June 23, 2019 Lunch – PPI Pork Ribs, Ratatouille, and Couscous. Dinner – Sautéed Aji Tuna with green onions and Sugar snap peas

June 23, 2019 Lunch –  PPI Pork Ribs, Ratatouille, and Couscous. Dinner – Sautéed Aji Tuna with green onions and Sugar snap peas

We were both tired today and rested most of the day except for doing some yard work.  Suzette slept until 9:30 while I watched the Sunday morning news programs including a long interview of President Trump on Meet the Press.  I showered, dressed and ate a piece of toasted banana bread smeared with butter and boysenberry jam at 10:30.

I then pruned the rose bushes and cut a couple of roses.  Suzette weeded and picked some garlic plants in the garden and cleaned the back patio.
Here is a picture of the garlic plants Suzette has picked so far.

My pruning was interrupted when I worked with a client for several hours until 12:30 or 1:00. After they left we heated PPI pork ribs, Ratatouille, and Couscous for lunch that we ate in the garden with glasses of Emma Reichart rose (the absolute winner for a $4.99 bottle of 100% Pinot Noir rose found at Trader Joe’s).

I then watched France play Cameroon in Women’s World Cup soccer and read and napped until 6:30, when I put the approximately 3 cases of wine into the cellar.

Gruet has produced two lovely new wines this year, a Chenin Blanc and a Petit Meunier.  I like the Petit Meunier because it has a slight pinkish cast and soft low acid flavor. Suzette likes the Chenin Blanc because it has a fruity bright slightly acidic flavor.  Neither have as much acidity as a pinot Noir rose.

I finished moving wine at 7:00 when Poldark came on, which we watched.  I then de-stemmed the handful of sugar snap peas we picked in our garden and sliced three green onions into 1 inch long sections.

Suzette then sautéed the Aji tuna and green onion in a skillet in heated peanut oil and I fetched the Japanese pickled carrots, radishes, and cucumbers from the fridge.  Suzette plated the seared tuna on a bed of sautéed green onion and put the sugar snap peas she had steamed in a bit of water on top for a pleasant light dinner.

We then watched an episode of Endeavour based in July 1969 that included several 1960’s elements such as orgies and self improvement institutes in the plot in addition to the Apollo 11 moon shot. We went to bed at 9:30 after I added a Persian cucumber to the dill pickles and the last 2/3 of a peeled and sliced cucumber to replenish the Japanese pickles.

I awakened at 3:00 and drank a glass of water and did this blog.

Bon Appetit

June 22, 2019 Breakfast – Sautéed Smoked Pork Chops, Eggs, and Cottage Fries. Lunch – Vietnam 2000 Dinner – Suzette’s Field to Food Gourmet Dinner at The Center for Ageless Living

June 22, 2019 Breakfast – Sautéed Smoked Pork Chops, Eggs, and Cottage Fries. Lunch – Vietnam 2000 Dinner – Suzette’s Field to Food Gourmet Dinner at The Center for Ageless Living

I slept until 8:30, nearly a new world record.

Suzette was hungry so she chopped up a couple of PPI baked potatoes and sautéed the potatoes in butter and olive oil o make Cottage Fries.  Then she added to the same large skillet two smoked pork chops I had bought at El Super last Wednesday.  These are processed by Hormel and they are delicious. Finally she added four eggs to the skillet and fried them with the cutlass and the potatoes.  The result was an agglomeration of egg, pork, and potato.  We both drank Clamato juice with lime juice.  Here is a photo.

Suzette went to the Farmers’ Market to but tomatoes and Persian cucumbers for the salad to be served at her big Food to Field meal.

I rode to Montano and back and then showered and dressed.  At noon I suggested we go out for lunch.  We decided to go to Vietnam 2000.  When we arrived Suzette studied the menu and finally decided on one of our favorite dishes that is only served in Albuquerque at Vietnam 2000 as far as I know.  It is called Flour sheet and it is steamed cucumber, green onion slices, and mung bean sprouts
covered with wide sheets of rice paper with your choice of toppings and crushed peanuts on the side. Suzette ordered fried egg rolls, grilled pork, and pork loaf as our toppings. It is served with a bowl of fish sauce for dipping and to liquify the sticky rice paper so you can separate the sheets.

We had had a huge breakfast so we split one order, which turned out to be almost too much for us.  The dish is unusual and beautifully composed.  It is the closest Vietnamese dish I have ever found to a truly French dish.

We also ordered Vietnamese iced coffees, which use chicory coffee and a dripper that generates a really strong coffee that is sweetened with condensed milk and served over a tall glass of ice cubes.

We really enjoyed lunch and I welcomed some nourishment after my ten mile bike ride.

We went home and I worked and Suzette went to the Center to get everything ready for the party.

Willy picked me up at 5:50 and drove us to the Center.  When we arrived at 6:40 folks were arriving so we went to the gazebo were the champagne and glasses were set up.  Willy helped me open and pour the Gruet Blanc de Noir and Brut champagne until about 7:30 when the appetizer course of egg salad, homemade crackers, and beef liver pate was served in the main tent.

 We took the last few bottles of champagne to the main tent and I helped the other two or three servers serve the still wine.  This year there was a superb selection of wines.  There was Gruet’s new Chenin Blanc, Rose of Pinot Noir, and the newly released Petit Meunier.  We also served a Pasando Tiempo’s Chardonnay and Riesling and two Tempranillos, Casa Avril and Tularosa Vineyard.  It was an impressive selection of high quality local wines.

The food was equally impressive. The second through fifth courses were all served together, Salad made with the Center’s garden lettuce and a five herb dressing with lovely slices of the tomatoes and cucumbers Suzette bought at the Farmers’ Market and marinated quail eggs, pollo Real chicken in s cream sauce with peas from the Center’s garden over egg noodles, and a vegetarian quiche.  A container of egg drop soup was placed at each place.  The egg drop soup was my favorite dish of the entire dinner.  The chickens were cooked in water to create a broth.  Then the chickens were boned to remove the meat.  The meat went into the creamed chicken with egg noodle dish and the bones left after the meat was removed from the chickens were roasted in the oven and then added to the broth to enrich and enhance the broth’s flavor. Everyone at our table loved the Egg Drop Soup.  I loved everything on the menu.  I drank a glass of Chenin Blanc with the soup and a glass of Petit Meunier with the rest of the dinner.

Suzette thanked folks and read several poems.  I discussed the wines and there was a raffle that interspersed the lively conversation.

Finally after everyone finished dinner, dessert was served, a decadently rich creme brûlée with one’s choice of either caramel or chocolate sauce and crushed praline candy.

A beautiful meal that ended around 9:00.

Every year I find this meal to have some element that is revelatory.  This year what I found interesting was that not only were all the eggs farm fresh eggs, but there were four or five different types of eggs from four or five different breeds of chicken and each breed of chicken’s eggs were used for a different dish.  I could not discern a difference in eggs from one dish to the next except for the blue eggs from Pierre’s French chickens that were used to make the crème brûlée.  They seemed creamier.

I was surprised that fewer people attended this year’s meal.  Suzette said several commented on the meal being high in cholesterol, which may have kept some away.

Other than a sharp breeze during a part of the meal the weather was perfect.

Bon Appetit

June 21, 2019 Lunch – Steak Salad Neighborhood Cocktail Party

June 21, 2019 Lunch – Steak Salad   Neighborhood Cocktail Party


June 21 is a very special day for me.  It is summer solstice, the longest day of  daylight, Midsummer, midsommeran.  Especially the farther north you go. In the post-Viking cultures it ranks as a major holiday, of equal importance with Christmas.  When I lived in Copenhagen in 1968, they students at the Paul Bergsoe dorms grilled a reindeer and there was an extended evening of dancing and drinking until dark at around 10:00.

When I lived in Sweden in 1970 working with as an accountant we were invited to a traditional crayfish dinner with lots of wine, beer, and aquavit at the home of one of the married young professionals.  A dinner party of ten or so people in Stockholm.

I planned to ride my bike after a breakfast of Gravad Lax (salt and sugar cured salmon) on toasted bagel spread with cream cheese and topped with slices of onion and  the fish.  Here is a picture.

But that all changed when I received a conference call from my new start-up client.  I was joined into a zoom conference call until after noon.

When I got off the phone Willy called and came by to do his laundry and we talked a bit.  When he left I made a salad with red lettuce, tomato, olives, steak, cucumber, and the PPI Caprese salad from last Sunday’s dinner party.

I watched the Market close as I ate my lunch and then checked my portfolio and found that I had a very small loss for the day.  Interestingly, gold has risen lately to over $1400 per ounce.  Last fall I considered buy some when it sank to $1188, but did not.  I guess those in the oil kingdom are in a flight to safety, reconfirming Gresham’s law and gold’s unique historic status as the ultimate safe haven currency and store of value.

I was still in my riding gear, so rode to my client’s office at 3:30, which is in downtown Albuquerque about ten blocks from the house.  Not ten miles, but a ride nonetheless.

We finished sending meeting notices a bit after 5:00 and I stopped to talk to Bill until almost 6:00 when I rode home, showered and dressed.
At 7:00 we grabbed a chilled bottle of Emma Reichart 100% Pinot Noir rose from Nahe, Germany. This the best bottle of rose for under $5.00.  It is sold by Trader Joe’s.  It gets consistently high 87 and 88 point ratings for its dry fruity flavor.

We were the first to arrive and stayed until 9:30.  There was a good crowd of about thirty and lots of good food.  Deviled eggs by Diane, salami wrapped gerbils by Macon was my favorite although Kylene put out a lovely sliced log of salami.  We took the Clafoutis I made last week with cherries I brandied in cognac, Grand Marnier, Orange juice and orange zest.

I enjoyed the evening and talked to Susan Feil a lot among others as the sun set and the searing sunlight and heat changed to a soft glow and then that deepening grey cool afterglow.

Bon Appetit

June 20, 2019 Lunch – PPI Chile Relleno Dinner – Grilled Rib Steak and Asparagus with PPI Ratatouille and Couscous

June 20, 2019 Lunch – PPI Chile Relleno   Dinner – Grilled Rib Steak and Asparagus with PPI Ratatouille and Couscous


This day was anomalistic in so many ways it is hard to make a simple conclusory statement about it, so I will cite three different causative factors.  The Market, my health, and diversions from work.

The Market – Yesterday an Iranian surface to air missile shot down a U.S. drone.  That focused everyone on the heightened prospect of war between the US and Iran, which is unthinkable, but possible given the bellicose personnel in the US administration. What is for sure is that Iran or Iranian mines have injured two oil freighters in the Straits of Hormuz where 20% of the world’s oil passes.  The prospect of oil shipments being  interrupted sent oil up 5% today along with all the oil company stocks.  PXD which is one of the larger producers in the Permian basin went up almost 8%.  I own shares of PXD, Exxon, and ConocoPhillips and they all went up.  Second- the Market reacted positively to Chairman Powell’s comments yesterday that the “Fed would do everything possible to insure full employment and keep the business cycle going forward.”  The Market opened over 200 points higher and the S and P 500 set a new all time record. And almost missed in all of the above was the statement that the Chinese and American trade delegations were meeting.  What was not missed was that Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau visited the WH and it was all smiles and Han shakes as he confirmed that Canada and the US had resolved all issues and Canada will ratify the new NAFTA to open up trade between Canada , Mexico, and the US.

All the averages were up over 1% and so was my portfolio. A semi-awesome day in the Market.

My Health – I had pain in my hip today and it was difficult to walk.  I can not understand why this setback occurred other than the bending I did at Macon’s this morning picked up and stretching to harvest about 10 pounds of apricots, but I will wait and see if I can ride tomorrow to keep on my new schedule of every other day bike rides.

Diversions – my pain did not put me back in bed but I suspect made me look for diversions.  Suzette is initiating a new program this Friday called Flamingo Friday’s, which involves giving a complimentary glass of rose to those who come to the spa for a pool party.  She needed rose wine, so at 12:15 I drove to Trader Joe’s and bought a case of French rose, 5 Sagnol Cotes du Provence, 3 Tavel, and 4 Carryon from Pay d’ Oc.  My drink of choice this summer appears to be tonic water and lime juice, with or without gin.  Since we were out of Tonic water I stopped at Lowe’s on the way home and bought 4 more quart bottles of tonic and since I was hungry for a sandwich, 1/3 lb. of sliced Boarshead Liverwurst and six pounds of onions on sale for 3 lb. for $.89.

When I returned home I made a snack of a Liverwurst Sandwich, a Herring sandwich, some potato salad and some pickled beets that I ate as I watched the Woman’s World Cup Game between the US and Sweden and drank a bottle of beer. A very Scananavian snack for a very Scandanavian event

I was only able to close my eyes for a few minutes before Steve, a new contractor, came with his partner, Freddie, to look at the plans and when Suzette arrived we drove to the Candy store to inspect the job site.  They seemed capable and interested in doing the remodel.  I was thrilled that we may have found our contractors for the candy store remodel.

When we got home it was 5:00 and I watched the Nightly Business news and then read a few minutes.  At 6:30 we decided to cook dinner.  Here where you can see my progressive menu planning strategy in manifestation.  Last week I had bought two lovely rib steaks at Smith’s for $4.77/lb. and lovely thick asparagus, perfect for grilling at Sprouts.  Last week we made a pot of Couscous and last night I made a pot of Ratatouille.  One of my all time favorite dinners is Grilled steak and Asparagus with Ratatouille on Couscous.  We had all those dishes and the only prep needed was for Suzette, Miss Grilletta, to grill the steak and asparagus and for me to heat the Ratatouille and Couscous.  While Suzette was grilling  I fetched the pot of Ratatouille from the garage, added a bit of water to it to keep it from burning and re-heated it on the stove. I then put a scoop of PPI Couscous on a plate, covered it with Saran and heated it in the microwave.  I then opened a bottle of Origon Gran Reserva Spanish red (60% Syrah and 40% Tempranillo at Trader Joe’s for $5.99) and poured two glasses.  When Suzette finished grilling the asparagus she wrapped them in aluminum foil to keep them warm and she covered the steak with aluminum foil to keep it cooking and warm.  In a few minutes when the Ratatouille was hot I sliced the steak and Suzette plated the asparagus and added dabs of Béarnaise Sauce to the asparagus.  We served ourselves steak and Ratatouille and took our plates to the garden table that Suzette had set.  We enjoyed the cooling evening temperature and discussed her business.

I wanted to watch some of Rachel Maddow so we came back in at 7:20 after a lovely meal.   Suzette wanted to make dessert.  She sautéed about five or six of the fresh apricots I picked in the morning at Macon’s house with pinon nuts in butter with brown sugar and poured the fruit and nut concoction over scoops of vanilla ice cream for a splendid finish to a lovely meal as we watched a re-run of an episode of “The Durrells in Corfu” on PBS.

I made a cup of tea and went bed at 9:00, beginning to feel better but very sleepy.

I ate the PPI Chile Relleno at noon and my usual bowl of granola with yogurt, milk, and tropical fruit salad for breakfast.

Bon Appetit

June 19, 2019. Lunch – PPI Chirashi. Dinner – PPI Ribs and Potato Salad and Ratatouille

June 19, 2019. Lunch – PPI Chirashi.  Dinner – PPI Ribs and Potato Salad and Ratatouille

Today Is Juneteenth. A day celebrated with music and dressing up in Texas, especially by African Americans.  It commemorates June 19, 1865, the day slaves in Galveston, Texas were told they had been emancipated, two years after the fact and the last day of slavery for any American.  Until 1900 when it suffered the deadliest hurricane in American history, Galveston was Texas’ major seaport and port of entry. Several Texas relatives of mine entered the US through Galveston during that period.

For breakfast I ate two slices of whole wheat bagel smeared with cream cheese and garnished with thin slices of onion and bits of white fish with tea.

For lunch I ate the PPI Chirashi from Monday’s lunch with Robert and Marilyn.

 I think I napped from 3:30 to 4:30.

At 4:30 I drove to El Super for the weekly produce specials.  This week I was drawn by zucchini and bananas for $.33/lb. and 4 mangos or 4 bunches of green onions for $.99.  Also on sale, but not specials were broccoli, cauliflower, Persian cucumbers, Roma tomatoes, and limes all for $.50/lb.

I also bought requeson, Monterrey Jack cheese, spinach, and blue corn tortillas for enchiladas and pork smoked cutlets, eggs, two packets of chocolate wafer cookies, and a cucumber.

When I returned home at 5:45 I cut the Persian cucumbers in half and filled the dill pickle jar with them.  Then I made

Ratatouille

I diced the large eggplant I bought at Sprouts, 2 small onions, a small head of garlic, ½ Pasilla Chile, and four zucchini and sautéed those ingredients in olive oil in a large pot.  I then went to the garden and picked a handful of oregano stalks.  The oregano is starting to put out flowers, so at its zenith of bloom and lovely.

I de-stemmed the leaves and added about 1 cup of chopped fresh oregano to the Ratatouille.  I then diced and added three large Roma tomatoes snd let the mixture simmer for about an hour.
While the Ratatouille was simmering I heated four or five PPI BBQ Pork ribs in the microwave for 2:34 minutes and added cool potato salad to the plate and a dill pickle and ate a wonderful dinner.  A bit later I heated two more ribs by laying them on the surfaces the Ratatouille covered for a few minutes and then spooned some Ratatouille and the ribs into a bowl and ate a bit more dinner.  It lacked salt, but otherwise was delicious.

A few minutes later I ate several scoops of mocha almond fudge ice cream with chocolate syrup and a dash of Kahlua to get my daily dose of medium chain fatty acids.

I got in bed at 9:00 and blogged and read Vida by Delacorta, who wrote Diva for a while.

Bon Appetit

June 18, 2019 Lunch – Padilla’s. Dinner – Potato Salad and Pickled Beets

June 18, 2019 Lunch – Padilla’s. Dinner – Potato Salad and Pickled Beets

I ate granola, tropical fruit salad, a splash of milk, and yogurt.

I met Linda and T.R. at Padilla’s for lunch.  We had a great conversation in which I discussed my water case.  Today was an exceedingly meaningful day in the case because the Special Master appointed by the Supreme Court to hear the Texas v. New Mexico original jurisdiction case, set a hearing for July 1, 2019 on my Motion to Intervene.  Here is a copy of the order.

This is the first chance I have had to discuss the facts of our case with a  U.S. Court of Appeals judge who may be impartial in his consideration of the facts of history.

I am thrilled.

I ordered a Chile Relleno plate with double beans and two Chile rellenos.  T.R. ordered two crisp
tacos and Linda ordered a burrito.

                                                          The ala carte burrito

T?. R.’s two tacos

                                                             My Chile Relleno plate

We had a wonderful conversation.  I took 1/2 of my lunch home.

I then drove to Gruet and tasted the new Petit Meunièr and the Rose.

The Rose had much more acidity.  I decided to buy 6 bottles of each.

I then went to Costco and filled up with gas.

When I returned home I checked the Market and had an over 1% gain in my portfolio, for which I thank our President for his wonderful tweet this morning that he and Premier Xi plan to meet at the G20 meeting at the end of the month that triggered an over 350 increase in the Dow.

I then lay down and napped until after 5:00.  When I got up I cleaned the two roasting pans and nibbled some roasted nuts.

Suzette came home around 6:00 and approved the purchase of the Rose and Petit Meunier.  She now has about four cases of wine, which should be enough for the Field to Food event on Saturday.

I worked with clients from 6:30 to 9:00.

Suzette prepared a lovely dinner of PPI creamed corn and spare ribs on one plate and on another plate a salad of PPI potato salad and pickled beets.

I ate the small plate of potato salad and beets and a bite of ribs for a light dinner because I was not hungry.  After that simple dinner I ate a slice of Suzette’s lovely Clementine cake with a cup of chai.

A rather minimal food day and a huge professional day.

Bon Appetit

June 17, 2019 Lunch – Ichiban. Dinner – PPI meatloaf and baked Potatoes with steamed asparagus

June 17, 2019 Lunch – Ichiban. Dinner – PPI meatloaf and baked Potatoes with steamed asparagus

I tried to return to a more reasonable lifestyle today.

I woke at 7:00 and ate a bowl of yogurt, granola, and fruit salad for breakfast.

At 8:30 I rode my bike north, but when I started to make the turn north under the Central bridge I discovered the bike path and bosque were filled with water, so I turned south and rode to Marquez and back home for a 4 mile ride.

I showered and dressed and worked for a while.  At 12:00 I called Robert Mueller to see if he wanted to go to lunch.  He said he and Marilyn were discussing lunch.  We agreed to meet at Ichiban at the corner of Alameda and Coors at 12:45.

It was great seeing them.  They ordered sushi rolls and I ordered Chirashi.  The food is always beautifully presented at Ichiban and they serve my favorite green tea, genmai cha, with roasted and puffed rice kernels.

We enjoyed catching up on stuff as Lothar their large superbly trained German Shepard lay in the corner of the restaurant behind them.

After lunch I went to Sprouts in the same Center and purchased an eggplant, tomatoes, fresh big asparagus, and shallots.

It was 3:30 when I arrived home. I worked a bit and then watched the Nightly Business Report at 5:00.

It was an up day for me in the Market.  The main driver was Facebook’s announcement that it was introducing a crypto currency that could be used as an international currency.  Is this the launch of a new more ubiquitous medium of exchange in the world?

We decided to try to eat some of the stuff we had, so Suzette microwaved several slices of PPI meatloaf and baked potatoes and steamed some of the fresh asparagus stalks and I poured some of the PPI Concha y Toro merlot/Cabernet blend and we were ready to eat in about fifteen minutes.  Suzette went to the garden and picked chives and sliced them thinly with a scissors.  She then buttered the potatoes and dabbed them with sour cream.

I added two dabs of sour cream to my slice of meatloaf to add a Russian touch and Bearnaise sauce to a French touch to the asparagus  Here is a picture.

It was a lovely light dinner, especially since we were tired from cooking and serving dinner last night.

We watched the Antiques Roadshow, but Suzette went to bed before 9:00 and I followed at 9:20.

I ate a couple of spoonfuls of cherry clafoutis for dessert.  It is one of the most delicious I have ever made due to letting the cherries sit in brandy and Grand Marnier for two days.

Bon Appetit