October 31, 2016 Lunch – Vietnam 2000. Dinner – New Mexican Chicken Enchilada Casserole

October 31, 2016 Lunch – Vietnam 2000. Dinner – New Mexican Chicken Enchilada Casserole

I worked on getting a protective order filed to avoid a trip to court in Santa Fe until 9:00, then I rode to Rio Bravo and then ate Breakfast, which was yogurt, grapes, granola, milk, and the new vitamin powder.

Peter Eller and I went to lunch at Vietnam 2000 at the corner of San Mateo and Zuni. We both ordered No. 21, which is Bun Cha Gio and grilled pork; a good choice for a warm day, such as today, due to it quantity of chopped fresh cucumber, lettuce, and bean sprouts.

Yesterday Suzette made a green tomato, green chilI, and tomatillo sauce.

Today, when I finished my appointments at 4:00 I drove to El Super
at the corner of Central and Atrisco to buy a few things for the enchiladas for Suzette.  I immediately noticed that the Wednesday specials were still in place so I bought limes for $.33/lb., yellow onions for $.20/lb., zucchini for $.50/lb., Manila mangos were newly arrived and cheap at $.59, so I bought three, and tomatoes and broccoli crowns each for $.69/lb.  I then went to the deli section and bought the items Suzette needed; Mexican FUD muenster cheese for $2.27/lb., Mexican cream con sal for $1.99/lb., and Requeson (Mexican cottage cheese) for $2.77/lb. I also bought a 40 count package of tortillas for $2.29 that were still warm, four small avocados for $.50 each, and two 12 oz. bags of corn chips for $.99 each

Suzette was home when I returned a bit after 5:00.  When I unloaded, Suzette asked me if I wanted Chard in the enchiladas.  When I said, “Yes,” she asked me to go to the garden to pick some.  I also shredded the white meat of the roasted chicken we had brought home from the Greenhouse Bistro Friday evening.

As I was picking chard, Don, Suzette’s brother and his wife, Bev, arrived.  I said hello and helped them with their bags and then de-stemmed the chard.

Suzette took it from there.  She chopped three green chilis and then softened the tortillas in tomatillo sauce and built the casserole in layers of tortillas, chicken, cheese, requesting, cream, and green chilis, chard, tortillas, and cheese and then filled the baking dish to the rim with tomatillo sauce and baked the enchiladas in a 350 degree oven until the cheese on the top was golden brown and all the ingredients were bubbling.

While Suzette was making the enchiladas, I made a salsa by chopping 2 each of the small avocados, the tomatoes, and the mangos with ¼ of a finely diced red onion and the juice of one lime and a dash of Cholula hot sauce.

Don and Bev brought Guinness Stout and after the enchiladas and salsa were prepared I drank one and helped Suzette give candy to the children for Halloween from 6:00 until 7:30.  We usually pick a question to ask.  This year Suzette played music by Bob Dylan on her Bluetooth speaker connected to the itunes app on her phone on the porch and she asked, “who won the Nobel Prize for literature this year? The clue is this music.”

With some more clues like, “He was a famous folksinger of the 60’s and 70’s”, most people got the answer, although many seemed to be of Mexican extraction and I felt they did not share the same cultural history that Suzette and I did that made the music and award relevant to their cultural orientation.

At 7:30 most of the 450 pieces of candy had been grabbed by little hands and we set the table and served enchiladas and the mango salsa and drank beers and talked while we all watched the Antiques Roadshow.

 We were tired and rested and after dinner and the Roadshow, we watched the British Baking Show semi-finals with the last four contestants, who made a chocolate torte, a chocolate soufflé and finally a chocolate centerpiece.

At 10:00 we went to bed.

Bon appetit

Bob

November 1, 2016 Lunch – PPI Enchiladas. Dinner – Grilled Ribeye steaks, sweet potatoes, asparagus with sautéed mushrooms and shishito peppers and a caprese salad

November 1, 2016 Lunch – PPI Enchiladas. Dinner – Grilled Ribeye steaks, sweet potatoes, asparagus with sautéed mushrooms and shishito peppers and a caprese salad

This was a busy and fun day. I slept until 8:00, then showered and dressed and drove to the bar center to attend a two hour seminar of practice succession, which dealt with how to transition a practice when a lawyer dies or becomes incapacitated. After forty-four years of practice I felt I owed it to my clients and Suzette to start preparing for that. I found out there are only two things needed. The selection of a lawyer or lawyers to take over the cases and a power of attorney to grant the successor attorney access to trust accounts, etc.

At 11:00 I drove to Rietech to meet with with Rich about a new project.

Then I drove to Costco and purchased items for dinner. I selected four lovely ribeye steaks at $7.99, a leg of lamb to marinate in pomegranate juice and olive oil, bacon for BLT sandwiches, butter for the Béarnaise Sauce I planned to make for the steaks, fresh sliced mozzarella cheese for the caprese salad, hot chocolate and Nutella on special, a new organic yogurt, and Romaine lettuce.

I drove home, stopping at Southwest Food to buy a gallon of red wine vinegar, and arrived around 1:30.. Suzette had already arrived and she and Don and Bev were eating enchiladas with the mango salsa we made last night. I heated a plate of enchiladas, changed clothes, returned some calls, and ate my lunch. As soon as I finished lunch we were ready to leave for the Albuquerque Art Museum. 

We saw the Mable Dodge Lujan exhibit, which is the best exhibit of her life and the works of the artists in her circle I have ever seen. Don and Bev were walking through and Suzette is always faster than me, her comment was, “do you have to read every word.”, so I had to move along. We then went through the permanent exhibit and finally the miniatures show, which was also extensive. I caught up with them at around 3:20 and we decided to go get a pastry and coffee. I drove us to Central Grill and coffee shop, but it was closed, perhaps due to the road construction for the new ART rapid transit in front of its door, so Suzette said she wanted to go get a beer at Boise Brothers Brewery, but I said I wanted to go to Marble and sit on the newly constructed roof patio. We all agreed that a beer to wash down the enchiladas was a good idea, so we drove through the old Downtown neighborhood to view some of the old mansions and then we drove to Marble brewery. The Waters's was pleasant and gave us tastes of whatever we wanted. Don and I selected 16 oz. glasses of Oatmeal Stout to sort of keep on the Guinness stout theme and Bev and Suzette selected 10 oz. glasses of Dubbel, a Belgium style ale. We climbed the stairs and found a table with a good 210 degree view of the mountains and sipped our beers and enjoyed the warm slightly sunny afternoon. 

At around 5:00 we went home and Bev took a nap while we prepared dinner. Willy called and we told him 

When we got home I decided to make the caprese salad first, so I went to garden and picked large leaves of basil and a sprig of lavender and four sprigs of chives.

I made the caprese salad and Suzette made the balsamic and olive oil dressing for it and drizzled the salad with the dressing. 

Then Suzette sliced the sweet potatoes and snapped the ends off the asparagus and coated them in olive oil and salt and pepper in a gallon freezer bag and grilled them and the steaks.

While she was doing that Bev and I made the Bearnaise sauce using Julia Child’s recipe

Bearnaise Sauce

¼ cup of wine vinegar

¼ cup of white wine

1 T. of tarragon

1 T. of shallot

A dash of salt

1/8 tsp. of white pepper

3 egg yolks

½ lb. of butter

We brought the vinegar, wine, tarragon, shallot, salt, and pepper to a simmer in an enameled sauce pan until it reduced by 2/3.

We beat the egg yolks in a separate enameled sauce pan.

When the liquid was reduced, we let it cool and then strained the liquid into the egg yolks and over a very low heat began adding butter 2 to 3 T. at a time until the butter melted. We then turned off the heat and stirred the sauce until it thickened and cooled.  I then poured the sauce into a ceramic pitcher and put it into the fridge to cool.

When we served the dinner, the sauce was still warm and poured easily but it congealed overnight in the fridge.

I destemmed the shishito peppers and sautéed them with the beech mushrooms from which Suzette had cut the dirty stems.in olive oil and butter and four or five basil leaves and two cloves of garlic thinly sliced and added a dash of Amontillado sherry when the vegetables started to soften.

I went with Don to the basement wine cellar and picked a bottle of 2010 Clos de Val Cabernet Sauvignon to encourage him to go to the east side of Napa Valley to the Stags Leap area.

The wine was delicious, soft luscious with a good balance of fruit and tannins.

The steak was a little tough, but that may be because we have become acclimated to heavy aged beef.

Everyone loved the meal.  The grilled asparagus and sweet potatoes were cooked to perfection, tender and still with a bit of char on the edges, as were the steaks.

Bon Appetit

   

November 1, 2016 Lunch Grilled Ribeye steaks, sweet potatoes, asparagus with sautéed mushrooms and shishito peppers and a caprese salad

November 1, 2016 Lunch – PPI Enchiladas. Dinner – Grilled Ribeye steaks, sweet potatoes, asparagus with sautéed mushrooms and shishito peppers and a caprese salad

This was a busy and fun day.  I slept until 8:00, then showered and dressed and drove to the bar center to attend a two hour seminar of practice succession, which dealt with how to transition a practice when a lawyer dies or becomes incapacitated. After forty-four years of practice I felt I owed it to my clients and Suzette to start preparing for that.  I found out there are only two things needed. The selection of a lawyer or lawyers to take over the cases and a power of attorney to grant the successor attorney access to trust accounts, etc.

At 11:00 I drove to Rietech to meet with with Rich about a new project.

Then I drove to Costco and purchased items for dinner.  I selected four lovely ribeye steaks at $7.99, a leg of lamb to marinate in pomegranate juice and olive oil, bacon for BLT sandwiches, butter for the Béarnaise Sauce I planned to make for the steaks, fresh sliced mozzarella cheese for the caprese salad, hot chocolate and Nutella on special, a new organic yogurt, and Romaine lettuce.

I drove home, stopping at Southwest Food to buy a gallon of red wine vinegar, and arrived around 1:30..  Suzette had already arrived and she and Don and Bev were eating enchiladas with the mango salsa we made last night.  I heated a plate of enchiladas, changed clothes, returned some calls, and ate my lunch.  As soon as I finished lunch we were ready to leave for the Albuquerque Art Museum.

We saw the Mable Dodge Lujan exhibit, which is the best exhibit of her life and the works of the artists in her circle I have ever seen.  Don and Bev were walking through and Suzette is always faster than me, her comment was, “do you have to read every word.”, so I had to move along.  We then went through the permanent exhibit  and finally the miniatures show, which was also extensive.  I caught up with them at around 3:20 and we decided to go get a pastry and coffee.  I drove us to Central Grill and coffee shop, but it was closed, perhaps due to the road construction for the new ART  rapid transit in front of its door, so Suzette said she wanted to go get a beer at Boise Brothers Brewery, but I said I wanted to go to Marble and sit on the newly constructed roof patio.  We all agreed that a beer to wash down the enchiladas was a good idea, so we drove through the old Downtown neighborhood to view some of the old mansions and then we drove to Marble brewery.  The Waters's was pleasant and gave us tastes of whatever we wanted.  Don and I selected 16 oz. glasses of Oatmeal Stout to sort of keep on the Guinness stout theme and Bev and Suzette selected 10 oz. glasses of Dubbel, a Belgium style ale.  We climbed the stairs and found a table with a good 210 degree view of the mountains and sipped our beers and enjoyed the warm slightly sunny afternoon.

At around 5:00 we went home and Bev took a nap while we prepared dinner.  Willy called and we told him

When we got home I decided to make the caprese salad first, so I went to garden and picked large leaves of basil and three sprigs

November 1, 2016 Lunch Grilled Ribeye steaks, sweet potatoes, asparagus with sautéed mushrooms and shishito peppers and a caprese salad

November 1, 2016 Lunch – PPI Enchiladas. Dinner – Grilled Ribeye steaks, sweet potatoes, asparagus with sautéed mushrooms and shishito peppers and a caprese salad

This was a busy and fun day.  I slept until 8:00, then showered and dressed and drove to the bar center to attend a two hour seminar of practice succession, which dealt with how to transition a practice when a lawyer dies or becomes incapacitated. After forty-four years of practice I felt I owed it to my clients and Suzette to start preparing for that.  I found out there are only two things needed. The selection of a lawyer or lawyers to take over the cases and a power of attorney to grant the successor attorney access to trust accounts, etc.

At 11:00 I drove to Rietech to meet with with Rich about a new project.

Then I drove to Costco and purchased items for dinner.  I selected four lovely ribeye steaks at $7.99, a leg of lamb to marinate in pomegranate juice and olive oil, bacon for BLT sandwiches, butter for the Béarnaise Sauce I planned to make for the steaks, fresh sliced mozzarella cheese for the caprese salad, hot chocolate and Nutella on special, a new organic yogurt, and Romaine lettuce.

I drove home, stopping at Southwest Food to buy a gallon of red wine vinegar, and arrived around 1:30..  Suzette had already arrived and she and Don and Bev were eating enchiladas with the mango salsa we made last night.  I heated a plate of enchiladas, changed clothes, returned some calls, and ate my lunch.  As soon as I finished lunch we were ready to leave for the Albuquerque Art Museum.

We saw the Mable Dodge Lujan exhibit, which is the best exhibit of her life and the works of the artists in her circle I have ever seen.  Don and Bev were walking through and Suzette is always faster than me, her comment was, “do you have to read every word.”, so I had to move along.  We then went through the permanent exhibit  and finally the miniatures show, which was also extensive.  I caught up with them at around 3:20 and we decided to go get a pastry and coffee.  I drove us to Central Grill and coffee shop, but it was closed, perhaps due to the road construction for the new ART  rapid transit in front of its door, so Suzette said she wanted to go get a beer at Boise Brothers Brewery, but I said I wanted to go to Marble and sit on the newly constructed roof patio.  We all agreed that a beer to wash down the enchiladas was a good idea, so we drove through the old Downtown neighborhood to view some of the old mansions and then we drove to Marble brewery.  The Waters's was pleasant and gave us tastes of whatever we wanted.  Don and I selected 16 oz. glasses of Oatmeal Stout to sort of keep on the Guinness stout theme and Bev and Suzette selected 10 oz. glasses of Dubbel, a Belgium style ale.  We climbed the stairs and found a table with a good 210 degree view of the mountains and sipped our beers and enjoyed the warm slightly sunny afternoon.

At around 5:00 we went home and Bev took a nap while we prepared dinner.  Willy called and we told him

When we got home I decided to make the caprese salad first, so I went to garden and picked large leaves of basil and three sprigs

November 1, 2016 Lunch Grilled Ribeye steaks, sweet potatoes, asparagus with sautéed mushrooms and shishito peppers and a caprese salad

November 1, 2016 Lunch – PPI Enchiladas. Dinner – Grilled Ribeye steaks, sweet potatoes, asparagus with sautéed mushrooms and shishito peppers and a caprese salad

This was a busy and fun day.  I slept until 8:00, then showered and dressed and drove to the bar center to attend a two hour seminar of practice succession, which dealt with how to transition a practice when a lawyer dies or becomes incapacitated. After forty-four years of practice I felt I owed it to my clients and Suzette to start preparing for that.  I found out there are only two things needed. The selection of a lawyer or lawyers to take over the cases and a power of attorney to grant the successor attorney access to trust accounts, etc.

At 11:00 I drove to Rietech to meet with with Rich about a new project.

Then I drove to Costco and purchased items for dinner.  I selected four lovely ribeye steaks at $7.99, a leg of lamb to marinate in pomegranate juice and olive oil, bacon for BLT sandwiches, butter for the Béarnaise Sauce I planned to make for the steaks, fresh sliced mozzarella cheese for the caprese salad, hot chocolate and Nutella on special, a new organic yogurt, and Romaine lettuce.

I drove home, stopping at Southwest Food to buy a gallon of red wine vinegar, and arrived around 1:30..  Suzette had already arrived and she and Don and Bev were eating enchiladas with the mango salsa we made last night.  I heated a plate of enchiladas, changed clothes, returned some calls, and ate my lunch.  As soon as I finished lunch we were ready to leave for the Albuquerque Art Museum.

We saw the Mable Dodge Lujan exhibit, which is the best exhibit of her life and the works of the artists in her circle I have ever seen.  Don and Bev were walking through and Suzette is always faster than me, her comment was, “do you have to read every word.”, so I had to move along.  We then went through the permanent exhibit  and finally the miniatures show, which was also extensive.  I caught up with them at around 3:20 and we decided to go get a pastry and coffee.  I drove us to Central Grill and coffee shop, but it was closed, perhaps due to the road construction for the new ART  rapid transit in front of its door, so Suzette said she wanted to go get a beer at Boise Brothers Brewery, but I said I wanted to go to Marble and sit on the newly constructed roof patio.  We all agreed that a beer to wash down the enchiladas was a good idea, so we drove through the old Downtown neighborhood to view some of the old mansions and then we drove to Marble brewery.  The Waters's was pleasant and gave us tastes of whatever we wanted.  Don and I selected 16 oz. glasses of Oatmeal Stout to sort of keep on the Guinness stout theme and Bev and Suzette selected 10 oz. glasses of Dubbel, a Belgium style ale.  We climbed the stairs and found a table with a good 210 degree view of the mountains and sipped our beers and enjoyed the warm slightly sunny afternoon.

At around 5:00 we went home and Bev took a nap while we prepared dinner.  Willy called and we told him

When we got home I decided to make the caprese salad first, so I went to garden and picked large leaves of basil and three sprigs

November 2, 2016 Lunch - Asian Pear   Dinner – Sysco Holiday Food Event

We visited with Don and Bev this morning until they left at around 9:00 while I ate a bowl of yogurt, granola, fresh raspberries, banana and the new vitamin powder.

Aaron came around 10:00 and we discussed the VinDacia project until 11:45 when I invited him to join me and Cliff Blaugrund for lunch at Asian Pear.

When we arrived at the Asian Pear at 12:00 Cliff was waiting for us.  I ordered plates of BBQ chicken and pork for all of us with the wonderful Korean cellophane noodles in a teriyaki sauce.  We were served kimchee and pieces of Korean vegetable pancake.  It was fun talking to Cliff, who is a thoughtful conservative and one of the most philanthropic guys in Albuquerque and knows almost everything and everyone of significance in Albuquerque.

After lunch I worked on my water case until Suzette came home at around 3:00 and we drove to Sysco on Griegos to attend their huge Holiday food event.  They had filled the four or five meeting rooms surrounding their kitchen with food vendors who they represent with food stations.  There rooms full of meat vendors, such as the free range chicken producer from Colorado that Suzette is adding to the Bistro menu and beef brisket and NY strip steaks tenderized by injecting juices into them that make the meat so tender that anyone can easily chew it and rows of cheeses and pastries.  The two highlights in the dessert category for me were a vendor named Dianne’s that imported real Danish pastries from Denmark (such as Danish pastries made with real vinebrod) and a European Foods vendor that imported many wonderful items, such as Spanish Chorizo and served chocomate mousse  made with a French dry mousse mix in chocolate cups made with French Callebaut pasty grade chocolate.  We also spent a lot of time talking to the representative for Libby Glass about its new generation of plastic glasses, its new pure non-heavy metal glasses that are beautifully thin and clear, as well as its new lines of rustic table wares. Perhaps soon the Bistro will have a new look in its tableware if it adds its new beverage and tapas bar.

We left a little after 5:00 and at 6:30 I went to meditate.  After meditation I stopped at Lowe’s and bought three small avocados for $1.00, a gallon of milk for $2.28 and 18 eggs for $1.69.  Food is getting cheaper, which is amazing.

I was home by 8:00 and we watched game 7 of the World Series which turned out to be a very exciting game that Chicago won in the 10^th Inning.

Bon Appetit