloves of garlic, salt, seven avocados, juice of one lime, some Cholula red sauce, and chopped fresh cilantro.

I fetched the bag of chips and we ate guacamole as an appetizer.

Willy fetched three Negra Modelos from the garage and we ate a wonderful dinner. 

We went to bed at 9:00 and Willy said he would pick up Luke, whose plane was delayed in Denver at 10:00.

Tomorrow we make lemon curd.

Bon Appetit

December 16, 2025 Breakfast - Granola Snack - Bagel with cream cheese and fresh fruit Lunch - East Ocean Dinner - Pita Pocket Sandwiches with lamb

December 16, 2025 Breakfast - Granola Snack - Bagel with cream cheese and fresh fruit  Lunch - East Ocean  Dinner - Pita Pocket Sandwiches with lamb

I woke up at 7:00 and watched Squawk on the Street while I dressed. Then at 7:30 I ate a bowl of granola with milk, yogurt, blueberries, and bananas.

Then I drove to the Federal courthouse to attend the CLE on AI given by a Professor at UNM Law School who specializes in AI.

The federal bar sponsored the CLE and provided Dunkin bagels and cream cheese and fresh fruit platters. So I smeared a bagel with chive cream cheese and took a bowl of fruit. I had been craving green grapes and there were lots of them on the fruit platter along with cantaloupe, strawberries, water melon, pineapple, and kiwi. I nibbled through the three hour lecture.

When I returned home I saw a message from Mike, so I called and we met at East Ocean at 1:00 for lunch.

We each ordered dinner portions of our favorite dishes; shrimp in lobster sauce for me and Kung Pao Chicken for Mike.  We caught up on Kit and Joy’s operations and Mike’s running. He thought he will exceed the 1700 miles he ran last year, this year and I described our trip to Japan.

At 2:30 we said goodbye and I drove to El Super to buy produce and enchilada ingredients. I bought cucumbers, red onions, green onions, green beans, broccoli, sour cream, requeson, plain LaLa yogurt, carrots, avocados, corn chips, cookies, and tomatoes.

I then drove home a bit before 4:00 and unloaded by 4:00 and watched most of Ari. Apparently every one is reacting to the nasty things Trump said about Ron Reiner.

Dinner - Suzette had a busy day with Christmas parties at the Center, and forgot a chicken.

At 5:00 the plumbers came to clean the clogged kitchen line and then the furniture store delivered the new king sized bed that is our Christmas gift to ourselves at 5:30.

I took the Red Tail Ridge wines to the basement at 6:30 and then started to make the tzatziki by peeling , seeding, and dicing a cucumber and lightly dusting the cubes with salt. I then added juice of a small lemon, pressed two cloves of garlic, and added 1 cup of Greek yogurt.  Suzette went to the garden and picked a large handful of fresh mint that I chopped and added to the tzatziki while Suzette and Willy put together the new bed frame.

I also checked the market and my portfolio was up marginally by .3%

I opened a bottle of the Red Tail Ridge 2022 Teloldego that was delivered yesterday and chopped lettuce, tomato, and sliced the meat from one of the lamb chops we grilled yesterday and some red onion, while Suzette heated two half pitas and smeared creamy feta cheese inside each pocket.

We then filled each pocket with the ingredients and finally some of the fresh tzatziki. 

We liked the wine. It was ultra smooth .

I watched a re-run of Finding your Roots at 7:00 and then two episodes of House Hunters International and went to bed in the guest room.

I walked4500 steps today with the assistance of two glucose pills, I am making good progress.

Suzette at 9:00 and I at 10:30 after blogging this entry.

Bon Appetit

December 15, 2025 Breakfast - Granola with blueberries and banana. Lunch - Roast Pork tapa with Spinach, and Couscous. Dinner - Grilled Lamb Chops with Couscous, and Roasted Vegetable Medley

December 15, 2025 Breakfast - Granola with blueberries and banana. Lunch - Roast Pork tapa with Spinach, and Couscous. Dinner - Grilled Lamb Chops with Couscous, and Roasted Vegetable Medley

Finally I feel like we are back into our normal routine of eating and cooking excellent Cuisine.

I awakened at 6:45 and ate a bowl of granola with blueberries and bananas, Greek yogurt, and milk around 7:00 because I was hungry and had a doctor’s appointment at 10:15.

I watched the market go from strongly positive to mildly negative by 7:45 and then lay down until 8:30 when I showered and dressed.

I drove to my appointment at 9:40 and finished the appointment a couple of minutes after 11:00.

We were grilling lamb chops for dinner, so I picked up 6 pita and some candy at Qud’s on the way home. I asked for fresh pita, so the owner went to the kitchen and bagged. 6 freshly baked pita and charged me accordingly.

I then drove home and at noon heated Leftover Roast Pork Tenderloin with apples and onions on fresh spinach and couscous. I drank water with lunch, which is now an added dimension to my diet.

At 1:00 I watched the first half of the Bournemouth v. Man Union fixture. When I left at the half to do some work for a client Man Union was up 2 to 1.

When I returned 40 minutes later in the 83rd minute the score was tied 4 to 4 and I had missed 5 exciting goals. Alas the fixture ended in a draw.

I then finished my work and rested for a few minutes and watched the news that was dominated by the shootings at Brown University and the Chanukah mass shooting in Sydney, Australia.

Dinner - We cooked dinner at 6:00. Suzette had found a recipe for a roasted vegetable medley, including butternut squash, red onion, cranberries, asparagus, and red beets garnished with feta or on this evening, crumbled salty cojita cheese. Suzette blanched the squash whole in the microwave for a minute to make it easier to cut and peel and added the asparagus about ten minutes from the end of the roast to keep them crisp.

I opened a good bottle of Kirkland 2020 JME Selecion Reserva Rioja. It was very smooth and complemented the thick cut lamb chops. The lamb chops were the thickest we have bought at Costco and Suzette was able to grilled them to rare, so they were delicious, especially with some of Suzette’s homemade mint jelly.

The roasted vegetables were delicious also and had a Christmas color scheme with the green asparagus and the red vegetables and cranberries.

I loved the couscous also, so I would say this was an excellent meal and far better than any we could find at any Albuquerque restaurant.

Willy joined us for dinner and introduced me to the water from his new water filter.

We gave Willy a Terry’s chocolate orange for the first night of Chanukah, which he immediately opened.

I had a cup of Earl Grey tea later with a piece of one of the slices.

We tried to prepare an invitation for Christmas Eve but were not successful in attaching a photo of us in Japan.

Suzette was tired and went to bed after Antique Roadshow at 8:30 and I followed at 9:30 after watching a few minutes of Monday Night Football and reading about how to dematerialize Indian company stock.

I think we will make enchiladas again tomorrow night, if Suzette brings home a chicken.

Bon Appetit

December 14, 2025 Snack - Pain au Chocolate Breakfast - Scrambled eggs with chard and cabbage, toast, and bacon. Snack - knackebrod with cheese Dinner - Sandwiches

December 14, 2025 Snack - Pain au Chocolate  Breakfast - Scrambled eggs with chard and cabbage, toast, and bacon. Snack - knackebrod with cheese  Dinner - Sandwiches

I awakened around 8:30. Willy was watching Chelsea v. Everton PL soccer and I joined him and ate a pain au chocolate with a cup of chai.

Then around 10:00 Willy made breakfast. He scrambled eggs with chopped red cabbage and rainbow chard and fried five slices of thick cut bacon. I toasted and buttered three slices of baguette and smeared them with berry preserves for a lovely brunch.

I spent most of the day peeling the zest from 13 lemons. Yesterday we went to Total wine and bought a. 1.75 liter bottle of grain alcohol. Today i added the peel of the 13 lemons to the alcohol. I then took a two hour nap. At dinner time Suzette took the infused alcohol to the basement to infuse for 20 to 30 days. 

Suzette also made three large tropical fruitcakes today using Martha Stewart’s recipe. She made the batter with eggs butter, molasses, and flour and combined the dried fruit that had been brandied overnight and chopped pecans. Then she baked the fruitcakes at 250 degrees for three hours.

When she took the fruitcakes out of the oven she wrapped them in cotton fabric soaked in rum and drizzled rum over the fruitcakes before putting them in the basement.

Dinner - We did not wish to cook dinner so when Willy called we asked him to pick up a loaf of sour dough bread, avocados, and sprouts. He also bought sauerkraut, chicken salad, and a container of olive and feta salad.

We each constructed our own sandwiches. Suzette made a melted  chicken and cheese sandwich in a skillet. 

I made the Zardoz sandwich that Nick used to make at his bar in Fort Worth. I toasted two slices of bread, spread Mayo on one slice and then lay a layer of avocado slices on the Mayo and then warm chicken slices. On the other slice of bread I smeared cream cheese and lay a layer of alfalfa and mixed greens sprouts and then several leaves of romaine lettuce. I then joined the two slices together. I also ate a green onion, several olives, and three slices of dill pickle with my Zardoz sandwich.

Willy was the most creative. He made a sardine, chicken salad, sauerkraut, Greek Yogurt, salad for his sandwich and added sprouts.

After dinner we watched Dallas lose to the Minnesota Vikings and exit the running for the play offs, as did Kansas City today.

At 10:00 I played with my Coweries and then finished this blog and went to bed.

We usually cook on Sundays and today was no exception. We will have fruitcake for Christmas.

Bon Appetit