March 15, 2023 Breakfast - Gravad Lax on toasted bagel with cream cheese, sliced red onion and capers Lunch -Tsai Chinese Bistro, Dinner - chicken, onion, garlic and green beans tossed with pesto and spaghetti squash

March 15, 2023 Breakfast - Gravad Lax on toasted bagel with cream cheese, sliced red onion and capers  Lunch -Tsai Chinese Bistro, Dinner - chicken, onion, garlic and green beans tossed with pesto and spaghetti squash

I processed the cured salmon (Gravad Lax) this morning.  We had eliminated the dill weed and simply cured for two days without flipping the fish because the curing medium covered both fillets.  I wanted to try the lax, so I sliced two slices from the everything and one slice from the caraway and salt bagel for Suzette. I toasted the bagel, spread cream cheese on each slice and lay slices of red onion and Gravad lax on each slice and garnished with capers.  I drank Earl Grey tea and Suzette drank coffee.

After the hot Tub repairman checking the hot tub, we drove to Trader Joe’s.  I wanted to replenish our everyday wine.  We chose 24 wines and a 3 liter bottle of Chianti. Most bottles were under $8.99 except for a Chateauneuf du Pape at $19.99. We also bought a box of lemon flavored pasta.

We then drove to Total Wine where the prices were higher but there was a more extensive selection.  We bought 6 bottles of wine, a bottle of scotch, a bottle of Calvados XO, a bottle of George’s VSOP Cognac, a German apple and pear brandy, a 12 pack of Modelo Negra Bohemia, a six pack of Magner’s Apple Cider.  There was a special so we saved about $30.00 on the purchases. Between the two purchases, we spent $450.00.

We then drove to Tsai Chinese Bistro at 2325 San Pedro to eat Mu Shu Pork. We also ordered six pancakes.  This Mu Su had less egg and more cabbage and onions that I recall earlier versions having but it was delicious and relatively inexpensive at $13.95. It was even served with a bowl of rice that we took home.  We asked for green onions and spread plum sauce on the pancakes and sprinkled green onion and lay mu shu on the pancake and rolled the pancake into a burrito shape. We both drank water.

When we returned home we put up the wine and spirits and I rested and read my book until 4:00 when I watched Ari Melber until 4:30 when I meditated until 5:00.

I read after meditation until Suzette fetched me to start cooking. MI chopped two cloves of garlic and 1/3 onion and snapped about 1/3 lb. of green beans and cubed the rest of the chicken.

Suzette found a recipe on the Internet for chicken and spaghetti squash tossed in pesto.  Since we had some pesto, Suzette sautéed the ingredients in a skillet and tossed them with pesto and a few extra pine nuts.

The dish was delicious and very light.  We opened a bottle of Vara 2019 Viura that is complemented the chicken dish.

After dinner we opened the George’s VSOP cognac and it opened up a bit to become rather tasty, with an appealing nutty flavor.

I made a cup of tea and ate four cookies to add some carbs to dinner.

At 8:30 I went to bed and blogged and read.

Suzette followed soon after.

This was a fun day of food. I processed and web ate our own Gravad lax for breakfast, we ate a great meal of mu Shu pork for lunch, and we used several PPIs for dinner and have enough cubed chicken left to make chicken salad.

Bon Appetit

March 14, 2023 Lunch - Salmon Sashimi with Sushi flavored Quinoa Dinner - Beef Stroganoff with Steamed Broccoli and Egg Noodles

March 14, 2023 Lunch  - Salmon Sashimi with Sushi flavored Quinoa  Dinner - Beef Stroganoff with Steamed Broccoli and Egg Noodles

I watched news until 8:00 then worked until 9:00, when I prepared a shrimp omelet for breakfast with 2 oz. each of chopped red onion and tomato, three peeled BBQ’d shrimp, about 1/2 cup of the rice from the BBQ’d shrimp and two eggs whisked with about 1/4 cup of the BBQ shrimp sauce.

The ingredients did not set well and collapsed on themselves when I tried to flip them, but the result was delicious and very wet.

I drank a glass of water with the shrimp omelet.

A few minutes after I finished eating Andrew from Physical Therapy arrived.

Today we walked to the corner of 16th St. and did several helpful exercises in the bed.

When Andrew left at 11:30 I went back to work and reactivated two corporations and redivided and filed a pleading.

I also wished Marty Meltzer a Happy Birthday and sent him a copy of the Cory Griffin NM Supreme Court insurrection decision, which is a gift that only a lawyer could love.

I was hungry by 3:00 and started to make a salami sandwich when I saw the salmon in the meat crisper and realized I had intended to eat sashimi for lunch. There was no PPI rice but there was a small container of PPI Quinoa, so I added rice vinegar and mirin ton give the quinoa a strong sushi flavor and ate that with a small pile of slices of raw salmon and pickled ginger with a soy and wasabi dipping sauce and a cup of hot green tea.

It was almost 4:00 when I finished lunch, so I decided to watch Ari Melber and then go to Trader Joe’s. Ari was fascinating today because he had as a guest Donald Trump’s attorney for the NYC case involving the payment of $130,000 to Stormy Daniels.

It was a volatile and interesting interview of the kind that only Ari as a seasoned lawyer could conduct. I loved the give and take of two attorneys arguing the merits and defenses of their case.

Suzette arrived during the show and said, “We will go tomorrow to Trader Joe’s.” So I minced two cloves of garlic and diced 1/2 of a poblano chili, and sliced six mushrooms for dinner then read my book for an hour from 5:00 until 6:00.

Beef Stroganoff

Dinner was ready at 6:00. Suzette boiled the two rib bones to make a beef broth.  Then she boiled narrow egg noodles and cubed the PPI steak and diced some red onion and sautéed the poblano chili, red onion, and garlic in butter and olive oil. Then she added the mushrooms and the beef and beef broth and seasoned the dish with Spanish smoked paprika and mushroom salt and white pepper and then added several spoonfuls of sour cream to complete the sauce.  Finally she tossed the cooked and drained egg noodles in the sauce to complete the dish.

We drank 2011 Origen Spanish red wine, a 60% Grenache and 40% Syrah blend, with the meal and with a Carr’s water biscuit with Leyden style firm cheese and a toasted slice of baguette with brie cheese after dinner.

We went to bed at 9:00 after Lawrence O’Donnell’s last word. The last word was Kevin McCarthy’s speech on Jan 13, 2021, in which he blamed Donald Trump for the insurrection, I guess to humiliate McCarthy by showing how he has completely yielded his honest indignation to the demands of Trump and the MAGA wing of the Republican Party to gain the Speakership of Congress.

The tone of commenters has become more strident lately, which tells me accountably for Trump and the MAGA members of Congress may be coming. I see the removal of those who supported the Insurrection pursuant to Section 3 of the 14th Amendment as the best and quickest way to clean (resurrect normal order in the House of Representatives) the House.

The disbarment and censure of the 17 attorneys who supported the Insurrection by lying about the 2020 election has begun.

As Lincoln said, “A house divided can not stand.”

Thank God Biden and his administration are doing a good job of running the country.  Yesterday he averted a nationwide bank runny by insuring all bank deposits and today he stiffened background checks on firearms by executive order.

Bon Appetit

March 13, 2023 Lunch - Salami and Ham sandwiches with slices of Manchego cheese. Dinner - Sautéed Salmon with steamed zshaw Peas and buttered baby potatoes 

I did not eat breakfast today.

I ate lunch at 1;:45, I toasted two slices of baguette, spread Mayo on them and lay slices of salami on one and cured ham on the other. Then I spread some German deli mustard on the meat and then slices of Manchego and a lettuce leaf.

This was a tasty, quick and simple lunch.  I drank water with it.

Suzette came home at 4:30.

We were both hungry so we trimmed the two pieces of salmon for Gravad lax and mixed the dry ingredients: 1/2 cup of sugar and 2/3 cup of salt and 1 tsp of what crushed black pepper.

We spooned the mixture over the inside and outside of the salmon and lay the two fillets in a Pyrex baking dish covered with Saran and weighed with a brick to cure in the fridge.

Suzette cut two approximately 6 oz. fillets to cook for dinner and I wrapped up the rest for sushi tomorrow.

Suzette snapped the snow peas we bought yesterday at El Super and steamed them and microwaved the PPI baby potatoes tossed in butter and parsley.

We opened the chilled bottle of Vara Grenache Rose in the fridge and ate a lovely dinner.

After dinner Suzette scooped two scoops of the caramel praline ice cream for her and chocolate cherry for me as we watched the Antiques Roadshow. I went to my desk and worked from 8:15 to 9:30 when we went to bed.

Bon Appetit 

March 11, 2023 Brunch - Chicken Quesadilla. Snack - Leftover Poki bowl. Dinner - Char Grilled Rib Steak and Asparagus with boiled potatoes tossed in butter with parsley, and sautéed mushrooms

March 11, 2023 Brunch - Chicken Quesadilla. Snack - Leftover Poki bowl. Dinner - Char Grilled Rib Steak and Asparagus with boiled potatoes tossed in butter with parsley, and sautéed mushrooms 

I woke up at 4:45 and worked for an hour and then began watching soccer.

The big game for me was the Leicester v. Chelsea game at 8:00. Unfortunately, Leicester lost 3 to 1.

At 11:00 I made a chicken quesadilla with slices of breast, red onion, avocado, and Gouda cheese between two large toasted flour tortillas.

I then pruned 1/2 of the rose bush on the patio until Suzette took the pruning scissors to prune the fruit trees.

I spent several hours obtaining the bank statements for the closed account for the candy store and separating my fax line from my phone line and talking to Billy.

At 3:00 we shared the sashimi fish and sushi rice from the Poki bowl I ordered at Don Sushi yesterday.

Then I watched Texas play Kansas for the Big 12 title in men’s basketball until 5:00 when we walked 1 1/2 blocks to the mayor’s house and back. Suzette says we shall make it the 3 1/2 blocks to the Country Club tomorrow. If she is correct, it will be a major step forward.

When we returned I watched Texas win the Big 12 title and chopped parsley for the potatoes and a shallot, two cloves of garlic, and six mushrooms for dinner.

Suzette prepared the two rib steaks and asparagus for grilling and turned on the grill and boiled some small red and white potatoes.

She fetched a bottle of 2011 De Ponte Lonesome Rock Ranch Pinot noir front the basement and opened it.and tasted it. It was a little tight.

I then sautéed the minced shallot and garlic and added butter and the mushroom slices to the skillet.

After Suzette put the steaks on the grill she took over the skillet and I fetched the carafe of Amontillado sherry and lightly doused the mushrooms with sherry Suzette took over the mushrooms and tossed the potatoes in butter and parsley.

Suzette brought the char grilled steaks and grilled asparagus in at 6:30.

I sliced the first steak and Suzette plated potatoes and grilled asparagus and selected slices of steak for each of us and spooned mushrooms and sauce onto the steak slices and were ready to eat by 6:45 even though Willy had not arrived.

The first steak steak I sliced was cooked to rare, red in the middle, which is the way Suzette likes her steak.  We had eaten most of our meal when Willy arrived at 7:15. He was late because his massage had lasted 2 hours instead of 90 minutes.

I sliced the other steak and it was medium rare, uniformly pink in the middle, so took two more slices of it and Willy joined us at the table.

We all agreed that these steaks were really delicious and this dinner was comparable to the best steak dinner you could find at any restaurant.

Willy had not eaten since breakfast, so was hungry and ate his steak and most of the extra two slices of the second steak that I could not eat, as we talked.

After dinner I moved to the big chair and Suzette fetched me a sniffer of Germain-Robin apple brandy to settle my stomach.

I asked Willy to fetch the box of Indian Halvah made with Ghee and he noticed immediately that it was flavored with cardamom. We all ate a few bites of halvah for dessert.

After Willy left around 9:00 we went to bed.

Bon Appetit

March 10, 2023 Lunch - Salad with salami sandwiches. Snack - A Poki Poki Bowl at Don Sushi Dinner - Roasted Chicken with Sautéed Quinoa with asparagus and red bell pepper

 March 10, 2023 Lunch - Salad with salami sandwiches. Snack - A Poki Poki Bowl at Don Sushi Dinner - Roasted Chicken with Sautéed Quinoa with asparagus and red bell pepper

I did not eat breakfast but worked on finalizing my pleading.

So at noon I ate the old salad leftover from Sunday with two salami sandwiches and a cured ham sandwich.

I then worked with Henry until 3:30 on his case. I had a blowout of the salad, which I ate too quickly and perhaps it was too old.

The most amazing thing of the day was a call from the Kendzierski’s insurance company notifying me that they were going to retain counsel to represent the Kendzierskis in their lawsuit.  That takes a huge burden off my shoulders.

We met Jason Chavez at Don Sushi, which has become one of Henry’s favorite places.  It is a unique restaurant that features both Japanese sushi and Mexican seafood dishes. Its specialty is elaborate sushi rolls.

Henry ordered his favorite, the Sancho, which includes several layers of fish in the center wrapped with nori and the crab and a batter is added and it is deep fried.  It is quite amazing.

Jason ordered a green chili roll that is also deep fried.

I wanted to see how close to Chirashi I could get. The waitress suggested a Poki-Poki bowl.  When I looked at it I could see how it resembled Chirashi. You had your choice of rice and there were four fish, yellowtail, salmon, albacore, and tuna plus so PPI spicy crab, seaweed salad, avocado slices, and cucumber slices in a medium bowl.  I chose sushi rice, which was moist and slightly sweet, the way I like it. The fish were cubed and there were lots of cubes. I loved the dish, which I thought was  fairly priced at $18.50.  I ate a lot and boxed more than half to take home.

I ate a slice of the Sancho roll and enjoyed it, although the slice was wider than my mouth.

We went back home at 4:30 and worked until 5:30 when Suzette arrived with a roasted chicken.

I rested while Suzette sautéed some PPI quinoa with chopped red pepper and diced asparagus.

Suzette also fetched a Vara Spanish rose that went well with the dinner.

After dinner while we were watching the German film on Netflix titled “Faraway” Suzette made us a dessert plate of green seedless grapes and sticks of Manchego.

Later I watched Texas beat TCU to advance to the Big 12 championship final.

I went to bed at 10:00 and blogged this entry and then read the next month’s book, The Master and Margarita.

Bon Appetit

March 9, 2023 Lunch - Stuffed Carne Adovado Sopapillas at El Modelo. Dinner - PPI BBQ Shrimp with Pad Thai

March 9, 2023 Lunch - Stuffed Carne Adovado Sopapillas at El Modelo. Dinner - PPI BBQ Shrimp with Pad Thai

This was a fiery food day of flavors. 

It started calmly enough with a bowl of granola with milk and yogurt and blueberries.

When Henry arrived at 9:15 we worked on his case until 12:15.

I suggested we go to lunch at El Modelo because I recalled that there were outdoor tables and it was a beautiful day so we could eat outdoors.

It was crowded when we arrived with both benches filled with folks waiting for their order.

Henry said his favorite item was a stuffed carne adovado sopapilla that turned out to be a large sopapilla stuffed with refried beans, cheese, and carne adovado. It is wrapped in a hamburger sleeve and then butcher paper.  We ordered 1 each and 1 Mexican coke each for $22.00.

When our order was ready we carried the bag with the two sopapillas and the cokes to a table next to the parking lot that was shaded from the wind.

I enjoyed the stuffed sopapilla, which seemed to me to be a little bit like a stuffed gyro sandwich where the meat and sauce are stuffed into a pita no that is wrapped in paper that you unfold as you eat.

It was that with the sopapilla.  You folded back the paper like a big hamburger or sandwich as you ate it.

We returned home by 2:00 and I discovered that the Market had a major meltdown with the Dow dropping 543 and the NASDAQ dropping 237.

We worked from 2:15 to 5:45 to finish Henry’s project.

I was tired but Henry was even more tired.

Suzette came home hungry around 6:30, so I suggested we heat the PPI BBQ Shrimp from Tuesday evening.  Suzette wanted to eat the leftover Pad Thai from our lunch yesterday at Le Bistro, but she agreed to combine the Pad Thai with the shrimp and share the Pad Thai.

That is how we ended up with BBQ shrimp over Pad Thai for dinner for another spicy dish.

We enjoyed dinner with beers Suzette fetched from the garage, Bohemia for me and Modelo Negra for Suzette.

With a fire in my belly I drank the rest of my beer as my dessert.

After dinner we watched the last three or four episodes of the Swedish production of Anxious People with English subtitles. I could understand some of the Swedish dialogue, which made it immensely more enjoyable.

Suzette went to bed at 8:00 and I stayed up to watch Lawrence O’Donnell and then TCU beat Kansas State in a quarterfinal for the Big 12 basketball championship.

TCU will play Texas in the semifinal tomorrow evening, which I will watch.

I went to bed at 10:00 and blogged this entry.

Bon Appetit

March 8, 2023 Breakfast - Sausage and Eggs with Toast Lunch - Pad Thai at Le Bistro. Dinner - Baked Cod and Asparagus with Vanilla flavored Mashed Rutabaga

March 8, 2023 Breakfast - Sausage and Eggs with Toast Lunch - Pad Thai at Le Bistro. Dinner - Baked Cod and Asparagus with Vanilla flavored Mashed Rutabaga

We slept until 8:00 for a pleasant change. We showered and dressed and Suzette made us breakfast while I worked at my computer on the response.

Breakfast was my favorite, a thick slice of patty sausage and two eggs over easy with two slices of toasted baguette.

We worked for another hour and then drove to NM Ortho for my appointment with Dr. Mulkey.  When we arrived it appeared we were an hour late but they took us anyway and at 11:30 we met with the Dr. for 30 minutes.  I asked him all my questions and he released me from any further restrictions and encouraged me to walk to build my strength and endurance.  I was further encouraged when he said I needed the left hip replaced and he was ready to do that when I needed it.

So I drove from the clinic to James’ office after the appointment released from any concerns.

After Suzette met with James we walked next door to Le Bistro Vietnamese Restaurant at 1307 San Pedro for lunch.

I noticed that Le Bistro was ranked among the top five Vietnamese restaurants in Albuquerque as we walked in.

We were not very hungry after our big breakfast, so we decided to split an order of Pad Thai with pork and a Vietnamese coffee.

The restaurant was large with over sixty seats but only two booths were filled with people. Soon the pad Thai arrived and it was fabulous, probably the best I have ever tasted. The pork may have been marinated and grilled and the noodles were semi glutinous with just the right balance of sweet and picante from red chili flakes tossed with bean sprouts, chopped bits of egg and toasted crushed peanuts.

I loved it and the pre-mixed coffee had the strong flavor of chicory.

Everything was great but when we paid the bill we were informed that prices had been increased and instead of $12.00 the check came to 17.25.

The waitress showed us where the prices had been hand written in dark ink on dark blue tape next to the original menu price, instead of obscuring the original price.

I handed the waitress a $20.00 bill and we drove to Bombay Spice where I bought a box of chai Masala tea bags and tried an Indian form of halvah made in India with ghee.

When we arrived home at 2:00 I made my phone calls and talked to my client who needs corporate work done.

I worked until 4:00 and watched Ari Melber and then meditated from 5:00 until 5:30.

Again I noticed that I was able to reach a deep meditative state of mind without interference from the pain in my hip, which made me realize that I made the right decision to seek a replacement.

At 6:00 it was still 56 degrees, so we walked the 1 1/2 blocks to 16th St. and back with good stamina.

I am beginning to feel stronger, although I know I have a long way to go.

When we returned home Suzette started dinner, which was a repeat of dinner two nights ago; Baked Cod and Asparagus with Vanilla flavored Mashed Rutabaga, while I watched the last few minutes of Chris Hayes and the live interview with Zelensky.

This time the fish filet was thinner and the result not as moist as the other night but since Suzette had stored the vanilla bean in the rutabagas, the rutabagas had a nice vanilla flavor.  The baked asparagus were excellent both nights.

When we returned home I fetched the bottle of chilled New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc from the fridge in the garage, which was an excellent choice of wine for the meal.

After dinner I made a cup of chai with the new tea and tried the new halvah. The halvah was flaky and did melt in my mouth as the Bombay Spice owner said.

We watched Lawrence O’Donnell and then went to bed at 9:30.

I slept until 1:30 when I got up and blogged this entry and then read a few pages of this month’s book club selection, The Master and Margarita.

Bon Appetit