February 28, 2024 Lunch - Mary and Tito’s Dinner - Salmon Teriyaki grilled on a cedar plank with Steamed Asparagus and Couscous

 February 28, 2024 Lunch - Mary and Tito’s  Dinner - Salmon Teriyaki grilled on a cedar plank with Steamed Asparagus and Couscous

I worked from 3:20 to 5:40 and went back to bed and slept from 6:00 to 8:00.

I watched the market rise a bit until the confrontation between Trump and Vance and Zelenskyy in the Oval Office that may have been the first televised conversation that changes the course of history.  The acrimony shown by Trump and Vance toward Zelenskyy may be the end of the post war Trans-Atlantic alliance and the end of the US’ leadership as the world leader for democracy.  It was bad and sad that Trump and Vance were advancing Russia’s agenda. At least Zelenskyy did not cower or try to cajole Trump.

I met Monica and Aaron for lunch at 1:15 at Mary and Tito’s on 4th St. just north of Menaul. They ordered stuffed sopapillas covered with red chili.

I ordered blue corn enchiladas with beef and an egg with rice and beans.

After lunch at 2:30 I returned home and discovered that the market had unexpectedly recovered from the shock of Trump’s confrontation with Zelenskyy and racked up a strong gain. My portfolio gained 2.2% to recover partially from its 3.9% loss of two days ago.

 I worked for a bit and then lay down to rest at 4:00.

Cramer did not explain the gyration in the market and Bloomberg’s Market wrap did not enlighten me.

In the morning I had rinsed and dried the two salmon filets I bought yesterday.

I made teriyaki sauce by combining 1/3 cup each of sake, soy sauce, and mirin and adding 1/2 T. of sugar and heating the sauce in the microwave for 45 seconds to dissolve the sugar. While the teriyaki sauce was cooling I made a dry mixture to cure the salmon to make Gravad lax by combining 1 cup of salt, 3/4 cup of sugar and 1 tsp. of crushed black pepper.

I then laid a layer of fresh dill weed in the bottom of a 6 x 9 inch Pyrex baking dish and then cut a 9 inch salmon filet and coated the skin side with the dry mixture and lay it down on the dill. I then coated the belly side with the dry mixture and laid a layer of dill on top of the coated belly. T then coated the belly side of another salmon filet with mixture and lay it belly side down on the first filet. Finally I lay a layer of dill weed on the upper skin side of the second piece and poured the rest of the dry mixture on top of the upper skin side.

I then covered the fish and baking dish with Saran and placed a brick on top and put it into the fridge to cure.

I cut two good sized fillets off each filet an added those two filets to a gallon freezer bag filled with the cooled teriyaki sauce I had made, sealed the freezer bag, and put it into the fridge to marinate for dinner.

At 4:00 Suzette arrived. We watched the news, which was mostly the crazy Oval Office conversation and the mysterious death of Gene Hackman, his wife and pet dog in Santa Fe apparently 11 days ago.

At 6:00 Suzette soaked a 1 x 6 inch cedar plank in water in the tub and at 6:30 grilled the two salmon filets on the cedar plank on the propane grill. The wet cedar does not burn quickly and protects the salmon from the flames.  The result is a moist succulent salmon filet with a teriyaki flavor.

Suzette steamed six large asparagus and re-heated the PPI Couscous for me.  Suzette has eliminated carbs from her diet, so she did not eat any couscous.

Suzette fetched the cherry wine from the fridge and pored us glasses of it. The cherry wine was wonderful?

Later, around 7:45, I ate a bowl of cherry truffle ice cream with seven or eight of Suzette’s lovely maraschino cherries for dessert.

We went to bed at 8:30 after TV announcers had said all they could say about the Conversation.

Bon Appetit

February 27, 2025. Breakfast - Sausage, Eggs, and toast. Lunch - chirashi at Crazy Fish Dinner - Sautéed Hamburger, onions, mushrooms, and garlic on Couscous and Asparagus Linguine

February 27, 2025. Breakfast - Sausage, Eggs, and toast. Lunch - chirashi at Crazy Fish  Dinner - Sautéed Hamburger, onions, mushrooms, and garlic on Couscous and Asparagus Linguine

I was weak in the morning so at 8:30 I sautéed a slice of sausage and fried an egg and toasted two slices of baguette that I buttered and spread French cherry preserves on with which I drank a cup of Earl Grey tea.

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Then at 10:00 I went to Bill Turner’s and spent three hours revising two complaints.

At 1:00 I drove to Crazy Fish and ordered a chirashi with salmon, Aji tuna, yellow tail, white tuna, and octopus. The sushi cutter filled a ceramic container with a bed of sushi rice on top of which were  three generous slices of each fish plus a pile of squid salad, a pile of seaweed salad, a pile of daikon threads and wasabi and pickled ginger.

I ordered a pot of green tea that was included with the chirashi.

I Loved it and ate 2/3 and boxed the rest.

I then walked the 2 1/2 blocks to Birdland to see the progress of tenant improvements. No one was there but there seemed to be some changes.

I then drove to Smith’s and bought two salmon filets, a package of ground beef, two discounted 1/2 lb. wedges of Racalette cheese, a gallon of milk, three lb. of fresh asparagus, dill weed, and a bag of green grapes.

After I checked out I drove to Jody’s to assess a low tire issue on the mini and then home.

Suzette was at home and I checked the portfolio. Today started up at a nice pace and my portfolio was up, but then Trump texted that tariffs on Mexico, Canada, and China would go into effect on March 4 and the market reversed and the NASDAQ ended down 530 points for my worst day ever in the market with my portfolio falling 4%.

I watched some news with Suzette and got a call to remind me to meditate at 6:30.l

Dinner - At 7:00 I diced 1/2 onion, seven or eight portobello mushrooms, five cloves of garlic, while Suzette cut strips of asparagus with a vegetable peeler.

Suzette sautéed some of the hamburger with the onion and garlic and later added the mushrooms.

She also heated the asparagus strips for her and asparagus strips with PPI couscous for me.

I opened a bottle of 2019 La Flor de Vina Italian Chianti Classico and poured glasses and we ate dinner with several interruptions regarding a delivery of meds.

After dinner we watched Midsomer Murders and went to bed when it ended at 9:45.

Bon Appetit

February 26, 2024 Kingman to Albuquerque Lunch - El Rancho Hotel, Gallup. Dinner - sautéed Salmon filet with tartare sauce and Couscous with Raisins onions, White beech mushrooms, and snow peas

February 26, 2024 Kingman to Albuquerque Lunch - El Rancho Hotel, Gallup. Dinner - sautéed Salmon filet with tartare sauce and Couscous with Raisins onions, White beech mushrooms, and snow peas 

The Baymont Motel we stayed at in Kingman offered breakfast. I was amazed when I saw how extensive it was. A waffle machine to make a fresh hot waffle with syrup, scrambled eggs, yogurt, and pork sausages plus orange juice. I ate all of those and loved breakfast.

Then Suzette drove us to Ash Fork and drove us to Gallup where we arrived a little past 1:00 p.m.

Suzette had not been to the El Rancho hotel, so I suggested that we eat lunch there.

It was built in 1937 by D.W. Griffith’s brother as a film location and many famous films were made near Gallup by famous actors.

I ordered the Santa Fe Cobb with blue cheese dressing and Suzette ordered a hamburger. She did not specify how she wanted the burger cooked and she got a gray, well done burger. She did not eat the buns or many French fries. The Cobb was served on a large platter filled with gourmet blend lettuce and radicchio and garnished with grape red tomatoes cut in half, a sliced hard boiled egg, sliced ham, turkey and avocado and chopped bacon and crumbled blue cheese.  It was heaven and I ate every bite of it with extra bleu cheese dressing.

After lunch we filled the tank and Suzette drove us home.

We arrived a few minutes after 4:00.

I thawed a frozen salmon filet. 

I checked the Portfolio. It was a good day in the market but today’s gain b could not overcome the terrible last week of losses. My portfolio is down 3.5% from its high a week ago.

I rested and watched the interview with Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia at 5:00. After it closed up $4.65, it lost ground in after hours trading because the earnings were not stellar.

Dinner - I got up at 6:30 and di cussed dinner with Suzette. She did not want any carb, so I made couscous with raisins, onions, beech mushrooms and snow peas.

Suzette sautéed the salmon and I made tartare sauce with Mayo, lemon juice, horseradish, and pickle relish.

The dinner was delightful for an just off the road effort with old ingredients.

We drank glasses of the Barefoot Pinot Grigio we bought at Death Valley General Store Monday.

After dinner we watched the news and then a chilling documentary on PBS about a Nazi art Thief and how difficult it has been to restore stolen art to its original owners.

We were happy to be home and went to bed at 10:00, I to blog and Suzette to sleep.

It was a surprisingly wonderful day of food for me with three delicious meals, two of which were unexpectedly better than I dreamed possible.

Bon Appetit 

   

February 25, 2024 Breakfast - Coffee and Leftover Bagel and sandwich Lunch - Echo and Fig, Las Vegas

February 25, 2024 Breakfast - Coffee and Leftover Bagel and sandwich Lunch - Echo and Fig, Las Vegas

We spent the morning at Death Valley and at noon drove to Kingman, Az.

We took our leftover bagel and chicken salad sandwich to the lobby at around 8:00 and filled a cup with coffee and ate our breakfast on the patio in front of the restaurant.

                                        The garden below our room

We then drove to the Furnace Basin which is the lowest point on the Continent at 282 feet below sea level.

                                           Looking Southwest

                                                Looking west

                                               Looking northwest

                 The small white sign above the bus marks Sea Level

The Dead Sea is the lowest on the planet at over 1000 feet below sea level. 

We walked out about 1/2 mile from the parking lot to the white sand basin.

It was amazing to be at the lowest point in the US.

We then drove back to the Inn by way of the Artist loop with it variated colors of formations created by chemicals thrown out of a volcanic eruption millions of years ago lodged in what seemed to be hills of Talp.

When we returned to the Inn at 10:30 we put on our bathing suits and went for another swim in the large pool of natural mineral water at the Inn.

I breast stroked with a frog kick without pain for the first time in years.

I felt wonderful and loved the mineral water pool at the Inn and regretted not getting until the large pool at Sam’s Resort.

At noon we ate a fig bar and checked out and drove to Las Vegas. We stopped at Zabriske Point in tribute to the 60’s and Antonioni’s movie by that name.

                                  You can see the basin from Zabriske Point

decided to share a hamburger. As I drove down I-95 Suzette researched the best hamburger restaurant near our route toward I-40 at Kingman and decided the best bet was Echo and Fig in the a high end development called the District at Green Valley on the south side of Las Vegas.

We arrived at 3:00 which coincided with Their Happy Hour, which meant several drinks, wines and beers were $5.00. We tasted the house red which was poured for Happy Hour. It was a 2022 the Calling Pinot Noir produced in Monterey county, a $39.00 bottle at retail. We each ordered a glass.

We also ordered the hamburger that was served with air fried fried potatoes and a bibb lettuce and radicchio salad with blue cheese, caramelized red onion, sugar coated walnuts with a vinaigrette dressing.

The Pinot went well with both but Suzette thought it went better with the blue cheese.

At 4:00 we were back on the road and Suzette reserved a room at the Wyndham motel in Kingman as we drove.

We arrived at 6:30 at dusk, just in time to check in and carry our grips to our room by 6:45.

When we turned on the TV we were delighted to discover that my favorite show, Finding Your Roots, would be aired at 7:00.

I made a cup of Earl Grey tea and we watched the show. It was a new season with two actresses, Debra Messing and Melanie Lynskey. It was a fascinating show. Messing’s folks were from Poland and Lynskey’s were New Zealanders from Ireland.

At 8:00 we watched a little of Lawrence until we found out the Republicans passed a budget resolution today that will gut Medicaid.

We then turned off the Tv and I blogged and read.

Bon Appetit