January 5, 2024 Lunch - Crab Cakes with tomato and cucumber salad and tartare sauce Dinner - PPI Pork and Sauerkraut and Mashed Potatoes

January 5, 2024 Lunch - Crab Cakes with tomato and cucumber salad and tartare sauce  Dinner - PPI Pork and Sauerkraut and Mashed Potatoes 

We were both working today at our desks so we only got together at Lunch for a collectively cooked meal.

I ate granola with yogurt and milk, and blueberries for breakfast.

Then i watched Fareed and then Man City tie Man Union 2 to 2 in a spirited fixture in icy cold rain.

At 12:30 we gathered in the kitchen for lunch prep.

Suzette rolled saltine crackers into bread crumbs and added Mayo, an egg, and about 1/2 lb. of crab to make 8 crab cake balls that she fried in coconut oil for a clean crab flavor.

I diced a tomato and a small cucumber to which Suzette added a few drops of Spanish padron chili flavored artisan vinegar and I added a few drops of Spanish olive oil.

Suzette made a tartare sauce with lemon juice, horseradish, and Mayo and I adjusted the seasoning by adding an additional squirt of lemon juice and teaspoon of horseradish to hide the processed Mayo flavor and develop a more uniform flavor.

Suzette spooned the salad onto a leaf of romaine lettuce and added four crab balls to each and a green onion and we garnished the crab balls with tartare sauce.

For this elegant lunch we chose to drink a 2020 Herman Weimar dry rose that was fabulously dry and yet fruity that complemented the rich crab cakes and tartare sauce perfectly.

After lunch we worked a bit longer. At 4:00 I quit work and walked to the Country club and back that allowed me to reach a total of 3500 steps for the day.

At 6:30 we decided to heat the PPI Pork and Sauerkraut from New Year’s Day and Suzette served it on a bed of spinach leaves and a pile of PPI mashed  potatoes for a quick and easy dinner.

Suzette drank a Negra Modelo with dinner and I drank the last glass of Dry rose.

We watched some HGTV house hunters and NFL football and I drank a cup of green tea with a snickerdoodle cookie  Suzette and Lexi made at Thanksgiving but TV did not arrest our desire to rest after a day of work so we went to bed at 9:30.

I woke up at 11:30 to read the November/December issue of Edible New Mexico and wrote this blog.

Bon Appetit

 

January 4, 2024 Brunch - PPI Crab Soufflé. Dinner - Roast Beef with Mashed Potatoes in Mushroom Sauce and Steamed Green Beans

January 4, 2024 Brunch - PPI Crab Soufflé.  Dinner - Roast Beef with Mashed Potatoes in Mushroom Sauce and Steamed Green Beans

I know I say this often, but today was the best day of leftovers in a long, long time.

We only ate two meals today. The first was around 9:30 or 10:00.

Suzette heated the leftover crab soufflé on a bed of spinach leaves for brunch that we ate with a glass of orange juice.

Then Suzette went on errands and I watched Arsenal tie Brighton to hold onto 2nd place and Leicester lose and seems headed to relegation.

I toasted a slice of baguette and spread peanut butter and honey on it and ate it with a cup of green tea.

Then when Suzette returned we split a chocolate Woopie Pie, so we nibbled.

Suzette returned around 11:30 and at noon we drove to the Bosque and walked to the river and to the two lakes, which was slightly further than before and helped accumulate approximately 4500 steps. 

We then drove to Old Town around 1:45 to meet Nestor but he was not at the restaurant, so we drove home.

At 4:00 we made dinner. I sliced three mushrooms and then the remaining roast beef from the Christmas Standing Rib Roast into three 1/2 inch thick slices plus a few smaller thin slices for sandwiches while Suzette sautéed the mushrooms and then made a mushroom cream sauce from a roux and beef bouillon and a little milk and the mushrooms.  Suzette also made sour cream mashed potatoes and we snapped green beans and she steamed the green beans.

I opened the 2016 Olarra Gran Reserva Rioja we bought at Costco two weeks ago.

We thought it was too smooth in a manner we associate with being over produced. It was so smooth that it had lost all its character.

This was an even better meal than at Christmas in my opinion. Suzette covered the meat with mushroom sauce and heated it for just a minute, so the meat retained its pink color and was incredibly tender. With the mushroom cream sauce and mashed potatoes, the bites of meat literally melted in my mouth.

After dinner I toasted two mote slices of baguette and spread butter on mine and we both spread Affinois cheese on them and drank another glass of the Rioja with them.

Around 5:30 I went to sleep for about 45 minutes on Suzette’s new crystal heating mat that was lovely.

We watched the Bengals beat the Steelers during which we had a long conversation with Willy and then watched Death in Paradise, after which Suzette went to bed and I watched Sherlock Holmes and blogged.

Even though we only ate two meals, I snacked a lot and feel very full.

Bon Appetit

January 3, 2025 Lunch - Pho at Lime Restaurant.Dinner - Rueben Sandwiches

January 3, 2025 Lunch - Pho at Lime Restaurant.Dinner - Rueben Sandwiches 

Suzette awakened me at 6:00 I dressed and drank a cup of tea with a chocolate croissant and at 6:30 we drove to rush Medical in Rio Rancho for Suzette’s procedure. 

During her procedure I walked to the cafeteria and ordered a scoop of scrambled eggs and a sausage patty and made a chai tea with milk and sugar. The eggs and sausage were terrific and the scoop filled most of a 4 X 4 inch square to go box, so it as a very hearty breakfast.

When Suzette’s procedure ended around 8:30 we returned home and she rested and I worked at my desk until 12:00 when I drove to Lime Vietnamese Restaurant at Montgomery and Eubank to meet Aaron for lunch. We both ordered Pho, Aaron chose Cooked beef and I chose raw beef as our meat. We also ordered fried egg rolls that were delicious, hot out of the fryer with a crunchy skin and rich ground pork filling.

The pho is served in an over sized bowl that neither of us finished.

After lunch I stopped a Al Quds Market and bought 2 1/2 lb. of ground lamb meat, 6 fresh pita, and a bag of vermicelli noodles.

Then I drove home at 2:00 and napped until 2:45 when Jody brought back the Prius from a servicing.

I then checked my portfolio and determined that it was a super day with an increase of over 1.8%.

I then listened to a CLE on the changes to the child support guidelines and then at 4:15 Suzette and I walked to the end of the block and back which was enough added steps to reach over 3500 steps for the day.

At 6:00 Suzette made Rueben sandwiches using the PPI Pork and Sauerkraut from New Year’s Day for the filling and making a Mayo and mustard dressing instead of a Russian dressing with Slices of Swiss cheese and then toasted both buttered outsides.

I drank an apple cider and Suzette drank a Negra Modelo.

After dinner we watched a rather sad movie titled Widow Cliquot based on the life of the lady who founded Veuve Cliquot in early 1800 and went to bed at 9:00 to read and blog while Suzette slept.

Bon Appetit 

December 31, 2024 Brunch - granola, milk, yogurt p, and blueberries Dinner - crab Soufflé with corn on the Cobb

December 31, 2024 Brunch - granola, milk, yogurt p, and blueberries Dinner - crab Soufflé with corn on the Cobb

We went to Costco yesterday to buy fresh crab and the entire seafood section except for some tilapia fillets was gone. Suzette went back this morning at 10:00 when Costco opened and they had not received any fresh crab, but there were 1 lb. cans of crab meat from Indonesia or somewhere in the South Pacific. We have made crab soufflé for several previous New Year’s Eve dinners and it is one of our perennial favorites. This week we bought ears of fresh white corn at El Super, so we planned a simple dinner of crab soufflé and ears of corn with champagne.

I ate a bowl of granola with milk, yogurt, and blueberries at 11:00 because I knew it was unlikely I would eat lunch and I was right.

I called Bill Turner and went to his office at 11:30 and worked on a complaint until 4:30 and went through all the evidence and it became clear that there were wrongful actions in this case.

We ended up trying to call opposing counsel at 4:30 but that failed and I drove home.

At 6:00 we prepared our soufflé which took three or four steps that we shared to produce the final result. We followed Julia Child’s recipe for fish soufflé in Mastering the Art of French Cooking and substituted crab and added the shallots to the bechamel sauce while Suzette was cooking the roux that eliminated a step. Suzette cooked the soufflé in the steaming oven with some moisture. The soufflé rose some but did not spill over the edge of the soufflé dish, which was lucky because we did not collar the dish. 

 Shucked the corn and Suzette boiled it for a couple of minutes and we put the ears in a corn plate and rolled them in butter. They were delicious As a fresh vegetable.

I opened a chilled a bottle of Gruet 2014 vintage Blanc de Noirs. Its nutty flavor was perfect with the crab.

This was another successful New Year’s Eve dinner. We could not think of any place we would rather be and we were able to watch the NCAA game thar Penn State won.

We knew Jeff was happy and we were happy for Jeff.

After dinner I ate a piece of fudge, with a cognac and a cup of green tea.

We went to bed after the ball fell at midnight in Times Square at 10:00.

This was the first day I missed lunch and did not suffer muscle fatigue.

Bon Appetit

January 2, 2024 Lunch Tom Yum Gai with Rice, Dinner - Green Chili Stew with Pork Tamales

 January 2, 2024 Lunch Tom Yum Gai with Rice,  Dinner - Green Chili Stew with Pork Tamales

Another Tri-continent day of food.

For breakfast I drank a cup of green tea with a French Chocolate Croissant.

Then for lunch I ate the last bowl of leftover Thai Tom Yum Gai with rice.

For dinner we heated a bowl of Green Chili Stew and beans with Pork tamales at 5:30 that Billy and Elaine left us.

I drove Suzette to her physical therapy at around 7:30 and afterwards we drove to Smith’s and bought milk, rye bread, Swiss cheese slices, and lots of discounted cheeses, including Racalette and Tallegio.

When we returned home Suzette went to work and I worked on the new water case and at 2:30 i finished a draft and watched the Sugar Bowl, which had a surprise ending. Norte Dame beat Georgia and will have the joy of playing Ohio State in the semi-finals for the NCAA football National Championship.

We ate New Mexican Green Chili Stew with Pork Tamales at 5:30  for the third continental cuisine and then I reviewed a contract and at 6:30 meditated with Etienne and Todd.

I went to bed at 8:30 to blog and read.

Bon Appetit