October 8, 2015 Lunch – Thai Vegan, Dinner – Grilled Halibut with Kale salad and Potato Soup

October 8, 2015 Lunch – Thai Vegan, Dinner – Grilled Halibut with Kale salad and Potato Soup

We started out by going to Carey Smoot’s and buying her mother’s wine rack which will fit in our kitchen perfectly.  I then finalized the terms of a new lease on the Birdland this morning and then went to lunch with Nizar and Rahim at Thai Vegan.  We ordered three items to share: Tom Yum Gai (coconut milk soup with lemon grass, kefir leaves, galangal root, mushrooms, Thai chilis, and imitation chicken), Pad Thai, and imitation chicken in green curry sauce served with Thai black rice.  Everything tasted wonderful.  I loved every dish.  Thai a Vegan is my favorite Thai restaurant in Albuquerque.  If I was a vegan I would eat there all the time.

   Nizar and Rahim and the Tom Yum Gai Soup 

   The Green Chicken Curry and Pad Thai Lunch Combo platters

After lunch we called Mohan in California and I announced that I was going to sell my interest in the California property, which will end the ten year partnership in that property.  

During lunch Suzette called with the message that the small white truck had broken down again.  She had to meet the counter top installers at home and because I was unable to pick her up, she had to take a taxi home from the Hilton parking lot where she left the broken truck.

After lunch I drove to Costco to get gas and shop for dinner.  I bought sugar snap peas, a 1 ½ lb. Halibut steak ($10.99/lb.), a 48 count container of Ferraro Rocher candies, and Kleenex. 

When I arrived home around 3:00 Cynthia was visiting and had brought us a container of kale salad and Mike and his crew were installing the black soapstone and white Quartz counter tops. 

The kitchen is starting to look pretty good.  Here is a picture.

At 4:45 we drove to the Crowne Plaza, which used to be the Hilton Hotel to deal with the little truck.  It would not start, so Suzette called the tow company to come tow it to our house and we went into the bar for a beer to wait for the tow truck.  We drank Sam Adam’s lager on tap for the Happy Hour price of $3.00 each.

We talked to the bar tender and found out that on Friday's there are fajitas served on the patio by the pool, which sounds like fun.

We returned home around 6:00 and after watching Kevin McCarthy withdraw his nomination as Speaker of the House of Representatives, we discussed cooking dinner.  We had both had a full day, so we decided to make a simple dinner of grilled Halibut, Cynthia’s kale salad and fix the PPI Potato Soup from last night. 

I cut slices of lime and Suzette cut slices of butter and found the fish holder for grilling and put  the fish steak into the fish grilling rack incised in the lime slices and grilled it for twenty or twenty-five minutes.

I went to the garage fridge and fetched the large pot of potato soup and then the ½ of a ½ pint container of heavy cream, while Suzette found the hand held emulsion mixer and extension cord to get power to the Cajun cooker so she could use the mixer to purée the potato soup.  Suzette heated the soup and added salt and pepper buy it still tasted bland.  We decided to add nutmeg and thyme and more salt, which helped.  After Suzette added the heavy cream, I went to check the recipe and we both concluded that we needed more cream, which I will get tomorrow. 

We ate bowls of soup and when I added the last drops of cream from the container to a second bowl it tasted much more complete and creamy.

We drank the last of the PPI bottle of Santiago Station Sauvignon Blanc, which complemented the halibut and potato soup perfectly.

Suzette finished preparing eleven dolls the senior clients had made for sale at the Hubbell House Harvest Festival on Sunday, at which the Center for Ageless Living will have a booth and I read my book club book and ate a Ferrero Rocher and sipped a little Calvados..

I woke up at 2:30 and went to the garage fridge and got the new wedge of blue cheese and buttered bread and spread the bread with blue cheese and drank a glass of Monte Ducay and ate pear slices for a late night snack.

Bon Appetit 

October 7, 2015 grilled Rib Steak, artichokes, and onion and PPI Pork Paprikesh pasta

October 7, 2015 grilled Rib Steak, artichokes, and onion and PPI Pork Paprikesh pasta

I ate the last of the menudo for lunch with a Cesar Salad and toasted baguette spread with goat’s cheese or duck foie gras.

I rode to Montano at 4:00 and after I returned and showered ate the two slices of Swiss Gruyere and some pretzels that Suzette had cut with a half glass of Italian Primativo.

After lunch I had fetched a steak and a bottle of 2008 Monte Ducay Reserva from the Carinena Denominacion de Origen; a blend of Tempranillo, Cabernet Sauvignon and Grenache grapes from Spain ($5.99 at Trader Joe’s) produced for Bodegas San Valero for dinner.

After meditation at 8:00 I came home and I sliced an onion into three slices and Suzette grilled the steak, the two PPI artichoke halves from last night’s meal at the Palmer’s, and the onion slices.

We opened the wine and heated the bag of PPI pork Paprikesh in the microwave while I peeled three pears I had bought at ranch market last week.  We had a lovely meal.

The wine had aged beautifully in the 2 ½ years it had spent in the cellar.  It had a rounded smooth flavor that went well with the aged beef’s flavor.

The back label states, “Tasting Notes: Beautiful cherry red tinted with brick overtones. Fragrant and delicate on the nose.  Elegant bouquet, generous and well balanced.  Long lingering aftertaste. Oak aging: 14 months in American oak followed by 24 months in bottle.”

At the bottom of the back label it says in Spanish, “One of the best Reserve wines of Spain according to the Guide of the Super Wines 2011 and 2012.

The wine lived up to its label notes in my opinion.  I would buy it again and age some more of it.

After dinner we each ate a few slices of the fresh pears for dessert.

The pears had matured and sweetened during the two weeks they spent on the bottom shelf of our fridge.  I had to peel the dDarkened skin and a bit of the fruit, probably due to slight frost bite, but that chilling may have enhanced their flavor.

I often let fruit sit in the fridge for a week or two, because it seems to enhance its flavor.

Bon Appetit

October 5, 2015 Dinner – Rockfish Baked in aluminum foil

October 5, 2015  Dinner – Rockfish Baked in aluminum foil

I went to the bank on Coors today because I needed to put some things in the safety deposit box.  As I drove south from the banks I remembered that Albertson’s had a sale on large shrimp and fresh salmon, so I drove south on Coors to Albertson's at Central and Coors. I found nice fresh leeks at $1.49/lb. and tiny Brussels Sprouts for $1.99/lb. in the Produce Dept.  Then I picked up a container of heavy cream on my way to the Butcher’s Block meat counter.  When I arrived the fresh salmon for $5.99/lb. was sold out, but there was nice looking rockfish fillets for $5.99/lb. and the huge 16-20 shrimp for $6.99//lb., so I bought 2 rockfish fillets and 1 lb. of shrimp.

I then went by the ice cream section because Albertson's usually has wonderful sales on ice cream.  Today was no exception.  There were three or four brands on sale. I finally picked a new brand of Vanilla bean for $3.00 for 1.5 quarts.  After I left Albertson's it occurred to me that I could make Vichyssoise if I bought some potatoes, so I stopped at Altos Ranch Market and bought a 5 lb. bag of russets for $1.49, plus some limes for $.69/lb., onions for $.20/lb., and a few mushrooms for $3.49/lb. 

Jesus, the cabinet maker had been working most of the day and when I returned from a ride to Montano, he and Suzette were working on the new donors to my office and at the base of the basement stairs.

They finished a bit after 6:00, so at 5:30 I started chopping the ingredients for the baked fish.  I sliced and chopped 3 oz. of yellow onion, sliced 2 cloves of garlic, diced 1 tomato and ¼ red bell pepper, and 3 Thai chilis.  I then went to the garden and picked a handful of chard and 6 sprigs of thyme.  I de-stemmed and cut the chard into bite sized pieces and stripped the leaves from the sprigs of thyme.  I put all the ingredients into a metal bowl. At around 6:30 I chilled a bottle of 2014 Santiago Station Mendoza Valley, Argentina Sauvignon Blanc in the freezer and we began making the fish.  We laid out 2 sufficiently long pieces of foil to hold the fish fillets and ingredients.  Suzette made a pile of ingredients and laid a fillet and a few of the shrimp we had left on each pile of ingredients and then added the rest of the ingredients on top of each fillet. Then she poured white wine and I squeezed lemon juice on each pile and she laid three or four slices of butte on each pile.  Suzette then crimped the foil on the edges so it was slightly domed above and the ends were closed.  We the took another piece of foil and enclosed each crimped dome of aluminum foil in another crimped dome of foil, so the cooking liquids would not leak out as they had last time we cooked the dish.  We had no starch, so I asked Suzette if she wanted some French bread to dip in the cooking liquids, she said, “Can you make garlic bread?”  I sliced two pieces of Fano baguette into three slices each and buttered each slice and wrapped each piece in aluminum foil and put the foil wrapped packets of bread into the grill to bake with the fish.  

As week two of the Albuquerque Antiques Roadshow began , we took the fish and bread out of the grill and I poured the wine and added some ice to the glasses to help chill the wine a bit more and we started eating just as Anna was being given the appraisal for Richard’s mother’s 2 art nouveau necklaces for $25,000 to $40,000.  They were beautiful.  Richard’s mother was an antique dealer in New York and his collection is the best private collection I have seen in Albuquerque. 

The show was great with lots of interesting stuff, like a British flag captured off Galveston by someone’s ancestor who was a naval commander in the Civil War from a British privateer they had captured and were scuttling.

We both agreed that the double foil wrapped fish method captured all of the flavors of the ingredients in one large puddle of aromatic sauce, which we gleefully dipped the hot buttered bread into to soak up the sauce that created a garlic sauce infused bread that was a truly wonderful part of the meal.  We both agreed that we had finally mastered the optimum method of baking fish in aluminum foil.  Suzette had set the outer two burners on high heat and the middle two burners on medium heat and baked the foil wrapped packets for about twenty minutes and it seemed like I had grilled the foil wrapped bread for about 10 to 15 minutes. This method of baking did not loose a drop of liquid.  In fact the bread was hot and soft and completely suffused with a hot buttery flavor.  

  Note: how the double wrap of foil captured all the cooking juices

We loved this one dish meal and the Argentinian Sauvignon Blanc went well with the meal.  Suzette particularly liked the steamed chard in the dish and I loved the sauce that combined all the flavors of the ingredients.  At the end of the meal there was still a puddle of liquid in the pasta bowl we served the fish wraps in and I tipped the bowl to my lips and sipped and enjoyed the last of the delicious wine, butter, lemon juice and seafood flavored sauce. 

Cleanup was a breeze, we simply dropped the foil wrappers into the trash. 

We ate some of the new ice cream for dessert with chocolate sauce and Marashino cherries and liked it very much.

I had a glass of rum after dinner and Suzette had a cognac. 

I was particularly happy that Suzette enjoyed our impromptu dinner, because she has been suffering from a cold and it picked up her spirits.  As Suzette says, “Good food puts you in a good mood.”

Bon Appetit 

October 4, 2015 Brunch – Shrimp Omelet Open Faced Sandwich, Dinner – Pork Paprikesh

October 4, 2015 Brunch – Shrimp Omelet Open Faced Sandwich, Dinner – Pork Paprikesh

Suzette slept until 8:30, but I got up at 7:30 and heated a bowl of the menudo I bought yesterday in Santa Fe for breakfast.  We watched the news programs, but got boarded listening to Republican presidential candidates, especially Donald Trump, so I watched the Miami v. N.Y. Jets football game from Wembley Stadium and Arsenal beat Manchester Union 3 to 0.

We then covered three raised beds with plastic for winter and repaired and covered the fish pond with its screen covering to prevent the leaves from falling into it.  

We finished by 11:30 and Suzette made a shrimp omelet with chopped onion, potato, red bell pepper, two bird peppers, and garlic.  We did not have flour tortillas, so we substituted nan instead.  Suzette cooked the omelet on the Cajun cooker, so she is getting quite good at sautéing on it ,and she heated the nan on the grill until it softened and became warm.  I split my nan in half horizontally tp create a large flat surface and wrapped the omelet in it, but Suzette simply tore her nan in half and ate it like an egg sandwich. 

Mario arrived around 1:00 and we installed the cover for the whole house fan and I napped from 2:30 to 3:30 and then went for a ride to Rio Bravo into a fifteen MPH headwind.  The sky was overcast most of the day with intermittent drizzle.  Here is a photo of  of the clouds hanging low on the Sandias.  I saw a deer for the first time on the bike trail on my way back north. 

We were not very hungry for a big dinner.  We discussed the available ingredients, which included PPI casarecce pasta, red  bell pepper, onions, shrimp.  Then I mentioned that we had PPI pork chops from last Thursday, Suzette said, “Let’s make pork Paprikesh.”

I said, “Great, we can use pasta instead of spatsle.” 

Suzette got out the red bell peppers, the ¼ onion, the mushrooms, the freezer bag of pasta, the Vouvray white wine, the bottle of smoked paprika, a sweet potato, the container of Mexican crema, and the pork. 

I chopped the onion, ½ of a red bell pepper and the chives I had picked at lunch.  Suzette peeled the sweet potato and I sliced and diced it.  I then went to the garden and picked a hand ful of chard and washed it off and de-stemmed it.  I then told Suzette, “We have paprika peppers.”

She did not believe me until I fetched a bottle of Hungarian paprika quarters from the basement.  They were a few years old, but I chopped them and they went into the sauce to flavor and color it. 

Suzette fired up the Cajun cooker and sautéed the ingredients and made a credible Pork Paprikesh.  We then heated the pasta and put some into pasta bowls and then spooned the Paprikesh on top of the pasta.  I sliced the bolillo I got with the menudo yesterday and toasted it poured glasses of the George Dubouef Pinot Noir I bought at Quarters on Friday.  

The wine was a decent Pinot Noir but lacked character.  It was fine with the meal, but better with the brie cheese I ate on the buttered toast after dinner.

We watched the new Masterpiece Theater series called “Home Fires” about the role of Women in Wartime England and the “Indian Summer” about English controlled India in the 30’s.  Both shows were a study of how England moved toward modernity.

After the shows we watched Dallas tie and then lose to New Orleans in the Superdome.

Bon Appetit 

September 30, 2015 Dinner – Grilled Pork chops with Sautéed Yellow Squash, Chard, Onions, Garlic, and Pimiento and Papaya Pineapple Salsa

September 30, 2015 Dinner – Grilled Pork chops with Sautéed Yellow Squash, Chard, Onions, Garlic, and Pimiento and Papaya Pineapple Salsa 

Suzette worked all morning on the kitchen.  Jose Robles came to paint and help install cabinet doors, and Mike the stone fabricator came and measured the counter tops for the soapstone and Quartz stone counters.

At 11:00 I became hungry and made us salads of Romaine lettuce, green onions, shaved slices of Pecorino Romano cheese, and tomato and toasted pieces of Fano Baguette and melted slices of Pecorino Romano cheese (Costco) onto them in the microwave for 45 seconds to create toasted cheese open faced sandwiches.

We ate in the garden; a lovely moment of quiet.

I had to go meditate at 6:45, so I began cooking at 4:30.  I started by halving and slicing the three yellow squashes Suzette bought at the Farmers’ Market last Saturday.  Then I diced ½ yellow onion and the ½ of a pimiento from our garden and placed the pieces in a bowl.  I sliced two cloves of garlic from our garden and put it in the colander with the squash pieces. Then I went to our garden and picked a handful of chard an four stalks of oregano.  I de-stemmed the chard and cut it inti bite sized pieces and then de-stemmed the oregano leave clusters and de-stemmed the leaves and added about ¼ cup of oregano and about 1 cup of chard to the colander. I also went to the garage fridge and took an ear of corn that Suzette had bought at the Farmers’ Market four weeks ago and sliced the semi-dried kernels  from the that had dried out from the cob and into the colander.  I then rinsed the colander in cool water and let it drain while I packed all but two loin pork chops in plastic wrap and put them into the freezer.  Suzette came home by 6:00.  I began sautéing the onion and pimiento mixture in 2 Tbsp. of butter and 1 Tbsp. of  olive oil in a large skillet.  When the onion began to change color in about five minutes I added the colander full of other vegetables, stirred them to coat them with oil and butter and the covered the skillet with the wok cover and let them cook for about twenty minutes, stirring and turning them occasionally.  

I then turned on the two middle burners on the grill and salted and peppered the two pork chops and placed them on the grill.  Suzette took,over at this point and I went to the fridge and poured glasses of the Vouvray she had bought at Trader Joe’s this morning, when she went for a cognac run and took the wall clock to be repaired.

By 6:25 everything was ready except the pork was not still a little pink, so Suzette microwaved the chops for a minute.  We sat inside and watched the news and talked of all the kitchen activity until 6:45, when I had to leave for meditation.

This year’s Vouvray is not as sweet as last year’s and I like it a lot more. One of the things we learned when we visited the vineyards in the Loire Valley three summers ago is that the Chenin Blanc grape is very variable in sweetness from year to year depending upon the weather.  As the French vintners told us, “We get whatever Nature provides us.”  The slightly sweet 2014 La Cheteau Chenin Blanc goes particularly well with spicy food according to the back label, which proved correct when I drank some to subdue the fiery flavor of the Thai chilis in the salsa.  Good wine makers in the Loire and even Vouvray can make drier wines by longer fermentation, so not all Chenin Blanc wines are the same.  But what is true is that it is hard to make a really sweet wine unless you have sweet grapes. 

Bon Appetit 

October 1, 2015 Lunch – Vietnam 2000, Dinner – Scallops with Cassarecce Pasta, PPI vegetables, mushrooms, and red bell pepper and Salad

October 1, 2015  Lunch – Vietnam 2000, Dinner – Scallops with Cassarecce Pasta, PPI vegetables, mushrooms, and red bell pepper and Salad 

Peter Eller went to lunch with me today.  I took him to Vietnam 2000 at the corner of San Mateo and Zuni and we both ordered No 21, which is Bun Cha Gio with grilled pork.  This dish is my favorite summer dish and perfect for one of the last warm days of the summer.  It combines in one bowl, fried egg rolls and grilled pork nestled on top of a mound of steamed rice vermicelli noodles on top of chopped lettuce, herbs and mung bean sprouts at the bottom of the bowl.  We each talked about our new medical issues and only ate ½ of the food.  I felt rather old, but thanked Peter for being my best art dealer and selling me the Birger Sanzen 1932 watercolor.

Suzette arrived home around 5:00 and we had drinks and went around the house with Roland to discuss alarm system issues and then began cooking at around 6:00.

I chopped ½ red bell pepper and 1 bird chili, sliced 3 brown mushrooms and 2 cloves of garlic, while Suzette heated a container of water and boiled Casarecce pasta on the Cajun Cooker.  Then she switched to a skillet and Sautéed the bell pepper and the mushrooms in butter and then added the PPI sauteed yellow squash, onions, and chard from yesterday's meal to the skillet, plus some white wine to make a light wine sauce.  While Suzette was sautéing I made a salad with a head of Bibb lettuce we bought at Costco last Sunday, plus chopped ½ half of a cucumber and a tomato, and four slices of fresh mozzarella cheese.

We dressed the salads with the Cesar salad dressing I made last week.

We poured glasses of a new bottle of H and H Cotes du Rhone Rose ($7.99 at Total Wine) that lacked flavor and character.  Neither of us liked it.

We ate in the garden in the half darkness of late evening, so Suzette fetched a candle and lit it so we could see to eat.  It is now getting dark by 7:30.

We talked of rearranging our schedule for Saturday so we can go to Santa Fe to see the new Modernist exhibits and Stephen’s Consignment’s Paris Sale. 

I ate Suzette’s uneaten salad instead of a dessert, but the pasta was so filling that we each had another glass of the Rose and then I had a glass of Trimbach pear brandy to wash down the food. 

Suzette said she would have liked to have added some cream to the dish.  I replied, “I loved the light sauce that combines the flavors of the butter, white wine, scallop liquid, and the juices from the cooked vegetables”.  

This is the first dish in a long time that combined PPIs from a prior meal as an active ingredient in a new dish and I loved it.  The PPI vegetables from last night not only added vegetables to the pasta dish, their cooking juices added a pleasant vegetable flavor to the sauce of tonight’s pasta dish.  

How I long to have a fully functional kitchen.  The installer came today and installed the hood for the stove, so things are beginning to take shape in our remodeled kitchen.

Bon Appetit 

October 3, 2015 A Day in Santa Fe, Dinner - Shrimp Scampi, artichokes, PPI scallops and pasta

October 3, 2015  A Day in Santa  Fe,  Dinner -  Shrimp Scampi, artichokes, PPI scallops and pasta

We left for Santa Fe at 7:30 to get the Stephen’s Paris Flea Market Sale by 9:00 but the day was so warm and clear and windless, as soon as we drove north on 1-25, we saw hundreds of hot air balloons aloft for the Balloon Fiesta, so we decided to exit at Paseo del Norte for a picture,  after we pulled over Suzette suggested that we stop at Gruet Winery, and have a glass of wine and take more pictures.  

Gruet was having a Champagne breakfast and with tables and chairs set up on  the walkway in front of the Winery facing I-25 and the Balloon Park, which offered a great view of the valley and the balloons.  Here are some pictures.  When I walked into the tasting room, Justin, the Club Member director, was pouring and when I asked him if we could have out free glass of wine for the month, he gladly poured me two full tulips of Gruet extra dry champagne, which would have been my choice for a morning drink, especially for mixing with orange juice to make a mimosa. Extra dry has a bit of residual sugar, far less than Demi-sec, but more than Brut or Blanc de Blanc. The air temperature must have been about 65 degrees, so it was pleasant to sit and watch the balloons and sip champagne at one of the empty tables.  Actually someone had left glasses of orange juice on the table we sat at, so after we sipped a bit of the champagne, we added a it of orange juice to make mimosas.  Unfortunately the orange juice was made from reconstituted concentrate and only added a bit of opaque orange flavor, but orange flavored champagne was good enough for us.  

Soon a balloon came over and landed in the parking lot with just a couple of feet to spare from hitting the winery.  The Winery staff scrambled to hold the gondola down, so I assume the landing was pre-arranged. In moments the chase Crew arrived and the balloon was collapsed into the parking lot.  As we left by 8:30 the crew was placing straps around its body so it could be loaded into its carrying case.  All the out of town guests were excited and ran to help and it was a great participatory event. 

 

We then drove to Santa Fe and exited at 599, the bypass road and exited it at Airport Blvd and drove to 4641 Airport Rd., where Stephen’s Consignments had rented two spaces in a strip center dominated by Mexican businesses.  We were a little hungry, so we stopped at a Panaderia and bought two empanadas.  When we were standing line, I asked a lady standing in another line obviously waiting for a To Go order what she had ordered and she said, “Menudo. The menudo here is really good.”  So we walked on to the first of two spaces filled with sales items.  At the first space Suzette found three antique Plant holders, which I took and pad for while she continued to shop.  When she was ready to go to the next space, I told her I did not want to go to it and would wait for her at the car.  I the returned to the Panaderia and ordered a 32 oz, container of menudo with all the fixings, powdered oregano, chopped onions, and a lime with a napkin and a spoon for $8.50, which I thought was a little expensive until I tasted the menudo.  It was the best I have ever tasted. Small cut pieces of tripe, a delicious broth and lots of well cooked posole.  I loved eating bites of it in the cool morning air of Santa Fe in the parking lot until Suzette arrived.  I put the container back into the bag and rested it between the back seat and my meditation cushion, so the container would be stables enough to not spill in a quick stop.

We drove around 10:30 to the Georgia O’Keefe Museum and parked next to it in Andrew Smith’s parking lot at the Grant Street Gallery.  We went in and saw the two new shows, the Vilcek Collection, which is essentially an impressive body of early 20th Century American Modernist works, with lots of Arthur Doves, Stuart Davis, and Marsden Hartley works.  Here are some of the paintings.  They would not allow taking of pictures of the Stuart Davis works. 

   The Black Place.by O'KEEFE 

    Ledoux St.

The best picture 

We then walked to the Fine Art Museum, where we saw the Georgia O’Keefe in Process Exhibit that matched photos of her art in her studio and preliminary sketches with the finished works of art installation the new wing and an exhibit of ?Modernist works in the downstairs main galleries, with a nice abstract Stuart Walker that Aaron Payne probably sold to the Museum from Walker’s estate and many other wonderful pieces of art, including three Paul Strand photos. No pictures allowed unfortunately.

By 11:30 we were done and returned to the car and drove to Lan’s on Cerrillos Rd. Near St. Michael’s Dr. to meet Amy for lunch.  Amy ate her favorite vegetarian noodle dish, Suzette ordered the house made lamb wontons in their slightly sweet sauce, which we shared, and then Suzette ordered the squid and noodle special. I ordered the coconut milk soup with seafood, which the best soup on the menu in my opinion. The waiter’s comment, was “perfect” when I ordered it, and it was.  It contained three large shrimp and two large green lipped mussels with rice vermicelli noodles in a coconut broth with lots of chopped herbs and spices, such as cilantro, basil, kefir leaves, fried garlic and a spicy infused oil.  I loved it.

  Lam"s

  Coconut Milk Soup

After lunch Amy gave Suzette a lovely long vest made by Char with stenciled suede and the she went to Restore It while I waited and read my New Yorke in the car.  We then drove the few blocks to Stephen’s Consignment’s main store looking for a wine rack but did not find one.

We drove home at 1:45.  When we got home I took an hour nap.  

At around 4:30 Jesus Ibarra, the cabinet man came with the upper cabinets and cutting board for the kitchen.  The cutting board support legs were a little tall an Suzette and I decided the cut 1 ¼ inches off the bottom of them.  Jesus left and returned with the shortened legs and installed the cutting board table top and upper cabinets.  Here are pictures of them.  The legs are original headboard supports from the Harvey House La Fonda Hotel in Santa Fe.  

While Suzette and Jesus installed the kitchen cabinets, I chopped ½ of a red bell pepper, 2 cloves of our garlic, two mushrooms, ¼ onion, and peeled and deveined 37 16-20 count large shrimp (Sprouts Farm Store for $6.99/lb.) and watched the news.  After the cabinets were installed we watched “Looking for Bobby Fisher” from 6:00 until 8:00 which had an amazingly good cast and plot.

At 8:00 we quickly cooked dinner.  Suzette sautéed the onions and red bell pepper, and two red Thai red bird chilis in butter and olive oil and then added the shrimp, garlic, and mushrooms and white wine (the standard seafood saute prep), while I heated the PPI pasta with scallops, yellow squash, mushrooms, red bell peppers and onions in the microwave with the artichoke halves we had cooked two or  three nights ago in the pasta water after we cooked the pasta.  We had overlooked the artichokes and they turned out to be extremely soft, which yielded a much greater amount of edible leave.  Suzette did not like them and said, “I prefer to undercook them and the grill them.”  Perhaps we shall see Sunday night if we grill a rack of lamb.

We loved the scampi dish, which Suzette sautéed beautifully. 

The thing I noticed how the sauce picked up all the flavors of the ingredients to even a greater extent than Friday night’s meal of scallops.  I was particularly impressed with how the spiciness of the Thai chilis integrated into the buttery seafood sauce .  This was a great new discovery and we still have about a dozen Thai chilis left.

We drank the 2010 Spanish Nesso Albariño I bought at Quarters for $4.99 on Friday, We both enjoyed it.  It was not too sweet and not too dry.  It was just right, which is what we prefer with our seafood dishes.

After a perfect day of activity and wonderful food, Suzette soaked in the hot tub and I drank some Calvados and two of the new box of chocolate truffles (Trader Joe’s for $2.99 for 8 oz. and watched TV until 10:00, when we went to bed.

Bon Appetit