December 21, 2025 Breakfast - Leftover Reuben Sandwich and scrambled eggs with kale and cabbage Dinner - Chicken Curry with Rice

December 21, 2025 Breakfast - Leftover Reuben Sandwich and scrambled eggs with kale and cabbage Dinner - Chicken Curry with Rice

We were back home today and I guess you could say we got the Christmas spirit.  Suzette decorated the front porch with a group of Teddy bears and we cooked most of the day. The order that we cook dishes in is often predicated on the ingredients available from prior dishes. Today was a good example.

Suzette woke up at 5:00 but I slept until almost 8:00 when I watched Fareed Zacharia and then news until 9:40 when Willy suggested we watch the PL fixture between Man United and Aston Villa during which I heated and ate the leftover 1/2 of my Reuben Sandwich from yesterday. 

It was an exciting match with two terrific goals by Aston Villa to win 2 to 1.

Then at 11:30 Willy scrambled 6 eggs with cabbage and kale and we each ate some.

After brunch I started watching the Cowboys lose to the LA Chargers, while Willy left to exercise and Suzette and I hung the fabric door divider we bought in Kyoto and then Suzette worked in her office.

At 1:30 when the Cowboys’ defeat was eminent we loaded the boxes and wine bottles and drove to the recycling center on Menaul to dump them.

We then drove to El Super to shop for produce for the Christmas open house. We bought two bunches of beets, green onions, red and brown onions, avocados, Persian cucumbers, lemons, white potatoes, cucumbers, and garlic.

When we returned home I zested two more lemons, so Suzette could make four batches of lemon curd that resulted in 6 8 oz. jars of curd.

Then I made the coffee flavored pouring custard for my chocolate dessert. I scalded 2 cups of milk with 1 cup of cream and a handful of roasted coffee beans and added that to a mixture of 1/2 cup sugar and 7 egg yolks plus a tsp. of vanilla and heated the mixture until it thickened.

With the leftover egg whites from the lemon curd and custard Suzette made the Martha Stewart coating for 2 lb. of pecans that she roasted on parchment paper in the oven.

Then while I was stirring my custard around 5:00 Suzette chopped 1/2 butternut squash, 1 onion, 1 apple, some garlic, and 1 1/2 chicken breasts and when my custard was ready and cooling in the fridge, we sautéed the onion and garlic in canola oil and then added the other ingredients plus 2 cups of chicken stock and a can of coconut milk and a handful of raisins plus 2 T. of Madras curry powder.

In all this was an exciting game between the Steelers with Aaron Rogers and the Detroit Lions where it looked liked the Lions had scored t win at the end but that score was disallowed due to a penalty and the Steelers won. Even Roger’s was stunned into disbelief that the Steelers had won. 

I then made a cup of rice in 2 cups of chicken stock with a small handful of chopped fresh parsley from our garden.  

After the rice was cooked in 30 minutes, I fetched bottles of Suzette’s homemade apricot chutney, and a new bottle of Swad Mixed pickle and I made chai and Suzette drank her cocktail and we ate curry for dinner.

We watched the 60 Minutes, the tribute to Rob Reiner, and then Suzette went to bed and a Willy and I watched Sunday night football, another marathon game between Baltimore and New England in which both main quarterbacks were injured and replacement quarterbacks finished the game and New England overcame an 11 point deficit to win.

Willy ate Chicken Shawarma and baklava after a big day of exercise that included a visit to the gym and a hike up one of the trails up the Sandias. 

We went to bed at 10:00 after the New England came back to win after I accumulated only 3000 steps

I love these dark days around the Winter Equinox that make me want to hibernate and cook for the Holidays.k 

Bon Appetit