September 4, 2025 Lunch - Steak Salad. Dinner - Sautéed Sea Scallops in Roasted Garlic and Vegetables, Mushrooms and Wood Ear

September 4, 2025 Lunch - Steak Salad. Dinner - Sautéed Sea Scallops in Roasted Garlic and Vegetables, Mushrooms and Wood Ear

I got up ant 4:30 to work on my pleading and went back to bed at 6:00 and slept until 7:30. I watched the market open and then the last hour of Stage 11 of La Vuelta a Espana. 

I ate a bowl of granola with mango yogurt, milk, and champagne grapes for breakfast around 9:00.

Then at 10:30 I went to Bill’s office and delivered a bottle of each of a 2013 and a 2014 Calstar Sangiacomo Pinot Noir to Matt and then had a long conversation with Bill about vested property rights to water under Spanish and Mexican land grants.

At 1:30 I returned home and made a steak salad with romaine lettuce, red onion and cucumber slices, chunks of cheddar cheese, halved cherry tomatoes and two slices of leftover T-bone steak diced.

After lunch I rested and watched the market close up with my portfolio getting above the pain threshold for the first time in two days.

Suzette came home around 5:00 we drove to Costco and bought three red wines, paper towels, eggs, cream, chocolate croissants, garlic, and baby portobello mushrooms. We now have four different mushrooms: portobello, chanterelle, enoki, and shiitake plus fresh wood ear.

Dinner - When we returned home around 7:30 we started preparing dinner. We decided to sauté the fresh Sea Scallops in Roasted Garlic and Vegetables, Mushrooms and Wood Ear

I sliced 2 shiitake and a handful of enoki mushrooms plus six or seven wood ear, plus a head of broccoli into bite sized flowerets. I also minced the leftover leeks and three cloves of garlic around 6:00. 

We wanted a Mediterranean style dinner, so Suzette sautéed the scallops and garlic in olive oil and butter in the wok until the garlic turned light brown. She then removed the scallops and garlic and I minced three more cloves of garlic and Suzette stir fried the broccoli, some leftover sliced red cabbage, the additional garlic, and the leeks with a dash of Sauvignon Blanc wine until they were cooked. Then she added back the scallops and garlic to reheat them.

We re-heated the last 1/2 cup of cooked rice and spooned the scallop mixture over the warm rice.

We drank glasses of Kirkland Sauvignon Blanc with the dinner. I like Kirkland Sauvignon Blanc a lot and since it costs only $4.99 per bottle, it is easy to buy. I think of it as a Costco loss leader like the hot dog and a drink for $1.50. It keeps me coming back for it again and again.

Finally, I tasted a dish tonight with the distinctive flavor of garlic thanks to the sautéed garlic and additional garlic in the cooking oil and the dish.

We watched Philadelphia beat the Cowboys and Suzette served bowls with 1/2 cup of clafoutis.

Then after the game at 9:15 Suzette went to sleep. I stayed up to watch Foyle’s War and actually watched the entire episode until 11:00 without falling asleep.

Bon Appetit

September 3, 2025 Lunch - Leftover Vietnamese Bun Noodles with grilled pork. Dinner - Sashimi with rice, cucumber, avocado, seaweed salad and squid salad

September 3, 2025 Lunch - Leftover Vietnamese Bun Noodles with grilled pork. Dinner - Sashimi with rice, cucumber, avocado, seaweed salad and squid salad

Today I rested most of the day. I awakened at 4:00 and emptied the dish washer and then at 5:00 I made Gravad Lax. I rinsed the salmon fillets and mixed 4/5 cup of salt with 2/3 cup of granulated sugar and 1 tsp. Of freshly ground black pepper. Suzette awakened around 5:30 and spooned the dry mixture inside and outside the two fillets and to cover the bottom, middle, and top of the fillets with fresh dill weed as I placed each fillet in a 6 x 9 Pyrex baking dish. I then covered the fillets with Saran, weighted the fillets with a brick and placed it in the refrigerator to cure.

I then went back to bed and slept from 6:00 to 7:45.

Suzette left at 6:30 for work.

When I awakened I ate a bowl of granola with milk, mango yogurt, and a handful of champagne grapes Luke and Ari brought us.

I watched the market and was pleased that the three day losing streak ended.  The high tech part of the market except for Nvidia was up. Google ended up over $19.00 and luckily for me Apple ended up $8.75 to overcome a slight loss in Nvidia for a .9% gain in my portfolio.

I watched Stage 11 of La Vuelta a Espana until 10:30, which ended very abruptly 3 km. before the finish without a sprint finish into downtown Bilbao, because there were Pro-Palestinian protesters waiting at the finish line to demonstrate against the inclusion of an Israeli bike team in the race even though the Israeli team had no affiliation with the State of Israel.

I worked a bit and ate leftover Vietnamese Bun noodles from yesterday’s lunch at Coda Bakery with a cup of green tea for lunch at 12:30..

I then worked at my desk until 4:30 when Suzette arrived. She was hungry so after watching a bit of news I started making dinner. I cut the leftover salmon, an Aji tuna steak, and three scallops I bought at Smith’s yesterday plus 1/2 cucumber peeled and seeded and 1/2 medium avocado into bite sized pieces and fetched the seaweed salad and squid salad we bought at Talin on Saturday, as well as the bottle of pickled ginger and made a dipping sauce with wasabi and soy sauce. Suzette added mirin to the leftover rice from our Friday night dinner at East Ocean and heated it and Suzette ate the last bit of the Coda Bakery Bun Vietnamese Noodles.

Suzette drank her scotch cocktail and I drank hot green tea. We loved this elaborate dinner that did not cost much compared to what it would cost in a sushi restaurant. And we still have scallops for another meal and Gravad lax.

Now that food and restaurant prices are rising, I am willing to buy high quality ingredients and cook fabulous food at home.

We watched a lovely Nature program on PBS illustrating how different species in the ocean cooperate with each other at 7:00.

At 8:00 Suzette went to bed and I blogged until 9:30.

Bon 

September 1, 2025 Lunch - Leftover Deep Fried Tofu and Mixed Vegetables with Rice. Dinner Grilled T-bone steak with sautéed Mushrooms and Sweet Pepper, sautéed pole beans with shishito peppers, and an ear of corn

 September 1, 2025 Lunch - Leftover Deep Fried Tofu and Mixed Vegetables with Rice.  Dinner Grilled T-bone steak with sautéed Mushrooms and Sweet Pepper, sautéed pole beans with shishito peppers, and an ear of corn

I woke up at 5:00 and hurriedly ate a chocolate croissant with a cup of chai and then drove Ari and Luke to the airport at 6:00 to take a flight to Palm Springs and finally to Ari’s house in Idlewild where Luke will spend several days before flying back to N.Y.

When I returned home I gardened with Suzette, mainly pulling baby elm trees out of the raised bed Suzette intends to make into an herb garden.  We bought several new herbs, such as Citronella, chocolate mint, spinach, a thyme, a Brazilian pepper, and lemon grass. 

I then watched extended coverage of stage 9 of La Vuelta held yesterday and rested until 11:30 when I heated up the leftover Deep Fried Tofu and Mixed Vegetables with Cabbage, leek, and rice for lunch.

After lunch I thawed a T-bone steak for dinner, walked around the block and worked on a pleading until 4:30.

The walk was pleasant because it rained last night and it was 84 degrees with mild humidity which helped me accumulate over 3500 steps.

When I returned I watched Ari until 6:00 and then started watching TCU play North Carolina football. This was hyped as Bill Belicheck’s debut as a college coach after winning a record 6 Super Bowls as coach for the NE Patriots. 

NC scored first and it looked like they were in control of the game but soon TCU scored and kept on scoring. The final score was TCU 48 to NC’s 14. I was a cited about TCU’s win as I was disappointed by Texas’s loss to Ohio State.

We made a fabulous dinner with the fresh produce we had gathered from the farmer’s markets. Suzette boiled three ears of butter and cream corn from Wagner’s Farm in Corrales. I minced a shallot and two yellow sweet peppers and a Criolla sweet pepper and halved about 8 small chanterelles and three large fresh shiitake mushrooms and sautéed shallot, peppers, and mushrooms in butter and olive oil with thyme leaves from our garden and a dash of amontillado sherry. 

Suzette sectioned the purple and white pole beans Luke and Ari brought us from the Gallisteo farmers’ market and sautéed them in good Argentinian olive oil with the seven shishito peppers we picked in our garden this morning.

                  The mushrooms with shallot and creolla and sweet yellow peppers

                 The pole beans sautéed with shishito peppers from the garden

Then Suzette grilled the T-bone on the outdoor propane grill.

I opened a bottle of the 2014 Calstar Sangiacomo Pinot Noir from the case that arrived on Saturday.  It was really magical with its clean plummy flavor and unmistakable earthy taste of the terroir.

After dinner I splurged and ate a Swedish marzipan and chocolate dessert with a cup of chai and a sip of Calvados.

I kept switching channels between the Antique Roadshow and the TCU football game until finally they both ended at 9:00 and we went to bed around 9:30.

I to blog and Suzette to sleep.

Bon Appetit

September 2, 2025 Breakfast - Two Fried Eggs with Sausage patty and red onion rings. Lunch - Vietnamese Rice Vermicelli Noodles with pork, lettuce, cucumber, mung bean sprouts and fish sauce. Dinner - Reheated Cassoulet with steamed Broccoli

September 2, 2025 Breakfast - Two Fried Eggs with Sausage patty and red onion rings. Lunch - Vietnamese Rice Vermicelli Noodles with pork, lettuce, cucumber, mung bean sprouts and fish sauce. Dinner - Reheated Cassoulet with steamed Broccoli

I sautéed a patty of Jimmie Dean Sausage with a slice of red onion and when those were cooked, I fried two eggs and toasted two small slices of baguette and drank a cup of chai for breakfast.

I then walked around the block.  At 10:30 I picked a bag of basil and took it to the new Coda Bakery at the corner of Central and San Pedro where I met Wayne Chew for lunch. Coda is a fast food cafeteria  that serves Vietnamese dishes made with fresh ingredients.

Wayne ordered the multi meat sandwich in a 12 inch fresh baked baguette.

I ordered my usual rice noodles with marinated pork grilled that comes with the bun additions of lettuce, cucumber sticks, mung bean sprouts, pickled carrots and daikon, peanuts, and fish sauce. It was huge and I could only eat 1/3. Similarly, Wayne ate only 1/2 of his sandwich.

After lunch I drove home and typed and sent out the book club discussion and grades. 

I had a new client come over at 4:30 until 6:00 and afterwards Suzette heated the leftover cassoulet and steamed broccoli for a delicious dinner.

I cannot say enough good things about the New Coda Bakery the first Vietnamese cafeteria in Albuquerque.

Bon Appetit 

August 31, 2025 Breakfast - Fried Tofu and Mixed Vegetables with Rice, Lunch - Lisa’s wedding reception Dinner - Cassoulet with Salad

August 31, 2025 Breakfast - Fried Tofu and Mixed Vegetables with Rice, Lunch - Lisa’s wedding reception Dinner - Cassoulet with Salad

I woke up at 5:30 and worked at my desk for 2 hours. I then watched Brighton best MC 2 to 1 for a major upset and heated some leftover fried tofu and mixed vegetables with rice for breakfast with a cup of green tea.

Then I made the clafoutis with 7 T. of flour, 11 T. of powdered sugar, 2 cups of milk and 1 cup of cream scalded and cooled, 1/2 tsp. of salt. I buttered and dusted a ceramic baking dish with sugar.  Then I stirred  three eggs into the dry ingredients and then stirred in the scalded milk. Finally I added three cups of marinated cherries and poured the mixture into the ceramic baking dish and baked the custard for 60 minutes in a 350 degree oven. 

We then worked in the yard for a couple hours trimming trees and pulling baby elm trees out of the raised bed which Suzette wanted to plant with herbs. She helped me finish pulling the elm trees and started planting herbs in the garden.

I came in and watched the last half of Liverpool beating Arsenal 1 to O on a free kick from far outside the box that hit the wood work and went in.

Then we got dressed for Lisa’s party and went at 11:30. It was lovely with lots of interesting food.  Of course we ate less than we usually would. I talked to Charlie and several other people. The desserts were fabulous featuring petit fours and palmiers from Chantilly Bakery and luscious chocolate chip cookies made by Lisa.

At 1:00 we returned home and I rested for 2 hours and Suzette watched home remodeling on TV.

At 4:00 we started to cook dinner. Suzette made bread crumbs with the French baguette section she dried overnight and sprinkled them on top of the baked beans and put the casserole of beans into the oven to bake.

When the boys arrived around 6:30 I made a salad with 1/2 of a head of Boston Bibb lettuce, 1/2 of a cucumber from our garden, several slices of red onion, and cherry tomatoes picked by Suzette in the garden halved. Finally, I added champagne grapes the boys brought.

Suzette made a dressing with the tarragon vinegar the boys brought but it was too sour, so she added some mayonnaise that smoothed it out.

Around 7:00 we were ready to eat. I poured out the remaining Hermann Wiemer Dry Rose and Suzette plated the bean casserole. We passed the salad.

It was a lovely meal. Luke likes beans, so Suzette gave him the two remaining bags of Rancho Gordo Heirloom beans she had and a bag of popcorn kernels.

After dinner I took the clafoutis out of the fridge. At 8:00 the fireworks started at the. Country club, so we ran outside to watch them.

When they finished we returned to the table and spooned clafoutis into glass bowls.  Ari said this was the best cherry dessert he had ever tasted, which made me happy.

Suzette and I shared a small amount of Kelt cognac with our clafoutis.

I was 8:30 when the boys retired and we watched PBS Masterpiece Mystery, The Marlow Murder Club season 2. We tried to watch Unforgotten at 9:00 but could not follow it due to drowsiness, so we went to bed.

This was a day of food that spread across a wide swatch of cuisines from Chinese, to Middle Eastern, American, and finally French.

I loved it all.

Ari said his mother has an ability similar to mine to remember every interesting food she has eaten.

For example I made this clafoutis with extra brandy and Grand Marnier and sugar, resulting in the crust under the cherry custard being impregnated with a sweet alcoholic flavor, which is very interesting.

Bon Appetit